'clock next morning, so that you must
wait here twenty-one hours; and the Diligence might far better, so far
as the travelers' convenience and comfort is concerned, have remained in
Florence till an early hour in the morning, making the passage over the
Apennines by day and saving their nights' rest. Three or four travelers
may break over this absurd tyranny by taking post-horses; a single one
has no choice but to submit. And, having reached Bologna, I tried to
gain time, or at least avoid another night-ride, by taking a private
carriage (_vetturino_) this afternoon for Ferrara, thirty miles further
on, sleep there to-night, and catch a Diligence or Mail-Coach to-morrow
morning, so as to reach Padua in the evening: but no--there is no coach
out of Padua Venice-ward till 4 to-morrow afternoon, and I should gain
nothing but extra fatigue and expense by taking a carriage to Ferrara,
so I give it up. I must make most of the journey from Ferrara to Padua
by night, and yet take as much time as though I traveled only by
day,--for I am in Italy.

The valley of the Arno, especially for some miles on either side of
Florence, is among the most fertile portions of this prolific land, and
is laboriously though not efficiently cultivated. All the Grains grow
luxuriantly throughout Italy, though Indian Corn is so thickly planted
and so viciously cultivated that it has no chance to ear or fill well.
There is enough labor performed on the average to insure sixty bushels
of shelled grain to the acre, but the actual yield will hardly exceed
twenty-five. And I have not had the first morsel of food prepared from
this grain offered me since I reached the shores of Europe. Wheat is the
favorite grain here, and, requiring less depth of soil than Indian corn,
and having been much longer cultivated here, yields very fairly. Barley
and Oats are grown, but to a limited extent; of Rye, still less. The
Potato is planted very sparingly south of Piedmont, and not so commonly
there as in Savoy. The Vine is a universal favorite, and rarely out of
view; while it often seems to cover half the ground in sight. But it is
not grown here in close hills as in France and around Cincinnati, but
usually in rows some twenty or thirty feet apart, and trained on trees
kept down to a hight of eight to twelve feet. Around Rome, a species of
Cane is grown wherewith to support the vines after the manner of
bean-poles, which, after serving a year or two in this capacity,