f man has created. To this incomparable system of
horticulture, which appears to have been unknown to the ancient Romans,
and to have been introduced into Europe by the warriors who returned
from the Crusades, the riches and smiling aspect of Tuscany and the
mountain-region of Italy are chiefly to be ascribed; for nothing can be
more desolate by nature than the waterless declivities, in general
almost destitute of soil, on which it has been formed. The earth
required to be brought in from a distance, retaining walls erected, the
steep slopes converted into a series of gentle inclinations, the
mountain-torrent diverted or restrained, and the means of artificial
irrigation, to sustain nature during the long droughts of summer,
obtained. By the incessant labour of centuries this prodigy has been
completed, and the very stony sterility of nature converted into the
means of heightening, by artificial means, the heat of summer.... No
room is lost in these little but precious freeholds; the vine extends
its tendrils along the terrace walls ... in the corners formed by their
meeting, a little sheltered nook is found, where fig-trees are planted,
which ripen delicious fruit under their protection. The owner takes
advantage of every vacant space to raise melons and vegetables. Olives
shelter it from the rains; so that, within the compass of a very small
garden, he obtains olives, figs, grapes, pomegranates, and melons. Such
is the return which nature yields under this admirable system of
management, that half the crop of seven acres is sufficient in general
for the maintenance of a family of five persons, and the whole produce
supports them all in rustic affluence. Italy, in this delightful region,
still realizes the glowing description of her classic historian three
hundred years ago."

The author I have quoted goes on next to observe that this diligent
cultivation of the rock accounts for what at first sight is
inexplicable, viz., the vast population, which is found, not merely in
the valleys, but over the greater part of the ridges of the Apennines,
and the endless succession of villages and hamlets which are perched on
the edge or summit of rocks, often, to appearance, scarcely accessible
to human approach. He adds that the labour never ends, for, if a place
goes out of repair, the violence of the rain will soon destroy it.
"Stones and torrents wash down the soil; the terraces are broken
through; the heavy rains bring down a