1806. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
11 
half mile in circumference. The lava or melted stone ap- 
pears to have boiled over on all sides, and then, in cool- 
ing, to have sunk down a few yards, leaving a basin on 
the top of the mountain. This basin is covered with 
scoria or loose black lava, and lighter colored ashes. 
There are some fissures in the bottom of the basin, from 
which sulphurous fumes arise, but the mountain has been 
nearly quiet for half a dozen years. [See below.] 
"Coming back down to Here ulanc urn, or Resina, 
you go on south along the head of the Bay, and then 
south-east, crossing seTeral elevations, which are formed 
by the immense streams of lava that at various periods 
have flowed down the sides of Vesuvius in different di- 
rections. Nine or ten miles from Naples, that is, around 
on the south side of Vesuvius., you come to the partly ex- 
humed city of Pompei, (pronounced here Pom-payc-ye.) 
This was upon a south-east arm of the Bay, which has 
been partly filled up by lava, throwing the site of the city 
inland half a mile or more. Pompel was destroyed or 
buried Id the year 79 A. t>., or nearly 1800 years ago. The 
lava that boils out of the top of Vesuvius, usually runs 
slowly down the mountain side, giving the inhabitants 
time to escape. People seem to have little fear of actual 
danger, for the whole country all around the foot of Ve- 
suvius, and partly up its slopes, is very thickly inhab- 
ited— indeed there are in this vicinity more inhabi- 
tants to the square mile than in any other country place in 
the world, I believe. It appears that the people of Pom- 
pei were scared out of the city by a lava stream which did 
not reach the walls, but that 400 or 500 remained, or re- 
turned, when an immense mass of lava was hurled from 
Vesuvius, and fell in a thick cloud of ashes and rapilli or 
fragments of pumice stone, filling up the streets and 
houses, and covering the whole to a depth of 15 or 30 feet. 
The top, by the action of the elements, was formed into 
an arable soil, and afterwards cultivated, the city itself 
being buried, and lost sight of for more than a thousand 
years! During the past 250 years, and especially in the 
past 40 years, the government has been uncovering parts 
of Pompei, and removing the ashes and rapilli from the 
houses and streets, which have been preserved almost en- 
tire. The roofs of the buildings were mostly crushed 
down, but the outside walls arc almost all standing. The 
streets, with the paving stones deeply worn in ruts by the 
wagon wheels, arc as perfect as if left but yesterday. Yuti 
see the plastered walls of the rooms, with fresco paintings 
nearly perfect, and the floors are generally in beautiful 
mosaic, well preserved. House?, shops, temples, public 
buildings, many of them still retaining the finest carved 
marble pillars, statuary, etc., fill up the excavated portion 
of the city. All kinds of implements, for the household, 
for the mechanic arts, etc., are preserved just as they 
were in use eighteen centuries ago! Many thousands of 
these arc collected in the Museum at Naples, and after 
examining them, and seeing how much they are like 
those of the present day, one feels the force of Solomon's 
remark that u there is nothing newnndcr the sun. 1 * 
Wc spent four hours, until thoroughly wearied out. in 
walking through the streets, and examining the build- 
ings, and yet visited but a small part of the uncovered 
portions, while about two-thirds of the ancient city is 
still buried, as is shown by the outer wall, nearly l 3 ^ miles 
in length, which has been traced out, and by the experi- 
mental diggings in the inclosed soiL 
"Herculaneumls buried so deeply, and the modern 
houses are so numerous above, that only a few of the 
buried structures have been cleaned out. We walked 
through the great amphitheatre, large enough for the pop- 
ulation of an extensive city. It is 25 to 40 feet below the 
streets of the present village, and was discovered in sink- 
ing a well. 
— '"The ride westward from Naples along the north 
Bide of the Bay, is intensely interesting. We first pass 
through the mountain ridge by a tunneled road, (Grotto of 
Posilippo,) half a mile long, 30 to 75 feet high, and 25 to 30 
feet broad. It was cut out of the solid rock, long before 
the Christian era, probably. Virgil's tomb is near the 
entrance of this. Beyond the grotto, three or four miles, 
wo went to the naturally heated sulphur caverns and 
baths, and to the Dog Grotto— where a dog at our feet fell 
down suffocated by the carbonic acid, which did not rise 
to om* own heads. We next visited Pozzuoli. This was 
the ancient Futeoli, where St. Paul landed after his ship- 
wreck, (Acts xxtoi, 13.) The old " Appian Way," still 
parti/ risible, is here seen; it extended northward 120 
miles or so to Rome. Just east of Pozznoli, we went into 
the crater of Solfatara. This is a flat bottom, round basin, 
30 acres or eo in extent, the rim 20 to 30 feet high, and 
the bottom covered with white volcanic salts, sulphur, 
alum, and chalky ashes. la treading over it, it sounds 
hollow, as if you were stamping upon the head of an im- 
mense bass drum. At one point, steam and sulphurous 
fumes belch forth with a sound like a great blast furnace. 
