364 : Miscellanies. 
- © This grain is called Grano Marzuolo, or Corn of Mars—(Blé 
de Mars.) Three varieties of it are known, and are equally culti- 
vated and employed, in the neighborhood of Florence. The poor- 
est and most stony soil is the most suitable for its culture,. when the 
straw is the object of research. High and hilly ground is the most 
favorable. When the soil is thin, two thirds or three fourths more 
grain is sown than when the grain itself is the material in view; if 
~ the soil is rich and firm, six times as much may be sown. The sow- 
‘ing may be at broad-cast, and furrows should be run at suitable dis- 
tances through the field to collect the rain water, for the straw is not 
well adapted to the manufacture of hats, if the ground be moist. 
The most favorable time for sowing, at Florence or Nice, is at the 
latter end of December, but it may be postponed to the month of 
March. 
In sterile ground the grain should be but thinly covered.” The 
straw 4s commonly gathered in the latter end of May or early in 
June. A dry time should be chosen for it, and if it grow in a rich 
soil it should be gathered earlier to prevent the injury of too coarse 
a growth. In gathering it, the plant should be pulled up by the 
roots, for in cutting it, there is a risk of losing the part above the 
joints, the only portion which is used ia plaiting. ; 
It is essentially necessary, in order to procure a well formed and 
fine straw, that it be gathered when the head is not more than half 
formed, or when the grain has scarcely begun to show itself. It is 
then full of juice, which when dissipated leaves the stalk empty and 
easy to be split. Shortly after it is to be pulled, precisely like flax, 
gathered into small sheaves, and left in the field to dry, until it 1s 
sufficiently cured for storage in the barn. 
To prepare the straw for the manufacture, it is to be spread on dry oe 
ground, and exposed to the sun and dew, keeping the sheaves dis- 
tinct from each other, until it becomes pretty well bleached. Four 
or five days will be sufficient for this purpose, or even less when the 
dews are abundant. It can be effected, however, only in good 
weather; all moisture except dew is very injurious, on which ac- 
count the months of June and July are to be preferred for the puf- 
_In Tuscany the bleaching is omitted until the straw is about to be 
used . for plaiting ; as soon as it is sufficiently whitened, they sepa- 
rate from each stalk the portion between the ear and the first jomt, 
and this alone is used, the rest being rejected. ‘The portion thus 
