ITALY. 



369 



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Nuts. 



In Italy, all the fruits common in the more tempe- 

 rate countries of Europe are produced in the greatest 

 abundance anil the highest perfection, besides many 

 other productions which properly belong to more si.uth- 

 ern latitudes. Apple*, pears, peaches, apricots, pine- 

 apples, medlars, pomegranates, rat Ions, red and yellow 

 azarol-plurr.*. cherries, almonds, dates, figs, chesnuts, 

 '-. lemons, citrons, oranges, are 

 commonly produced throughout the country, and ma- 

 ny of them without culture. Cherries have been known 

 to be sc abundant at Nocera, that hands have been 

 wanting to gather them, and so cheap as not to repay 

 their carriage to Naples ; so that the owners of orchards 

 have invited the public to eat and earn- away what 

 quantities they pleased. Date trees were formerly 

 more abundant in the south of Italy ; but the Saracens 

 cut down most of the male-palms at the time of their 

 expulsion from the country, and even the Chris-tuns 

 were ready to wreak their vengeance on the plant, as 

 if peculiarly connected with Mahommedanism They 

 re Kill found in some places to the height of 40 feet, 

 but their fruit rarely ripens well, except when the si- 

 rocco and other' southerly winds prevail mucli during 

 the sea-on. Fig trees attain a considerable size, ana 

 re found in great variety in the country ; but those 

 which are earliest ripe are most esteemed. They are 

 generally propagated by slips, planted in a shady place, 

 and regularly watered. p wild plant abounds 



every where, so as to afford uy opportunities of ca- 

 prification, this method is. rarely employed ; but the 

 Neapolitans ripen the fruit by touching the eye of it 

 with feather dipped in oil. Near Trani, the tree* are 

 planted in rows, and dressed like dwarfs and espaliers, 



to the practice of the ancients, which r. 

 the fruit larger and the trees more vigorous. Almond- 

 trees appear in forest*, especially along the eastern 

 coast ; and thr -.ixAtion which they receive, is 



to stir the ground around the root*, an i to prune out 

 the central branches for the admiuion of the air The 

 hazel-nut is cultivated in many places, especially in tin- 

 principality of Avellina, hence called Nux Avellana" 

 Around die town are more nut-bushes than in any 

 country whatever, which are planted in rows in the 

 best sou, regularly pruned in the form of bushes with 

 straight stems ; while the ground between the rows is 

 dug and manured during winter, and generally sown 

 with own in the pnng So great is the pnxluce, that 

 the trade in nuts is mid to nring annually <>0,OOO du- 

 1 ,850) to the town of Avellina. Oranges are 

 I to have been first cultivated at Reggio, and thence 

 to nave spread over the rountry. They are now found 

 to thrive in the northern districts around the lakes of 

 Coroo, Ganlii, and Magjnore. and even at the very foot 

 f the Apennines, where there is often frost in the * in- 

 ter season tn.ng enough to congeal water. At Taran- 

 to, they - . ,ted by lairrs. twig being stuck 



in a pot full i. > i>e autumn, and, in the follow, 



ing May, severed fixim the parent stock for transplanta- 

 tion It i> generally six or eight years before the trees 

 arrive at a full bearing *ute. 



Italv afford* many vegetable production!), which 

 wrieK require any culli.ation, yet yield a valuable r- 

 ticie of home consumption, or of foreign trade. Among 

 these may be noticed the ornns or manna ash-tree, 

 which grows xpontaiieously, requiring no other culture 

 than cutting down the strong khoots around the trunk, 

 and which continues to yield manna every year for the 

 pace of a century ; but, in consequence of these an- 



'VOL. in. PART i. 



nual bleedings, seldom attains a considerable size. The Statistics' 

 gathering of the gum begins about the end of July, < *~~V'' 

 when a horizontal cut, inclining upwards, is made in 

 the trunk of the tree, and repeated every day as long 

 as any drop* of manna exude, which are generally col- 

 lected in a kind of cup formed of a maple leaf. One 

 tree will afford about a pound and a half of manna 

 every season, which usually sells at the rate of five ta- 

 ri, or 4-s. per pound. In some of the maritime tracts 

 of the south, liquorice is collected in great quantities, Liquorice, 

 and the roots are now generally exported in their na- 

 tural s^ate. In Abruzzo, and of late also in Lombardy, 

 saffron is an article of considerable attention to the Saffron. 

 peasantry. A great variety of medicinal herbs are pro- 

 duced in the mountains of the Marsi in Abruzzo Ultra, 

 which are annually frequented by apothecaries from 

 the most distant parts of the country. The loe grows Aloe, 

 abundantly in Terra di Otranto and other provinces in 

 the south of Italy ; and, besides its medicinal juice, 

 attempts have been made, with considerable success, to 

 manufacture a useful thread from its leaves, (see Manu- 

 factures in this article.) The Indian-fig, the carob- 

 tree, the caper-bush, the cornelian-cherry, the bead- 

 tree, the storax-tree, are very commonly met with in 

 the fields 4111! uncultivated tracts. The oleander, the Shrub*, 

 myrtle, the laburnum, the jasmine, the Judas-tree, the 

 Spanish-broom, the bean-trefoil, the provence-rose, the 

 cinnamon-rose, the syringa, the laurus-tinus, the bay, 

 the laurel, the lylac, are a few of the flowering shrubs 

 which adorn the Italian scenery. Lavender, rosema- 

 ry, rice, sumach, sage, euphorbia, tree-heath, arbutus, 

 campanula, and a multitude of interesting botanical 

 beauties, abound in its varied surface. The natural ve- 

 getation i*. in most places, remarkably luxuriant. The 

 .Spjinli-reed rises to a height which almost emulates 

 the bamboo of India ; and the ferula ( omnium i of 

 Linnieus grows to the length of twelve feet. Its 

 branches are gathered OK fodd-r for asses, but are said 

 to be hurtful to all other aniiimls ; and its stem is used 

 for making chicken-coop, l>ir'l-cages, hurdles for 

 packing sheep, and other similar articles. The moun- 

 tains are generally clothed with wood of every Euro- 

 pean species ; and in Apulia, particularly, are many to- Forests. 

 rests of immense extent. That of Gioia is said to be 

 fitly null- in circumference, and twenty-four at its 

 greatest breadth. 



Animal*. 



The hones of Italy are of little reputation, and Hoist. 

 few are reared in the country, except in the ancient 

 Japygia, now the provinces of Kari and Otranto. For- 

 merly, the Neapolitan horses were much celebrated, 

 and formed a valuable article of exportation. But, for 

 many years, the breed has been much neglected in con- 

 sequence of their exportation having been prohibited, 

 or at least subjected to so heavy a duty as amounted to 

 a prohibition. Hence the fanners and gentry turned 

 their attention to the rearing of mules, which are found 

 better adapted for the bad and mountainous roads in 

 that country, and which will carry a load ot 500 weight 

 through the most difficult paths without stumbling. 

 This prohibition, however, is said to have been remo- 

 ved, and the breed of horses to have been again much 

 improved. But they are considered as too soft and 

 feeble to endure much fatigue, and their spirit quite 

 destroyed by the brutal manner in which they are bro- 

 ken in. The Calabrian horses are handsome in shape, 



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