Wc cooked some eggs in tho mouth of the fissnrc, and 
the air around was so filled with sulphur that the silver 
coins in our pockets were blackened in a few minutes. 
.. .The eruption »f Solfatara, in 11W, buriod part of Pei- 
xuoli, including the great amphitheatre where Nero acted 
as a gladiator, the uncovered ruin of which we visited. 
The mined temples of Jnpiter Serapis, Neptune, and the 
Nymphs, the hot springe, etc., are interesting objects. 
Northwest of Pozzuoli is the MonteNuovo.a conical moun- 
tain heaved np in 153S. Beyond this is the Lake A vermis 
and the Sybil's Cave, of Virgil. Further north-west, over 
on the shore of the Mediterranean, are the ruins of the 
ancient Cumre, buried by one of the many volcanoes 
which have disturbed all the region aronnd Naples. The 
immense gateways and other structures, partly exhumed 
and uncovered, show the greatness of the lost seaport 
city. We rode two miles or so right over the buried 
dwellings of this once populous town. Turning south- 
ward, wc went to the point of land formed by the Bay of 
Naples and the Mediterranean. Here are the ruins of 
Baiae, with its partly uncovered temples and other build- 
ings ; the harbor of Misenum, where the ancient Roman 
fleet was moored; the vast reservoir, (Piscina Mirabilis.t 
which contained fresh water, brought by the Julian Aque- 
duct a distance of 40 miles, to supply the ships ; the 365 
baths on tho shore of the Bay of Bains ; many ruins of an- 
cient Roman villas, etc. This region was the fashion- 
able resort of the Romans, especially in snmmer. Tho 
volcanic natnre of the whole surface, and the many classic 
associations with Roman history, render all this region 
one of most intense interest. 
"Of Naples I have not time to write, and the 
country around is far more interesting than the city itself. 
It encircles the north-north-east shore of the Bay ; has 
one wide beautiful street, the Toledo, and others of mod- 
erate pretensions, but they are usually very narrow, 
like those in most ancient eastern cities. Its southeastern 
portion is nearly level, but the north and north-western 
portions rim up upon hills, with some of the streets very 
steep. Mnles or asses are very numerous, and most of 
the country produce is brought in upon their backs. 
There are few fine public buildings — the Museum filled 
With relics from Pompei, Cuma?, and other ancient cities, 
is very interesting. The people are largely engaged in 
coral fishing on the coast of Africa, and in the manufact- 
ure of this article into ornaments. Wine, brought in from- 
tho surrounding country in casks upon the backs of asses, 
is a large article of trade. 
yov. 5//i, Evening.— -We are on board a steamer waiting 
our passage to Marseilles in France. Mount Vesuvius has 
attracted much attention all this day. We were walking 
upon its peaceful sides on Saturday last, and gathered 
specimens of lava. But after five years of slumber, it 
this very morning commenced sending up heavy volumes 
of vapor, which old residents say is a prelude to an erup- 
tion of lava. I wish we could wait to see what will hap- 
pen, but our arrangements are all made for the home 
voyage of 5500 miles, and we cannot stop. If the expect- 
ed eruption takes place, you will from the above de- 
scription be able to imagine its appearance. In some 
of the former eruptions the lava has broken forth from 
the sides at different points, the marks of which remain in 
the form of lava hills with the cooled solidified streams 
extending down the mountain sides, one-eighth to one- 
fourth mile wide and twenty to one hundred feet deep. 
