THE GENESEE FARMER. 



189 



EXTSACTS FKOM " NOTES OF AN EUEOPEAN TOUR." 



Wk land in Uovey's Magazine for May a very in- 

 teresting letter from the Hon. J. S. Cabot, dated 

 Rome, March 2d, 1860, from which we make a few 

 eelectious : 



■'My route led me through the vine-growing and 

 olive-producing regions of. France and Italy — at 

 least wiicre these occupy principally the attention 

 of cultivators — through that part of the empire 

 first named called the Borbonnais, where the Bur- 

 gundy wines are made. At Fontainebleau, about 

 30 miles from Paris, there are extensive vineyards, 

 princijially for the purpose of raising grapes for 

 the supply of the Paris market, to which, in the 

 season, great quantities are sent daily, tlie kind 

 raised being mainly the Chasselan de Fontainebleau ; 

 and from here onward, for two or three hundred 

 miles, it is almost an uninterrupted succession of 

 vineyaids. The whole country is covered with 

 grape vines — not only tlie plains and valleys, but 

 the sides of the mountains even to their summits, 

 where circumstances allow of their cultivation, 

 giving to the landscape at this season a brown or 

 reddish appearance as it lays-in the sunshine. With 

 others of celebrity, 1 passed by the vineyard that 

 produces the celebrated Hermitage wine ; this is of 

 small extent, not more than two or three hundred 

 ,cres, so situated on the slope of the mountain that 

 the sun lays on it all day, the soil being of a pecu- 

 liar character, and immediately adjoining it, though 

 apparently similarly situated, being either too rich 

 or tuu poor to produce grapes of the quality or pe- 

 cuMar liavor necessary in the manufacture of this 

 particular wine. 



" Through all this region of country the mode of 

 cultivating the grape appears to be the same; they 

 are planted in rows about four feet apart, tlie vines 

 eing about the same distance apart in the rows, 

 and trained to stakes of about four or five feet 

 high, generally one or at most two shoots. What 

 particular tillage the land receives, or what is the 

 produce of a vine, I have no means of knowing. 

 The land about the vines is kept clean and loose 

 by the plow, and I presume is, when necessary, 

 enriched by nuinure. * * * * 



"In Modena and Tuscany a different method 

 from that pursued in France prevails with respect 

 to the cultivation of the grape. Here, instead of 

 planting them in rows near together and training 

 them low, the fields are planted with mulberry 

 trees, or trees for fuel, and grape vines planted at 

 the foot of the trees; these are trained up the 

 trees, and the branches led from tree to tree, as in 

 festoons. I have no means of judging of the rela- 

 tive advantages of the different methods, but sup- 

 pose that each has its advantages that commend it 

 to the cultivators of the different countries. * * 



"The Italians have had the character of being 

 aa indolent people, but it seems to me that they 

 have been unjustly subjected to the imputation ; 

 certainly in the mountainous regions an immense 

 amount of labor has been performed in the con- 

 struction of terraces, and every spot susceptible of 

 it receives a careful cultivation. The roads are 

 excellent, and being built sometimes along the sides 

 or over the summits of steep mountains, winding 

 up and down them by ascents and descents so 



gentle as sometimes to be almost imperceptible; at 

 others, carried along the shore or overhanging 

 ledges. They are not only remarkable proofs of 

 engineering skill, but striking instances of what well- 

 directed labor can accomplish. * * * * 



"From what I had heard and read in relation to 

 the subject, I had suj^josed that there existed a 

 n)ethod of laying out gardens and grounds in Italy 

 that was called the Italian style, of which examples 

 miglit be constantly met with ; but though I have 

 visited a few villas that were considered aniongthe 

 finest in that part of the country where I have 

 been, and have obtained views of many as I passed 

 along, 1 have failed to see that any have exhibited 

 what I suppose to be the peculiar and distinctive 

 features of this style in any marked degree. It 

 may be that the impression I had received with 

 rtspect to these distinctive feature was incorrect — 

 and I am ready to acknowledge that I had formed 

 no very clear and distinct idea concerning them, or 

 it may be that they have in a great measure disap 

 pearefl by the gradual introduction of what is com- 

 monly called the natural method in landscape or villa 

 gardening. True it is that in most of the villas tht.t 

 1 have seen, I have met with statues and fountains, 

 stair-cases, balustrades and terraces ; and these I 

 su])pose to be some of the component parts of that 

 style, but they have been free from that stiffness 

 and formality of arrangement and adherence to 

 straight lines that I have presumed constituted its 

 essence. The use of statues and fountains in laying 

 out and improving grounds surely is not inconsistent 

 with the natural method ; but on the contrary may, 

 as it seems to me, be employed with great effect as 

 adjuncts, and tend materially to an increase of their 

 beauty." 



JAPAN PEAS. 



Eds. Genesee Farmer: — Within the last three 

 years I have raised several kinds of Japan Peas, 

 and find them good food for man or beast; while 

 they are very productive, and not troubled with 

 the pea-bug. In preparing them for the table, they 

 should be soaked in cold water for twelve hours or 

 more before cooking. 



The Red Japan Pea is of small size and growth, 

 and the earliest of all. The pods contain from 12 

 to 20 peas each. 



The Green is the largest, latest, and probably the 

 most productive. It grows similar to the Yellow. 



The Yelloio is the most common sort ; of medium 

 size, and has a strong, bushy stalk, which always 

 stands up well. I have raised at the rate of over 

 80 bushels per acre, with no extra culture. 



Erie Co., Ohio. E. E. SMITH. 



Tomatoes for Milch Cows. — W. C. Earl, of 

 Toledo, Ohio, states that he fed his cow tomatoes, 

 green, ripe, and thawed out after freezing, last fall, 

 with good results; "they not only caused her to 

 i-'ive a good supply, but a rich quality of milk," 

 In his opinion, there is no vegetable superior to 

 the tomato for making milk. 



LoousT Trees. — F. H.Williams, of Prairie Ridge, 

 Iowa, informs us that he sowed some locust seed 

 last spring, and the young trees are now (March,) 

 4-^ feet high. 



