The Southern herald., 1912-04-26

merely remains associated in their
thoughts with an excursion to the
Blue Grotto; but as | watch from
\ RMH1 the Great Terrace at San Michele.
A the little steamer fully thousand
IN . feet beneath me, laden with tour
I~- lists of all nationalittes, plying her
way back TO Naples, a sense of
u q " peace once more descends upon
the island. And surely nowhere can
earth present a fAirer scene Far away on the
Western horizon, the dim outlines of the PonEa
Islands are visible Ischia, floating in the golden
haze of the dying day. seems linked by Procida
and Nisida to the mainland and the eye travels
slowly eastward over Posilippo and Naples to
where Vesuvius, brooding and silent since the
great catastrophe of Ave years ago, keeps watch
over the city it has so often threatened with de-
struction Still further east the distant peaks OF
the great Apennine Range appear almost to fringe
the sunlit waters Of the Bay of Sorrento, whose
cliffs, dotted with pink and white walled houses
are dominated by the rugged mass Of SAINT
Angelo and the hills which guard Raveo and
Salerno's gulf
Welnigh two thousand years have come and
gone since Augustus Caesar, wearied by the
splendors OF imperial Rome, first gazed on the
matchless beauty Of this scene; small wonder
that the magic spell which Capri throughout the
ages has cast upon the stranger within her gates
should lose none Of its potency till mems hearts
shall cease to care for beauty. Since my. garden
first came into being, have often analyzed how
imperious is this love Of beauty, for, from
purely gardening point of view, no one would
select spot exposed to all the winds of heaven
and bereft Of water a springless island And
yet Nature supplies the compensation in having
provided such background to the picture that
she must continue to dominate 1t, making amends
for the inevitable failures which the gardener
Is forever encountering. And II the growing"
period Is short in this sun-baked land vet again
1t is prodigious In result while 1t lasts Gardening
In Italy teaches one Of many lessons; namely to
avoid the temptation arising from the desire for
quick enect-that Of planting trees and shrubs
too large in size; the smaller ones establish
themselves and go ahead in half the time making
compact and sturdy growth, and also avoiding
the necessity for unsightly stalking Six years
ago the hill Of San Michele was little more than
barren rock clothed In parts with vineyards and
olives Approaching Capri from Naples It is cas-.
fly discernible as it rises midway between the
iprecipitous cliffs at the eastern end and Monte
Soaro the highest summit of the island: this
exposure to all points Of the compass Is being
utilized to advantage, as the difference between
the north and south aspect amounts to fully a
fortnight in the Towering season.
The modest little house-orginally the Colono's
lilies at the base of the hill on the southern side
The vineyard which surrounded It has been
cleared and terrace and parterre substituted;
here in the spring months Darwin and Cottage
tulips haunt their painted faces in the sunshine;
freesia, narcissi ixas and sparaxis (for Capri is
a bulb-soi par excellence) roses are rapidly COW
ering the columns and wreathing the olive trees
all grated on the Banksian rose that boon to the
gardener In the south. Beyond the parterre, in
the lower garden, long tank, fanked by
expresses either side, holds the beautiful Mel.
umbium-the Lotus Of Old Nile-specosum ro-
scum, rubrum, Shiroman and Osiris--a feast for
the eye denied to the gardens Of the north.
VIII you come with me on pilgrimage up the
hill through the old lemon garden, where the
trees, once perishing from neglect but now well
screened from their cruel enemy, the south wind,
are bearing thousands Of yellow fruit, and the air
is laden with the scent of blossom? As we as
scend each successive terrace holds its quota OF
bulbs and iris, under the silvery sheen Of the
olive trees, until we reach at length the rose
garden. and here 1t is well to rest while. The
Southern Sea stretches below us, with the pic
turesque ruin Of Castiglione In the middle dis
Itance. Against background Of tall bamboos at
our feet bloom the roses for which Capri (as
Paestum was Of old) is famed What would have
been the feelings Of Virgil could he have looked
on the goodly array to which rosarians are now
accustomed-Mme. A. Chatenay, the Lyon rose.
Richmond Betty, Marquise De Ganay, Nine. Leon
Pain, In addition to all the older favorites such
as Anna olivier, Nine. Rayary, Caroline Testout,
to say nothing Of pillars wreathng themselves
with Sinica Anemone, Transmission, I'Ideal and
the Michuraianas! From the rose garden the
circling of the hill commences; a broad path,
planted on either side with towering shrubs
wigelas lilac, syringa deutzas pomegranates
and guelder roses-leads to the vne-cad per-
COLA and as We leave 1t. at the farther end, the
Incompatible Bay Of Naples greets the eye All
available ground on the hillside is being utilized
for shrubs and plants, with wind breaks of Gu
pressus macrocarpa and Pinus halepensis, which
grow at surprising rate in this sandy SOIL Here
are to be fovmd the towering crabs. thorns and
almonds, while Japanese naples and Rosa ru-
gosa give a feast of color in the foreground, in
~tersDersed with tenderer shrubs such as Fahiana