THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
263 
of three or four large olive trees or covered an entire arbor or 
pergola. It was not at all uncommon to find fifteen or 
twenty kinds of roses in one of these amateur gardens. 
The hardy annuals bloom in April and May also. Tins 
section is much liked by English 
tourists many of whom are fond of 
gardens and gardening hence the 
high standard attained in regard to 
culture and varieties. 
artichoke is everywhere and of fine quality. Ferrocei 
a species of fennel with fleshy stalks blanched like celery is 
much cultivated. Peas and beans are plentiful and deli¬ 
cious while curled lettuce and cos lettuce (a cabbage strain) 
« Vegetables. 
These are all cultivated on the 
lower levels where irrigation is prac¬ 
ticable. The Italian gardener while 
untiring and fairly intelligent does 
not seem to have grasped the first 
principles of good tillage. The soil 
work is all done by hand except in 
the large gardens. The soil is dug 
deeply before planting, smoothed 
and is again stirred deeply after 
the crop appears. Little surface 
tillage is given afterwards. The 
gardener depends upon irrigation 
for the necessary moisture. He does not try to conserve 
soil moisture by surface tillage but if the weather is dry 
he opens little ditches and turns on the water. Most 
gardens are supplied with water from large wells. It is 
raised by horse-power in buckets attached to an endless 
chain. These buckets empty automatically into another 
and higher cistern or directly into a trough. In one large 
garden, I saw a gasolene engine at work but the horse or 
donkey furnishes most of the power in raising water for 
irrigation. One feels perfectly certain that better tillage 
Grape Vines trained on trees, Pisa, Italy. Photo by J. Craig 
would obviate the necessity for much of the irrigating now 
practised. 
The vegetables grown in winter and harvested in early 
spring include most of our summer kinds with a few addi¬ 
tions. Asparagus is common and of good quality. Globe 
Collection of Succulents in La Mortalo Botanic Gardens. Photo by J. Craig. 
is general and much appreciated. The cos lettuce is always 
stewed and served as a cooked salad. All the cabbage 
tribe are harvested in April, May and June. I am told 
there is a greater dearth of these in summer and autumn 
than spring. But then Italy has her cool mountain regions 
as well as her low warm sections. 
One of the great pleasures of my stay on the Riviera 
was a visit to the Botanic Garden La Mortola of the 
late Sir Thomas Hanbury at Ventigimilia not far from the 
notorious Monte Carlo. Sir Thomas was an Englishman 
who amassed a fortune in China and 
was attracted to the Riviera by the 
salubrious climate and its plant¬ 
growing possibilities. Here about 
fifty years ago he bought an old 
castle surrounded by a tract of 
rocky and mountainous land washed 
by the Mediterranean and proceeded 
to’build a home after his own mind. 
The garden idea gradually expanded 
until it became a veritable store¬ 
house for native and exotic plants 
adapted to the region. Sir Thomas 
Hanbury died about a year ago but 
he had the satisfaction of leaving in 
his well equipped Botanic Garden 
an institution not only of great 
value to Italy but to all countries 
having similar climates. The cura¬ 
tor of the garden issues an exchange 
list of seeds each year which is available to other 
institutions or individuals interested in the testing of 
foreign varieties. The garden is now supported and will be 
continued by Lady Hanbury and her son. Those desiring 
the seed and plant exchange lists should address the 