The favorite " spouting" place, however, is in the center of 
the snmmit. The melted stone boils np and runs down 
the sides in one or more streams, sometimes cooling be- 
fore it reaches the bottom, and at others flowing down to 
the foot, and into the Bay when flowing westward, bury- 
ing houses and villages that lie in its course. At frequent 
intervals during the overflows immense masses of melted 
matter and flames belch forth and shoot high into the air 
where the lava is cooled in light porous form, and driven 
by the winds falls in showers of ashes and rapilli, often 
two or three miles distant from the snmmit. as when 
Pompei was buried. I omitted to say that Vesuvius has 
a twin mountain peak, just cast of and partly joined to 
It, called Mount Somma. This was an ancient volcano 
doubtless, but has been quiet, I believe, during the period 
embraced in modern history M 
[By telegraph, and by the recent newspapers, wc 
learn that the activity of Vesuvius, referred to in Mr. Judd's 
letter, proved to be a real eruption. The melted lava has 
for several days flowed down the mountain sides in six or 
seven different streams. We have not heard of any exten- 
sive damage done to the neighboring cities as yet.— Eds.] 
— • — m . m 
Braifl Farming. 
It is to be lamented that so much of our farm- 
ing is mainly a matter of muscle. The routine 
farmer uses about as little mind in the cultiva- 
tion of his fields as the ox that he drives. His 
team always goes in the ruts made by his fath- 
ers. He has no well-devised system embracing 
many years of improvement for his farm. His 
object seems to be to get through the year as 
easily as possible, and get a subsistence from 
the soil. Xow wc want something better u U ui 
this, and arc beginning to have it. So much 
more productive is brain than muscle, in manip- 
ulating Ihe soil, that we know of instances of 
first-rate farming by men who never put hand 
to the plow. It is undoubtedly more satisfac- 
tory to a man to give hiswhole-uttentionMo hus- 
bandry, and ordinarily this is the law of success. 
But so great is the need of more capital and more 
mind iu this business, that we welcome from 
any quarter the men who can show us how to 
make farming profitable. The best cultivators 
that we have found in the country are men 
bred to other pursuits ; professional men, me- 
chanics, merchants, and bankers, diverted tem- 
porarily from theirchosen pursuits to husbandry, 
or adding this to their other business. "We have 
seen so many cases of eminent success in this 
kind of farming, that we think favorably of it, 
and do not hesrote to recommend it to any man 
who has capital and a taste for husbandry. 
Men of this class generally have abundant 
capita], and arc not afraid to invest it in this 
business. They bring the mental discipline and 
tact of the town on to the farm, and work with 
as much faith in the field as they once did in the 
shop or the counting-room. Their skill, trained 
in other schools, tells in the field. The shoe- 
maker turns his attention from laps to tap roots, 
and turns out such crops of beets, carrots, and 
turnips, as are the envy of the neighborhood. 
The lawyer pleads his case with the soil, and 
wins such verdicts as he never obtained from 
juries. The physician medicates the barren field, 
and infuses into it such health and productive- 
ness that all the old fogies wonder what sort of 
manure the doctor uses. The minister tills his 
glebe with so much skill that lie brings both the 
butcher and grocer in debt to him at the close 
of the year. The banker runs a farm as skillful- 
ly as a bank, and makes it pa}* surer dividends. 
It is not necessary that a man should live 
upon his farm, in order to make it pay. It is 
desirable that it should be near his residence, 
that he should sec it every week, and lay out 
the work for the foreman. But very good farm- 
ing is done even without this, if a man will give 
his attention to it. "Washington planned his 
farm crops and rotations with his campaigns in 
the fields of war, during the dark years of the 
Revolution. Webster, at Washington, dictated 
the plan, and most of the details of his farming, 
at Marshfield, and that was certainly quite re- 
spectable. Professional men in villages and 
cities of! en have farms in the suburbs that they 
cultivate with great satisfaction and profit. 
Sometimes the foreman is a partner in the busi- 
ness, and takes the farm at halves, furnishing 
half the stock, tools, seed, etc., and taking half 
the crops. But this does not always work well. 
If the land-owner has liberal notions of improve- 
ment, it works quite ill ; for he looks to the 
permanent benefit of his place* while Ihe fore- 
man very naturally looks for large receipts at 
the close of the year. The best method is for 
the landholder to hire a competent foreman 
with a family, on a salary, and if be wishes still 
further to stimulate his endeavors, give him a 
small share in the profits of the business. It 
should be stipulated that he should board what 
laborers are needed, at a given price, eo that Ihe 
crops may not suffer for want of working at the 
critical time. This will save all disputes about 
the application of manures, rotation, sale of 
crops, and other details. With a good foreman 
capable of directing labor, a man of capital in 
Ihe village or city can carry on a farm, and rnnkc 
