460 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



is piven them in ihe boxes, each fig beinir sepa- 

 rately pressed into the box. Tlie larger and 

 prrmller figs are pariced in separate boxes, ami the 

 finest quality is double the price of the inferior. 

 Noihingcan be more simple than the drying and 

 packing of figs. IM. Negrel Ferand describes 

 sixty-seven varieties of figs which are cultivated 

 in the depart nienl of Houclies dii Rhone. He 

 quotes two auifiors, De Solicr and Raymond, 

 showing how much (he cultivation of this fruit had 

 fallen off within the last two centuries. The ibr- 

 nier, who wrote in the 16ih century, after de- 

 scribing the means then pursued in drying them, 

 adds, "that those of the inhabitants who had least, 

 could sell from 100 to 150 quintals," (from 10,000 

 to 15,000 pounds.) "Two centuries later," the 

 latter says, " the quantity of figs which the inha- 

 bitants dried formerly was their principal produce, 

 but now each proprietor only gathers about 40 

 quintals, (4,000 pounds,) not more than enough 

 (or the consumption of his own family !" 



The next object which attracted my attention 

 ivas a quantity of large earthen jars, capable of 

 containing from 40 to 60 gallons each. These 

 were filled with capers of difierent sizes, from the 

 size of a small nut to that of a very small pea, or, 

 rather, to half the size of a very small pea. The 

 latter are called JVmipareils, and are worth 32 sous 

 (ISd.) a pound. The former, beinof the coarsest 

 quality, are wonh only 3 sous a poimd. Between 

 these extremes there are 8 or 10 different qualities, 

 all varying in price according to their size, the 

 smaller bein£T always the more valuable. They 

 are put into vinegar as soon as they are gaiherecj, 

 afier the difl'erent sizes are separated byTiieans of 

 a succession of coarser or finer sieves ; and they 

 need no other preparation. I observed a quantity 

 of olives spread out upon some daies on the f]oor; 

 they did not appear to have sufiered in any degree 

 from the worm, as was the case with most of^ihe 

 other olives 1 had seen. Many of them still re- 

 tained a greenish, or, rather, a whitish color, wiiile 

 (he majority were either of a deep purple color, or 

 perfectly black. M. Brest said, these light-colored 

 olives, pressed separately, would yield a finer oil 

 than the others, though less in quantity. 



From the apartments where the dried fruits were 

 in process of packing, JVI. Brest conducted me 

 throuLTh his soap manufactory, which is on a con- 

 siderable scale, soap being one of Ihe most impor- 

 tant manufactures of Marseilles, and being made 

 ehiefiy with *ie inferior kinds of olive oil f thence 

 to a saw-mill, turned by water, and finally, to a 

 room heated by steam lor the treatment of silk 

 worms. M. Brest next took me through the plan- 

 tation adjoining his buildings, to show me how the 

 caper is cultivated. At present the bushes are all 

 covered with soil to prevent them being destroyed 

 by Ihe fiost ; and preparatory to this they had been 

 pruned down to the length of from 6 to 12 inches 

 each branch or shoot. Jn the spring they are cut 

 down close to the stock, so that every year pro- 

 duces new branches. The bushes which yield Ihe 

 caper, if well treated, will last for 40 years. They 

 yield on an average one pound and a half of capers, 

 thouijh some of the very strong bushes will occa- 

 sionally yield from five to six pounds. The caper 

 13 the flower bud before its developement ; the 

 largest and least valuable grow near the bottom of 

 the branch, the sniallest at the top. They are 

 gathered by women ai the expense o/'a halfpenny 



a pound. The bushes are about four feet apart ; 

 they are propagated by means of offsets from ihe 

 roots, two of which ofliieis were presented to mc 

 by JM. Brest. On opening the f)ox which contain- 

 ed iliese ofisets in Jjondon, I had the mortificatiori 

 to find that they had hotli peri.-hed. Jlavinir ex- 

 pressed my desire to procure cuttings ol the grapes 

 which are dried f()r raisins, anil of any oiher sort 

 cultivated in the district which I had not already 

 procured, M. Brest sent a boy to conduct me to a 

 propeny of his own, wiih a messase to thefermier 

 to give me the ddferent kinds 1 wanted. He observ- 

 ed that he would have accompanied me him- 

 selfj had he not been very busy picking up a quanti- 

 ty of fi-uits which were re(]ii're(i to be sent otl" im- 

 mediately. The whole of the ground over which 

 I went is cultivated like a garden. In many places 

 the vines are only planted along the edges of 

 the terraces, which are every where built to sup- 

 port the soil. The caper is very generally cultivat- 

 ed in this district. The_/m«/cr was not at home, 

 but soon arrived. He save me cuttings of six new 

 varieties, a dozen of each. The vines are pruned, 

 leaving on each shoot two bud^^, exclusive of the 

 one at the junction. These are the vines which 

 yield the grapes for drying; there were from two 

 to three shoots on each vine pruned in this manner. 

 The /erm?cr said, that each vine produced from 8 

 to 12 bunches. According to M. Brest, the, 

 Sfround in th's distr'ct is all trenched to the depth 

 of 2^ or 3 feet before plantinir, but they do not put 

 in the cutting the whole of this depth. M. Negrel 

 states, that it has been observed that the roots 

 come from the two buds nearest to the surliice 

 only, and that the lower part of the cutting imparts 

 to the remainder a portion of its decay. There is 

 a good deal of sweet wine made in this neighbor- 

 hood, chiefly Itom a variety of the Muscat grape. 

 The wine.c of Provence, or Bouches du Rhone, 

 are not celebrated, nor do ihey appear to be known 

 as well as they deserve to be. The-' have never 

 furnished many choice wii.es forcommerce; but M. 

 Negrel says, many proprietors make them of ex- 

 cellent quality, when they take some trouble to 

 have them good for their own consumption. I 

 returned, after an excursion of an hour and a halfj 

 to the house of M. Brest, who pressed me to re- 

 main for ihe night, and return to Marseilles next 

 day; but this kindness ray anxiety to get forward 

 induceii me to decline; and, af]er partaking of 

 some fiuit and wine, I returned to Mar.-eilles. 



Tuesday, 6th December. — During the course of 

 this day I visited M. Negrel. He is now engaged 

 in removing the collections of Natural History to 

 a new Museum. I was happy to be able to pro- 

 mise that I would send him from London a stuffed 

 Ornithorhynchus paradoxus and a tew shells. M. 

 Negrel is only ;jro tempore director of the Cabinet 

 of Natural History at Marseilles; Mr. Roux, who 

 holds that appointment permanently, being at pre- 

 sent travelling in the East Indies with a German 

 naturalist. M. N. said it was probable they might 

 visit Nevv Holland, in which case he recommend- 

 ed them to my aiteniions. Through the kind- 

 ness of Mr. Gower, an English merchant, to 

 whom I had brought a letter of introduction, I pro- 

 cured letters to Valence, to the neighborhood of 

 Beaune, and to Dijon ; the first in order to enable 

 me to visit, with advantage, the vineyards of Her- 

 mitage, Ihe two latter, those of Burgundy. I then 

 procured, for the purpose of planlingln Nevv South 



