HORTICULTURE IN EGYPT. 



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HORTICULTURE IN EGYPT. 

 By Lionel Sandars, F.R.H.S. 



Horticulture in modern times in Egypt may be said to date from the 

 early years of the nineteenth century, when H.H. Mohamed Ali sent his 

 gardener, a Belgian named Nicolas Bove, to Yemen and India to collect 

 a number of rare trees and shrubs for the Viceregal Gardens. Some of 

 these plants still exist, and may be seen in the Palace Garden at Shubra, 

 a suburb of Cairo. 



Then, in the beginning of 1836, the garden at the Island of Roda, 

 famous for its Nilometer and for the Arab tradition that it was there 

 that Moses was found by Pharaoh's daughter, was started by Ibrahim 

 Pasha, who had in his service a Scotchman named James Traill, sent out 

 by the Horticultural Society of London, now the R.H.S. According to 

 Delchevalerie — to whose pamphlet, entitled " Le Pare Public de l'Esbekieh 

 au Caire," I am indebted for much of the past history of gardening in 

 Egypt— such trees as Jacaranda mimoscefolia and Citharexylum quad- 

 rangulare, which are found everywhere, Mangifera indica, which does 

 well south of Cairo, Oreodoxa regia, Tectona grandis, and Dalbcrgia Sissoo 

 were first imported in the time of Ibrahim Pasha. 



The garden at Roda is still an interesting place, from the number of 

 trees that can be seen there and nowhere else in Egypt ; but the island 

 lies low, and has constantly been washed by the Nile flood, to the pre- 

 judice of many of the smaller shrubs and plants that were introduced by 

 Ibrahim Pasha. 



Ibrahim Pasha was succeeded by Abbas, who did little for horticul- 

 ture, and the Viceroy Said did even less, as he is said to have cut down 

 any trees or shrubs that were likely to interfere with the movements of 

 his troops. 



It was not until the visit of Ismail Pasha to the Paris Exhibition of 

 1867 that there was any revival in the interests of horticulture. The 

 Viceroy was much struck, not only by the architecture of the buildings 

 of Paris, but also by the gardens and fine avenues of trees that lined the 

 Boulevards, and he determined to beautify Cairo and make it as much 

 like Paris as possible. He therefore applied to the Prefet de la Seine, who 

 recommended the appointment of M. Delchevalerie. 



On Ismail Pasha's return to Cairo immense works were undertaken. 

 New streets were made, gardens were laid out, and roads were lined with 

 trees, the Albizzia Lebbeh being generally chosen. These trees were 

 collected from the villages of the Delta, and were brought to Cairo in 

 boats. Thousands of A Ibizzia Lebbeh were thus transplanted, and the 

 work continued for nearly ten years. The result can now be seen. 

 Visitors to the Pyramids drive under an avenue about eight miles long, 

 and not only the town itself but also the promenades outside Cairo have 

 trees on either side. 



Unfortunately the result has been somewhat spoilt by a desire to 



