To (lie Editor of " I'he American Journal of Horticulture and Florist's Companion." 



Sir, — I passed tlie last winter in Italy ; the greater part of the time, in Rome 

 and Naples. It was some years since I had been there, and the southern part of 

 the peninsula had undergone a great political change. As, of all the countries 

 that I have seen, Italy is to me the most beautiful and most interesting, I was 

 gratified at being able to revisit it. The inducements to visit Italy are various. 

 One great attraction is the charm of its scenery. Its lofty mountains and its lux- 

 uriant valleys, its beautiful lakes and noble rivers, its broad campagnas and 

 fertile plains, are constantly presenting themselves in landscapes of unsurpassed 

 beauty. A great number of the trees and shrubs of Italy are evergreens ; and 

 this must be considered as increasing the beauty of the landscape in winter, pre- 

 venting the dreary appearance that leafless shrubs impart, and giving to it the 

 resemblance of summer luxuriance. So great is the number of this class of 

 shrubs, that, in December (the most dead season of the year), I counted in a 

 small public garden over thirty different varieties then in full leaf, and some of 

 tliem in flower. Another inducement is afforded by the delicious climate in win- 

 ter, free from the fogs of northern climates, — neither too warm to be disagree- 

 able, nor too cold to be uncomfortable, — with clear skies, a bright sun, and soft, 

 balmy airs. The atmosphere of Italy seems to me peculiar in this, that the 

 whole air seems filled with a transparent haze, that, without obscuring, gives to 

 distant objects, instead of a sharply-cut outline, a rounded, softened form ; while 

 at the same time, especially towards the close of day, the whole heavens are 

 filled with a golden light that enhances the beauty of every thing. In Northern 

 Italy the winter is cool, and ice and snow are not unusual, especially near the 

 mountains ; but the cold is but of short duration, and the frost soon disappears : 



VOL. IV. 37 289 



