Foreign Notices. — Poland and Russia. 



89 



for the inhabitants of these countries. In Georgia and Mingreli;i, Russia 

 may produce wines to rival those of Hungary and France. Already 

 Georgia produces a considerable quantity of excellent wine, and in less 

 than twenty years as much will probably be produced there as will supply 

 the whole of Russia. {CEkonom. Neuigh. und Verhandl. 1825.) 



Peckra, the country residence of the Prince M. P. Galitzin, {Jig. 28.) is 

 situated a few miles to the south of Moscow, on an elevated sandy bank, on 



the margin of a small lake. The house, for a Russian country-seat, may be 

 considered small ; but the church is large, and forms, with the house, 

 very picturesque combinations from different points of view. At a short 

 distance is a village, reckoned one of the handsomest in Russia ; it con- 

 sists of a street of cottages and gardens, detached, and highly ornamented. 

 The gable ends of the cottages are the chief places where ornament is 

 displayed. The roof projects over them, and, suspended from the eaves 

 are carved figures of the sun, moon, stars, wheels, double eagles, wolves, 

 human faces, &c, all carved in wood, and with no other instrument 

 than the axe. The chief ornament in front is a porch, and sometimes a 

 rustic veranda. The walls are built of logs, and the roof covered with 

 shingles. The interior is one room with a stove, sometimes in the end, 

 but more commonly at one side opposite the door. (J. L. 1825.) 



The Wild Pear. A writer in the Annals of German Agriculture con- 

 siders this fruit as having, in remote ages, afforded the principal nourish- 

 ment of the inhabitants of Europe. It is certain that it grows wild in 

 every country and in every soil, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. It 

 is at present most common in Russia, as being the least cultivated country; 

 its fruit, under the name of grouschi, is eagerly devoured by the natives in 

 a raw state : and where they are abundant, they are dried and laid up for 

 winter use, and form soups and stews with different species of mushrooms ; 

 they are also sometimes fermented and distilled, or made into that agree- 

 able liquor called quass ; while the must, mixed with chaff, forms a most 

 inviting food for horses. The timber of the tree is of known value to 

 turners and patten-makers. The Pyrus nivalis, discovered on the Austrian 

 Alps by Jacquin, produces a fruit similar in quality to that of the Pyrus 

 communis. (Bav. Jour.) 



