338 JOURNEY SOUTH. 



showed no sign of lite ^•et. It was awaiting the moment, 

 fixed b^' long heredity-, when it should reawaken to life 

 and activitw It was different in the north ; there the 

 lo\A' temperature of winter had affected the plants and 

 induced them to sprout earh'. For frost sets up chemical 

 processes in the plant which stimulate this activit^■, It 

 is this which in the North is onh' too otten the cause 

 of the premature sprouting of our plants, after which 

 late frosts or snow-falls destroy- the shoots and buds 

 which had been so carefulh' protected through the winter 

 b\' their bud-scales. Kxperiments prove that certain 

 chemical stimulants have the same effect on plants as 

 trost. The Danish botanist, W. Johannscn, demonstrated 

 this in the case of ether vapour, and man\- market 

 gardeners are now apphing the process to fruit growing. 

 The plants are subjected to the ether vapour in special 

 boxes for about 4iS hours. In inan\- cases, especialh' 

 with the Elder, the most surprising results are obtained. 



As in the plain of Lombard\', so at (ienoa, the 

 deciduous trees were all bare, and not until we reached 

 Nervi was I able to forget the winter and rejoice that 

 I had decided to travel southward. 



It -was late in the evening when I arri\'ed at Xervi. 

 The surrounding objects could no longer be distinguished, 

 but the silhouettes of the Palms against the star-lit sk\', 

 and the perfumes which were «-afted to us in the carriage, 

 proved that \\'e had been suddenh' transported into a 

 different climate. 



Golden sunbeaius streaming into the room through 

 the openings in the shutters awoke me next morning 



