217 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND 
prevent any blight from settling on the leaves, and in our 
walks black specks were discovered on the glossy foliagp, which 
it was agreed should be summarily dealt with; accordingly, 
next morning, four or five peasant girls were hard at work, 
mounted on ladders, carefully wiping each leaf, and removing 
the specks, which, if allowed to spread, would have endangered 
the life of the tree. 
As we passed through the woods of Olives, Signor Bonaven- 
tura descanted con amore upon their value and utility; and 
classing them above my favourite Lemon trees, which can be 
cultivated only in sheltered situations, assured me that they 
Were the great staple of the Riviera, although a good crop is 
Only realised every second year—the produce of the intervening 
one being very inconsiderable. In the good years, the yield of 
each tree is estimated, according to its size, at from five to 
eleven francs clear profit. The trees are carefully numbered 
op each estate, and from 1000 to 1200 constitute a very fair 
proprieta. \Vhen the Olives turn black and begin to fall, sheets 
are laid beneath the branches, which are gently shaken to 
detach the fruit; whatever is thus obtained, is carefully spread 
on the floor of some rooms set apart for the purpose, and day 
by day, as the remaining Olives successively ripen, they ore 
shaken down and added to the store, until sufficient, is collected 
to be sent to the mill, where it is pressed, and the oil Hows out 
clear and sparkling. After this first process of pressing the 
fruit, there is a second one of crushing or grinding it, by which 
the oil of an inferior quality, requiring some time to settle, is 
obtained; lastly, water is poured on the mass of stones and 
pulp, and the oil that rises to the surface is carefully skimmed, 
being the perquisite of the proprietor of the mill, who receives 
no other remuneration for his share in the transaction. The 
produce of the Fig trees is another, though less lucrative, source 
of revenue; great quantities are dried in the sun, and after¬ 
wards sold, not only for the supply of the country itself, but for 
the French market, where the Figs of Ventimiglia, Signor Bona- 
ventura declared, were as much prized as those of Smyrna. He 
showed me large supplies in course of preparation, laid on long 
frameworks of reed lightly interwoven, which as soon as the 
sun rose were carried out, and remained all day exposed on the 
low parapet which divided the jardin potager from the beach. 
No guard was ever kept over them, and no fear seemed to be 
entertained of their being stolen. Indeed, the honesty of the 
peasantry and fishermen is marvellous, for in this same kitchen 
garden—a strip of sandy soil stolen from the sea-shore—Green 
Peas, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Melons, and a variety of vege¬ 
tables, were grown in profusion ; and, nevertheless, unprotected 
as it was, being without the precincts of the iron gate at the 
j back of the house, which was closed for form’s sake every night, 
nothing was ever missed—not a single fruit or vegetable mis¬ 
appropriated.— {The 'Englishwoman in Italy.) 
GARDENERS’ BENEYOLENT INSTITUTION. 
The anniversary dinner of the Gardeners’ Benevolent Institu¬ 
tion, was held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, on the 
evening of Wednesday, the 27th nit., when the chair was occu- { 
pied by the Earl of Caernarvon. There were present among the 
company—Mr. Masterman, Mr. Mildred, Mr. Gurney, Sir 
Charles Fox, Mr. Robert Gibson, Mr. Robert Wrench, Mr. C. B. 
Warner, Mr. J. E. C. Koch, Lieut.-Colonel Hicks, and many other 
gentlemen, patrons of horticulture. L T pwnrda of one hundred sat 
down to dinner. 
The room was tastefully decorated. Behind the Chairman 
there was a bank of beautiful Geraniums, supplied by Mr. 
