206 State of Horticulture in Italy. 



Art. II. Notice of the State of Horticulture in Italy. By 

 S. B. Parsons of the Commercial Garden and Nursery at 

 Flushing, L. I. 



Being detained a day or two at this city of Cologne, on the 

 banks of the Rhine, the river whose praises have been so well 

 rehearsed in German poetry and song, I cannot, perhaps, bet- 

 ter employ my leisure than in perming a few remarks on the 

 state of horticulture in Italy, whence I have just returned on 

 my way to Belgium and Holland. My stay there was very 

 short, being less than two months, a space of time entirely 

 too brief to do justice to the many interesting objects in that 

 land of antiquity and beauty. 



I found there so much to see, and so much to admire, that 

 horticulture could come in only for a share of my attention ; 

 but this, perhaps, was sufficient, unless one could give the 

 subject a detailed examination, for which six months would 

 scarcely suffice. It is a matter of much surprise, that Italy, 

 so celebrated for its cultivation of the fine arts, for its rich soil, 

 luxuriant vegetation, and delightful climate, and for the ar- 

 dent love of its inhabitants for all that is beautiful in nature 

 and art, should have made so little progress in horticulture. 

 There exist, it is true, in some of the cities, those large villas 

 in the ancient artificial style, with trimmed hedges and ave- 

 nues of trees, but these are relics of days gone by, and can 

 scarcely be deemed evidence of existing taste. In this respect, 

 however, an improvement is beginning to appear, and those 

 who are laying out new villas and parks are introducing the 

 natural, or, as it is there called, the English style of landscape 

 gardening. 



At Genoa, the city of palaces, I found only two or three 

 gardens of any note. The best was that of the Pescari pal- 

 ace, which would not compare with third-rate gardens in the 

 United States. There was a conservatory, and a good pinery, 

 and some very pretty grottoes, statues, fountains, &c. I no- 

 ticed some fine orange trees, and large camellias, in the open 

 ground. In the upper part of the city was a long esplanade 

 or public square, with trees and plants, and a jet d'eau of 



