i ;
125. For the church the white lilv (Ziliimi cáiidiJum) is in great demand, with which
the Madonna, or Madre di Dio, is decorated, as an emblem of her virginity. The tpyha
(71 latifòlia) is much used when in seed, to put into the hands of statues of Christ;
being considered as tho reed on which the soldiers handed to him a sponge of vinegar.
In Poland, when the typha cannot ho easily procured, wo have seen leeks in the
flower-state used as a substitute. Lachenalia péndula, which is a native of the Cape of
Good Hope, is cultivated in Sicily as tho common hyacinth is in Britain. It is planted
in November, and its fine coral red flowers, whieh appear in tho middle of December,
last till tho end of January.
126. On occasions o f public rejoicing, flowers are also much used in Italy. Favourite
princes and generals are received into towns, and even villages, through triumphal
arches decorated with flowers ; aud the ground is also sometimes strewed with them.
The lives of Bonaparte, Murat, and Beauharnois afford many examples. A t Milan, a
very gay city, flowers are gi’eatly prized ; and in the winter season ai’e procured fi-om
the peculiarly warm and ever verdant gardens between Genoa and Nervi. A louis-d’or,
wo were informed, is sometimes paid for a single nosegay. During tho carnival tho
demand is great throughout Italy.
127. Florists’flowers, especially the bulbous kinds, do not succeed well in tho dry warm
climate of Italy. Fine varieties of the hyacinth, tulip, ranunculus, auricula, polyanthus,
&c., are soon lost there, and are obliged to bo renewed from more temperate countries.
The Italians excel, however, in the culture of tho tuberose, which forms an article of
commerce at Genoa, as does the paper narcissus {N. oriontàlis) at Naples. In roses,
jasmines, oleanders, and oranges, they also excel ; aud also in most single flowers not
natives of cold climates. Signor Vifloresi, aheady mentioned, had, when wo saw him
in 1819, raised from seeds o fth e Bengal rose (Uòsa índica), impregnated promiscuously
with other roses, upwards of fifty distinct varieties, many of which were of gi-oat beauty,
and very fragrant. In general, flowers and ornamental plants are most in demand, and
arc cultivated to the greatest degree of perfection, in Lombardy ; of which the flower-
markets of Milan and Venice afford most g ra tif/n g proofs. Many of the Chinese, and
New Holland, and some of tho Capo trees and shrubs thrive, and blossom luxuriantly, in
the open air in the warmer regions, as in S. de NigTo’s garden at Genoa, and the
gardens of Pisa and Caserta. Evelyn says, he saw a t Florence, in 1664, a rose grafted
on an orange tree ; the same tricks are stfll played off with the rose, jasmine, oleander,
myi-tlo, &c. at Genoa, and even in some parts of Lombardy. The following is the
manner in which this rtick is accomplished Take up an orange tree, shaking all the
earth from its roots, and cutting off a few of its branches, not far from the main stem.
Fi-om the places where the branches were cut off, bore holes through to the centre of
the main stem. Next hollow out the main stem, from the root as high up as the highest
ampufcated branch, taking care not to injure the hark or young wood. Then introduco
through the root up the stem of the orange tree, small but rooted shoots, of any kind of
shrub, and, by means of a piece of wire, pull them tbrough at the different amputated
parts, concealing the wound with green wax. Then plant, &c., and the whole will live
at least a year or two. Chamse'rops hilmilis is the only palm that can endure the
winter in tho open air at Florence. I t also grows at Genoa. A t Romo the date pahn
tlu'ives iu the open air. The common furze ( t/'le x ) is cultivated as a shnib in tho
gardens of the Villa Panfili, and in other places near Romo and Florence. {Cadelts
‘Travels, vol. i. p. 434.) Manctti says the iVelúmbium flàvum and spcoiòsum are grown
in the open air in the north of Lombardy ; and that the Agave americana is naturalised
on the rocks near the Lake of Como, where, instead of flowering only once in a hundred
years, as is commonly allogod, it has flowered, and ripened seeds, in sixteen years.
128. The flowers and plants o f ornament supplied by Italy to Britain are chiefly orange
and lemon trees from Genoa and Leghorn. A few bulbs of iVarcissi and other flowers
are also imported ; and within the last twenty years the tuberose has been grown for this
puipose. The seeds of balsams, carnations, French and African mai'igolds, and a few
other ornamental flbwcring plants, are also sent to Enghmd.
