1914. 
THE RURAL NEW-YOKKEK 
633 
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Among Gardens Along the Riviera 
The Home of the Flowers 
:: By Prof. Charles S. Plumb :: 
There is a rather narrow strip of land 
that for over 300 miles borders the 
Mediterranean Sea along the coasts of 
Italy and France. This is commonly 
known as the Riviera, with the Gulf of 
Genoa the central part. All along this 
coast rugged mountains prevail, with but 
a narrow strip of level land at best, be¬ 
tween foot hills and shore. These moun¬ 
tains rise by degrees into the high crests 
of the Maritime Alps but few miles back 
from the sea. The Winter months along 
this shore are milder and more sunny 
than elsewhere in Europe, because the 
high snow-covered mountains keep back 
the cold winds. For many years this has 
been a famous Winter resort, so that to¬ 
day one finds a continuous line of towns 
and cities touching elbows along much of 
this coast. Through this region Roman 
legions built roads and found their way 
en route to Britain, and centuries after, 
Napoleon in their trail, constructed along 
the steep mountain sides overlooking this 
beautiful, many-colored sea. some of the 
finest roads in the world. Each Winter 
hundreds of thousands of visitors come 
to this balmy region from all over the 
world, seeking rest and a mild, almost 
frost-free Winter. 
This Riviera has an interesting vegeta¬ 
tion. Of good soil, one sees but little. 
Sometimes almost treeless mountains 
come abruptly to the sea. as along by 
Monte Carlo and Nice. Yet there are 
many valleys and narrow river bottoms 
where the soil is very good. On the 
mountainsides where the sun’s rays pene¬ 
trate, up to not too chill an elevation, 
olive orchards prevail to a great extent. 
In fact until comparatively recent years, 
the farmers along this coast looked to 
the olive as about the only source of in¬ 
come. A very common sight is a little 
stone village perched on the mountain¬ 
side or top. with extensive olive orchards 
all about. These villages are built very 
compactly, the houses joined together, 
forming a resisting wall on the exterior 
of the town, with narrow, dark, unsani¬ 
tary streets within. Were you to walk 
through one of these villages so common 
along here, you could think of nothing 
but the times of the middle ages. Here 
these farmers located, probably largely 
for protection from the Saracens or from 
the pirates of the sea. Each town was 
in fact almost a fortress upon a hill. 
But this land of sunshine and mellow 
Winter days was found suited to other 
crops than the olive. The palm has for 
centuries grown to perfection along the 
lower sheltered spots, and its picturesque 
leaves are seen in tropical style along 
much of the shore. Here at Bordighera, 
where a cape juts a bit into the sea, palm 
culture is a business, and it is said that 
50.000 trees alone are found in this town 
of 4.000 population. Each year Rome 
receives from this place large numbers 
of palm leaves for Palin Sunday proces¬ 
sion, while they also find a market in 
other parts of Europe for the Jewish 
celebrations. Modern civilization how¬ 
ever, has worked a wonderful change 
here, as seen in the character of the land¬ 
scape and in the habits of an army of 
people who but a few years ago looked to 
the olive for their annual income. Now 
ilowers grow in wonderful profusion, and 
about every residence, in enclosed gar¬ 
dens, one soes a great variety of plants, 
producing a wide range of color and 
growing in great luxuriance. Palms, or¬ 
anges. lemons, great century plants here 
and there with lofty flower stalk in 
bloom, geraniums, pansies, roses of all 
kinds, carnations, gilliflowers, beautiful 
feathery mimosas, attract the eye. Here 
in this region of rocky hillsides, stone 
walls are features on every side, and over 
these trail vines that in season are rich 
in bloom, a luxuriance of growth un¬ 
known elsewhere. One sees these vines 
covering walls with glorious effect. Along 
the country road not far from where I 
write, is a wall nearly 30 feet high, 
where now for two months geraniums 
richly dotted with pink bloom have hung 
in heavy festoons more than half way to 
the roadside. 
Yet the real great change that is tak¬ 
ing place along this Mediterranean shore 
is the production of flowers, commercial¬ 
ly, to supply the needs of the European 
market. The poor farmer along this 
coast found that the tourist was glad to 
buy his flowers, and so the garden became 
a source of income. Then he must meet 
more special needs, and the demand came 
for flowers of a kind and in quantity. Not 
only was the demand a local one, but it 
came from without. Shipments were 
made to points at a distance, and the 
business grew, until finally the owner of 
olive orchard began to destroy the source 
of this income, and replace it with one 
from flowers. And so right now a great 
transformation is taking place here. Al¬ 
ready thousands of acres of olive or¬ 
chards have been cut down, the land has 
been terraced, and behind the stone walls 
which hold back the little gardens of 
precious soil, will be seen rows of plants 
grown for flowers only. One may go out 
in any direction along the mountainsides 
and see the work of destruction and con¬ 
struction in progress. Great cement 
water tanks from 15 to 25 feet in 
diameter dot the hillsides, to furnish 
water for irrigation. While the rose and 
the carnation are the principal flowers 
grown, one sees some others, including 
gilliflowers, mimosas, violets, Anemones, 
hyacinths, etc. Here and there, where a 
few years ago only the olive groves could 
be seen, now one finds the land terraced 
to the summits, little cottages dotting the 
landscape, and the gardens dotted with 
men and women busily at work. These 
are an industrious people, as can easily 
be seen when one considers the condi¬ 
tions under which they live. They are 
owners of small pieces of land, and this 
more frequently than not is far from the 
highway, and is available by mule path 
only. In fact many of these little vil¬ 
lages have no artery of commerce ex¬ 
cepting a narrow mule or donkey path up 
the mountainside. As one goes about 
here, he finds the donkey or mule a vital 
factor in their transportation and labor 
problems. He is commonly adjusted for 
hauling on his back sacks of different 
supplies, or his back is used minus the 
sack. Most of the manure used in the 
flower gardens, and it is no small 
amount, is hauled up the mountainside 
on mule back in packs from the road¬ 
sides below where it has been hauled in 
carts. Then the land is spaded and 
worked to a surprising degree. I have 
noticed many gardeners' turning the soil 
to a depth of 15 to 20 inches and* more. 
