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maladies of garden-plants, fertilizers, rotation of crops, irrigation, cattle 
and sheep husbandry, &c. At the Bacologia station of Padua long con- 
ferences were held in regard to silk-worms. Farriery was treated at the 
station depots of Catana, Crema, Ferrara, Pisa, Ozieri, Reggio d’Emilia, 
Milan, and Naples. Crowded conferences in regard to viticulture and 
wine-making were held at Monteleone, Cantazaro, Nicastro, Cotrona, 
Rogliana, Cosenza, Castrovillari, and Acri. Facts were presented at 
these conferences showing that with a proper direction of effort Italian 
wines might be made to excel the best Spanish and Portuguese wines. 
The entomological station of Florence shows the studies of the Crypto- 
gamic Laboratory of Pavia in regard to the maladies engendered in 
plants by cryptogams and parasites. The agricultural laboratories of 
Bologna and Sienna have given their powerful aid to these and similar 
‘investigations—numerous analyses of soils, fertilizers, wines, waters, 
potable or irrigating, forage plants, farinaceous products, and alimen- 
tary substances generally. Of silk-worms 822 specimens were examined, 
besides 193 couples of butterflies. Agricultural expositions have been 
numerous and enthusiastic. At Ferrara 600 exhibitors took part; at 
Florence 351; at Portici 489; at Palermo 1,529, 
Regional conferences have been supplemented by local exhibitions, 
under the auspices of communal commissioners, and restricted to special 
objects, such as the construction of machinery, agricultural implements, 
planting of vine-stocks, stock-raising, oil-making, raising of water from 
wells, movable cabins of Alpine pastures, Wc. 
The work of replanting forests has not been slackened. The ignorant 
vandalism which caused the destruction of the original woods has given 
place to a zeal for their preservation and renewal. This new-born senti- 
ment, however, is more active in some provinces than in others. Dur- 
ing 1875 the administration gave formal consent to the clearing of nearly 
50,000 acres of woodland, of which about 28,000 acres were in the south- 
ern provinces, on the Adriatic slope of the Apennines, 5,400 on the Med- 
iterranean slope of the same, 1,600 in Piedmont, 1,300 in the Marches 
and Umbria, 7,600 in Sicily, and 1,350 in Sardinia. Some of these clear- 
ings are but temporary, looking to the replacement of worthless woods 
by those of greater value, such as the gigantic eucalyptus, the pine, the 
the fir, the cedar, &c. 
Italy stands in the front rank of wine-producing countries. The In- 
ternational Ampelographic Commission, which sat at Colmar, in Septem- 
ber, 1875, after a careful examination, gave expression to the liveliest 
appreciation of the viticultural resources of the peninsula. An admira- 
ble local and national organization of the viticultural interest had brought 
the whole subject fairly before the commission. In this great branch of 
national enterprise citizens co-operate with exemplary zeal with the gov- 
ernment authorities to bring out the most remunerating results. This 
is attested by the growing export of Italian wines, which now reach all 
foreign markets, whereas formerly they seldom found a demand except 
in France. The character of these wines is constantly improving. The 
former bad habit of producers, of multiplying their brands, is disappear- 
ing, and the time formerly lost in imitating foreign brands is better 
employed in perfecting their own products. This is indeed a notable 
improvement, and marks the transition from the period in which Italian 
agriculture ignored its real forces and that in which it became conscious 
of its independent powers. 
Oil and grain culture have also advanced in productiveness and value. 
The latest acreage and product of these cultures are given as follows: 
Wheat, 11,556,062 acres, producing 146,970,713 bushels, or 12.72 bushels 
