EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 
159 
(European Agriculture—No. 3- 
My last letter was dated from Rome, which city 
we left soon after for Naples. The country between 
Rome and Naples is generally level, and is well cul¬ 
tivated with vines and wheat. 
The Vine .—This is not cultivated here as in Ge¬ 
noa, but is trained in graceful festoons upon and be¬ 
tween trees planted for the purpose, at a distance of 
some fifteen or twenty feet; and even at this season 
the effect of these extensive groves, with the festoon¬ 
ing vine, and the bright green of the wheat beneath 
them, was very fine, and when in full fruit must be 
beautiful indeed. The vintage is said to be the most 
delightful season in Italy. Until a certain day, the 
vines are not touched by proprietor or traveller; but 
when the fruit is known to be matured, the day is 
fixed, and all commence at once. The traveller is at 
liberty then to pluck as many as he chooses; the 
peasants assume their gayest dress; men, women, 
and children are all in the fields; and the manly Ita¬ 
lian laborer and the graceful peasant girl, dance around 
the wagons loaded with fruit, and the whole vintage 
is a season of festivity. 
Draining Low Grounds .—Those which are wet, 
are very conveniently drained by furrows at the dis¬ 
tance of some three feet apart, and are easily made, 
by plowing three furrows, and then a back furrow 
on each side of them, which thus leaves a sort of 
narrow trench similar to that between two lands 
with us, to let off the water. 
Agriculture at Naples .—This is at a very low ebb; 
and is not owing so much to the indolence, or ra¬ 
ther inactivity of the people, as to the exceeding rich¬ 
ness of the soil. No peasantry will work harder 
than the Neapolitans, when the object is sport; but 
they think it scarcely worth while to bestow much 
labor upon the soil, when a slight degree will afford 
them abundant means of sustenance. I do not think 
that the fertile soil even of our Western States is su¬ 
perior to that of Naples and its vicinity. It is almost 
entirely volcanic, with some six or eight feet of black 
mould, the quality of which would lead one to sup¬ 
pose, that Vesuvius for ages had been throwing upon 
it, from the bowels of the earth, all the elements of 
fertility. Flax is much grown in the vicinity, and 
also a species of lupin of rapid growth and very suc¬ 
culent, which is cut, and given green to the cattle. 
Lucerne is also much used; and, as I was told, is 
frequently cut six or eight times in the season. There 
is some horticultural taste here, a very excellent 
botanic garden, and a number of beautiful villas. 
Tenore, the director of the botanic garden, is a man 
of much intelligence, and gave me some valuable in¬ 
formation. He much regretted the deficiency of en¬ 
terprise among the Neapolitans on these points. There 
are no works whatever here on horticulture, and but 
two or three on general agriculture. 
Stock —There is not much in the vicinity of Na¬ 
ples very excellent in the way of stock, with the ex¬ 
ception of their beautiful and delicate breed of pigs, 
possessing the compact form of the Berkshires, with¬ 
out their size and grossness. I very much doubt, 
however, whether they would thrive well in our cli¬ 
mate. They have a nice but small breed of horses, 
which possess no remarkable qualities, and will 
not compare with the Roman horses. Jacks and 
mules are much used as beasts of burden, and I saw 
some noble specimens of the latter nearly sixteen 
hands high. The cows are nothing superior, but 
give good milk and butter. The latter is monopo¬ 
lized entirely by the king, and every roll bears hia 
arms. For vegetation the climate of Naples is per¬ 
haps one of the finest in the world—with just suffi¬ 
cient winter to give plants a proper rest and vigor ; 
and nothing but skill and industry are wanting to 
make it inferior to none in agriculture. 
The Olive. — 1 ought to mention that there are 
some fine olive groves near Naples, containing large 
trees, one (tree) of which is said to have produced 
fourteen hundred gallons of oil. This tree succeeds 
better in Italy than in the south of France, where the 
crop is very precarious, being sometimes cut off by 
the frost. Being thus tender—more so in fact than 
the orange—it would scarcely answer for introduc¬ 
tion, except into our milder southern States, for even 
in Florida the orange orchards are occasionally de¬ 
stroyed by frost. 
Silk .—Near the palace at Caserta, is also a silk 
manufactory belonging to the King, where a consi¬ 
derable number of hands are employed, and superior 
velvet and silk are made. 
A Cascina .—On arriving at Leghorn, we visited 
Pisa, celebrated for its leaning tower, and found there 
a large Cascina or royal farm. It belongs to the 
Duke of Tuscany, and is celebrated for its camels, 
which were presented by the Pacha to the former 
duke, and which breed here. There are now some 
forty-three of them, and they are used on the farm for 
carrying burdens. They are, however, adapted only 
to the desert, and are of very little use in a country 
like this. We mounted one of them and took a short 
ride, but found his gait very unpleasant. In a long 
ride it must be fatiguing. On this farm there are 
about one hundred cows, of the breed of the country 
(Tuscan). They are generally fine, clean-limbed 
animals, and some of large size. There is, however, 
no uniformity among them, and some were quite in¬ 
ferior. I noticed one noble, Short-Horn cow, show¬ 
ing many fine points. These cows give about four¬ 
teen quarts of milk per day, ten quarts of which 
make a pound of butter; thus showing its superior 
richness. There were some tine oxen and steers, 
a few sheep, and about fifty poor horses. The farm 
buildings are poor and inconvenient. There are ma¬ 
ny fine cork trees, and long avenues of the maritime 
pine, the seed of which is roasted and eaten by the 
poorer classes. Here, as in France, every proprietor 
is obliged by law to plant a certain number of trees 
for all that he cuts down ; and thus a continual sup¬ 
ply of firewood is kept up, which, in a country so 
destitute of coal, is a matter of no slight importance. 
Valley of the Arno .—The part between Leghorn 
and Florence is low and wet, lying below the level 
of the mountain streams, from which its fields are 
protected by dykes. In these dykes are flood-gates 
by which the farmers can at pleasure irrigate theii 
fields. The fields are highly cultivated with wheat 
in ridges, as at Naples. Rows of trees, covered with 
vines gracefully festooned over and between them, 
are spread through the country. Occasional fig, cher¬ 
ry, and other fruit trees were seen, and the whole 
valley bore the aspect of great fertility and high cul¬ 
tivation. Near Florence the country is more hilly, 
but cultivated to the very summit with olives, vines, 
and wheat, and thickly dotted with farm-houses and 
