TAAGULYA 205 
one or/two plants might be anjall important feature to an entire collection, 
-giying,, as it,.might)do, variety of colour: or harmony’ to the whole, 
unattainable by. strict, adherence to: the schedule. If, therefore, as‘I 
Surmise increased, numbers would prove fatal to plants and flowers, why 
not.to fruits ?,,, If 50. Strawberries be the standard, that exhibitor who 
dishes up,54.or more breaks: the rule, and should go unrewarded, or at 
jeast should, not displace. one who confines himself strictly to the rules. 
A dish; or,doz lid; or whatever the contrivance may be, might, it may 
be asserted, want some extra fruits to fill it up, or to make the whole 
Jook.complete’;.this is, however, identical with the supposed introduction 
of extra plants. to.give tone to or soften down exuberance of colour; ‘the 
one. is unjust, the-othercan:be nothing else. 21 | 
alodw ox : : ONE: OF THE FIFTEEN CENSORS. 
_..[ Let us hope that in future exhibitors of fruit. will pay,attention to 
this. matter ; all the dishes of Strawberries, exhibited on; the occasion in 
question contained upwards of 50 fruit, and if they had been disqualified 
(which in fact. they ought to haye: been).nobody. would, have been. to 
blame, but the exhibitors themselves. ] 
~ LETTERS FROM ROME. 
WE have much pleasure in presenting to our readers the following 
extracts from the letters of a friendly and respected correspondent, 
relative to the gardens of Rome:— 
The. gardens of Rome have shared in the time given. to sight-seeing. 
«Nature I love, and next to Nature, Art.”” The wild flowers of Florence 
delighted me, the beautiful yellow Tulips and those streaked scarlet 
and white. ‘The Anemones and other wild flowers, which we cultivate 
in England, are many of them weeds in Italy; as the, rare exotics 
nursed with so much care in our conservatories | haye known as weeds 
in tropical climates—very troublesome ones, too, for many of the most 
gorgeous of the Ipomcas plagued my gardener on the slopes of the 
Andes, as the Bindweed does our gardeners at home. That definition 
of a weed isa good one which designates it as a plant, out of place. 
I once thought we might call all plants weeds, but such as are useful 
for the sustenance of man ; but then we must, remember that mdirectly 
all plants are so, and literally true becomes the sublime metaphor, ‘‘ All 
flesh is grass.” 
- The Botanic Garden at Rome is not what it should be, considering 
the advantages of climate, for every variety of Cactus bears the winter, 
and in time these become gigantic. Many trees familiar to mein. 
tropical climates, and which can hardly be said to grow up to trees in 
England, even in conservatories, have here the full size and stature of 
manhood. Those even at Kew are mere babies. Yet, unlike Kew, 
or bearing the most remote comparison to the Royal gardens, those of 
Bowood and others of our British nobility, the Roman gardens have 
characteristics wholly unapproached by imitation in any other country. 