Turner, of Slough; in various parts of the room large showy 
plants from various nurserymen were arranged in groups, or, as 
single specimens, in those positions where their fine effects could 
be most fully brought out; while the tables were ornamented 
with a profusion of cut flowers in epergnes and baskets, and 
hanging-baskets of Ferns depended from the chandeliers. The 
whole arrangements were better than we ever recollect to have 
seen at any previous dinner of this Institution; and not the 
least prominent feature was an excellent dessert, of which a 
scarcity was always too apparent on former occasions. We have 
always thought that the gardeners of England have it in then- 
power to render their annual festivals the most attractive of those 
of all national charities, by contributions of garden productions, 
and, we regret to say, that it bad become almost a proverb, that 
they were the baldest and most unattractive of all. There arc 
some who deprecate these public dinners, and who argue that it 
would be better to apply the money spent in this kind of enjoy¬ 
ment to the purposes of the charity. We should be of the same 
opinion too, provided it were from the funds of the charity that 
these entertainments were paid for ; but so long as a number of 
benevolent gentlemen are willing to sit down together and pay 
for their own dinner, and afterwards subscribe among themselves 
a donation of upwards of £300 to the charity, as was the case on 
this occasion, we really do not see what reason there is for 
anybody complaining. It is quite certain that if those gentle¬ 
men bad not sat down together on Wednesday last, the 
Gardeners’ Benevolent Institution would have been £300 poorer 
to-day than it is. If the gardeners of England who have it 
in their power would come forward liberally, and render 
their annual festivals attractive, by contributions of flowers and 
fruit, there is no reason why the attendance should not be double 
what it hitherto has been, and the subscription list amount to 
£600 instead of £300. A bunch or two of Grapes from some, Pine 
Apples from others, or a few Peaches, Nectarines, Melons, and 
Strawberries, from those who can spare them, would go to make 
up a dessert worthy of the gardener’s charity dinner ; but where 
this is left to be provided out of the pockets of the Stewards, as 
it was on this occasion, we think it is saddling those gentlemen 
with a tax, in addition to performing the duties of the office, 
which they ought not to be called upon to bear. There were, 
however, a few commendable exceptions on Wednesday last, one 
or two gardeners in the neighbourhood of London, having, un¬ 
solicited, sent some excellent Pines and Grapes. 
After dinner the noble Chairman gave (he usual patriotic 
toasts—“ The health of Her Majesty, the Prince Consort, Prince 
of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family,” and the “ Army and 
Navy.” 
Sir Charles Fox proposed the health of (he Earl of Carlisle, 
President of the Institution, and took that opportunity of passing 
a well-merited eulogium on the character of that estimable noble¬ 
man, which was cordially responded to. He said—“ His lordship 
was one of those good men who gtudied more the happiness of 
others than of himself. He believed that if ever there was a good 
man in the world it was the Earl of Carlisle; and if ever there 
was a happy man it was he, for, every happiness he conferred on 
others was a sort of reflecting surface, casting back its joys upon 
himself.” 
The noble Chairman then proposed “ Success to the Gar¬ 
deners’Royal Benevolent Institution.” His lordship said—“Two 
old lines are present to my mind, which, I dare Bay, are familiar to 
you, and which seem to apply to myself at this moment— 
‘ So comes the reckoning when the banquet’s o’er; 
The dreaded reckoning, and men smile no more !’ 
I really feel as though the time of reckoning had come with me, 
for I have a toast to propose which places me somewhat in a diffi¬ 
culty lest I should not be able to find language in which to do 
justice to it. It was but a short time ago that I came across an 
account of a florists’ banquet a century and a half ago at Bethnal 
Green, in the days of the first George. The various gardeners 
who attended brought also such flowers as they had been sucess- 
ful in cultivating, and no doubt the accounts were correct which 
said it was a very brilliant affair; but I could not help thinking 
that if those who then took part in the display could have looked 
upon the scene upon which I am now permitted to gaze, and 
could have beheld the magnificent galaxy of flowers which graces 
the end of the room behind me, they could not but have con¬ 
sidered it as a monument of horticultural skill and industry, 
order, and arrangement. Could any of those who were so en¬ 
gaged in those days have seen the endless array of flowers and 
fruit which I have the opportunity of enjoying, they would have 
admitted that, whatever might be the shortcomings of these days 
in other respects, at any rate the study of horticulture had made 
j rapid strides indeed in this country. With what venerable and 
historical associations is not horticulture in its study in this 
country connected ? Who could forget that it was Almighty God 
who planted the first garden, and that it was Cain who built the 
first city ? You will remember how in ancient days—in the 
earliest times—there were gardens described as of great beauty 
and extent—such as that of Ahasuerus, with its splendid Lilies 
and Pomegranates, and of the gardens of the Kings of Judah, 
the fragrance of whose flowers and spices was blown about by 
every wind. The great garden of Babylon again, existed as 
long ago as 3000 years. And then there was that garden, sacred 
and consecrated, and which would ever live in the mind of every 
soul in Christendom, to which the Saviour himself gave the name. 
