A Picture of Valencia Taken on the Spot Author:Christian August Fischer General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1811 Original Publisher: H. Colburn Subjects: Valencia (Spain : Province) History / Europe / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this b... more »ook you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: With respect to the soil, a great difference is made between red and -white earth. The red, roxelet, is found only in part of the district of Olivo, as far as Castello della Plana, and then northward in the districts of Montesa ; but the white, albpris, is met with in all the rest of the province. The red earth is invariably argilaceous, but it is always more or less mixed with sand, which renders its colour either lighter or darker. In the vicinity of mountains it is always more coarse, dry, and compact; but yet vines, algar- rpbos, and figs, in particular, thrive well in it. In the plains it is softer and intermingled with less sand ; it contains more calcareous particles, and the fermentation produced by the addition of acid, is stronger and more speedy : when well manured and watered, it gradually becomes blacker, and at length forms excellent mould. The white earth is in general mixed with many calcareous particles; it is exceedingly compact, and unless sufficiently watered, very unfavourable to vegetation. But when it is well manured and watered, it forms an excellent soil, and is infinitely preferable to the red earth. If a heap of this white earth is left for ten or twelve months in the open air, it may then be entirely reduced to powder, and used with great advantage for improving sandy I oils. With respect to the cultivation of the lands in general, they are divided into watered and unwatered, into huertas and secanos. In the former,, which are always situated in plains, recourse is had to ar...« less