A 
cracks of the wall have been attributed by Dr. R. Stager to nut- 
hatches (Sifta caesia). 
The Swiss botanist, De Candolle, once wrote: 
Itahe, a laquelle ?Europe doit presque toutes ses meilleures insti- 
"C'est a cette 
tutions, qu’ elle doit aussi les Jardins de Botanique.” And so it 
is; for the oldest existing botanic gardens are in Italy. It was 
Italian universities that first developed botanic gardens as a part 
of their botanical departments, primarily to facilitate the teaching 
of botany. These gardens are, therefore, today of great historical 
importance and interest. The Italian itinerary follows. 
Italian Botanic Gardens 
I'rom Berne we proceeded to Padua wa Milan. ‘The public gar- 
den at Milan is locally commonly called a botanic garden. It con- 
tains many very beautiful but unlabeled trees, and the place serves 
only as a public park, 
Padua 
The Keale Orto Botanico di Padova, next visited, is perhaps the 
oldest existing botanic garden in the world, having been established 
on the site where it now is, by a decree of the Kepublic of Venice 
of June 29, 1545. It was here that Pier Andrea Saccardo, the 
most noted systematic mycologist of modern times, did his work 
while director from 1878 until his death, February 12, 1920. Sac- 
cardo’s herbarium is now the priceless possession of this garden. 
Here also is found the oldest plant under cultivation in a botanic 
a specimen of the Chaste Tree (Vitex Agnus- 
— 
garden in the world 
castus). This tree was planted in 1550, five years after the garden 
was established, and is therefore 380 years old. It is 1.8 meters in 
circumference. Here are the historically interesting *? Palate at 
Goethe "—Chamacrops humilis (about 310 years old and 10 me- 
* (about 135 years old 
ters high), and the “ Bignonia di Goethe 
and 8 meters high). These plants were studied by the poet Goethe 
in the preparation of his philosophico-botanical work, Die A/eta- 
morphosen der Pflanzen. 
The first Magnolia grown in Italy 1s at Padua, as are also a 
Deodar (Cedrus Deodara) 100 years old, and a fine specimen of 
the California Big Tree (Sequoia gigantea), planted in 1850, and 
— 
