The Same Shift Was
Practised All Over Palestine, Which Was Rocky And Barren, And
Much More Populous Than The County Of Nice.
Notwithstanding the small extent of this territory, there are
some pleasant meadows in the skirts of Nice, that produce
excellent clover; and the corn which is sown in open fields,
where it has the full benefit of the soil, sun, and air, grows to
a surprizing height.
I have seen rye seven or eight feet high.
All vegetables have a wonderful growth in this climate. Besides
wheat, rye, barley, and oats, this country produces a good deal
of Meliga, or Turkish wheat, which is what we call Indian corn. I
have, in a former letter, observed that the meal of this grain
goes by the name polenta, and makes excellent hasty-pudding,
being very nourishing, and counted an admirable pectoral. The
pods and stalks are used for fuel: and the leaves are much
preferable to common straw, for making paillasses.
The pease and beans in the garden appear in the winter like
beautiful plantations of young trees in blossom; and perfume the
air. Myrtle, sweet-briar, sweet-marjoram, sage, thyme, lavender,
rosemary, with many other aromatic herbs and flowers, which with
us require the most careful cultivation, are here found wild in
the mountains.
It is not many years since the Nissards learned the culture of
silk-worms, of their neighbours the Piedmontese; and hitherto the
progress they have made is not very considerable: the whole
county of Nice produces about one hundred and thirty-three bales
of three hundred pounds each, amounting in value to four hundred
thousand livres.
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