352 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [November 2, 189 1. 
the light friable limestone of the island, which is so 
soft that it can be readily sawed into blocks. Even 
the roofs are made of thin stone plates, and the whole 
building is whitewashed till it glitters. In spite of this 
shining color the houses have no staring or obtrusive 
effect, but being substantial and low they only serve 
to deepen the color of green about them, making 
the landscape more cheerful and investing it with a 
more home-like and human interest. 
Once on the land, the roads are among the first objects 
to invite attention. Very few level acres can be found 
on the islands, but these old highways adjust them- 
selves most graciously to the contour of the hills 
and the curving of the shores, winding in and out 
apparently without purpose or direction. But in so 
small an area there is little need of railway 
directness, and one is glad to lose a little time in 
travel where there is so much of it in a day. At 
every turn there is a changing prospect, a new ar- 
rangement of sea and shore, of cliff and dell, of Lily- 
fields and Oleander-hedges. Broken pieces of the 
soft stone spread upon the road-bed at once pack 
into a smooth surface over which a wheel delights 
to roll, and its gray tone blends most happily witli 
the prevailing colors of the landscape. And then the 
fences, which generally are objects whose ugliness 
needs some excuse, are here a positive ornament. 
They are walls constructed of the same sawed-stone 
blocks and cement which are used in all the island 
architecture, and they would stand for a century here, 
where there is no forest to heave them, unless they^ 
shoiTld chance to be crowded over by the roots of 
some pushing tree. They seem to have been built 
along the roads generations ago when slave-labor was 
abundant, standing everywhere square and firm— now 
as parapets along the brow of some cliff whose base 
is beaten by the sea, and again as retaining walls 
against the face of some cutting— usually bare, gray 
and honey-combed with age, but often draped and 
garlanded with Maurandy and other vines, or over- 
hung by huge masses of Cactus. They are always 
picturesque, and, like all solid, hoary and weather- 
beaten structures, are agreeably suggestive of an- 
tiquity. These, then, are the leading features of 
the landscape which are permanent: a narrow 
stretch of land, with a rolling and often a rugged 
surface; bold shores Kirrounded by a sea of an un- 
speakable blue; open fields with scant, coarse grass, 
which leaves them rather brown than green ; forests 
of Cedar with blue-gray foliage ; snow-white cottages 
and a web of roads in a close net-work, uniting with 
each other at every conceivable curve and angle. 
Over all hangs a translucent atmosphere which dims 
the distance, mellows the outline of objects nearer 
by, and softens away the glare of every intense 
color. Very beautiful and impressive are the shift- 
ing combinations of tliese simple elements under 
such a sky. 
The efforts of the Bermudians m the past to im- 
prove the scenery by planting do not seem to have 
been as successful as one could wish. So many 
treasures for gardens in such a climate conld be 
found by searching that one marvels at the scanty 
catalogue of materials used in the most elaborate 
places, and yet the gardens are by no means devoid 
of interest or beauty. Just now the most con- 
spicuous of plants is the Oleander, which grows and 
spreads with such persistence that many of the is- 
landers count it a nuisance. To a stranger, however, 
there arc few more attractive objects than the great 
mass which ultimately forms from a single parent stem 
in rich soil. These are often twenty feet high, with 
branches arching to the ground in a circle whose 
diamter more than equals the height— green mounds 
starred all over witli bright flowers which range from 
pure white through shades of pink to almost crim- 
son in some cases. All that is needed to start an 
Olcandcr-hcdgc is to place a row of cuttings in the 
ground, and one often sees a broad belt ol these 
plants cxtcndi]ig entirely around the boundary of some 
estate. Tbc ( ))im;He llibisciis is, perhaps, next to 
the Oleander in abundance, and it seems equally 
luxuriant. In many places these plants are sliearcd 
into formal hedges, and the great flowers open on 
