Book I. 



GARDENING IN ITALY. 



23 



at Genoa, as does the paper narcissus (iV. orientalis) at Naples. In roses, jessamines, 

 oleanders, oranges, they also excel ; and also in most single flowers not natives of cold 

 climates. Sig. Villaresi, already mentioned, has raised from seeds of the Bengal rose 

 {Rosa indica), impregnated promiscuously with other roses, upwards of fifty distinct 

 varieties, many of which are of great beauty, and very fragrant. In general, flowers 

 and ornamental plants are most in demand, and cultivated to the greatest degree of 

 perfection in Lombardy, of which the flower-markets of Milan and Venice aiFord most 

 gratifying proofs. Many of the Chinese, New Holland, and some of the Cape trees 

 and shrubs, thrive well, and blossom luxuriantly in the open air in the warmer regions, 

 as in S. di Negro's garden, at Genoa, and those of Pisa and Caserta. Evelyn says, 

 he saw at Florence, in 1664, a rose grafted on an orange-tree ; the same tricks are still 

 passed off with the rose, jessamine, oleander, myrtle, &c. at Genoa, and even in some 

 parts of Lombardy. 



94. The taste for Jloxoers and plants of ornament is rather on the decline than otherivise in 

 Italy. Much depends on the taste of the princes in this as, in every other matter, and 

 unfortunately those of Italy are at present mere ciphers. The king of Naples knows 

 no pleasures but those of the table, the seraglio, and the chace. For the latter enjoy- 

 ment, the Pope has kindly given him a dispensation to hunt on Sundays. The Pope is 

 debarred from pleasure by his office ; the grand Duke of Tuscany has some taste for 

 plants, but more for a heavy purse ; his relation, the vice-king of Lombardy, is more a 

 priest than a prince ; though he has some fondness for succulent exotics, of the common 

 sorts of which, he has a large collection. The king of Sardinia is an old man, and a mere 

 king Dei gratia. 



SuBSECT. 3. Italian Gardening in respect to its Products for the Kitchen and the 



Dessert. 



95. The Italian fruits are nearly those of the Romans, to which they have made but few 

 additions, if we except the orange and the pine-apple. The orange is supposed to have 

 been introduced between the time of Pliny and Palladius ; it is the fruit in which they 

 excel, more fiom climate and soil than science. There are supposed to be nearly a hun- 

 dred varieties of this fruit in Italy ; but in the orange-nurseries at Nervi, it is not easy 

 to make out more than forty or fifty distinct sorts. These have mostly been obtained 

 from seeds. They have not the Mandarine orange, nor some varieties of shaddock (C. 

 decumana), which we possess. The most regular and systematic orange-orchards are at 

 Nervi ; and the largest trees around Naples, at Sorenta, Amalphi, &c. The more rare 

 sorts are kept in conservatories at Rome, and the largest house, and best collection, 

 is that of the Borghese. At Florence and Milan, all the sorts required to be housed 

 during winter, but at Hieres and Nice in France, and at Genoa and Nervi, they stand 

 the common winters in the open air. 



96. The stone fruits in which they excel are the peach and cherry. There are above twenty varieties of 

 peaches cultivated in the neighbourhood of Rome and Naples j and these fruits, grown on standard trees, 

 as apples and pears are in this country, arrive at a very high degree of perfection. They have few sorts of 

 apricots and nectarines, and not many plums ; but their Regina Claudia, or gages, are excellent. Cherries 

 are everywhere excellent in Italy, especially in Tuscany. The Milan or Morella cherry, is noted for its 

 prolific qualities, and for having a consistency and flavor somewhat resembling the Morchella esculcnta, or 

 morel. 



97. The chief berry of Italy is the grape : their varieties are not so numerous as in France or 

 Spain; and are, for the most part, the result of long growth on one soil and situation. Vineyard grapes 

 are indifierent to eat in most parts of Lombardy, and in the best districts are equalled if not excelled by 

 muscats, sweet-waters, muscadines, and other sorts grown in hot-houses in this country. The grape is, 

 the only berry that thrives in Italy. It is not kept low as in France; but elevated on trellises near 

 houses and in gardens (fig. 6.), and trained 



to long poles or trees in the fields. Collec- 

 tions of gooseberries from Lancashire have 

 been introduced at Leghorn, Genoa, and 

 Moiiza; and, grown in the shade, they thrive 

 moderately at the gardens of the latter 

 place. Tlie currant, the raspberry, and the 

 strawberry, tliough natives of the Alps 

 and Apennines, do not thrive in the gar- 

 dens, but are brought to market from the 

 woods ; and so is the black mulberry, which 

 is there cultivated for the leaves, as hardier 

 than the white, and which Sigismondiat 

 at one time considered as a fruit elsewhere 

 unknown. 



98. Kernel-fruits in general, especially 

 pears, are excellent in the north of Italy ; 

 Lut indifferent in the warmer regions. 

 Services in considerable variety abound in 

 Piedmont, and part of Lombardy. 



99. The pine-apple is cultivated in a few 

 places in Italy, but with little success, excepting at Florence and Milan. There are a few in the Royal 

 gardens at Portici, but v/eak, yellow-leaved, and covered with insects. The few grown in the Pope's 

 garden, and in one or two other villas near Rome, are little better. By far the best and greatest quantity 

 are in the vice-royal gardens of Monza. The last king of Sardinia sent his gardener, Brochicri, to England 



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