1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
189 
The Tuscan peasant is more courteous in his air 
and manner than other peasantry of Italy. He lifts 
his hat to the passing traveller; his dress is clean 
and well made. If you enter into conversation with 
him you find him civil and communicative to an ex¬ 
treme, In short, the valley about Florence, is, con¬ 
sidering its natural advantages of soil and situation, 
—its picturesque beauty,—its government, its climate, 
the character of its inhabitants—the most desirable spot 
in Italy. Half a dozen times, on my first descent of 
the mountain's into Florence, my eye rested on snug 
lying farmeries, with well cultivated fields, and bloom¬ 
ing hedges about them, with most covetous indulgence; 
and I thought I would have been content to have 
passed my life upon them, in sight of the great dome 
of the Florentine cathedral lifting out of the houses, in 
the lap of the valley below;—in sight of the quaint old 
maccolated tower of the palace of the Duke;—in sight 
of the bright Arno, winding off like a silver stripe 
among meadows of as rich luxuriance as lie anywhere 
under the sun;—in sight of the blue opposite mountains 
of Fiesole and Valiombrosa, and under as soft and pure 
a sky, for months together, as that of New England in 
the mildest days of an October summer. 
The Grand Duke himself has an exceedingly well 
regulated farming establishment, a short drive from the 
city down the Arno. The stables are imposing looking 
buildings, of no inconsiderable architectural pretensions, 
and ornamented at the angles, and over the central doors 
with well executed heads of cattle, in stucco. The 
cow r s are of the Swiss breed, and dun color, in fine con¬ 
dition, kept constantly in stable, except a short time for 
exercise in the morning. Their food during summer is 
rye grass, clover, and vetch, with sometimes a taste of 
grain. 
The drainings of the stable pass directly, by means 
of gutters in the brick floor into a large vat, whence it 
is transported in casks, to enrich the grass lands. 
Fourteen quarts a day, I was told, was the average 
yield of milk. The calves, as in all well regulated es¬ 
tablishments I have seen, are taken directiy from the 
cow, and reared by hand. The dairy is in keeping with 
the nicety of the stabling. The homes of the laborers 
are of uniform and tasteful construction—of stone, and 
stuccoed. Both the Duke'and Dutchess give occasional 
personal inspection to the premises. The example of 
the Duke has undoubtedly had its influence, in direction 
of agricultural taste and method. 
The market of Florence is profusely supplied with 
vegetables and fruits, and its meats are good. In no 
city, indeed, of its size, which I have visited, can the 
necessaries and the luxuries of life be secured at so cheap 
a rate as in Florence. For instance, a dinner of two 
or three dishes and dessert, with a half bottle of wane, 
can be had in a well furnished restauraut, for the trifling 
sum of twenty-five cents. A ride of an hour in a tw r o 
horse carriage may be had for the same sum; other 
matters are much in the same proportion. 
HOEING OR CULTIVATING CROPS. 
The chief or primary object in hoeing crops is to in¬ 
crease the quantity and improve the quality of the pro¬ 
duce. To this end, various means are adopted. A 
point of the first consequence, is the eradication of weeds 
and all plants excepting those wdiich it is wished to cul¬ 
tivate. The necessity of destroying weeds, arises from 
several causes. Their growth interferes with and in¬ 
jures the crop in various ways. They exhaust the soil, 
more or less, of the elements which constitute the food 
of cultivated plants; they especially abstract the moist¬ 
ure of the soil, making a constant drain upon it in this 
respect, from the first moment of their existence. 
It is of great importance that weeds should be killed 
while they are young. If killed at this stage, the inju¬ 
ry they occasion is comparatively trifling, and the ex¬ 
pense incurred in the operation is but little, compared 
with what would be required to effect the obje t when 
they are more fully grown. The brush of a hoe or the 
scratch of a light harrow, will effectually kill a weed 
at the time it appears above ground, whereas the growth 
of a few weeks would give it such a hold on the soil 
that it would withstand considerable force, and to eradi¬ 
cate it would require ten times the labor which would 
have effected the object in the first instance. Besides, 
if weeds are allowed to reach a large size, their roots 
become more or less mingled and entwined with the 
roots of the cultivated plants, so that in pulling up the 
weeds, the crop is liable to be injured. 
Some people seem not to be aware of the serious in¬ 
jury which the introduction of pernicious plants is to the 
fcoil. Some of the rich “ corn lands” of the western 
states, have already suffered a great deterioration from 
this cause. The negligent and slovenly manner in 
which the corn is too frequently “tended,” has filled 
the soil with every pest which will grow on it. The 
loul growth is in many cases suffered to increase every 
year, till there seems to be between the weeds and corn 
a great strife for the mastery; and though the corn, on 
some of the most fertile fields, grows twelve to fifteen 
feet high, or more, it scarcely exceeds the weeds in 
height or strength, and judging from the liberal border 
around the fields, of which the weeds seem to have 
gained full possession,- and from their frequent appear¬ 
ance among the crop, the prospect seems fair for the 
day being ultimately carried by them. 
Stirring the ground, to a certain extent, is beneficial 
to crops, aside from the effect of keeping down the 
weeds. By keeping the soil loose, the roots of plants 
more readily extend themselves; the soil is rendered 
more permeable to the sun, by which a more congenial 
temperature is gained for plants; it facilitates the ab¬ 
sorption of dews, which bring down ammonia and fer¬ 
tilizing elements from the atmosphere; and it exposes 
the soil more to the action of the air, by which the de¬ 
composition and combination of the various elements of 
vegetable food is effected. The action of the oxygen ol 
the atmosphere is thought to be particularly beneficial 
on clays, and slaty and granitic soils. The combination 
of the oxygen with the iron, and its action on the other 
mineral elements, produces a disintegration of the stony 
materials, and leaves the soil more friable. The ad¬ 
mission of oxygen into the soil, may likewise be useful 
by its entering into combination with the carbon of the 
soil, and thus forming carbonic acid, the food of plants. 
On some soils, especially those of a tenacious nature, 
a hard crust frequently forms, by which heat and air 
are much excluded. Some simple implement, as a 
harrow or cultivator, should be used with sufficient fre¬ 
quency to prevent the crust from forming. As the 
growth of plants increases, their roots are more widely 
extended, and it is not proper to use tools which will 
mutilate and destroy the roots. 
It is important that plants should be duly exposed to 
the influence of light and air. It is only under the in- 
