go- Vhilomatic Society. 



they may be fufed with the reft. The foffa and barilla are 

 cultivated not only on the coaft, but at the diftance of nearly 

 forty leagues. The foda, however, is of an inferior quality 

 with that of Alicant. 



The cultivation of wheat and barley prefents nothing re- 

 markable except the defective method of thrcfhing them. 

 The grain is fpread out on a plat of ground well covered with 

 grafs, and mules yoked two and two arc made to trot over it. 

 Thefc mules are often yoked alio to an inftrument called trillo, 

 on which the driver places himfclf : this trillo is compofed of 

 two planks joined by two crofs pieces, and turned up before. 

 This operation detaches the grain and breaks the ftraw. When 

 a gentle wind blows, advantage is taken of it to feparate them ; 

 they are thrown into the air wih a ihovel ; the ftraw is car- 

 ried to a diftance, and nothing remains but the grain mixed 

 with earth, which is afterwards feparated by means of a neve. 

 The environs of Alicant' are watered either by wells, from 

 which the water is drawn up by a wheel that moves a rope 

 furnifhed with buckets, or by running water brought entirely 

 from a large refervoir called Pantano di Tili. This refervoir, 

 begun by the Moors and finifhed by the Spaniards, is a defile 

 between the mountains, {hut by a ftrong wall. The water is 

 ibid to individuals : each proprietor generally receives fome 

 of it twice every year to water his land, and every fortnight 

 to water his garden. 



It is in the diftricls thus watered that lucern is cultivated ; 

 it produces thirteen or fourteen crops annuallv : but the moft 

 important production cultivated in the watered diftriclis is the 

 vine. 



The vineyards are divided into fquares with elevated edges 

 that they may be watered with more eftecT:. The vines are 

 primed in the month of January : they are not ftripped of 

 their leaves, nor are they ever railed up, and thev are dunked 

 only when the whole vineyard is renewed : they are dug 

 once in winter and once in i'ummer. The vines are watered 

 once or twice every year, and more copioufly when young. 

 When the grapes are very ripe, they are cut, and fpread out 

 in a dry place on hurdles made of reeds. When they have 

 loft their humidity they are prefled above large ftone jars, co- 

 vered with boards which join badly. The grapes are mixed 

 with a little lime, the probable erTe£b of which, accord- 

 ing to C. Pietet, is to neutralize the acid, and fix or (even 

 men, almoft naked, prefs them down with their feet. The 

 (talks are then feparated, and the hufks arc thrown into the 

 jars to colour the wine. At the end of eight or ten days the 

 liquor is drawn oft" and put into calks. / 



The 



