304 Foreign Notices : — lialj/. 



of trees by the way side, and kept constantly filled for the use of the traveller. 

 To secure a great supply of water, in parts of the country remote from 

 natural springs or aqueducts, is a religious care, for the ablutions before prayer. 

 The replenishing of these jars is usually the care of the women, who may be 

 seen carrying them upon their backs, slung by cords in the manner represented 

 in the sketch," above referred to. (Journal in Asia Minor, p. 258.) The vase 

 and the figure may afford a good hint for Mr. Austen, and the whole may 

 serve to furnish ideas for a classical group in a flower-garden. — Cond. 



ITALY. 



Monza, March 19. 1840. — I could not resist, though extremely busy at 

 present, glancing a little at some of the works which you have sent me, 

 particularly the Suburban Gardener, which I find most interesting and useful, 

 as well for gardeners as for amateurs who wish to attend to gardening for its 

 own sake. I regret I have not sufficient time at my disposal to benefit my 

 countrymen by giving them a translation of this excellent work, being con- 

 vinced that it would tend in no small degree to the developement of the love 

 of horticulture. I do not, however, entirely give up the thought, but as 

 soon as the many demands on my attention consequent on my employment 

 will permit, I will try whether T am capable of entering into the spirit of the 

 author, without which it would be time and labour thrown away. 



I was truly affected and surprised at the politeness of N. W. G., who is so 

 kind as to offer me seeds of the Nelumbium speciosum var. riibrum. I beg 

 of you to tell him how sensible I am of his generosity, and I shall consider 

 myself fortunate if he will furnish me with an opportunity of proving my 

 gratitude. 



In addition to what I have already told you about the pinetum of the 

 Baron Alessandro Zanoli (p. 98.), I now send you a notice of the new species 

 of pines which he has introduced this year: ^'bies Clanbrasiliawa stricta, 

 A. cephalonica. A, excelsa foliis variegatis, A. exc, monstrosa, A. exc. pyg- 

 m£e"'a, A, exc. tenuifolia ; Ddmmara australis; iarix americana rubra, L. 

 europae^a sibirica ; Picea pectinata tortuosa ; Pinus Coulteri, P. Chylla excelsa?, 

 P. C. serotina, P. C. microcarpa ; P. Pinaster fol. variegatis, P. ponderosa, 

 p. patula, P. Cembra sibirica, P. iS'trobus pygmse^a. 



I told you in my last letter (p. 99.), that the celebrated Marquis Cosimo 

 Ridolphi, of Florence, had offered for sale hundreds of pounds' weight of the 

 tubers of the twining batata (Ipomoe'a Batatas). I now hear from the 

 marquis that he has succeeded in preserving the tubers perfectly well during 

 the winter, by merely keeping them in a cellar where a uniform temperature 

 is maintained : but a slight degree of dampness had, on the 30th of January, at 

 which time this information was communicated to me, caused spontaneous ger- 

 mination, as is the case with the common potato (5'olanum tuberosum). Thus 

 every difficulty is overcome, either as to cultivation or preservation, the latter 

 of which was the greater, and that alone, as we may say, which made the cul- 

 tivation of it to be abandoned. Thus has the Marquis Ridolphi succeeded 

 in naturalising perfectly a plant of so much importance and advantage. 



A friend of mine has promised to introduce me to a person who is soon 

 to set out for London, I shall take the opportunity of sending you a treatise 

 on the edible fungi of Lombardy. 



If I were not afraid of appearing too greedy, I would beg of you to pro- 

 cure me a single seed ,of Nelumbium album. [We should be greatly obliged 

 to any correspondent who will send us such a seed to forward to our much 

 esteemed friend,] 



Monza, Aug. 20, 1836. — In continuation of what I have already sent you 

 (Vol. for 1836, p. 445.), I will now speak of the villas Mallerio, Silva, Litta, 

 and the garden of Dr. Sacco. 



The Villa Mallerio at Gernetlo is in Brianza, in a country where nature and 

 art seem to have united the useful with the agreeable. Its favourable soil and 



