March 5, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



1 1 1 



colonists of Rome had luxuriated before them. Here in the 

 eighth century the new race of garden-lovers found the relics 

 of many pleasure-grounds and utilized for their rehabilitation 

 the huge aqueducts and tanks that had been built by Phoeni- 

 cian and patched by Roman hands — works that even to-day 

 exist, although now amid wholly desert surroundings. 



On the little island of Mascali, off the coast of Catania, lay a 

 Saracenic garden often visited by the Crusaders, and described 

 with the enthusiasm of men fresh from the rude, inhospitable 

 north. The garden called "Zisa," which the Saracens laid 

 out near Palermo, in Sicily, excited admiration even in the 

 sixteenth century. It had a great central building with colon- 

 nades and pavilions surrounding a marble basin ; another 

 larger piece of water encircling a kiosk with a gilt cupola and 

 rich stucco and mosaic decorations ; and walks canopied 

 with trellises leading to a park two miles in circumference, 

 which was probably a preserve for curious animals. The 

 garden of the "Moorish palace " of Navello, near Salerno, 

 still shows remains of terraces and plantations which " delight 

 the eve of the connoisseur." II 



New'York City. M. G. Van Rensselaer. 



Holiday Notes in Southern France and Northern 

 Italy.— XII. 



ANTIBES, the Antipolis of the ancient Greeks, is a small, 

 lively seaport of about 6,000 inhabitants, beautifully sit- 

 uated on a promontory commanding magnificent views of the 

 Mediterranean and the Alpes Maritimes. The only relics of 

 antiquity it can now boast are a couple of towers ; these, how- 

 ever, as well as the strong fortifications built by Vauban, we 

 pass over without remark, for the real object of our pilgrimage 

 to Antibes was to visit the famous gardens of the Villa Thurct, 

 so ably managed by M. Naudin. After the death of M. 

 Thuret, the late proprietor, the gardens became the property 

 of the French nation, and they are now used for experiments 

 in the open-air cultivation of tropical and sub-tropical plants. 

 M. Naudin has made a special study of the species of 

 Eucalyptus which are now grown in such large numbers in 

 the Mediterranean region, and, as far as Europe is concerned, 

 he is the authority for this large, difficult and very variable 

 genus. 



The Villa itself is clothed with such creepers as Bougain- 

 villca, Tecoma and other showy plants which in England we 

 have to cultivate in a warm house ; behind it is a fine grove of 

 Stone Pines. An entire number of Garden and Forest 

 would not more than provide space for a catalogue of all the 

 remarkable plants at Antibes, and but a very small proportion 

 can therefore be enumerated now. Palms are well represented 

 by remarkably fine examples. The finest specimen of Jubaa 

 spcclabilis we had ever seen lias a huge trunk about two yards 

 through at the base. Sabal Blackbumiana — of which there is 

 a grand plant in the Palm-stove at Kew — is here in excellent 

 health, as is also S. Havanensis and some other species. 

 Livistona australis and Cocos australis, the latter bearing a 

 plentiful crop of fruit, are also especially worthy of mention. 



Erigeron mucronatum — or, as it used to be called in English 

 gardens, Vittadenia trilobata — made a very neat and pretty 

 border along some of the walks. In sunny open spots 

 Mesembryanthemums were very effectively used in a similar 

 way, among them the large yellow-flowered M. edulc — the Hot- . 

 ten tot Fig of the Cape of Good Hope. 



Many remarkable conifers are to be seen at Antibes. Here 

 for the first time we had the pleasure of meeting with the 

 Chinese Weeping Cypress, Cupressus fnnebris, in its adult con- 

 dition, exactly similar in appearance to the species as figured 

 by Fortune in his "Travels." In Britain — at any rate, in the 

 neighborhood of London — this interesting plant, though grow- 

 ing freely enough for a time, gets injured badly by frost or 

 killed outright every ten or a dozen years. Side by side with 

 the Cedar of Lebanon, the Deodar, Abies Pinsapo, etc., which 

 thrive so well Avith us, such sub-tropical species as Finns 

 Canariensis — here a large, handsome tree with rich red bark, 

 the Mexican Cypress, C. Benthamiana — a fine tree with spray 

 of the richest green, C. pendula glanca — a species with very 

 glaucous leaves, said to be of Indian origin, the Bunya-Bunya 

 Pine of Queensland — /Irattcaria Bidwilli — were noted in lux- 

 uriant health' and beauty. Abies Cilicica, too, which can hardly 

 be made to exist in the open at Kew, is, at Antibes, a hand- 

 some pyramidal tree. 