S d b s e o t . s . Italian Gardening, in respect to its Products fa - the Kitchen and tlie
129. The great variety o f soil and climate in Italy enables the Italians to cultivate all
the European fruits and vegetables. In Sicily, tho pine-apple can be grown with very
little protection, and the date pahn ripens its fruit in the open air. The grapes of that
island, and of the Neapolitan territory, arc equal to any in Em-ope; and the figs arc
not surpassed hy those of Smyrna The orange and lemon are ripened in the open
air at Naples and Genoa. The caroh or locust bean tree (Ccratonia siliqua) is cultivated
as far north as Genoa; and its long, compressed, and very sweet pods, Mr. Spence
infonns us, are both eaten by the common people and given to horses. The broccoli
and Icttucoe of the south of Italy are as celebrated as the cahhages and savoys of the
North. The giu-dens of Lombardy arc the most luxuriant in A'egetation, not only in
Italy, hut perhaps in Europe. The climate is not so iavourabic for the perfection of the
grape and the orange as that of Naples, nor for the production of large turnips and
succulent cabbages as that of Holland ; but it possesses a medium of temperature and
humidity betivecn tlie tivo climates, which is pcrhajis favourable to a gi-catcr numher of
vegetable productions, than any one climate on the face of om* globe.
130. The modern Italian fru its are nearly the same as those ofthe ancient Romans, with
but tew additions, if we except the orange and the pine-apple. The orange is supposed
to have been introduced between the time of Pliny and that of Palladius ; and it is the
truit m Avhicli the Italians excel, more from climate and soil than science. Prom several
passages in the works of Pontano, who lived in the foui-teenth century, avc may discover
tliat this author devoted himself to the practical study of nature ; and his poem, in two
books, on the cultivation of the lemon, orange, and citron, entitled De Hortis Hes-
peridum, sufficiently demonstrates tliat he was acquainted ivith some o fth e most curious
operations m liorticultm-e. Among other observations, there is one Avhich particularly
deserves the attention of the practical gai-dencr. He asserts, on his own experience, that
It a graft be cut from the extremity of a fmit-bearing branch, it will itself bear fmit the
first year of its being engrafted ; hut that, if it be taken from a sucker, or unripe part of
the tree, it will be many years before it bear fmit. His words are ; — “ Quippe ubi e ramo
frugífero, atque ad solem expósito, ex ipsoquc rami acumine Iccta fuerint, etiam primo
in.sitionis anno fmgera proférant.” {Pontan. Opera, p. 18.) This has since been observed
by other naturalists ; and the reason is explained in Darwin’s Ph/toL sect ix
{Poscoe’s Leo X ., vol. iv. p. 132.)
.T..h.e..r e- are. „ to be .n.^eeajrrllyy a hundred varieties o f oranges in Ita ly ; but in the oranee nurseries at
Neivi, It IS not easy to make out more than forty or fifty distinct sorts, exclusive of lemons, citrons, and
limes. _ These have mostly been obtained from seeds. T h e Italians had not till lately either the
varieties of shaddock (Citrus decumana), which we have long possessed,
w « A regular and systematic orange orchards are a t Nervi; and the largest trees arc around Naples
at Sorenta, Amalfi, &c. T h e more rare sorts are kept in conservatories a t Kome; and the lareest house
hni, J Z i • Borghese. At Florence and Milan, all the sorts require to be
housed during winter ; but a t Hfores and Nice, in France, and at Genoa and Nervi in Italy, they stand
have been gathered from one tree as far
north as Savona. At Elba, the Cpuntia and the date palm thrive in the open air, and, it is said, are to be
without protection in the same latitude. (WiUiam's Travels, &c.) It is a
remarkable fact, Uiat the ItMians gwe a decided preference to unripe fruit. {Wood's Letters, &c., vol. i.
