5i8 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 30, 1889. 



we are prepared to preserve them is the serious danger 

 the advocates of forest-preservation liave to encounter. 

 More real progress, however, has been made during the 

 past year than has been made before, and this fact is at 

 least hopeful. It now remains for the members of the 

 Forestry Association to put forth their best efforts and use 

 all their influence to carry out the work they have begun 

 so successfully. 



Holiday Notes in Southern France and Northern 

 Italy.— III. 



AFTER Turin, nothing of importance or of much interest 

 was noted until Vercelli was passed, where a long hedge 

 or two of Hibiscus Syriacus furnished lines of bright color as 

 the train passed along. In England this beautiful shrub flow- 

 ers too late in the season ; and generally before the blossoms 

 have had time to open fully, they are destroyed by the cold 

 and wet of late autumn. On the left, after crossing the Sesia, 

 the Alps come into view, the magnificent Monte Rosa group 

 being the most conspicuous. In the neighborhood of Magenta, 

 large tracts of low lands — under water for two months in the 

 year — are devoted to the cultivation of Rice, the cutting of which 

 had commenced the first week of September. The drier spots 

 — after the Rice district was passed — were planted with endless 

 rows of pollarded White Mulberries ; the importance of the 

 silk industry to this part of Italy being indicated by the vast ex- 

 tent of land covered by these plants. Between the rows Indian 

 Corn, and occasional Vines, were grown. In the region about 

 Brescia, beautifully situated at the foot of the Alps, Vines were 

 trained to climb tall trees, the long canes being festooned 

 from one stem to another, usually at a sufficient height above 

 the ground to allow of plowing underneath them. Various 

 trees were used as Vine-supports ; among them we noticed the 

 Walnut, Maple, White Mulberry and Manna Ash {Fraxinus 

 Orniis). Contrary to our expectations, we saw but few so-called 

 Lombardy Poplars in the plains of Lombardy. The White 

 Willow {Salix alba) and the Black Italian Poplar \Populus nigra) 

 were, however, very common. In a few barren looking places 

 — and these were by no means frequent in the fertile, well culti- 

 vated plains — a little color was afforded by a pretty pink flow- 

 ered Epilobium rosmarinifoliicm (a really pretty plant for the 

 herbaceous border), and one of the Evening Primrose? [CEno- 

 thera bien^iis). Giant plants of Hemp occurred as weeds here 

 and there in the fields of Maize, amongst which, too, pump- 

 kins of huge dimensions were conspicuous by reason of their 

 bright color. 



At Desegnano, at the south-west angle of the Lago di Garda, 

 the largest of the north Italian lakes, an admirable survey of 

 that beautiful stretch of water was obtained. A few miles 

 further, near San Martino delle Battaglie, on the right, is the 

 monument commemorating the battle of Solferino. Fine 

 groups of Cypresses {Ciipressus sempervirens), the form with 

 a compact, flame-shaped habit, surrounded the monument and 

 constituted a striking feature in the landscape ; the battle field 

 itself is some five miles away. Verona, next to Venice the 

 principal town in Venetia, is situated at the base of the Alps ; 

 Cypresses of large size, standing out clear against the sky on 

 tlie hill-sides, are the most striking objects in the landscape. At 

 Padua, close to the station, Photitiia Lindleyana has attained 

 tree-like dimensions, and must be a fine sight when in flower. 

 To the left the Tyrolese Alps are visible in the distance, and 

 the traveler is fully occupied with far-away views until Venice, 

 coming into sight, claims all his attention, with its dark blue 

 line of towers and churches rising from the sea. 



After consulting guide books as to the location of the Botanic 

 Garden and engaging a gondola, we passed through the Grand 

 Canal, by churches and palaces far too numerous to remem- 

 ber, and through narrow, dirty water-ways, and landed close to 

 the church of San Giobbe, adjoining which (Baedeker had in- 

 formed us) "is the entrance to the former Botanical Garden, 

 famed for its gigantic Cacti, and now a nursery garden." In- 

 stead of a nursery, however, we found a machine factory at 

 work, and although through the half opened door we could 

 see some of the old trees still standing, the doorkeeper refused 

 to allow us to enter the premises without permission from the 

 Direction. He informed us, however, that the Botanical 

 Garden had been removed to a spot near the Abbazia della 

 Misericordia, and so we again journeyed on — through the 

 Ghetto, by no means so squalid and unlovely a quarter as the 

 lower parts of many cities we have seen — by lonely, deserted 

 canals until we reached our destination. A ring at a door in a 

 Ijlank wall by one of the officious idlers who seem to swarm 

 everywhere in Venice, and we were admitted into what at first 



we refused to believe was the Botanic Garden. A small square 

 piece of land with a few fruit trees, a few annual and perennial 

 flowering plants, a few vines, gourds, etc., evidences of neglect 

 at every corner ; this was the spot we had spent so muchdme 

 and trouble to visit ! The only interesting objects were a huge 

 bush of Jasminicin grandijlorum in flower, planted out in an 

 open-sided conservatory, and a finely flowered example of 

 Ipoinwa pandiirata, here grown under the name of /. bulbosa. 

