THE GARDENERS 



CHRONICLE 



pre**, we poeeeee 



with tome inforn 

 our quotations, w< 



traniUtion, \* 

 Professor b 



or 30° below freezing point. J (called samet by the 



SS^H^!°8 ^JT^ ' ?X Dr mWdlet?Ma;ch, there are frequently several 



more. At tne veruai C4 U '" VA ' . T \ * n 

 occurs, which is generally accompanied byaM 



The mercury sinks sometimes to 



in temperature 

 38° ~" 



The period from the end of January to the 



terrified, and disperse in every direction i ** 

 almost impossible to see a step before von I' * 

 road is continually lost. As a snow-dnf^J** 



k 



**A I t the Crimea by way of Kertch, 



vZto?Ja!« S Mithridrt-. Theuc. h. pro- ! *r. . .». P^^" r "^£ £ ot h er y «„ from Anally peri* from cold, ft » "a ve^f 3 " 



topol. Balaclava, and the south coast «p to 

 Orianda where there is an imperial palace, and 

 mSb doubling back as far as Aloushta, he i again 

 reached Sympheropol, whence he proceeded through 

 thTdrear/ steppes and pampas to Odessa, by way 

 of Terekop. In the book before us he gives an 

 account of what he saw and learned in the course 



of his iourney. .. . . s • 



It it impossible to read his pages without arriving 

 at the conclusion that the Crimea is destitute of 

 everything that can render it valuable except as a 

 military position. The vast plains north of Sym- 

 rheropol are almost uninhabited and utterly barren ; 

 Utween Perekop and Sympheropol he did not see 

 a single herd of cattle or (lock of sheep ; human 

 beings were only visible at the post-houses. 



"A plain," he says, "such as is found in the 

 north of the Crimea and in the south of Russia, 

 affords the most melancholy prospect in autumn, 

 when all vegetation has disappeared, and only the 

 varieties of Wormwood and Ilorehound, or a few 

 C itauries, can be distinguished. The only feeling 

 to which we could yield was that of boundlessness, 

 which was grand, even in this melancholy desert. 

 Wherever we turned we could only perceive the far 

 distant horizon, without a single point on which the 

 eye could rest, even for the shortest space of time. 

 In spring, indeed, a very busy scene is presented. 

 Many thousand sheep and oxen, followed by 

 Shepherds and dogs, traverse the steppe, and feed 

 on the juicy herbs. But when the last days of June 



when there was hardly any cold in. February, and 

 the winter was at an end. This reminds me forcibly 

 of the climate of Tiflis, where I spent the winters 

 of 1836-7, and 1843-4. On the 20th January, 1837, 

 I spent the night in the open air, without any extra 

 clothing, during a shooting excursion. It was at 

 that time lovely weather ; the Almond rees were 

 beginning to blossom, and on the 18th of February 

 they were covered with splendid flowers. In the 

 middle of April, on the contrary, it was so cold that 

 I did not dare to go out without a great coat. 



« On the south coast of the Crimea, the weather 

 was fine in 1843 up to the 17th March ; the ther- 

 mometer had never once fallen to freezing point. In 

 January it stood once at 66% in February at 63 . 

 A frost suddenly set in on the 18th March, and the 

 mercury fell to 8°. It was not till the 29th March 

 that milder weather set in ; and at the beginning of 

 April, the thermometer showed 36° of warmth. In 

 1844, the winter was generally mild ; but on the 

 11th April the mercury fell to 34°, and on the 

 13th to 25°. In the year 1840, there were 18° of 

 cold on the first Easter festival. 



" It can be easily imagined that such a variable 

 climate has no good effect on the vegetation. A 

 quantity of shrubs and trees, which flourish in 

 England in the open air, will not grow at all, or 

 only very sparingly on the south coast." 



" The spring only lasts for a short space. In the 

 f!rimp a it. ffPiiftrallv becrin3 with the first days of 



rivers, and be drowned. 



by terror and hung* L 

 It is a verv fn^iJL^ 



The sheep, also in .5 

 cases, are continually devoured by wolves 



" No less dangerous are the snow-storms (W^ 

 among the Russians), even when only a JgSl 

 breeze is blowing, or in a perfect calm. A dJC 

 frequently sets in, so that it is impossible to se^b 

 paces before you. Any one who does not po*« 

 good knowledge of the locality— I might say intfj 

 — can easily miss his road, and be expoi2X 

 extreme peril/' 



This gives an idea of what the troops have befa 

 them. 



The Crimean trees are not yet well known, k 

 we have no doubt the present occupation of tW 

 country will bring us better acquainted with tb*. 

