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and other cultivated herbaceous plants of various kinds. The trees 

 are pollarded and kept for shade as well as for the fruit, leaves, 

 wood, etc. They also furnish a support for the grapevines and 

 for the corn fodder when it is gathered. 



The slopes of the Apennines are in many places covered with 

 groves of the famous Italian chestnut, all carefully tended. The 

 trees are often attacked at the base of the trunk by an interest- 

 ing fungus (Polyporus frondosus), which is thought to do consid- 



erable damage, but the peasants are so fond of eating the fungus 

 that they will not report its presence lest preventive measures be 

 taken by the government. 



Irrigation is practiced extensively and effectively in Italy. The 

 swollen mountain streams are conducted by devious and com- 

 plicated channels through the lowlands until entirely exhausted 

 or greatly diminished in volume. In the absence of rivers, wells 

 are used as the source of water supply. 



The native fruits that one finds in Italy in early summer are 