The plants are placed in regular rows, 
arrangements are provided for water by 
narrow irrigation ditches, usually of 
stone, and everything is systematic of 
arrangement and is given most attentive 
care. 
A great commercial flower business is 
now found along this Riviera country, 
one of the large industries of its kind in 
the world, with Nice as the main cen¬ 
ter. Flowers are shipped in baskets all 
over Europe, to London, Berlin. Geneva, 
Vienna, and all points between. Here 
and there the producer either brings his 
flowers in to the local dealer, or disposes 
of them on the market, after which they 
are shipped in baskets similar to those 
used for parcel post in some European 
countries. Buyers deal in flowers in a 
large way. 
Near where the writer is now stopping, 
is a small town, not far from the bound¬ 
ary between France and Italy. Each 
day in this little town, Sunday included, 
is held a local flower market on a pub¬ 
lic square adjoining the railway station. 
Producers from the entire surrounding 
country for miles, come in with baskets 
of flowers, or armfuls vrapped in paper. 
Each person secures a place in line on 
the market, pays a tax of two cents to 
the local municipality for the privilege 
of selling, and here seeks his buyer. The 
baskets are kept covered until the taxes 
are all collected, when a whistle is 
blown, and at once every cover is re¬ 
moved. As a rule the carnation sellers 
are in groups, and the same with those 
bringing roses. Buyers come here to 
purchase, bringing big empty baskets, and 
in an hour or two the market is all over, 
and everyone is en route home. It is a 
striking sight, this little market. Now 
in February 500 persons each day gather 
to sell, and just before Christmas as many 
as S00 come together. Here one may see in 
this little town four solid rows of carna¬ 
tions about four feet wide and the length 
of the square, perhaps 300 feet. Late in 
February I saw some of the choicest of 
carnations, eight dozens to the bunch, 
sell for just about $1 a bunch, and I 
bought a bunch, not so good, but very 
nice ones for a franc, or 20 cents. One 
may get all the violets desired for two 
cents a bunch of 50, while the same num¬ 
ber in America more commonly sell for a 
dolla r. 
It is an interesting sight, the gathering 
of the people in this market. One meets 
the women on foot walking along with 
a big basket of flowers on the head. Here 
in Italy the peasant woman uses her head 
for carrying many things, and it is a 
common sight to see them along the 
country pathway, deftly balancing a big 
basket of flowers on the head. Yester¬ 
day, while walking along a country road, 
we met a woman with a basket at least 
four feet long, two wide and 15 inches 
high. By her side were two men. one 
carrying a baby that my wife says was 
not over six weeks old, and just as we 
came opposite them, the woman took the 
baby, and continued her walk, quite in¬ 
different to the big basket on her head. 
Besides these people carrying flowers 
afoot, one meets many hauling baskets in 
carts, while along the shore, the street 
cars and regular trains also do a large 
business. In fact in France a special 
train each day gathers flowers at the 
different stations, just as milk trains run 
special in America. 
In localities special phases of the flow¬ 
er industry have developed. In one trip 
among the hills in Italy, the writer 
found almost nothing but roses grown. 
In this neighborhood where I am now 
writing, carnations are the popular fav¬ 
orite. Up at Grasse, in France, a great 
perfumery industry has developed. Bae- 
decker states that there are 35 perfumery 
factories here, and that 00,000 acres are 
devoted to flower culture, yielding an¬ 
nually 2.000 tons of roses and 2,500 tons 
of orange blossoms. Enormous quantities 
of violets are also grown here for per¬ 
fumery, that from this flower giving great 
fame to this region. 
The interest in flowers here is so uni¬ 
versal that each Winter what is known 
as a “battle of flowers,” and a flower 
carnival is held in different towns along 
the Riviera. Carriages and automobiles 
are decorated to more or less extent, some 
very beautifully, and these parade, while 
the occupants and onlookers exchange a 
fusillade of small boq nets, to the edifica¬ 
tion of all. In the parade at Nice on 
Saturday last, several hundreds of vehi¬ 
cles were in line, and an enormous crowd 
of spectators participated. Even the 
small towns partake of their spirit of 
floral enthusiasm. However, a real lover 
of flowers cannot take much satisfaction 
(Continued on page 637.) 
"IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMER TIME.” 
