554 THE 
GARDENERS’ 
CHRONICEE: 
[OCTOBER 30, 1875. 
sected, кам, м sheltered on = а by number 
Wonderfully 
hill fort, deserted, ing, and ancient-looking as 
' these hills them bris pur the living feri ET the 
et. 
it glistens esu 
к eve its dazzling whiteness, 
of the bri test ro 
literally te teems wit Я па 
and of bri лач yellow-green, stand the fields of 
neyard, th i 
h 
er pla the Pimiento [Capsicum], Cab- 
the Pea; then a plot of scarlet, blue, lilac 
flowers cl e reed-built (cAóza) 
of the gardener ; th plantation of young on 
trees, ready for lanting ; the Peach, the Fig, 
the Apricot tree stand in rich ab e; and her 
pri 
and there, T beautiful, and lovely in its pride, 
stands some ancient Palm tree, its feathery foliage 
and ioni Colón red fruit lending a grateful shade to 
all below. 
As England sme her ‘¢ Blackthorn winter" and her 
t Lammas su so Spain has her ‘‘ spring-flower 
the annual 
one 
world Эмир», о breakfasts and dines. 
еа 
where the cool, dark, 
back and front letting -x a cool current of 
u pass out into the 
once by 
and you fee el at home in a 
and shake orneed 
u fear ing yourself to t E pie sun-tanned, 
omes tillers of the teeming Murcian soil; their 
s are dirty, but their hearts are clean; their 
onis are rude and coarse, but their sentiments are 
kindly and honest. 
in eir coarse, MAUS cool dresses are 
all around you is the Awea, 
dun-co| fria! east sp 
€ in the. чр ine, sleeps this blue South 
You might fancy P the Tr The 
air air Merily miae s with the reek of the freshly- 
n mil o 
its of perfum 
pi emer ep bel а ian s white shirts dot the landscape 
Look around, and you see 
with its 
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Fe, 
а 
x 
ood 
3 
p 
‘Ss 
gn" 
c 
к— 
Bp 
o 
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PS Figs ; the drooping foliage of the Taravinto, ог, 
is called in the ces, Pimiento tree 
uec Onions 
in the gardens; all around, whether 
piain, i barren, and even without a Ears 
Pu ose Мина, узо, IO A.M.. 
village of the rich 
irri — to the north =r Alicante ; its warm, 
s ^he blue, sailless 
ing of herbs. Pe sun is зоташ. ; in the road, half- 
ou can just see two ЕЕ ES 
Td Ig 
the plots where о this t :— These 
irrigated lands are ret out, in ee of about an acre or 
two, to the villagers. ‘An acre will e mploy three 
ts me allotment pays the 
rent. ay par ; but s unusual. 
Centi his sons (alw supposing him to ha 
them—Spanish gard md "Venen. ally do) work with 
him, s them h about seven or e 
be^ fixed mon 
di wages. 
The hours of labour are as follows :—Summer, 
sunrise to sunset, with two hours (12 фе: 2) for siesta, 
smoking, and b ; winter, L A.M. to 5 P.M., with 
one hour for e fo si llows :—Dried 
ried Me dried НЫ, with rice, an e- 
always red in 
be guaged by a few Боан sp 
bales of < of oe fish to be seen at all tim 
о! 
M Маш к аге ыс dee Nev 
ould you believ t from those dusty, little- 
PE, plots ou come all the — РЯ cac cm 
Melons that lie every street c The 
Melon grounds “ook. like an English pem f, or 
fallow field, with thin | ay A common 
on the mole 
of the other plants 
oft К time that the white 
o the time of plucking, 
elons 
grown 
hich i is the cheapest fruit in Spain, 
adn of 2 s thirsty masses. ае. Sandia weighs 
from 8 lb. to 25 lb., and is sold at 
Ts huge bulk, its SA sense IRE. 
dark-green rind, the rude way in which it is kicked 
about, would never lead you to пате that it is so 
j i as it is. Ever pai 
off 
that looks like a crimson rock 
u as 
me in 400 arrobas last year. 
