New-York tribune., 1902-07-26
LIVING IN ITALY.
AN ENGLISH woMAN's EXPERIENCES.

q
suredly as entertaining in her own way. AS an
amateur gardener she takes herself rather more
seriously than does that winsome gossiper; as
householder in foreign land she cannot al
ways adopt humorous view Elizabeth
OF the pin pricks inseparable from such do
mesticity. But her facile, cheerful. clever talk
IS highly exhiIarating, and she fills her reader
with a new yearnng for the fascinating land
in which she has lived for many years How
can its persistent charm be analysed? 1T is
Italy. There is no more to be said
To establish ones self satisfactorily on Tuscan
soil is easy task. In the first place, there are
available for hire few small houses with gardens
Then there are radical differences between the
Italian ideas of comfort and those Of the Anglo
Saxon-differences which can be adjusted only
after mach expenditure of time and money.
Our author happened upon good fortune in find
ing villino. with possibilities. standing in the
beautiful grounds of great villa. She took it
upon a long lease at a moderate rent in consid-
Grafton of making her own improvements; and
that with taste and energy she turned it into
little paradise the illustrations Of her book attest
The crux of her lovely garden the lack of
water-for Tuscany is dependent upon rain
water cisterns-and il had TO be often brought
in barrels from a considerable distance for the
refreshment of her perishing plants Much en-
richment also did her flower beds need, for the
ordinary soil of her Tuscan garden is only good
for vines and tea roses. Many gardens have
only a few feet of earth blanketing solid rock,
and plants grown in pots often fulfil the Italian
ideal of gardening. She notes that the garden
ing sentiment does not exist in Tuscany, flowers
being cultivated there not for pleasure but for
profit. Sometimes the gardener receives no
wages but sells all the plants outside the few
required for the owners house. These are few,
indeed for Italians the author tells us, regard
the English fashion of having plants and cut
flowers in the sitting room as particularly un-
healthy Gardening is expensive in those re-
gions, as many kinds of earth for repotting
must be brought from distance and fuel for
the necessary glasshouses is very costly in the
bitterly cold winters which Tuscany often sees.
NO Tuscan" it is added. will ever spend one
franc for the purpose of making two francs,
and the way the poor plants are starved is af-
fiicting TO see-pots only half full of earth and
that of very poor quality" Labor is cheap.
but there is a sad dearth of knowledge and sci
ence among the available gardeners. The au-
thor has always found the gardeners place the
most difficult of all TO fill many desirable
qualifications having to be sacrificed in consid-
Grafton of the necessary honesty Scamps
abound among the available apprentices of the
art.
remember arranging with the father of one
of these terms and conditions of service The
son, a great, strapping fellow, stood by ana
raised no objections whatever. Next morning
he presented himself and set TO work. When L
went out into the garden he came to me and in
formed me that if 1 did not at once agree TO
pay him so much more than the sum agreed
upon he was capable of taking up every pot in
the place and throwing il out in the road. This
was agreeable for a beginning. thought II
prudent to temporiZe. and said If he would nm
fish the job on which he was then engaged l
would consider the matter. l returned in about
hour and asked why he had not objected to
the terms offered when he heard me arranging
them with his father. He replied that respect
for his progenitor had kept him quiet. We'll"
i said ''please come this way and L adroitly
got him down the courtyard and out at the
gate, which Immediately closed behind him
and recommended him to return home, adding
that he need not again present himself on my
premises.
This is only one of innumerable anecdotes Of
the fair gardeners's experiences with Tuscan
workers. The demon Of jealousy" she de-
clares -is the bane of your domestic service; If
you bestow the smallest commendation on any
one member of the famglia,' as they call them
selves for some extra well done performance
each of the others considers himself defrauded
by just that amount of praise" The life of the
Tuscan laborer is very frugal one. He has a
good hot supper in the evening. but during the
day ne eats only dry bread washed down with
wine which is merely colored water.
In early days here it used to make so
unhappy to think that while l was eating my
devouring his dry bread that l instituted
sending out TO him a plate of some kind of
viands from the servants dinner. But with
experience L found it better to leave this mat
alone-somehow ii did not ansWer-and /
caught one man going to the cook and giving
his orders that the plat should be a SaVory
and an abundant -onei What was given as
kindness came TO be imperiously demanded as
a right.
The chapter the Pros and Cons Of Settling
in Italy is full of excellent suggestions and
cos11ic a0ecdofe She thinks This Sattlin9 visa
when economy is necessary and there is no
particular reason for living in one country
rather than another. One could live with
extraordinary cheapness in the land Of the olive
and myrtle, but in the last thirty years ex-
penses have greatly increased. 1T is when one
comes TO the luxuries of life that the balance is
in favor of the foreign settlement: air, sum-
cleanliness flowers. fruit. driving. all the little
hundred and one things that make so great a
difference in daily enjoyment" IN taking Ital-
ian villas or apartments the first requisite is an
examination by a capable surveyor, because
sanitation is almost unknown, the ccondition Of
many Of those TO be let in Florence really baf-
fling description AS for summer in Italy that
is the real time in which to enjoy that beautiful
land There are old hill towns to visit full of
historic. romantic and artistic interest; there
end of delightful bathing places and
mountain places healthful as they are beau
tiful. The drawbacks to some Of these are i'm
perfect hotel accommodation and too noisy ma
tives. Good wine. bread, eggs and fruit are
available in most places.
The ways of the British tourist the author de-
scribes with humor; Italian cruelty to animals
she deals with Indignantly; her own pets she
talks about with an attractive tenderness
there is an amusing glimpse of Jack, the old
Persian cat, hugging fondly to his bosom in
his winter morning nap his flannel covered hot
water bottle. On winter in Tuscany she dveIls