FARMERS' REGISTER 



145 



DANDOLO'S WORK IN ITALIAN. DOMESTIC 

 INDUSTRY AND PRODUCTS OF ITALY. CAL- 

 CARKOUS SOILS FOR VINES. 



To the Editor of the Farmers'' Register. 



Habersham County, Ga., Feb. 17, 1840. 

 You Imve expressed a desire to obtain a copy of 

 Dandolo's worl< on silk, in the original Italian. I 

 have sent a copy ol' it to my (iiiher at Washing- 

 ton, wi*h a request that he will forward it to you 

 by the safest conveyance. If you need it only for 

 a limited time, I should be glad to get it again, 

 as, in this country, titis work is rarely found. If, 

 however, it is very necessary to you, I presume 

 you would prefer keeping it. This ynu can do, 

 as it will be of more public benefit in your hands 

 than in mine. 



You may desire to know how this book (the 

 only one perhaps in the United States of the kind) 

 found its way into the heart of the mountains of 

 Georgia. I will tell you, as it will serve as an in- 

 troduction to a remark upon the cultivation of an- 

 other article too much neglected in our agricul- 

 ture, viz: the grape. Several years ago, then 

 little more than a boy, I found myself in Italy. 

 One of my chief pleasures consisted in visiting 

 the email larmers whenever I could find an ex- 

 cuse lor entering their dwellings, and conversing 

 with them in imperfect Italian. This was not 

 often; but I learned nevertheless with surprise, 

 "that the silk and Leghorn plait, [for bonnets, &c.] 

 made by the women and children of a Tuscan 

 farmer's house, often constituted all their gains; 

 that bad crops, taxes and the landlord's share, 

 frequently took all the profits and left him no- 

 thing." I learned moreover, that the sum total 

 of the amount gained to the state by these " small 

 operations," was no small sum, and, added to the 

 produce of the olive tree, might be said to consti- 

 tute the chief means of existence of the poorer 

 class. These incis produced one of those unde- 

 fined dreams of patriotism, to which I believe all 

 young men are subject, and under its influence 1 

 bought this book, studied it, and otherwise obtain- 

 ed knowledge on the subject, with the vague idea 

 that il would be one day useful. It is likely to turn 

 out so. 



The whole soil of southern and middle Italy is 

 more or less calcareous, either naturally, or from 

 volcanic ashes. And in no place, that I exa- 

 mined, did I find a peculiarly fine vineyard but in 

 a soil highly calcareous, and very deep, (either 

 naturally or made so,) and generally very dry. 

 The vine which produces the LachrymcR Christi 

 wine, grows on a perfect heap of volcanic ashee 

 and scoria*, very light, and very dry. The finest 

 grapes I saw in Naples, grew on the ashes of the 

 Monte Nuovo ; and some parts of Champagne 

 in France, producing the finest wines, seemed to 

 me altogether of marl, in a state of dust. Upon 

 these views, I tried a small experiment last sum- 

 mer. 



I had two beds in my garden dug two feet deep. 

 They were separated by a broad walk, which had 

 never been dug, so that there could be no commu- 

 nication between them, unless through 18 inches 

 of solid red clay on each bed ; I transplanted 

 there vines as nearly under the same circum- 

 stances as I could. They did not thrive well, having 

 no manure of any kind. Early in the eummer, I 

 put on a very large quantity of lime (well slacked 

 Vol. VIII— 19 



and left in the air for some weeks,) on three of 

 them. In the fall, the vines thus treated were 

 twice as large as the others, and the leaves were 

 green during a drought of six weeks. The soil 

 was six inches of sand on a subsoil of stiff red 

 clay, on the top of a hill as poor and as dry as can 

 be found any where. The lime was ail the ma- 

 nure the vines had, and that in quantity sufficient 

 to have killed most plants. 



I shall leave the six as they now are, and in 

 the course of time, inform you of the results of the 

 experiment. An isolated experiment can only 

 help to establish a fact. It is with this view, that 

 I state the above ; and not that 1 consider it 

 either a discovery or even novelty. 



Excuse this hurried and ill-digested letter; 1 

 had no intention of troubling you. with so long an 

 epistle. I could not leave off in the middle, and 

 I could not spare time to commence another, and 

 be in time for the mail. 



I am, sir, }'^oura respectfull}', 



R. W. Habershaqi, Jr. 



[We take the liberty of publishing the above 

 letter, because of its matter of public interest, 

 though it seems to have been meant as a private 

 letter. It was elicited by an advertisement which 

 (after trying in vain all other means) we placed 

 on the cover of the January No. of the Farmers' 

 Register, requesting to be furnished with a copy 

 of Dandolo's treatise in the original language. 

 On February 29lh, the book above promised was 

 received, and for which we are greatly obliged to 

 Mr. Habersham's kindness. It is, however, not 

 the original work which was especially desired, 

 but an abridgment of Dandolo's first edition, by 

 another hand. Still, it aflbrds to some extent the 

 means of proving and correcting many of the nu- 

 merous errors of the French and English trans- 

 lators and copiers of Dandolo ; and if to clear 

 away something more of the enormous mass of 

 error so derived, and heretofore received without 

 question in this country, will be a service to silk- 

 culture and to agricultural interests, we trust that 

 Mr. Habersham's anticipations, of his favor to ua 

 leading to public benefit, will not be disappointed. 



Mr, Habersham has struck upon the true secret 

 of the cause of the superiority of European 

 vine-culture and wine-making. At sundry places 

 [n our past volumes, we have ottered the same 

 opinion, and urged the cultivating the vine in this 

 country on calcareous soils. His experiment is 

 interesting, and doubtless will present results that 

 will show the great benefit of even superficial 

 liming to vines. But if the new calcareous in- 

 gredient had been diffused through the whole two 

 feet depth of dug earth, it would have been much 

 better. For we are satisfied that a highly calca- 

 reous subsoil, as low as the roots will penetrate, as 

 well as the upper soil being calcareous, is neces- 

 sary to the greatest perfection of vine-culture. 



