458 



F A K M E K S ' REGISTER 



mile and a hairirom the town. Messrs. Audibert 

 ttxpresped the frreatesl desire, to beol service lo nie. 

 Oneofihe brothers conducted me through a great 

 part of their nurseries, which are extensive, and 

 apparently very well Icept. He also insisted thai 

 I should remain for the nii;ht, and made up a 

 packet ol' every variety of seeds which ihev could 

 imagine would be nselid in New South Wales. 

 The elder brother, M. Urban Audiberi, is a cor- 

 responding member of the Ilorticuiiural Society 

 of London, and has, as M. Delisle inlbrmed me, 

 a very extensive correspondence in alf parts of 

 Europe. His library is filled with books on all 

 matters connected with rural economy and natural 

 history, in all languages. I selccied from their 

 list of vines eight or ten varieties, which 1 either 

 knew to be wanting in M. Delisle's collection, or 

 conceived to be so valuable, that I was glad of the 

 opportunity of making still surer of possessing 

 them. These, being rooted plants, will afford the 

 proof whether they or the cuttings are more ca- 

 pable of bearing the transport to New South 

 Wales. 



Having, according to the advice of JM. Delisle, 

 consulted Messrs. Audiberi respecting the pack- 

 ing of the plants, fie expressed his fear that with- 

 out moss they would soon all die; (or the north 

 Avind, he observed, caused dryness as much as the 

 heat ; his brother was accordinffly kind enough to 

 accompany me to the town, with a man who car- 

 ried a bag of moss. The plants were unpacked, 

 and the boxes lined with double oiled paper, to 

 prevent the access of air, and the escape of hu- 

 midity. The moss, afier having been slightly 

 watered, was stuffed in at the ends of each bundle 

 of plants. The hitler were then replaced, and 

 the cases closed. This is the mode adopted by 

 Messrs. Audiberi in sending vine plants lo Russia 

 and other countries of JCurope ; and ihey were of 

 opinion that this would be sufficient to protect the 

 vines till their arrival within the tropics, wlien the 

 warm weather Avould cause them to shoot, and it 

 would therefore become desirable to sustain the 

 ehoots as little by the admixture of earth or sand 

 among the cuttings. 



Messrs. Audibert refused to receive any pay- 

 ment for the plants I had selected from their col- 

 lection, although I insisted very strongly on pay- 

 ing the stated price, as well as for the time his 

 workman was occupied. He fiirnished me with 

 several copies of his catalogues; and as [ had 

 informed him there was an Agricultural and Hor- 

 ticultural Society in New South Wales, he ex- 

 pressed a strong desire to be put in communica- 

 tion wiih them. M. Audibert also furnished me 

 with introductory letters to the Directors of the 

 Botanic Garden, and of the Cabinet of Natural 

 History at Marseilles. 



I concluded these matters in tim.e to join the dili- 

 gence for Marseilles, which passed at halfpast two, 

 having, by Mr. Audibert's advice, forwarded the 

 cases containing the plants to Avignon, there to 

 wait rny return to ihat lovvn. 



I hail several tinier endeavored, t)ut without 

 success, to ascertain the best mode of picklinir or 

 preserving olives. Mr. Audiberi told me he had 

 no doubt the innkeeper where I had left my bag- 

 gace could inform me ; and I took down Irnm his 

 dictation the directions, of which the l()llowing is 

 a translation. The olives which he produced ae 

 ■preserved in this way were of an inferior kind, but 



appeared very well cured. "To make a lie, take 

 lor each pound of olives a pound of ashes and an 

 ounce of lime ; boil these ingredients in water till 

 tlie lie is neither too thick, nor too clear. 



" When the flesh of the olives detaches itself 

 easily from the stone, which happens about six or 

 seven hours alier their immersion, the olives are 

 washed wiih clear water, and left lo steep lor about 

 nine days, the water being cfianged at least once 

 every 24 hours, 'i'hey are ihen kept in water, 

 strongly charged with salt, and seasoned with a 

 few iirains of coriander seed, to give them a good 

 taste." 



This recipe was scarcely finished at the moment 

 it was necessary to join the diligence, and ( had 

 not therefore time to read it, nnich less lo ask such 

 questions as are necessary to make it fully intelli- 

 irible. The lie is doubiiess intended to ii-ee the 

 olives from the bitterness natural to them when 

 fresh. 



Saturday, 3d Deceinbcr. — At an early hour this 

 morning 1 arrived at Marseilles. My object in 

 coming to this city was to visit the disiricis in iia 

 neighborhood, where the raisins and other dried 

 fruits of Provence are prepared. 



1 lost no time in waiting upon M. Negrel Fe- 

 rand, the director of the Cabinet of Natural History 

 whom I found not only very ready, biu eNtreinely 

 well qualified, to give me the inlbrmation I re- 

 quired. He said that almost the only district 

 where raisins were made (or exportation was Ro- 

 quevaire, which was his native place, and to which 

 he gave me a letter. 



M. Negrel Ferand has contributed the division 

 tliat treats upon agricultural and rural economy, to 

 a quarto work now publishing in four voiumes, on 

 the Statistics of the Provence of Bouches du 

 Rhone. 



Being anxious to obtain the volume which treat- 

 ed upon this subject, he told me ihat I could not 

 purchase it without the others, and \h\\\ the whole 

 work was not yet compleie ; but he very good na- 

 turedly irave me his own proof sheets. This work 

 contains a detailed classification and botanical de- 

 scripiion of the vines cultivated in the department 

 of Bouches du Hhone, or Provence, to the number 

 of 74. The whole number which exists is staled 

 to be about 350, but the above are all that are con- 

 sidered valuable for cullivation. The most of the 

 others are culiivaled in gardens and nurseries, 

 more as an object of curiosity than usefulness. Of 

 the 354 varieties, 220 have been perfectly identi- 

 fied with those bearing the same names in the col- 

 lection of the Luxem.burg. 



In speaking of the olive, M. Negrel Ferand 

 said, that its mode of bearinff is biennial ; that is, 

 that the young wood must be two years old before 

 it bears fi-uit. This accounts for the pruning every 

 two j'ears, and the frequent deficiency in the crop 

 every second year. He said it was a point on 

 which there existed much diflerence of opinion, 

 whether it were better to prune tfie trees partially 

 every year, and thus to have always a quantity of 

 bearing wood, or to prune them (ijily every second 

 year, and have a full crop once in two years. In 

 this part of the country the olive is sufiject to great 

 injuries from the severity of the weather ; a great 

 part of the trees in a whole district being occa- 

 sionally cut off by the frost of a single night. The 

 roots siill remain, however, and are not long in 

 sending up strong shoots ; but the trees in this 