 According to Koch, one of the commonest Oabj 

 Quercus pubescens ; but we already know fr* 

 evidence furnished by one of our gallant friends « 

 the spot, that the scrubby Oak which abounds m 

 Sebastopol and on the Tchernaya, and among whid 

 the battle of Inkermann was fought, is by no 



the species so called in Europe, but one which a 

 peculiar to the East. It has sessile amplexiorf 

 leaves, without the midrib projecting beyond tie 

 margin ; the acorns are sessile, and the cupsthourf 

 the Turkey Oak. According to Koch it never pwi 

 more than 40 or 50 feet high, but branches i 



March, but at times much later. The vegetation is 

 arrive, the Tatars with their flocks draw nearer to raT> idlv develoned. in spite of the night frosts, and 

 the south coast, and spend the time from July to 



the season when the rain is turned into snow, upon 



collects in the steppe that energy which enables it 

 to resist a long, lasting heat, or else dies away in a 



fresh pasturag' 



coast 



the Crimean mountain range, where a healthier and f ew moll ths, as is the case in the pampas. In pro- 

 portion as the soil is covered with plants, the longer 

 do they maintain their verdure, but whenever they 

 die away rapidly, as in the pampas, the ground grows 

 heated with extraordinary rapidity ; an exhalation 

 of heated air commences, which continues even 

 during the night, and is scarcely ever interrupted. 

 As the countries on the Black Sea and Sea of 

 Azov possess the least vegetation, there is scarcely 

 any rain there during the whole of the warm season. 

 Most fearful storms frequently rage over the adjacent 



rugged and picturesque, though sterile ; the country 

 houses there of the Russian nobles seem to be main- 

 tained merely as an occasional retreat, or in obedience 

 to the desire of the Court of St. Petersburgh. We 



assured that the Tatar population is reduced 

 to 60,000 souls, and that the whole country is 

 incapable of supporting a million of persons without 



external aid. ^ ^ __ a 



The climate is thus described :— " The south sea . the rain pours down in streams there, but not | oxjfcedrttf 9 ^L.). 

 coast has no real autumn, but a double spring, in so a drop falls on land. 

 far as " 





by spring we understand the reproduction of 

 vegetation. The actual spring, which agrees with 

 oars as regards season, at times lasting from the 

 middle of April to the middle of June — more gene- 

 rally, however, beginning in March and ending in 

 May — is not the finest part of the year, as it is with 

 lis : the greatest variation prevails here in every 



respect. This the south coast shares in common 

 with many Eastern countries. 



With 



more insupportable. At the outset, the sky is of the 

 purest azure ; it only appears more or less overcast 

 over the larger rivers, where continuous evaporation 

 is taking place. Soon, however, the pure colour dis- 

 appears ; it becomes daily more milky ; and that 

 haze sets in which is frequently visible in our 



country in hot days, but which is much more pro- 

 At the beginning of minent in the south, especially over deserts. In 



r »~ t ~ j ~r # - 7 %f\xijj an *uq wake* m 111*5 pain^/ao <xiiw tuc auja 



country is evaporated ; in the month of August 

 beginning of September, water is sought for in vain 



■ • ■ _ ■ . ■ at * m — 



suddenly, cool, even cold weather, sets in in April, 

 and the thermometer frequently sinks below zero. 

 (32° Fahr.) It seems as if winter were recommencing. 



u The autumn, which seems like a second spring, 

 is far more pleasant. A portion of the shrubs and 

 trees put forth new shoots, and even are covered 

 with a fresh display of foliage. Towards the end 

 of August, the heat generally decreases, and autum- 

 nal days set in : rain alternates with wind and fine 

 weather. Towards the equinox the wind becomes 

 a storm, frequently a hurricane, and causes the most 

 fearful desolation. At this season there is a good 

 deal of rain. The soil which, till the beginning of 

 spring, was parched and burnt up, eagerly imbibes 

 the moisture. Springs which, at the end of August, 

 were quite dried up, begin to flow again. In case 

 it has rained itself out 



- , .- . . w. 



The same plant was found by Mr. Bentham in tk 

 forest of Belgrade, near Constantinople, and oona 

 among Kotschy's ill preserved Cilician collectm 

 Within the lines of the Allies it bears no aeon* 

 Possibly in a climate like ours it would developed 

 a more perfect manner. 



According to Prof. Koch the scrubby Juniper* 

 the country is the Juniperus rufescens of Link, m 

 he describes it thus : — 



"The nearer we drew to the promontory, lb 

 extremity of which forms Cape Aithodor, fluta 

 fertile did the soil become, and the indiM* 

 bushes, especially the Oak and the Eastern Hi* 

 thorn, were very scrubby. Gradually, too, v 

 Juniper with bright red berries (Juntpem rufi 

 Link) made its appearance, which for so long a » 

 was confounded with the Juniper Cedar (Jm/n 



1 like 



that of the Cypress, although insie T a ?, "^Jfi 

 scales, it bore needle-shaped leaves. Like >.\»m 

 Juniper, this variety also likes rocks, and 1* 

 a soil covered with triturated rock. V h r 

 very sterile, and a strong wind Wo^^"- 

 ground like our Savin tree, and its *««*£ 

 upwards." Our correspondent, in * end "§ 33 

 Jthis country, observes thtf ft "WffiSZ 

 that place, usually growing 3 to 4 ft. nign, ^ 

 times much more ; it has a very «g -Jj 

 and extremely sharp leaves. The cinnam 



although, 



fii 



in the steppe regions, except in the vicinity of large 

 rivers. Here, too, the vegetation gradually dies 

 away, and the stems of the plants, 6 or 8 feet in 

 height, are alone visible, which the Russians call 

 Burian, and apply to all sorts of purposes, but 

 principally as fuel for the winter. 