^list ^ c de ^S a ^ a ig n e ^ '^ ^ orango forest three miles long and one broad. {Azuni,
The orange trees q occupy the south and east sides of the island, which sides are formed
into terrac es; th e walls being planted with a great variety of kinds of the genus Citrus; or, as plants of
this g^enus are generally termed m Italy, of Agrumi. “ These trees,” Cadell observes, “ are covered
with houses ofboards during six months o fth e year. The houses are put over th e plants in the bcain-
ning of November; and now, on the 20th of April, the gardeners are preparing to take them off I'h e
front of the houses has wooden doors on hinges, that are opened in fine weather to give light and air to
th e plants. In very cold weather, a fire of charcoal is made on the floor within th e wooden house. The
oranges are inferior to tiiose produced in a warmer climate, as a t Genoa. The lemons are succulent, and
m ^ e acid than those of Genoa, but not so fully ripened.” {Travels in Carniola, &c., vol. ii. p. 144.)
The stone fr u its m which the Italians excel are the peach and th e cherry. Th ere are above twenty
varieties of peaches cultivated m the neighbourhood of Kome and Naple s; and these fruits, grown on
standard trees, as apples and pears are in this country, arrive a t a very high degree of perfection They
have lew sorts of apricots and nectarines, and not many plums; but their llegina Claudia, or greengage is
excellent. Cherries are every where excellent in Italy, especially in Tuscany. The Milan or Morelia
cherry IS noted for its prolific qualities. The olivéis every where extensively cultivated. It is propagated
by cuttings both of the shoots and ro o ts ; and these take root so readily, that sometimes a stake
or a tru n k ot an olive tree which has been put into the soil to serve as a support to a vine, or any other
plant, will grow, and in three or four years bear a tolerable crop of fruit. Luigi Manetti, however ((i«;-rf
Mo-g., vol. viii. p. C8.), says, that the best mode of propagation is by se e d ; th at this method is practised
by the ooluivvee ggrroowweerrss iinn Tl uussccaannyy,, aanndd tthhaatt iitt iinnvvaarriiaabbllyy pprroodduucceess tthhee llaarrggeesstt,, ssttrroonnggeesstt , aanndd bbeesstt yyoouunngg
taees. The same author mtorms us that the olive trees on the sides of the hill of Lario, on the Lake of
Como, although originally placed in a vertical position, incline, by degrees, towards the horizon, until
Uieir trunks become perpendicular to th e side of the mountain, instead of being perpendicular to the
horizon. Manetti attributes this inclination o fth e trees to their want of tap roots, a deficiency he savs
occasioned by th eir being raised from cuttings. This m ay b e the case; but we are more inclined to
attribute it to the natural character of the tree, which even in level situations is seldom found with a
well-balanced top.
The chief berry of Italy is the grape: but the varieties are not so numerous as in France or Spain ; and
arc, tor the most part, the result of long growth in one soil and situation. Vineyard grapes are seldom
good to eat m Lombardy, and in th e best districts are equalled, if not excelled, by the muscats, sweet-
waters, muscadines, and other sorts grown in hothouses in this country. T h e vines are not k ep t’low as
m France ; but elevated on rude trellises near houses and in gardens {fig. 29.), and trained to long poles
or on trees in the fields. Collections of gooseberries from Lancashire have been introduced at Leghorn’
Genoa, and Monza ; and, grown in the shade, they thrive moderately in the gardens of the latter place’
I he currant, th e raspberry, and the strawberry, though natives of the Alps and Apennines, do not thrive
m the gardens, but are brought to market from th e woods; and so is the red mulberry, which is there
cultivated for th e leaves, as hardier than th e white. It does not appear that the berries of the Ti'rbutus
are much used, though they are occasionally brought to market. Cadell saw them exposed for sale at
Ir ie s te together with pods of the carob tree ; but notwithstanding th a t he found the pods of the carob
eatable, and even sweet, he thought the berries o fth e /I'rb u tu s unpalatable. {Travels, &c., p. 17 ) Mr
Wood {Letters o f an Architect, &c., vol. ii. p. 223.) informs us th a t a t Santa Maura, in Sicily, he made
a meal of the berries of the zi'rbutus without inconvenience, though the natives told him they would
occasion madness. The fruit of th e Sórbus doméstica is abundant about Genoa, Milan, and Trie ste ;
and those of th e Azaróle thorn, Lazzeroni, Lazarini, or Azzerola (Cratas'gus Azarblus) are not un common.
F r
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