188 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Juke 
The roads usually wind round through the farms, 
bounded on each side, generally, by neatly trimmed 
hedges, with trees occasionally interspersed, presenting 
every few rods new views and interesting scenery, that, 
are truly delightful. The roads are made with the 
greatest care, generally macadamized, and entirely 
smooth. They are much narrower than with us, usual¬ 
ly through the country, only wide enough for carriages 
to pass. The custom in England is, for each team to 
turn to the left, instead of the right, as with us. Its 
advantages are apparent, as the driver setting on the 
right, has in view the vehicle which is approaching, and 
can more readily ascertain how far he can drive with 
safety. In making their roads great care is taken to 
avoid hills, they judging, I suppose, that it is not ordi¬ 
narily much farther to go round a hill than to go over 
it. Foot paths are usually made with care on one or 
both sides of the road. No danger is to be apprehended 
from swine, or other animals, as they are not permitted 
the enjoyment of that license, which seems to be their 
birthright in our free country. I have never witnessed 
them running at large in city or country, not even in 
sweet Ireland. 
The cottages which you pass, are generally neat in 
their outward appearance, very frequently covered with 
climbing vines, and flowers usually in abundance in the 
small yard in front, and often ih pots at the windows. 
The cottages are low, the roof frequently not as high 
as the top of the coach, and a full view of the interior is 
enjoyed, as they are situated close to the road. Every 
few miles villages are passed through,—but the term 
village, as descriptive of our American villages, gives 
but a faint impression of an English one. Instead of 
spacious streets, with painted houses of two or more 
stories, we find, as the road winds around through the 
narrow streets, small cottages and shops crowded to¬ 
gether close to the street, frequently with thatched roofs, 
with brick or stone floors. A house or two, occupied 
perhaps by the rector or physician, are somewhat more 
aristocratic in their appearance. Many of the build¬ 
ings are white-washed, and covered with vines, and 
present, upon the whole, an interesting appearance, but 
little of the comfort of one of our villages. They appear 
as ancient, many of them, as their country, and I presume 
little change has been made in them for centuries. 
England truly is the land of flowers. They are to be 
found everywhere. The markets are filled with them. 
You meet them in the streets carried about by females 
and children for sale, and everybody, from the poorest 
up to her majesty, have a bouquet of flowers in the button 
hole or about the person. In the omnibus coach, rail¬ 
road cars, on the steamer, on change, in the store—in 
fact, everywhere, they are to be met with. ’Tis de¬ 
lightful thus to witness their taste for flowers. It adds 
much to the pleasure of every one, and when it can 
be obtained at so cheap a rate, it is certainly desirable 
to cultivate a taste for them. 
The loads which a team can draw over their roads 
are nearly twice as heavy as could be drawn over ours 
with the same power. It will require time and care 
to bring our roads into such a state as to resemble roads 
here. It would be well, I think, to begin to approxi¬ 
mate to the like condition. Had the labor which has 
been so unskilfully expended on our roads for the last 
twenty years, been laid out in macadamizing them, we 
should, on all our principally travelled roads, have had 
them as good as the roads are here. It is hoped that 
improvement, in this respect will not much longer be 
delayed. H. 
Corn in New-York.— According to the census of 
1845, there were 595,135 acres planted with corn the 
preceding year, in the state, giving an aggregate of 
14,722,115 bushels. 
•RURAL NOTICES ABROAD— By Caius.—No. Y. 
Tuscan Agriculture- —Little of the agriculture of 
continental Europe is superior to that of Tuscany. This 
is owing in some measure to the natural advantages of 
soil, climate, and position, and not less to the benefit of 
wholesome laws, which secure to the peasant the full 
advantage of his labors. At the first approach, as one 
comes from the south, into the dominions of the Grand 
Duke, he is struck with the superior air of the field la¬ 
borers, with their happy, contented looks, their neat 
dresses, and is rejoiced to .find at length in Italy, a pea¬ 
santry that does not beg. 
Here and there, it is true, among the mountains, beg¬ 
gars are to be met with even in Tuscany, yet even thbse 
are of neater and more cheerful aspect than are to be 
found in the Roman Stages. The cottages are better 
built, and. are cleaner; and at the doors of nearly all of 
them, you will see the Tuscan girls busy braiding their 
Tuscan hats. The straw is a species of wheat gr.oyvn 
on indifferent soils, and cut before fully ripe. It is sort¬ 
ed, stripped, bundled, moistened, bleached, and split, 
before going into the hands of the plaiters. The press¬ 
ing is done after braiding. The sums earned by the 
braiders is a mere trifle. I had the curiosity to ask a 
mountain girl on the way from Terni to Florence, how 
much she could earn by a week’s braiding. <£ If the 
work is well done,” said she, “ two pauls (24 cts.) a 
■week; but if not well done, nothing.” 
The crops raised, are in general the same with 
those of the Papal states. Rice is occasionally seen 
along . the banks of the streams, and is irrigated with 
the utmost system. Corn is more common, and bet¬ 
ter than further south, though the mode of culture is 
very much the same. Clover grows most luxuriantly; 
mulberries also make their appearance, and silk is a large 
article of Tuscan manufacture. In the true spirit of 
economy, the mulberry orchards are also vineyards, and 
the vines are festooned from tree to tree, as in the Si¬ 
cilian and Lombard kingdoms. The wine however of 
Tuscany, is generally of an inferior quality—by no 
means so good as that of the Roman States. Indeed, 
so far as my observation has extended, I have found it 
to be true, that when the vine is suffered to clamber' 
upon trees, and extend itself from one to the other, as 
in Tuscany and Lombardy, though the yield in grapes 
is much larger, the clusters being larger and fuller, yet 
the quality of the wine is vastly inferior in body and in 
flavor, to that grown upon short plants, as in France, 
and along the Rhine. Much of the Neapolitan wine is 
grown upon trees, as in Tuscany, but by far the best of 
the kingdom, the “ Lachrymce Christi ,” is grown after 
the method last named. 
Plums and figs grow abundantly in the neighborhood 
of the Tuscan towns; and hedges and cultivation gene¬ 
rally approach the neatness of English appearance. 
Flowers of every color are to be seen in the fields, and 
by the road side, and the valley around Florence seems 
in its whole extent a garden. The land is divided into 
small farms, in many instances managed by their own¬ 
ers; the road-way is clean and smooth, and hedges skirt 
it that blossom in early May. The fields are filled with 
plum, and cherry, and mulberry trees, with vines clam¬ 
bering over them; and beneath is some rich crop of 
wheat, or clover, or tares. The cattle, when you see 
them—for in the neighborhood of the towns soiling is 
much practiced—are smooth, fine-skinned animals, of 
fair size and make, and generally of a light grey color, 
verging upon white. 
The spade is the most general implement of culture; 
the plows, however, are substantially made, and per¬ 
form their work well. Gates are neat in their construc¬ 
tion; gardens are prettily laid out and choicely stocked. 
