&24 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 4 



enterprise ot this sort. A new country, or, rather, 

 one rising out of total ruin, like Greece, presents 

 many fair chances : ibr, the want of vegetables and 

 fruits, as well as of forest trees, is very soon telt 

 in a country so situated. What particularly in- 

 duced my family to thisslep, was, that lor several 

 years past we liad been sending ornamental and 

 fruic trees to a considerable amount to the Greek 

 government, as well as for the plantations of King 

 Otho. 



I embarked about the middle ot May, 1837. 

 Finding a liivorable opportunity lor extending my 

 journey to Smyrna and Constantinople, I w^ent di- 

 rect to Smyrna * ; thence I went by land to Brussa 

 and Scutari, and arrived in Greece, a.ter a stay 

 of some weeks in Constantinople, and a quaran- 

 tine of twenty-four days in the Isle of Syra. 



I arrived in Greece about the end of July. 

 What a difference between the coasts of Attica, 

 or of the Peloponnesus, and those which I had just 

 passed ! The shores of Asia Minor, of the Bos- 

 phorus, and of the Dardanelles, are filled with gar- 

 dens, which present to the eye of the traveller a 

 vigorous vegetation, as varied as the nations 

 which inhabit them. Those of modern Greece 

 were naked under the burning July sun ; the little 



ambassador particularly has a large establish- 

 ment ; and there is there a magnificent group of 

 plane trees, (platanus orienlalis,) planted, no 

 doubt, by some Turk. There are also a conside- 

 rable number of mulberry trees, some fruit trees, 

 pear, apple, and plum trees. Close by is a very 

 old plantation of olive trees; and in the neighbor- 

 hood flows a small rivulet, the banks of which are 

 adorned by a very vigorous vegetation of laurus 

 nobilis, myrtus communis, vitex agnus castus, ce- 

 ratonia sUiqua, melia azcdcrach, several rham- 

 nuses, ^c. These trees, both large and small, 

 are every where alternately intertwined with vines 

 and vitex agnus caslus; and, where the inoislure 

 does not reach, an immense number of myrtles 

 grow. Pistacia lentiscus also grows there pro- 

 fusely ; in short, one is agreeably surprised at the 

 great variety of brilliant foliage which abounds 

 There. The nerium oleander is particularly beau- 

 tifiil; it towers above the other shrubs which 

 surround it, and presents a flourishing bouquet 

 throughout the year. 



These villages were formerly places of rural re- 

 treat for the"^Turks, as tiiey are now for the 

 Greeks. I found every where the remains of 

 Turkish houses ; which have been quite destroy- 



vegetation which had flourished there had been ed, except the fountains, which are always shaded 

 completely withered up; and before I perceived by some fine planes, or horse-chestnut trees Ctcscu- 

 sorae signs of habitation, I thought I was landing Zus hippocastanum). I have never seen these 



on a rock abandoned at once by man and nature. 

 I saw nothing above the surface but some remains 

 of the gigantic monuments of the ancient Greeks. 



I landed at the Piraeus, and proceeded, soon af- 

 ter landing, to Athens. The road which led to 

 the city was new ; on the right and left were 

 planted, at a considerable distance fi"oni each 

 other, plane trees, poplars, alders, and some wal- 

 nut trees. It was rather diflicult to distinguish 

 these trees at first, as they were generally in bad 

 condition, and the greater part of their imperfect 

 heads were without foliage. 



The road also passes through a forest of olive 

 trees ; it is the only thing in the neighborhood of 

 Athens, useful to the inhabitants, that has not 

 been entirely destroyed by the stolid ferocity of 

 the Turks and Egyptians. This forest made no 

 better impression on my imagination than the 

 first aspect of the country. Those who have seen 

 forests of" olive trees know that their livid hue en- 

 tirely changes the character of the' landscape. 



I arrived at Athens; and the first thing that 

 struck my sight, that delighted me, was not so 

 much the imposing aspect of the Acropolis, and 

 of the Temple of Theseus, as the finding of a 

 date tree, nearly 50 ft. high, orowinix in the mid- 

 dle of the Via d'llernies. 'J'his date tree had 

 continued to grow,, and had not been injured by 

 any one ; besides this specunen, 1 saw five or six 

 others in the diflerent districts of' the city, also 

 several cypresses, but these were all. 



It must be confessed that Athens, for a cele- 

 brated city, presents but a denuded aspect; this 

 cannot be said, however, of some places, situated 

 at a little distance from the city, such as the vil- 

 lage of Marupi, that ofKephyssin, Angello-Kibi, 

 &c. In these places we meet with a tolerably vi- 

 gorous vegetation. At Kephyssia several foreign 

 ambassadors have country houses ; the Russian 



* I proceed to Smyrna, toucliiiii; at Aiicoiia, Corfu, 

 Patras, and Athens, and leacli yinyrna by Syra and 

 Scio. 



trees so well grown, or so perfect, as in the neigh- 

 borhood of these fountains; it appears as if nature 

 herself chose to protect and shade those fountains 

 which the Turks erect wherever they can find a 

 spring; and near each is inscribed a passage from 

 the Koran, which invites the toil-worn traveller 

 to come and quench his thirst. 



This is all that can recall an idea of what hor- 

 ticulture was in Attica, before the war against the 

 Turks; and while it continued, nothing could be 

 done. During my stay, however, I htid an op- 

 portunity of seeing that, under Bavarian influ- 

 ence, the Greek government will bring the horti- 

 culture of this country to a high degree of perfec- 

 tion. Before the death of Capo d'Istrias, a nur- 

 sery had been formed near JNauplia, which was 

 then the capital ; but this nursery is now neglect- 

 ed. I saw the greater part of the fruit trees which 

 were sent to it from our nurseries at Bollwyller, 

 either dying or already dead, although but recent- 

 ly neglected. At Athens, a new nursery liad 

 been made, and, while the greatest care was be- 

 stowed on it, the former was abandoned to ne- 

 glect, and finally given up. 



The Athenian nursery is under the direction of 

 Dr. Fraas of Wurzburg, a young man who de- 

 votes himself with ardor lo'the tabors and cares 

 which his charge naturally brings along with it. 

 The place which it occupies was formerly the gar- 

 den of a Turkish proprietor, but the king bought 

 one part of it, and the government tiie other. 



Hitherto only such trees and shrubs as were 

 most wanted in the country have been planted in 

 the government ptirt of this garden. In the part 

 belonging to the king, such culinary vegetables 

 are cultivated as the country does not produce na- 

 turally ; such as cabbages, asparagus, salads, 

 |)eas, kidney-beans, &c. A oreat number ol fruit 

 trees have also been planted, which grow well ; 

 some plujn and i)ear trees were lliere previously, 

 as well as some vine stocks, and auilberry arm 

 pomegranate trees. Fig trees were plentiful. 



