The wheat is sown during the Autumn; the barley and Indian corn in Spring. The harvest of the two first generally takes place in the month of July; that of the latter at the beginning of September; and as this article is required for the nourishment of so great a portion of the population as the peasantry, the quantity of it sown and reaped every year is equal to that of wheat. Barley being only made use of for feeding cattle and poultry, it is sown in a much smaller proportion. The vine is always planted on the sloping of hills, and in situations where it can receive some protection against any sudden severities of the weather; the grape is seldom gathered before the end of September; and as it does not come to a perfect state of maturity, it makes but indifferent wine, of a light and sourish taste. All other kinds of fruit, common to Europe, come here in great abundance at their usual seasons. The great waste of land left in both principalities in a state of nature, and the universal custom of not cultivating the immediate vicinity of the high roads, give to the country, in many parts, an appearance of desolation; and a traveller, who only judges by the scenery within his view, is apt sometimes to think himself in a wilderness; he meets with few habitations on his way, except those attached to the post-houses, and hardly perceives any other population. But of all the sensations of delight produced by the beauties of nature, none can surpass that which is raised by the aspect of the more interior parts of this country. Romantic hills and dales, rivulets and streams, fields adorned with verdure and flowers, present themselves in a successive variety of beauty during the fine season, particularly within twenty or thirty miles of the Carpathians, from the Pruth to the Danube at Orsova. The inner parts of those mountains themselves offer the most magnificent scenery; and their summits, the most beautiful and extensive views. Those who have seen the romantic parts of the Alps, cannot help recalling them here to their remembrance; the impressions of the moment are such that they feel at a loss to decide which deserve the preference. Whilst the impatient courier, going over the rough roads through the Carpathians, bestows curses on the dangers that slacken his pace, and impede his progress, the voluntary traveller and lover of nature stands lost in admiration, and finally quits with reluctance and regret scenes which nature has formed in her most romantic mood. The aspect of the Carpathians is very different in winter: all the heights are covered with snow, and the narrow roads with mud and large stones, rolled in the midst of them by the torrents, so as to render them almost impassable; mostly situated on the brinks of dreadful precipices, at the bottom of which rivers or torrents have formed their passage, one false step of the passenger is immediate death.