AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 215 



and vigorous progeny. Great flocks of goats are fed on all the 

 high mountains of the peninsula. They are rich in milk, and 

 prolific. The dam brings forth two or three kids at a birth that 

 are very sportive and hardy. Its flesh is much sought after by 

 the peasantry, but the carcass of the male goat that has age is 

 tough beyond description. 



Hogs are common, and kept on a variety of mixed food. The 

 stock is very ordinary and mean in appearance, except a large 

 race about Parma and a small one at Naples. The Goth and German 

 have so often laid waste Italy, their ravages may be traced in the 

 mighty w^astes that are the sad monuments of their barbarity. 

 These give fine ranges for swine to feed on roots and acorns. In 

 Tuscany near the sea coast we meet with great herds, and more 

 especially in Calabria. Their pork is well fattened, and has a 

 pleasant taste, A little before the time for slaughter, millet, bar- 

 ley meal and wild chesnuts are thrown before them. In the ar- 

 ticle of ham, Verona will almost rival Virginia and they both 

 are only behind Westphalia, though America, with great justice 

 in this line, claims the palm over all. 



In regard to fattening neat cattle, Mantua and vicinity are the 

 most successful. No care is wanted to lay on the fat. The ox 

 intended for the shambles is tied up in a warm stable. Once or 

 twice he is bled, kept perfectly clean, and rubbed, brushed and 

 oiled every day. In summer, clover or other green herbage is 

 put in his manger; and to make his food have a better relish, the 

 meal of coarse grain is given to him. Even the pulverised kernel 

 of the walnut and chestnut are often to be met with while fat is 

 being put on him. During cold weather, hay and the dried leaves 

 of trees or spray are thrown before him; but in many parts of 

 Italy the grass is always green, the domestic cattle subsist in 

 depth of winter, on the open pastures. The cattle in the vicinity 

 of Rome are proverbial for their fleetness and ability to undergo 

 labor. But the ox that falls before the Milan butcher, must be 

 almost as fine as his garland fellow that once smoked on Pagan 

 altars. 



The Tuscan ox is of a dun color, good for the yoke, and be- 

 comes when grown about the size of a Devon. The cows are not 

 first rate milkers, and even those imported into the country from 

 Switzerland or Tyrol, lose their excellency in dairy business often 

 in a couple of seasons. In the ecclesiastical estates, the cattle 

 are not submissive to the yoke, and the cow yields but little but- 

 ter. They are almost as wild as the American Buffalo. A chase 



