Foreign Notices : — Greece. 225 



and which had stood for three centuries as a testimony of the defeat of Francis 1. 

 of France by Charles V. ; and this was the Populus fastigiata, whicli the 

 said Francis, after the famous battle, half a mile from the Rocca Mirabella at 

 Pavia, struck with his sword as an emblem of repentance for having offered 

 battle — that sword which was soon to pass into the hands of the conqueror. 



Milan. — Brera. The locale of Brera was consecrated to public instruction 

 on the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, and since that time has borne the 

 name of the Palace of Science. The library contains about 200,000 volumes. 

 -The generous Empress Maria Theresa, and her son the Archduke Ferdinand, 

 greatly enlarged it ; and as many of the best works on the study of physics 

 and natural history were wanting, the empress wished to obtain, at the expense 

 of 2,000 louis d'ors, the valuable library of the physician and naturalist Haller, 

 which contained 13,300 volumes, including manuscripts, amongst which there 

 were even sixty volumes containing the dried herbarium collected by this 

 distinguished botanist ; but this herbarium was taken possession of by the 

 French when they invaded Lombardy, and was dispersed in France. The 

 Emperor Joseph II. also endowed it with very valuable gifts. The Botanic 

 Garden is used for the instruction of the students who study philosophy at 

 the two Licei of Milan, It is not rich in plants, but well arranged, and well 

 cultivated. Amongst the plants growing in the open air, a Stercidia^latani- 

 folia is much admired, the height of which is 36 ft., with a trunk 4 it. 2 in. in 

 circumference, at one foot from the ground ; Salisbiirfa «diantif61ia (male), 

 64 ft. high, circumference of the stem 4^ ft. ; Carya olivasformis, 70 ft. high, 

 circumference of the stem 5 ft. ; Gymnocladus canadensis, 64 ft. high, circum- 

 ference of the stem 4 ft. 4 in. ; i^'agus sylvatica atropurpurea, 30 ft. high, 

 circumference of the stem 3 ft. ; and, lastly, a ./uniperus virginiana 60 ft. high, 

 circumference of the stem 5 ft. Among the green-house plants worthy of 

 notice are, a Gardenia and a Thunbergfa about 9 ft. high, and a beautiful 

 specimen of Phyteuma albiflorum. The present professor and director of the 

 garden is the celebrated botanist Balsamo Crivalli. 



The Imperial and Royal Villa. The villa is a palace of a tolerable size, 

 where the court, when it is in Milan, spend the summer agreeably. The 

 garden is in the English style, not large, but well laid out. 



Commercial Horticulturists in Milaji. Having spoken to you of all the gar- 

 dens in Milan that merit attention, either as to the mode of cultivating the 

 plants, or of those that are rare or of great age, I now proceed to tell you 

 something of the establishments of Horticultural Botany which are in Milan, 

 or scarcely without its walls. There are many who trade in plants, but the 

 principal are Messrs. Burdin, C. Longoni, and Tagliabue. The estabhshment 

 of Signor Burdin, besides being larger than either of the other two, covering 

 a space of 86 Milanese perches, is also richer in plants. They published a 

 catalogue of the plants which they possess, a copy of which I send you, and 

 in which you will find some instructive notices about their cultivation. — G. 

 Manetti. Motiza, April 24!. 1839. 



We have to apologise to our correspondent for not inserting his letter 

 sooner, but it was unfortunately mislaid. — Cond. 



GREECE. 



Mode of felling Trees in Greece. — " The bark (of fir trees) is cut for 2 

 or 3 feet, and the trunk wounded with the long knife of the people ; afterwards, 

 for a season, the turpentine bleeds from these cuttings, and they then set fire 

 to it, thus consuming the trunk to the depth of about 1 in.; the tree is then 

 again chipped, and the fire applied to the new discharge of inflammable sap. 

 Some years are thus employed in felling a large tree, which at last falls, borne 

 down by a heavy gust of wind. After the tree is cut down, the slow habits 

 of the people are still shown in their further operations. The small branches 

 alone are cut off for fire-wood ; the trunk is then chipped or grooved on the 

 upper side, so as to catch the rain-water, to promote the decay of the wood ; 

 and in this state the tree lies, sometimes across a path, which is turned in 