the Hmoolli face of lliis vordurous walls as freely as 
on the plants which are left to develop into fair-sized 
trees. 'J'ccovia Capcrids is another plant which is 
largely used in hedges, and, just now, it is brilliant with 
orange-colored flowers, while 'J', slaii:-., one of the most 
beautiful of yellow flowering shrubs or .small trees, is 
at the height of its bloom. The Tamarisk, here as 
elsewhere, shows its sturdiness against the salt-laden 
gales of the sea-coast, and has been planted very 
largely and with good judgment in expo.sed places 
on the shore. The gr'Ogeous blooms of Poincia/iii 
rri/ia had not yet appeared, but its relative, /'. j>ul- 
clicniiiia, y^&ii growing and blooming everywhere. Oc- 
casionally fine masses of Bamboo are seen, and these, 
with the native Palmetto (Sahal JjlachlmniiauaJ, the 
over-present Banana, and some of the hardier Palms, 
are the most distinctly tropical features of the scen- 
ery, although the Poinsettias, Pomegranates, Bignouias 
(especially L'. peiitajihi/lla, known here as the White 
Cedar) the so-called Sand-plant, Jiri/tlniua spccioM, 
with brilliant scarlet flowers on bare branches, and 
large specimens of the India Rubber- ti ee wear a strange 
look to northen eyes. Of course, this is not meant 
to serve as a complete list of the garden plants of 
the island, but only to recall those which were suffi- 
ciently conspicuous at this season to impress a casual 
visitor. Space would fail to mention the striking 
individual plants, like the two fine "Gru-Gru" Palms 
(Ay.tiocariiuiii aureuin) at Mount Langton, but "Roses 
ought not to be omitted, for, although our hardier 
kinds do not flourish here, those with some blood of 
the Teas or other tender strains, like Lainarque, for 
example, were bearing fine flowers in profusion. In 
the Governor's grounds a superb specimen of l!osa 
hractcata sliowed that the soil and climate were well 
adapted to Uiis beautiful species. 
How readily some plants will become natru-alized 
when they find favorable conditions is shown by the 
case of one of the Jessamines (J. (jrucile) which was 
brought to the islands in 1840. It soon escaped from 
cultivation, and now it is clambering over the rocks 
and making an almost impenetrable tangle in the 
woods of a broken region near the famous Walsing- 
ham tract. It is a delightful vine with glossy and 
fragrant white flowers, and it seems strange that more 
general use has not been made of it. It would make 
a charming addition to the landscape if allo'wed to 
clamber over the walls along tlie highways. Oc- 
casionally one sees a European Elder, which grows 
here with great vigor, and is ah\a3's a beautiful tree. 
The islanders seem to have caught the Eirropean 
habit of setting it close to the sides of their houses, 
and it shows to great advantage against their walls. 
This masking of the house-foundations with shrub- 
bery, however, is no more generally practiced than 
it is in the United States, but these stone houses 
would seem to offer excellent opportunities for making 
such connections with the earth. By one cottage 
along the road which winds aljout the north shore 
stands a pair of Agaves close to the front wall, one 
on either side of the entrance of a narrow loggia, 
and the sharp stiff leaves against the white stone 
produce an effect that no oire who drives by them 
will forget. 
All the world kirows how extensively the bulbs of 
the great Easter Lily are cultivated here, and the 
more beautiful old Ascension Lily, //. caiididam, flour- 
ishes equally well, while Hippeastru-as (Amaryllis) 
and Freesias grow like weeds. At many seasons the 
fields are brighter than the gardens, but Bermuda is 
a land of flowers at all times. Our northern states 
in late May are so attractive that one hesitates about 
leaving them even for a sliort absence. Bat when 
a few hours can land us amid the vegetation of the 
tropics, under a new sky and encircled by a strange 
sea, the change will prove a pleasing one, and the 
return will bring a keener appreciation of the rare 
loveliness of our northern spring. 
New xork. S. 
Carbonate ov Coppku may be made by dissolving 
1 lb. of copper sulphate in 2 gallons of water, and 
IJ lb. of soda carbonate in half a gallon of water ; 
mix tlie two solutions; a brownish powder will be 
precipitated; the water should be poured off from the 
precipitate, wliich is the copper carbonate. — 
Uunlciiciii' Clivo'iucle, 
