dditional epithet of their country. 2. In the
time of Homer, the vine grew wild in the island of Sicily, and most
probably in the adjacent continent; but it was not improved by the
skill, nor did it afford a liquor grateful to the taste, of the savage
inhabitants. A thousand years afterwards, Italy could boast, that of the
fourscore most generous and celebrated wines, more than two thirds
were produced from her soil. The blessing was soon communicated to the
Narbonnese province of Gaul; but so intense was the cold to the north of
the Cevennes, that, in the time of Strabo, it was thought impossible to
ripen the grapes in those parts of Gaul. This difficulty, however, was
gradually vanquished; and there is some reason to believe, that the
vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the age of the Antonines. 3. The
olive, in the western world, followed the progress of peace, of which
it was considered as the symbol. Two centuries after the foundation of
Rome, both Italy and Africa were strangers to that useful plant: it was
naturalized in those countries; and at length carried into the heart
of Spain and Gaul. The timid errors of the ancients, that it required a
certain degree of heat, and could only flourish in the neighborhood of
the sea, were insensibly exploded by industry and experience. 4. The
cultivation of flax was transported from Egypt to Gaul, and enriched the
whole country, however it might impoverish the particular lands on which
it was sown. 5. The use of artificial grasses became familiar to the
farmers both of Italy and the provinces, particularly the Lucerne, which
derived its name and origin from Media. The assured supply of wholesome
and plentiful food for the cattle during winter, multiplied the number
of the docks and herds, which in their turn contributed to the fertility
of the soil. To all these improvements may be added an assiduous
attention to mines and fisheries, which, by employing a multitude of
laborious hands, serve to increase the pleasures of the rich and the
subsistence of the poor. The elegant treatise of Columella describes the
advanced state of the Spanish husbandry under the reign of Tiberius; and
it may be observed, that those famines, which so frequently afflicted
the infant republic, were seldom or never experienced by the extensive
empire of Rome. The accidental scarcity, in any single province, was
immediately relieved by the plenty of its more fortunate neighbors.

Agriculture is the fou