STATURE OF THE VINE. 



185 



pansion, even in this country. I shall beg leave 

 here to produce two or three instances of Vines 

 covering a surprising area of walling. 



difficulty, however, was gradually vanquished ; and there is 

 some reason to believe, that the vineyards of Burgundy are as 

 old as the age of the Antonines. * 



" 3d. The Olive, in the western world, was the companion 

 as well as the symbol of peace. Two centuries after the 

 foundation of Rome, both Italy and Africa were strangers to 

 that useful plant ; it was naturalized in those countries, and at 

 length carried into the heart of Spain and Gaul. The timid 

 errors of the ancients, that it required a certain degree of 

 heat, and could only flourish in the neighbourhood of the sea, 

 were insensibly exploded by industry and experience, f 



" 4th. The cultivation of flax was transported from Egypt to 

 Gaul, and enriched the whole country, however it might im- 

 poverish the particular lands on which it was sown. J 



" 5th. The use of artificial grasses became familiar to the 

 farmers both of Italy and the provinces, particularly the Lu- 

 cerne, which derived its name and origin from Media. J The 

 assured supply of wholesome and plentiful food for cattle 



* In the beginning of the fourth century ; the orator Eumenius 

 (Panegyric, veter. viii. 6th edit. Delphin.) speaks of the Vines in 

 the territory of Autun, which were decayed, through age, and the 

 Jirst plantation of which was totally unknown. The Pagus Aro- 

 brignus is supposed, by M. Danville, to be the district of Beaune, 

 celebrated even at present for one of the first growths of Bur- 

 gundy. 



f Plin. Hist. Natur. lib. xv. 

 J Ibid. lib. xix. 



§ See the agreeable Essays on Agriculture, by Mr. Harte, in 

 which he has collected all that the ancients and moderns have said 

 of Lucerne. 