 The Jasmine is largely grown in Belgium asa winter flowering 

 pot-plant for the English and French markets. 



We saw singularly litfle vegetation on the walls skirdng the 

 numerous canals tiirough which we passed; the Pellitory 

 {Parieiaria officinalis), common throughout Europe, and the 

 Samphire {Crithmuni i/iaritii/iuni), the fleshy leaves of which 

 are made into the well-known pickled condiment, were the 

 most common. Here and there Campanula pyraniidalis was 

 conspicuous, with its somewhat strict panicles of handsome 

 blue flowers. None of the white flowered form was seen. 



The Giardino Reale, prettily situated on the edge of the 

 lagoon beyond the south end of the Grand Canal, can boast of 

 some fine trees. Among the best are large-leaved Privets 

 {Ligiistru?n lucidu/n), Paulouunia imperialis, Lagers trcvmia Iti- 

 dica — in flower at the time of our visit — Magnolia grandiflor a, 

 Deodar {Cedrus Deodar a), Kcelreitteria paniculata, with its 

 large, spreading, upright panicles of red, bladdery fruits, and 

 the Judas tree {Cercis Siliquaslrum). The turf was thin and 

 poor and the grass long and neglected, giving the whole place 

 an untidy aspect. 



The Giardini Pubblici are situated at the extreme south-east 

 of Venice, and are most expeditiously reached by small steam 

 launches, which run at frequent intervals from the grand 

 canal. They were laid out under Napoleon I. in 1807, on 

 space obtained by the demolition of several monasteries. 

 Here many trees and plants of interest were noted. From 

 Garibaldi's statue — on the base of which the Maidenhair 

 {Adiantum Capillus-veneris) was growing, apparently self- 

 sown — runs an avenue of Locusts of a curious form. The 

 terminal leaflets on these trees were much developed at the 

 expense of the lateral ones, which were most frequently alto- 

 gether suppressed. This tree, smaller than the type, is com- 

 mon in European nurseries under the name of Robinia niotto- 

 phylla. In the shrubberies on each side of this avenue are 

 huge bushes or small trees of Ligustrum lucidum — one of 

 the most valuable evergreens in southern Europe — Photi- 

 nia serrulata and Euonymus J aponic^cs — green-leaved, golden 

 and silver variegated forms, all fruiting freely. The Paper 

 Mulberry {Broussoneiia papyri/era) here attains a large size. 

 In open spots were splendid bushes of Oleander {Nerium 

 Oleander) in full flower, masses of the brilliant scarlet Salvia 

 splendens, the gorgeously colored Amaranthjcs tricolor, about 

 nine feet in height, Canna Ehenianni in fine flower, and a 

 glorious mass of Ipomoea Quamoclit. Roses, with a crop of 

 funnel-like pieces of zinc (fastened round the shoots) filled 

 with soil and covered with moss to retain the moisture, had 

 a strange appearance. This clumsy mediod of propagation 

 we saw practiced in many places during our wanderings. 

 Results must have been equally good and the labor involved 

 in watering not nearly so great had the bushes been layered 

 in the ground (the layering done in plunged pots if desired), 

 after the common English plan. Sophora. Japonica, a tree 

 perfectly hardy and free flowering in England, was .conspicu- 

 ous by reason of its long, constricted, bead-like pods ; in Great 

 Britain our summers are neither hot enough nor long enough 

 to allow of its fruiting. Buddleia Lindleyana, a graceful and 

 pretty shrub, is here quite at home ; in England it is killed in 

 most places every few years unless grown ag^ainst a wall in a 

 sheltered spot. A group of Pines, with Wistaria Sinensis 

 climbing among the branches high above the ground, 

 looked picturesque, the light green of the climber contrast- 

 ing markedly with the dark green of the Pine needles. Pitto- 

 sporuni tobira, a Chinese plant with'very fragrantwhite flowers, 

 grows as freely here as does the Cherry Laurel in England, 

 and the commonly cultivated green-house plant, Habrothani- 

 niis elegans, produces its red-purple panicles in great profusion 

 as a shrubbery plant in the sunny south. A few very fine 

 Libocedrus decurrens, Melia Azedarach, Albizzia Julibrissin, 

 Eriobotrya Japonica, groups of Celtis australis — the Micou- 

 coulier of the Provencal poets — a massive belt of Ruscus 

 hypophylliim, larger than we ever saw it in England, nearly 

 complete the list of trees and shrubs which we saw in this 

 place. The general condition of the park was hardly satis- 

 factory ; each shrub or tree was allowed to struggle for light 

 and air unheeded, and strong growing trees, such as Poplars 

 — altogether out of place in restricted areas — were killing 

 really good plants. No thinning or pruning seemed to be 



