4-94 Retrospective Criticism. 



would, in many warm parts of the Larian hills, succeed well in the open 

 ground. The arguments upon which I found this opinion are, 1st, That in 

 the stoves of Count Mellerio's garden at Gernetto, near Monza, the ther- 

 mometer is suffered to fall in the winter to 1° Reaum. (34i° Fahr.), without 

 the pines suffering in the least. 2dly, That the pines being planted in the 

 open ground would become more hardy and strong (as may be inferred 

 from what happens to other plants under similar circumstances), and con- 

 sequently better able to resist the cold. 3dly, That on those declivities of 

 the Larian hills where I think the pine-apple might be cultivated in the open 

 ground, the thermometer of Reaumur, even in the middle of winter, rarely 

 descends lower than 3° (25i° Fahr.) ; and 4thly, Because my late father, 

 having planted a pine-apple plant in a court open to the sun, in a garden 

 at Varenna, it continued growing for two years, although exposed conti- 

 nually to the open air ; and it only perished through the carelessness of a 

 mason, who threw a large slate on it from a roof, by which it was broken. 

 Many will laugh at hearing that I propose to cultivate the pine-apple in 

 the open ground, at 46° north lat. ; but I ask them, in return, if they 

 have never heard that they cultivate figs in the Shetland Islands ; and 

 remind them of a fact observed by St. Pierre : — " J'ai vu en Finlande, 

 pres de Vibourg, au-dela. du 6 1 degre de latitude, des cerisiers en plein vent, 

 quoique ces arbres soient originaires du 42°. ( Etudes de la Nature, vol. ii. 

 p. 485, 486.) 



Culture of the Pine-Apple in the Garden Stoves of the Neighbourhood of 

 Monza. — Since I cannot give you any satisfactory account of the culti- 

 vation of pine-apples in the open ground, I will inform you, at least, of 

 the manner in which they are grown in the stoves of the gardens in this 

 neighbourhood. I have already mentioned that some of our gardeners let 

 the temperature of their stoves fall in the winter, sometimes as low as 1° 

 Reaum. (34a° Fahr.). Do not suppose that by this want of attention the 

 pines suffer ; for it is with these very gardeners that I saw the finest pines. 

 But what must give you pleasure is, that, from notices taken from your 

 Magazine, pines have been planted for the last two years in the open 

 ground in the gardens of Casa Traversi, at Desio, three miles' distance 

 from Monza. I mean to say, however, in the open ground of the stoves, 

 where they are disposed in rows about 2 ft. apart, the plants being about 

 lift, distant from each other. Would you believe it? after this treat- 

 ment, the plants grew so vigorously, that they fruited pines of the weight 

 of nearly 4 lbs., while at first the greatest weight was scarcely three 

 quarters of a pound. The variety here cultivated is the pyramidalis ; though 

 its dimensions increase so much when it is cultivated out of the pots, that 

 it appears one of the larger varieties : it is sufficient to say that one of its 

 leaves has attained the length of not less than 6 ft., displaying a proportion- 

 ate thickness. 



Flowers and Tips of the Branches of Gourd Plants excellent Food. — In 

 some part of your Magazine, you have mentioned that gourds not only 

 produce useful fruit, but that their tops also afford excellent food. This 

 fact agrees exactly with the custom of our peasants, who, after having 

 eaten the fruit, or having employed them as forage for their cattle, pick off 

 and cook the tops, which taste better than the fruit itself; but the flowers 

 are even better and more delicate than either the fruit or the tops. My 

 father, a Florentine gardener, told me that it is the custom in Tuscany, 

 particularly in the families of the country people, to gather the male flowers 

 of the gourd, with a little of the stalk, before they are fully blown ; and, 

 having dipped them in paste of wheat flour, to fry them in butter or oil. 

 This is considered so excellent a dish in Italy, that it is usual to say, speak- 

 ing metaphorically of a thing which is not particularly good, " Non e fior di 

 zuche." [It is not the flower of a gourd.] In Lombardy, also, several varieties 

 of gourd are known ; and one is now spreading itself in our gardens, called 



