i 
gardens, sets ing the grey and wad plain with their 
ia = a rk gr = 2 s py - - 
38 THE 
GARDENERS CHRONICLE. 
threads, The sporidia are almond-shaped, black, with 
a hyaline tip at the lower end. I have not yet been 
able ry identify this with any published species; and 
should it be new it is proposed to call it S. carbonaria. 
THE FRUITS OF PERSIA. 
PERSIA, if we may give credence to ancient authors, 
was at one time the most fruitful portion of the earth’s 
ace, is sPowing : Signs of the earliest efforts at cultiva- 
tion made by the human race, From Xenophon we 
learn ot the Pein kings ere especial pleasure 
soil Feat Auat. iem valle us se Lala he 
found the Persian monarch in his garden at Sardis, 
and lus, w: 
its luxuriant Fe ero which enabled it to support 
a population of fifteen hundred Palace besides the 
once ealebratied city of Pe 
e picture, has, however, greatly changed, for 
with the exception of the provinces bordering alon ng 
the esy n that are noted for their fertility ama at 
the present day, the general feature is that 
dreary Jacas, intersected with huge chains of a 
mo pots of green at long i piersais 
where water is to be found. Ac ccording to r- 
dict of modern aaveen iere i is nothing wholes to 
nery of Europe—no green 
ns of eras slope no rks o s 
A 
ee 
PE 
a. 
> 
A 
towns and are few and far between, consisting 
mostly of heaps of dismal ruins, enclosing and nearly 
concealing the habitable portions. No fine build- 
re 
the country are tracks, the Ties ee barala 
comfi e the peopl ivil to 
strangers, but not to be trusted or believed in th 
least cular. The to be seen are in the 
i or on the banks of streams, where 
uon of villagi 
ey are planted for the purpose of aftording the little 
timber used in building. But the contrast which these 
the sea 
eee sro fruit of his labours, 
is such that the cultivator ther, and in 
His | after 
with the cultivation of the soil must stg erste be in 
No impro 
the most deplorable state possible. 
ment 
o 
bandry are of the rudest and most primitive construc- 
tion. Such, however, is the fertility of the land 
that, despite n want of skill and attention on the 
an 
This is, pire 
ample. 
the great business of the Persian cultivator, and o 
that he well understands, it having been practised 
from the remotest antiquity ; the most barr n ground 
when phen with a plentiful supply of the ane 
tfu 
element, being productive yh ig 
al 
with a 
most miraculous, It has vith i tèmatited ‘that 
: / but 
gold. 
water is 
watercourse, or anat, is an art ificial channel, by 
which water is conveyed underground fro 
spring, perhaps miles eae? to the plain 
a remote 
n or fields to 
upon the surface, and the 
rrigated, 
arater| is distributed i iwa vtveninss ne ground, Rigen 
To on 
in all directions required. 
ree rses the peasants search fe 
these 
spri Mei and 
ach the wat 
ring 
which may be distant only a few a yards, but 
e 
at advantage 
ieee oo ph aoe A iat a 
it is not kiapo e heat of the 
sun. anats, ked by the long line of well- 
untry, 
useless, dry, and ‘choked up, bearing ea of 
former prosperity and present neglect and ru 
The greatest part of the land is the popty of the 
State, and is farmed out to cultivators on the follow- 
ing terms: the ghee bears the expense of 
watering and manuring the soil, and furnishes seed 
corn to the coltivato who has nothing to provide 
which is fa armed for a rent in meid man 
Manure is very rarely applied to corn land; near 
cities the Melon, Cucumber, and vegetable Gourds 
enriched with from the soil the cara 
manure 
and in the neighbourhood of Ispahan pig 
senik, 
dung is agtt Menon in the cultivation of the <n 
The aes ed by means of 
which ar = shines in the fields and 
= Bonica 
towers, slightl y taj upwards, with sev: 
pointed dome: 
washed and painted with fanciful cornices and all 
manner of strange devices, proce cing a quaint and 
picturesque effect. 
pu 
colour, like our common 
oe trance for man into the p plgton tower'is'a dour nese 
einernie Dente part of 
mm ea of incubation, and [when 
found filled with 
on is 
of se 
These towers are designe 
myr ` € s in 
prepared for them. "They are all of a slaty a 
wood- The 
d for the 
deities 
nly 
soil, and sometimes a little re ee is sprinkled s 
the beds, but this custom 
r. 
n process of time become Melons. Two or i 2 
dodid be left on each plant to ripen, and the of 
plucked off and thrown away. 4 
presents not only to the cities of the interior, but ¢ e 
to Bagdad and the holy places of Kerbeh and N, 
in Arabia. The Quince E another fruit for 
Ispahan is noted, where i 
w rage e ounde 
peanti p and refined sugar, Jike he un 
crust of a bridecake. i 
ean 
each other in di Metr pi ‘the comnts 
out in parterres planted with, Orange, Pome 
and other fruit trees, ats divided by straight 
lined with rows of the Cires and Chenar. 
(To be continued), 
ON ABSORPTION OF AMY J) 
PROM THE AIR BY PLANT. 
generally agreed that the ammonia 
in ie atmosphere may be Sg! “absorbed 
mri of plants, and serv 
t is p 
em. 
server, M. _Schloesing, has recently attem 
verify experimentally. His results, which are 
instructive nature, are communicated to the Comp 
aes for June 15. 
of se co 
