S06 



CAMPAGNA. 



Campagna. ing of cattle is completely neglected in the Campag- 

 vV""' * na. M. Bonstetten observes, that at Torrc-Paterno, 

 within seven leagues of Rome, he saw a herd of se- 

 veral hundred cows, which the farmer would not 

 take the trouble of milking, though milk is as dear 

 at Rome as in any of the other large cities of Eu- 

 rope. The great defect, however, in the agricul- 

 tural operations of this and other parts of Italy, arises 

 from the total want of judgment which is displayed 

 in the application of the soil. Vineyards are planted 

 in the most fertile and best watered land, which is 

 particularly fitted for the growth of corn. Corn is 

 sown in land which is particularly adapted for the 

 vine ; and wood is planted in the finest meadows, 

 while the ground fit for wood is not used at all. 

 " J'ai vu des champs," says Bonstetten, " escarpes 

 et pierreux cultives en ble, qui rendent a peine deux 

 pour un, tandis quela vigne etoit placee dans le terrain 

 le plus gras.et le mieux arrose, et que le tiers du be- 

 tail avoit peri de faim faute de foin pour le nourrir 

 pendant quinze jours de neige." 



On the day of St Lawrence, (the 10th of Au- 

 gust,) when the harvest is completed, and when the 

 heat is generally greater than in any other season of 

 the year, the inhabitants begin to burn the stubble, 

 the ashes of which is almost the only manure which 

 is employed. As the crops of grain grow to a con- 

 siderable height, the reaper never stoops, but takes 

 off the head and about a foot and a half of the stalk, 

 and thus leaves the stubble about two or three 

 feet long. After the conflagration is over, numbers 

 of snakes, of a large size, are scorched to death, and 

 others are choked, in attempting to cross the dusty 

 roads, in order to escape from the fire. The smoke 

 from the burmng straw is extremely offensive to the 

 traveller ; and it not unfrequently happens, that the 

 hedges or forests are burnt down by the flames. 



The very small number of farm houses which ex- 

 ist in the Campagna, are miserable dwellings, built 

 as appendages to old towers or temples, and are con- 

 structed out of the fragments of these ancient edi- 

 fices. The inhabitants of these wretched hovels are 

 compelled to desert them in the middle of summer, 

 when fevers and agues prevail in the country ; and 

 they sleep either at Rome under the porticoes of the 

 palaces and public buildings, or in the towns which are 

 nearest to their farms. If they remain too long in 

 the country, they are seized with the diseases which 

 we have mentioned ; and in the month of July, Au- 

 gust, and September, the great proportion of pa- 

 tients in the Roman hospitals are the peasants from 

 the surrounding country. 



[t appears from the testimony of Strabo, Pliny, 

 Varro, and other ancient authors, that the air of the 

 Campagna was formerly very salubrious except in a 

 -few places near the sea, where the soil was marshy. 

 The unwholesomeness of the climate is said to have 

 commenced about the sixth century, and to have 

 arisen from the overflowing of the Tiber, in conse- 

 quence of the accumulated rains by which it was 

 raised above its former bed. It does not appear, 

 : however, from the best observations, that the bad air 

 (cattiva aria) of the Campagna is owing to the stag- 

 nant water arising from the inundations of the Tiber, 

 for it is chiefly in spring, in the time of the greatest 

 drought, ar.d in the months of August and Septem- 

 ber, long after the inundations of winter, that the 



bad air prevails. When the first rains of autumn Campagna. 

 succeed to the great droughts, the bad air completely *"" V"" ' 

 disappears. On the Rocca di Papa, and on one 

 side of the plain of Tivoli, the bad air is never ex- 

 perienced ; but at different heights below tnis line,, 

 it seems to be equally prevalent. In 1775, the 

 heights of Trinita del Monte were reckoned out of 

 the reach of the bad air, but in 1802 they were com- 

 pletely under its influence. 



The Pontine marshes which lie at the southern 

 boundary of the Campagna are so extremely insalu- 

 brious, that it is dangerous even to travel through 

 them in summer and autumn. Various attempts 

 have been made by the popes to drain this unwhole- 

 some tract. " Pope Pius VI. at a great expence," 

 says an anonymous author, "converted a very con- 

 siderable part of these pernicious marshes into pas- 

 turage, corn fields, and rice plantations. He made 

 a canal 20 miles in length, which conveys the once 

 stagnant waters into the sea ; and he intersected it 

 with many lesser channels, which direct them so as 

 to fertilize the fields, which they once rendered use- 

 less and pestilential." It appears, however, from 

 the observations of M. Bonstetten, that the insalu* 

 brity of the air has rather increased than diminished 

 since this partial draining was completed. 



The south-east and south-west winds, the scirocco- 

 and libeccio, are extremely oppressive and insalubri- 

 ous, though in winter the former contributes much 

 to the mildness of the climate. The tramontane, or 

 north wind, is delightful in spring and autumn, but 

 in winter it occasions severe cold. The ponente, or 

 west wind, still retains the character of the zephyrs, 

 and the Favonian breezes of the ancients. 



The wind commonly blows from the cast in the 

 morning ; declining sometimes to the north, it be- 

 comes north-east, and at other times, turning to the 

 south it settles in scirocco. It is generally south, 

 however, at noon, and then declines to the east or 

 west, but most frequently to the latter, and often be- 

 comes due west, which continues all the evening 

 and part of the night. This and the northerly winds 

 are generally accompanied with a considerable dew, 

 The south wind, which prevails at noon, particular- 

 ly in summer, is a sea breeze, and renders temperate 

 the meridian heat of the sun. It appears from a 

 meteorological table kept at Rome in March, April, 

 and May 1803, that the average height of the ther- 

 mometer exposed to the north in March was 60 

 Fahrenheit, in April 70, and in May 68. The 

 minimum height during these three months was 52, 

 and the maximum 75. 



We have no information respecting the trade and 

 manufactures of the Campagna, which must be very 

 limited. Sulphur is obtained in great quantities from 

 a mine about four miles from Nettuno ; and at a 

 place called Campo Leone, there are iron works be- 

 longing to Prince Doria. There are several paper, 

 iron, and corn mills erected on the stream Mar- 

 rana, near Grotta Ferrata ; and there are various 

 manufactures of paper, iron, and oil upon the Anio. 

 Gunpowder is made on the spot where the villa of 

 Maecenas once stood. Flax is cultivated in con. 

 siderable quantities in the Valle di Laricia ; and a 

 good deal of manna and turpentine is collected in 

 the neighbourhood of Monte Spaccato. The culti- 

 vation of the vine is well understood in the Campag; : 



