times laid up as a setoff to the
rent."[6]

We have heard too of attempts in England to train the vine on
the sides of hills, and a few years since an individual lost a
considerable sum of money in making the experiment in the Isle of
Wight.

At page 257, observes the editor,

_A VINEYARD_

"Associated as it is with all our ideas of beauty and plenty, is,
in general, a disappointing object. The hop plantations of our own
country are far more picturesque. In France, the vines are trained
upon poles, seldom more than three or four feet in height; and 'the
pole-clipt vineyard' of poetry is not the most inviting of real
objects. In Spain, poles for supporting vines are not used; but
cuttings are planted, which are not permitted to grow very high, but
gradually form thick and stout stocks. In Switzerland, and in the
German provinces, the vineyards are as formal as those of France.
But in Italy is found the true vine of poetry, 'surrounding the stone
cottage with its girdle, flinging its pliant and luxuriant branches
over the rustic veranda, or twining its long garland from tree to
tree.'[7] It was the luxuriance and the beauty of her vines and her
olives that tempted the rude people of the north to pour down upon her
fertile fields:--

'The prostrate South to the destroyer yields
Her boasted titles and her golden fields;
With grim delight the brood of winter view
A brighter day, and heavens of azure hue.
Scent the new fragrance of the breathing rose.
And quaff the pendent vintage as it grows.'[8]

"In Greece, too, as well as Italy, the shoots of the vines are
either trained upon trees, or supported, so as to display all their
luxuriance, upon a series of props. This was the custom of the ancient
vine-growers; and their descendants have preserved it in all its
picturesque originality.[9] The vine-dressers of Persia train their
vines to run up a wall, and curl over on the top. But the most
luxurious cultivation of the vine in hot countries is where it covers
the trellis-work which surrounds a well, inviting the owner and his
family to gather beneath its shade. 'The fruitful bough by well' is of
the highest antiquity."

Passing over the Mulberry, Currant, Gooseberry, and the Strawberry,
the account of the Egg Plant is particularly attractive; and that of
the Olive is well-written, but too long for extract.

Among the _Tropical Fruits_, the Orange and the Date are very
delightful; and equal in importanc