282 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 



them from falling into mistakes, wiiicii are a dis- 

 credit to themselves, but as it ini<r;ht render tlie re- 

 marks, wliich they have an opportunity of makint;, 

 more curious and intereslinjr to the public. Mr. 

 Addison, speaking ol" the counlry between Ver- 

 ona and Padua, inlorms us, that " ihe fields are 

 planted thick with rows of mulberries which fur- 

 nish food (or great quantities of silk-worms with 

 their leaves ; and that the trees themselves serve 

 as so many slays for their vines, which hang all 

 along like garlands from tree to tree."* One can- 

 not account lor so extraordinary an assertion, with- 

 out supposing, either that he transcribed it from 

 others ; or that he was deceived by the appearance 

 of the trees, in passing through that country 

 in the midst of winter. There is no doubt, but 

 that vines are supported by mulberries in several 

 parts of Italy ; especially in the state of Genoa, 

 and in the Milanese; but these are straggling 

 trees, and applied to that use, merely because 

 they were found upon the spot, and other Ibrest- 

 trees had failed ; and, I believe, it may be salely 

 affirmed, that there was never a single plantation 

 of mulberries trained in Italy regularly for this 

 purpose. I have been asured by men of conside- 

 rable age and experience, that the vines in the 

 territories of Venice have been always supported 

 by the elm, poplar, ash, or maple, as they are ac- 

 tually at this day ; the practice of which was un- 

 doubtedly dictated by good sense ; for, as the vines 

 put out their leaves in general as early as the mul- 

 berries, and sometimes sooner, it would be impos- 

 sible to take the first crop of leaves from the latter, 

 without doiniT an injury to the former, whereas it is 

 not usual to strip the ibrest-trees above-mentioned 

 of their leaves, before the vintage commences ; so 

 that the vines can receive little or no damage. Mr. 

 Addison observes, in the Ibllowing paragraph, that 

 " between the several ranges of vines there lie 

 fields of corn, which, in these warm countries, ri- 

 pens much belter among the mulberry shades, 

 than if it were exposed to the sun."t Had he 

 consulted the ancient writers, f!)r whom no one 

 had ever a more exquisite relish, he would have 

 found that they maintained the contrary opinion ;J 

 and indeed it is obvious to every one, who has 

 surveyed Italy with the least deijree of attention, 

 that, in the best corn countries, the grain is always 

 sowed alone, and not encumbered with any sort 

 of plan's. This is the case of the plains in Apulia, 

 and in the marc of Ancona: and it likewise pre- 

 vails in the Valdichiani, which is properly called 

 the granary of Tuscany, whether we consider 

 the richness of the soil, or the superior mode of 

 cultivation. It is larihcr observable, that an acre 

 of land destined only for corn, is generally let lor 

 as high a price as an acre of land of tlie same 

 quality which is planted, as well as sowed with 

 corn; for, as the former is not exhausted by trees, 

 and as the grain is brouirht to more perfect matu- 

 rity by the heat, the increased value of the crop is 

 supposed to compensate for the advantaofes which 

 arise from the other kind of culture. This is a 

 common covenant between landlords and tenants 

 in the Venetian state, of which I have been an 



* Vot. 11. J). 21. London 17 21, 4to. 



t Ibid. p. 22- 



X It is sufficient to quote the authority of Columella, 

 who says expressly, " Omne autcm f'ruiuentuin niax- 

 ime campo patente, et ad soleni prono apricoque et 

 soluto Iffitdtur. Lib. i;. c. 9. 



eye-witness myself. I shall mention but one more 

 particular with respect to Mr. Addision, who says, 

 that "there are at St. Remo many plantations of 

 nalm-trees, tho' they do not grow in other parts of 

 Italy."* If we understand his words in their lit- 

 eral meaning, it must appear to be a groundless 

 surmise; for many palms, or date trees, are to be 

 found dispersed throughout Italy; and some of con- 

 siderable age and size in the southern parts of the 

 kingdom of Naples; but if he means, vvhich in- 

 deed his words seem to insinuate, that they grow 

 naturally only in the environs of St. Remo, he has 

 certainly been led into an error ; for they are not 

 natives of any part of Italy. The only indige- 

 nous palm in that country, is what the botanists 

 c?i\\ palma humilis, and chamcBrops humilis, which 

 seldom rises to more than five or six feet in height. 

 It is to be seen all o/er Apulia and Calabria, where 

 the peasants use it to make ropes, and baskets ; 

 and it is still more frequent in Sicily, where the 

 lower people eat the roots, besides using the leavea 

 for the purpose above mentioned. I observed it 

 in the greatest abundance about the ruins of Se- 

 linus, which exhibit the remains of three of the 

 most magnificient temples of antiquity; a circum- 

 stance, that fixes the meaning, and marks the 

 propriety of the epithet, with which Virgil has 

 distinguished this city.f 



Let it not be imagined, that my aim is to de- 

 tract from Mr. Addison, whose works have not 

 done more honor to our country, than to human 

 nature itself. Such blemishes are to be overlooked 

 in so accomplished a writer ; but in those, who 

 build their reputation entirely upon books of tra- 

 vels, they are not so easily pardonable. It is a 

 common remark, that it is impossible to make any 

 fi-esh discovery upon so beaten a track as Italy. 

 Perhaps it may be true, as to painting, sculp- 

 ture, and archiieciure, which swell the volumes 

 of so many authors, at the expense of inqui- 

 ries more useiijl and important. The "suspendit 

 picta vultum mentemque tabella" (to use the 

 beautiful expressions ot' Horace) may be pro- 

 per to form the taste; but when that is formed, 

 the mind ought to employ itself in more ra- 

 tional researches ; and the fine arts should be 

 esteemed but as secondary pursuits. It must, 

 however, be acknowledged, that new sources of 

 information have been opened in the present age, 

 which, either through the ignorance or prudence 

 of earlier voyage-writers, had been sufiiired to 

 lie unexplored. The most secret transactions of 

 families have been pryed into, and reported as 

 clear and undoubted truths: the gallantries of the 

 first nobility have been proclaimed : the conver- 

 sation of crowned heads has been retailed : and 

 the confidential communications of individuals 

 have been disclosed, whose fortunes, and even 

 lives might be endangered by an ill-judged attempt 

 to amuse the public. But there is still to be found 

 an ample body of materials which have scarcely 

 been touched upon by others ; and which may 

 possibly furnish instruction, if not entertainment. 

 Such are a description of several parts of Italy, 

 which lie out of the general tour of travellers — 

 an examination of the state of literature — a view of 

 the internal commerce — an inquiry into the differ- 



* Ibid. p. 3. 



t Teque datis linquo ventis, palmosa Selinus. 



Mil- Hi. V. 705, 



