CHAP. 41.—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH IRRIGATION.
In the Fabian district, which belongs to the territory of
Sulmo [Note]
in Italy, where they are in the habit, also, of irrigating
the fields, the natural harshness of the wines makes it necessary to water the vineyards; it is a very singular thing, too,
that the water there kills all the weeds, while at the same
time it nourishes the corn, thus acting in place of the weeding-
hook. In the same district, too, at the winter solstice, and
more particularly when the snow is on the ground or frosts
prevail, they irrigate the land, a process which they call
"warming" the soil. This peculiarity, however, exists in the
water of one river [Note] only, the cold of which in summer is
almost insupportable.
