128 ACTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE, ETC. 



difficulties both of elevation, of latitude, and of situation ; 

 but, it is true, they were ragged and dwarfish, and wore 

 the appearance of great distress. 



J\Irs. B. And yet their elevation was far below 6000 

 feet ; for Bennevis, the highest mountain in Scotland, 

 does not rise more than 4370 feet above the level of the 

 sea. The larch, which is much more hardy, has been 

 planted upon the mountains of Scotland with great suc- 

 cess, and clothes their once-barren sides with a delicate 

 foliage. 



The olive-tree will not grow in a higher latitude than 

 the southern provinces of France ; and there it is only 

 under the most favorable circumstances of soil and aspect 

 that it can be cultivated, at the height of 1200 feet. 



Caroline. We have seen it in Italy growing almost to 

 the summits of the mountains. I own that I was disap- 

 pointed with the Italian olive. We associate so many 

 pleasing and poetic ideas with the olive-branch, that I 

 expected it to partake of the beauty of its rival in the gar- 

 dens of Parnassus the laurel ; but, so far from vying 

 with it in beauty, the color of the olive is so dingy, that 

 it looks like a willow covered with dust. 



JVfrs. B. I cannot see what reason there is to expect 

 much similitude of appearance between the emblems of 

 glory and of peace. The branching of the young olive 

 is, however, remarkably elegant, and the lightness of the 

 foliage atones for the want of vivacity in its color ; and, 

 when mixed with plants of a more lively green, affords a 

 very agreeable variety. The olive-groves of Tivoli gave 

 me the impression of the most antiquated trees I had ever 

 beheld : their venerable trunks are torn, riven, and twist- 

 ed into a thousand fantastic forms ; a profusion of young 

 branches, decked with light foliage, shoot from these aged 

 stems, and, waving their silvery tints in the sun, seem to 

 smile and say, We are your cotemporaries ; but the anti- 

 quated parent whence we spring once put forth branches 

 under the shade of which Cicero and MecEenas reposed. 

 Caroline. They are the only olive-trees I ever admir- 

 ed. Independently of their magnitude, they are interest- 



714. What is said of the growth of the birch, and of the larch in 

 Scotland! 715. And of the olive tree in the south of France 1 ? 716. 

 What does Mrs. B. say of the branching of the young olivel 717. 

 And of olive groves of Tivoli 1 ? 718. What is the first and most im- 

 portant way in which water acts upon plants! 



