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GREAT SALE OF SHORT-HORN CATTLE IN ENGLAND.—BLACK SEA WHEAT. 
villas. Hay-stacks were numerous; some with the 
hay partly cut out, very much as described by the 
poet Covvper, and presenting a singular appearance to 
an American eye. Many peasants were on the road, 
returning from their work, and their appearance fully 
sustained the character given to the Tuscan peasantry. 
The men had fine features and a bright and intelli¬ 
gent look, while the women were uniformly graceful 
and handsome, with that glowing complexion, bright 
eye, and arched eyebrow, peculiar to northern Italy. 
Some of them were walking, and others riding on 
donkeys, seated as near the rear end as they could 
well get without falling of. The vicinity of Florence 
is thickly studded with villas and country-seats, most 
of them handsomely laid out in the Italian artificial 
style, and presenting, as you ride through the coun¬ 
try. a succession of fine farms and beautiful gardens. 
Florence .— This is a beautiful city, and may well 
be called the fairest in Italy. The public and private 
galleries are filled with the choicest paintings and 
statuary, and statues are scattered everywhere about 
the city. There is nothing in any of the collections, 
however, that will bear comparison with the best 
works of Powers, the American artist, whose studio 
we visited. He is a bright-looking man, and shows 
in his eye much of the fire of genius. He was 
just finishing off two most exquisite statues, of that 
rare and beautiful character, that one could examine 
every day for a month with increasing pleasure. 
One is a full-sized Eve, standing with the apple in 
her outstretched hand, her face exquisitely beautiful, 
presenting a masterly expression of innocence hesi¬ 
tating at guilt. It may be deemed the best effort of 
Powers’ chisel, and it is hoped will go to America. Its 
value is $3000. The other statue is a fisher’s boy, 
holding a shell to his ear, and is a superior piece of 
workmanship. The attitude and expression of lis¬ 
tening are capital. A bust of Proserpine is also 
very excellent. 
Padua. —From Florence to Padua the country is 
very flat, and irrigated by water introduced from the 
Po and Adige. Lombardy poplars line the road, and 
basket willows are planted in wet spots, and also in 
the fields for vines to be trained upon. Padua is 
a fine town, and possesses the best botanic garden 
and conservatories that I have yet seen. It has a 
fine specimen of the gingko biloba, some thirty feet 
high. It is probably the oldest botanic garden in 
the world. 
Venice.— From Padua we went by railroad with¬ 
in a few miles of Venice, and thence by gondola to 
this singular city of the sea, so beautifully described 
oy the poetic pen of Rogers. Its splendid palaces, 
he Rialto, the chamber of Secret Council, the Bridge 
®f Sighs, and all the other relics of its ancient 
splendor and power, were seen to great advantage as 
our gondola swept by them, impelled by two mus¬ 
cular gondoliers, who wielded their oars with no 
little grace. No animals are seen in the streets ex¬ 
cepting an occasional dog pr cat; no carts are heard ; 
and no noise but the hum of voices or the plash of 
an oar as the gondola glides swiftly by. It is a sin¬ 
gular city, and one of great interest. 
Lombardy.— From Padua to Milan, and, in fact, 
throughout Lombardy, the country is very highly culti¬ 
vated, and irrigated in every direction, at the pleasure 
of the owner, by means of canals from Lake Como, 
and several rivers. The meadows were in conse¬ 
quence beautifully green, though early in March; 
and they were cutting the first crop of grass, to be 
followed by four others during the season. Here we 
saw on the road, numbers of the beautiful large oxen 
of Lombardy, uniformly of a cream color. They 
have fine bones, clean limbs, and, as far as I could 
judge, are equal to anything we have in America. 
The country about Milan contains some of the best 
farms in Italy, and Lombardy in this respect excels 
anything I have yet seen on this side of the Atlantic. 
We start in a day or two on our journey across 
the Alps ; where, 1 fear, I shall scarcely find much in 
an agricultural way, that will interest the readers of 
the Agriculturist. S. R. Parsons. 
Milan , March 16, 1845. 
Great Sale of Short-Horn Cattle in Eng 
land. —By reference to our advertising pages, it will 
be seen that three large and very fine herds of Short- 
Horn cattle are offered for sale in England. We 
had the advantage, in August, 1841, of looking over 
Earl Spencer’s stock of cattle, on his beautiful estate 
at Wiseton, and can highly recommend them from 
our personal minute observation. A sample of his 
herd was seen at the New York State Agricultural 
Society show at Poughkeepsie, last fall, also at the 
cattle show of the American Institute, in Mr. Oliver’s 
superb young bull, Marius, which took the first pre¬ 
miums at both of these meetings, as the best animal 
in his class. 
Earl Spencer is one of the most distinguished 
agriculturists and noblemen in England—celebrated 
alike for his talents, virtues, and retiring modesty of 
disposition. When Lord Althorp, he was for some 
time leader of the Whig party in the House of Com¬ 
mons, and the great advocate of the reform bill. He 
held a distinguished post in the ministry of Earl Gray, 
and is the untiring advocate of the abolition of the 
odious Corn Laws of Great Britain. He is again 
President of the English Agricultural Society, for the 
second time—is quite celebrated for his beautiful herd 
of Short-Horn cattle, and has earned the enviable 
title throughout his country, of the “ farmer’s friend.” 
We wish his lordship a good sale, as well as Messrs. 
Hutton and Watson. We have seen some of the 
animals of these last named gentlemen, and can com¬ 
mend them to the attention of American breeders. 
Black Sea Wheat. —-I herewith send you a sam¬ 
ple of Black Sea wheat raised by me. It was sown 
on the 25th of last May, and reaped on the 29th Au¬ 
gust. It was not attacked by the rust or fly. Much 
of this kind of wheat has been raised the past season 
by the farmers in the vicinity of Montreal, and, 
from the information I have been able to collect, they 
propose sowing no other kind of wheat this spring. 
M. J. Hays. 
Metcalf Farm, Cote St. Antoine, Mon- ) 
treat, C. E ., March 19, 1845. ) 
We presented this sample of wheat, sent us by our 
correspondent, to a friend in this vicinity, who imme¬ 
diately sowed it, and will let us know in the autumn 
how it succeeds in this section of the country. All 
accounts seem to agree that it is a valuable spring 
variety, especially for the more northern farmers 
