THE VEGETATION OF THE ISLAND OF ST. LEGER. 



51i 



vegetables, some cauliflowers (Neapolitan early giants) with heads 

 nearly 1 foot across; the texture of these was somewhat loose at first, 

 but became firmer the next summer, when I astonished my people 

 with some grand demi-dur de Paris also. As to the earhest potatos, 

 we had never tasted better than the ' Marjolin ' produced in this light 

 sandy soil. It is, of course, no use to investigate the cost of these 

 " tours de force," as my object at that time was only to demonstrate 

 that, with a little patience and some good will, vegetables could be 

 grown even in pure sand. 



The immense quantity of grubs and maggots found in this sand 

 made my task, notwithstanding all the different remedies used, most 

 difficult, until I left all these pests to the tender mercy of some 

 tortoises, brought over from Kew (and afterwards found to have 

 been taken there from here!), where I happened to see them roaming 

 about in a similarly infested ground, and since these gentle little 

 animals have taken possession of the place the roots of the plants have 

 ceased to be damaged. These tortoises are, besides, wonderful fighters, 

 and I wonder whether they generally possess this quality : they bang 

 their respective shells against one another in such a frantic way as 

 to make the sound of it reach from one end of the kitchen garden to 

 the other. 



All round the northern side of the island a garland of weeping 

 willows encircles the deciduous trees, and the light yellow foliage, 

 appearing before any other in the early spring, lightens up the whole 

 passage for nearly a fortnight. 



Many tall and straight poplars and maples come up wild, and 

 grow near the water's edge along this northern side, and all these 

 deciduous trees finish up with the veteran of the island, a huge lime- 

 tree, the age of which nobody can tell, as everybody has always seen it 

 towering above the island. Only, when I entered into possession of 

 the islands, this colossal tree was nearly bare up to three-quarters of 

 its height and even had a somewhat meagre top, so that I decided to 

 plant some quick-growing plants around it to hide the bare trunk. But 

 no trees, except a Cupre'ssus torulosa, could hold their own close to it, 

 whereas the lime-tree itself expanded in breadth, and is now not only 

 covered with lateral branches extending to the ground, but even sweeps 

 it. 



On this same side, and about half-way between the lime-tree and 

 the principal house, a beautiful group of Cupressus torulosa extends as 

 far as the very edge of the water; these have reached a height of 

 50 feet with a diameter of 18 inches, and beyond these, higher up and 

 facing south, a couple of Gingho hiloba expand their widespreading 

 branches and fan-like leaves, turning bright yellow in autumn; and 

 close to these again, a group of four of the grey-leafed Cupressus 

 pisifera var. squarrosa break the monotony of the dark green of the 

 torulosa behind them. In front of these several other Eetinosporas 

 Mow the curve of the walk leading to the greenhouse, finishing up with 