d the exact amount of the tulia, It 
t of English 
ener’s exact 
ground epa ud 
where can I 
400 arrobas, weighing 10,000 lb., xS be estimated 
“ the ына of ees Leu per und, giving 
peaking, is equiva- 
lent to у 30 Spanis m calculation will 
give some, although bet =- LN iden of the import- 
ance of the о іп forming his idea 
of the wealth of ока JE irrigated ground, let my 
reader remember that Ar ur crops annually are raised 
upon the same plot ; that growing amid M 
or Pimiento о grounds uid the iz ch, the Fig, the 
Pomegranate, ond t 
Of the iis fit and perii some few words 
sh said presently under the heading of the fruit 
market, for my guide i ns only, 
we must go to his house with hi the 
ection, A cynical, so hat bitter-tongued man, 
yet warm-hearted and honest, is this Murcian t 
U the reckless Andaluz, asaving man. He 
holds, bricked up and white over in walls 
house, many a roll of gold onzas, b. i 
POOR IS bed haneli saved by di queepe | ка 
: sav y dint of clever 
ing and hard li The Andaluz spends 
his all on love, and and wine; the t of 
Murcia, La Mancha, and the Northern Provinces 
hoards all that he receives. 
He has but two p 
they upon his lips—the Lay mas amigo gue 
Dios, y un duro en ын dm E Ki os d one but God, 
and a dollar in you ket) ; “ La tierre 
el cielo Беа e S arr EN "(Hessen and earthare 
ween them wo de os 
m 
asks nor receives frien iip or friends, Not for him 
the Sensei wine shop, Ba its tinkling guitar, 
s loves the Т асу of home. Enter his Fae: 
call it not his; s 
rambling str et it is com 
house with the 
15 jor wed aui 
sed of one- reped 6 
sual ny apertures for windows, 
ЕД 
eeds protection against t 
interior of the house is ee ough ; it seems like 
a эм Melon в Poss: 
very lying in heaps the so 
thickly “that Е С сап ES thre my e 
hun undreds upon 
кае from the i are M melon, е 
rung even the oor! 
ape, 1 
spends two hours sorting out those which are growing 
too ripe to keep for the RE pe * t. These Melons 
will last until зен June e new season com 
mences My kindly host ber ‘his arms, called in 
his wife and Анч we sliced Melon after Melon until 
all had feasted. Nothing would stop his hospitality, 
** Eat, eat, eat ; the best hing in eat". T 
expressed my gratitude. ‘‘ You rve far more,” 
[11 
des 
My as анонса Pr the numbers of the fru 
they won't believe it in England, I'll write and tell 
them 
These ро NE deca offer a ага а shake- 
down. At2 "a morning you hear the watchman 
thundering at to he tw 
trice, loading a e tramping 
a 
day of sickness oe н. 
This last а rough den ant called old 
fashion" : (had he s read Charles Dickens 2а а pues 
which he accepts wi like so 
many of the Spanish poor, more or less "S a yc 
ess, however, he meets and ats with suc 
r 
ceopath, he is a stanch believer in 
of his native herbs. sketch o 
life beue. Ре Ъ 
this last 
around the “ 
ought are really of a closer study than 
they have hitherto received. erb doctor, man 
or woman, pres ; the сорок is made, faith, 
implicit faith, is added; the cure is wrought. For 
every half-dozen ne there is a Mgr p 
iq On n to me, who t read О 
possesses medical асноде The 
мт, practitioner, more enlightened than his 
lis y does not discoun this 
nglish brother, not onl tenance 
guerilla warfare are against the common foe, | but himself 
On the wh spin Mt prm 
n the whole, as regards his c 
? irrigated districts is а well- 
the rich, in a bee d wW. com 
i is the exception, and aee d: 
ividual bounty: 
character, he has little or none of the 
charming gracia of the Andaluz, yet he loves his 
music and his jokes; he is vastly 
truly a to his Church, accepting as law 
his padré's sentiments and dicta s | He has none of the 
natural cleverness of the uz, being, on the 