Succulents are largely grown, and all the species previously 

 mentioned in former chapters of my holiday notes, together 

 with many others, are to be seen in the Jardin Thuret." Bes- 



II Jaeger: " Gartenkunst und Gaerten." 



chomeria ynccoides — or, at any rate, a plant so named ; for it 

 differs frcom the Kew specimens in being distinctly filamentose 

 — has a stem seven or eight feet in height, surmounted by a 

 crown of huge leaves. One of the finest of all the Yuccas, the 

 Mexican Y. filifera — so well figured in Garden and Forest, 

 vol. i., page 78 — formed a conspicuous feature on one of the 

 lawns ; a group of five huge stems, some fifteen feet in 

 height, produced a fine effect. 



A Mexican Berberis, B. trifoliala, with its dense growth and 

 rigid spiny leaves, is one of the most conspicuous of the 

 dwarf shrubs. A thorough contrast to this is the Eastern 

 Australian Citriobatns multijlorus, with its small, round, deep 

 green leaves and spines (abortive branches) twice as long as 

 the foliage ; this peculiar member of the Pittosporum family 

 forms an excellent fence. 



Away from the Villa Thuret, toward the end of the prom- 

 ontory, the Lentisk, Myrtle, Smilax and other indigenous plants, 

 witli here and there various Mesembryanthemums, etc., which 

 have become naturalized, thrive in wild luxuriance among the 

 rocks facing the sea, where in times of storm they are dashed 

 with salt spray. Geo. Nicholson. 



Kew. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



A M event of very great importance to English horticulture 

 -^*- is the decision of the Royal Horticultural Society to build 

 for itself in a central position in London an exhibition hall, 

 offices and library. The sum of ^40,000 is to be raised in a 

 manner both novel and commendable — i. e., the fellows of the 

 Society and their friends are to lend the money, which is to be 

 invested by trustees partly in first-class securities yielding 

 three and a half per cent, interest, which will be required 

 to pay ground rent, and partly in the new buildings. About 

 _£3,ooo was promised at the general meeting on Tuesday last. 

 The money is to be repaid without interest by the annual 

 redemption of bonds. 



This scheme was unfolded to the fellows by Baron Schroeder, 

 a most liberal patron of horticulture, a mdmber of the Council 

 of the Horticultural Society, and one of the most successful 

 bankers in London. The interest and zeal of the Baron in 

 this business are looked upon as being an assurance of its 

 success. In his speech the Baron commented on the verv 

 marked development in the last year or so of a taste for 

 gardening and flowers among the business men of England 

 and especially of London. The Society has only to place itself 

 at the service of these thousands of recruits to horticulture to 

 secure their fellowship and support. The Royal Agricultural 

 Society numbers about 10,000 fellows and spends thousands of 

 pounds annually in the promotion of agriculture in England. 

 Horticulture, which is almost as important an industry as 

 agriculture, is in need of the same unity .and assistance, and 

 the Royal Horticultural Society is the body on which the work 

 of organization to this end naturally devolves. At present 

 English horticulture is almost a house divided against itself. 

 In no country in the world is horticulture of so much import- 

 ance as in England, and yet until now nothing has been done 

 to collect its forces and unite its followers under one banner. 

 Baron Schroeder's scheme is a great step toward a remedy for 

 this state of things. In a lew years we shall wonder how the 

 present want of a home and head for gardening and its fol- 

 lowers was tolerated so long. 



The plants shown last Tuesday included some interesting 

 novelties. Large groups of Lenten Lilies (Hellebores) in 

 variety, some poor, some exceptionally good ; of Persian 

 Cyclamens, early Daffodils and other herbaceous plants, were 

 sent by various nurserymen. Messrs. Lee, of Hammersmith, 

 once famous for Australian plants, now chiefly for hardy trees 

 and shrubs, exhibited a tastefully arranged group of orna- 

 mental-leaved and bright-berried shrubs, such as could be 

 employed for the embellishment of the out-door garden in 

 winter. Aucubas, rich in berries and color, skmdard Ivies, 

 Laurustinus, Osmanthus, Pernettyas, many kinds of conifers, 

 Euonymus, etc., all remarkable either for variegation or ele- 

 gance of habit — these were arranged in a sort of parterre 

 garden. A very elegant Yucca, perfectly hardy and as grace- 

 ful as aCordyline, was represented by many beautiful examples. 

 It is called Y. plicata, apparently a garden name. This plant 

 is certain to prove of great value in countries where the 

 Australian Cordylines cannot be grown out-of-doors, as it is 

 an excellent substitute for them and as easy to manage as any 

 garden Yucca. Of the plants known to me it is most like 

 Y. Peacockii, a supposed Mexican species, described by Mr. 

 Baker about ten years ago. 



