Through Olive Groves and Alpine Passes by Lucia C. Stanton, (April 1987), E332.2 .A5 1987A

During his residence in France in April 1787, Jefferson journeyed through the Alps to Italy on a mule. He kept a careful journal of the climate, vegetation, and agriculture on his travels and was delighted to note the geographical link between the adventures in his ancient Latin books (such as Hannibal’s attack on Rome) to his own passage. Jefferson took special interest in the olive as an efficient and multi-purpose tree; he mapped the geographical boundaries of the olive’s cultivation and attempted to export it to South Carolina, but the Mediterranean plant was not equal to the humidity (an important climate disparity that he failed to consider).