"In the middle of September, cooler weather sets 

 in, in which the trade winds cease blowing, at least 

 for a short period, in the unwooded zone, and pro- 

 duces a change in the temperature : with this a fresh 

 vegetation commences. The buds for the next 

 year are not only formed on perennial plants, but 

 many of them are covered with a new coat of 

 verdure. In October, there is a considerable 

 quantity of rain, and the ground grows so soft that 

 there is great difficulty in walking over it. In 

 November, it grows colder, and storms set in, of 

 which we can form no idea. Whirlwinds are very 

 frequent, and cause an immense amount of destruc- 

 tion. In December the winter generally commences, 

 iuuiuy, uii uic Btmui coast though frequently without a flake of snow falling 

 the year, and the vegeta- The cold is, consequently, much more severely felt, 



days last till the second Jlft iSffi !2S2 ^J™^1 ft , the J? ,a » ts > <> f ^ich ■ 



iruit is aounuam, auu w «.*--—- nlpasingeP* 



the leaves produces a very lively and fbj« 

 This, we presume, is one of the plants , wn^ % 



the men grub up for fuel. « 

 J. owj/cedrus. 



ibedby 



* 



ft 



Another tree near Balaclava " W B jU • 

 friend at Balaclava as one to be much tf» j ^ 

 colour is beautiful, its form %™?»^ eS f" 

 berries hanging in r-*"" on the 

 a charming effect 



About 



10* 



fort* 1 



spreading 



LaTsO feeThigh ^jfj^ 



—to use the common phrase, 

 by the 5th or 6th October, the sky is suddenly 

 cleared, and the most beautiful weather in the 

 whole year sets in. While the last half of October, 

 November, and December are frequently a very 

 disagreeable season in Germany, on the south coast 



it IS the most pleasant in th* vpar and thp mr***- 



lion is very luxuriant. 



spieaumg ilea** ^ *~~« -o lv<r himat V lM *" J 



thus describes a specimen seen by m ^ j 



"Further in the front, and just , o . {0 t 



the precipice, stood a *V L * u ™"j*' - -^ ** 



leai 

 or the Cypress, have close-pres 



those Junipers {Juniperus 



the 



A 



' „ Wp dose-pressed puipj • 



of a larger 

 though I 



si 



ze than I ever saw 



immense 

 There are winters, on the 

 other hand, m which a great deal of snow falls. 

 The storms at this season are terrible, and the wind 

 generally blows from the east and north-east, at times 

 for more than half the year, and not unfrequently 

 becomes a hurricane. It raises the dust aloft, and 

 drives it before it in the shape of a pillar ; but it i 



*™w,«*T»ti«. 4-n *v — ^er, and very ! quantities are killed. 



frequently till the new year. From that period, 



wind and rain again alternate with sunshine. The 



thermometer vacillates between 36° and 46° Twe 



change the scale of IU mmr to that of Fahrenheit], 



fells at times below 32 but rises al«o to 54° The 



rain at times changes into snow, which rarefy lasts 



longer than an hour, and melts aa «uvm -«, u u«« i. t . « . * 



fallen. Towards the end Ti FebmarTor hlJ • ^ "?*, WOTS • lf ?°, W -^ ly,n ^' as the entire ™ss is 



of March, extreme cold -ete inVS'^feS i rt^T m ^ h , ir wmd at ? d «™* a*ay. Woe to 



, ana m. thermometer I the flock which is surprised by such a snow-drift 



Ml 



irTchoruk? tn^nk itself *« ■ '£ j 



feet in diameter. J f ^ i, indubitably J 3 

 Juniper grows very slo wly, ** t0 ^ 

 required more than a *°»8ana > ^ 

 a size. It is, consequently, the ow ^t 

 all the various nations come ana g 



period of the great migration. {tte ej 



Whether this is the sanre ^ , y yj 



J. excelsa in this country w e d io th« „ 



The words in italics being JJ n s * ^ 



sense in both the tnw^wjjthor : but * 

 taken to be the words of the a ^ 



mean we cannot say. haV e rec« i f 



By the same opportunity «* geed . v e** ]j 

 our active correspondent rp 







