216 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



for them calls out all the address of the nomadic Tartar in pur- 

 suit of the savage breed which roam over the immense plains that 

 overspread central Asia. They are pursued by horsemen mounted 

 upon fleet chargers, holding their lance and lasso. The famous 

 Parmesan cheese does not come from Parma, but is made out of 

 the milk of cows that feed on the irrigated pastures and meadows 

 near Lodi. The great part of the time they are stalled, and while 

 shut up their mangers are filled with clover and other vegetables. 



The cheese is made of skimmed milk, one-half of which stands 

 six hours, and the other sixteen. The milk is warmed and cur- 

 dled in a kettle in the shape of an inverted cone. This is put in 

 an archway made to fit its sides. Fuel to w^arm it is placed un- 

 der the vessel. The casein matter is not taken out of the cold 

 room, but broken in it, until the pieces become very small. This 

 is done by a stick, the end of which is crossed by wires. Then 

 it is again scalded until most of the whey is pressed out, and the 

 curd has attained considerable hardness. Then it is taken away, 

 salted and pressed, and in four days it is fit for the cheese loft. 

 As we have stated the customary diet of shepherd, goatherd and 

 swineherd, is skimmed milk cheese, and w^here little or no 

 butcher's meat is consumed, its daily use must be considerable. 



The horse which came from the East and was highly esteemed 

 by the old Roman, is still a noble animal; and whether j)ut un- 

 der the saddle, or before a Cardinal's chariot, has many admira- 

 ble i3oints, and deserves all the honor paid to him by the ancient 

 warriors. And those piebald and clouded steeds show to this 

 day that the Goth and Vandal overrun the empire and left their 

 permanent traces behind. 



I have come to the bounds that I had set to my labor. The 

 subject cannot be without interest to one, who is conversant with 

 the agriculture of foreign countries; and I did not deem it un- 

 worthy of some consideration from the American farmer. We 

 have seen one of the finest countries in existence, cultivated for 

 more than twenty centuries with almost the same routine of 

 rural economy. What is needed in Italy is scientific agricul- 

 ture, and the introduction of new and improved rural imple- 

 ments which have added much to the melioration of soil, in re- 

 gions wrapped almost incessantly by fogs, and chilled by frosts, 

 but blessed with more enlightened government. The peasant is 

 enfeebled by a sort of slavery. His mind is prone to the worst 

 superstitions. The proprietor and the metayer are alike igno- 

 rant of the first rudiments of husbandry. The pages of a Spren- 



