OFFICIAL EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENCE. 



AGRICULTUEE IN ITALY. 



The Depaitment of Agriculture is indebted to the Secretary of State 

 for a copy ot a dispatch from Hon. C. C. Andrews, the minister of the 

 United States at Stockholm, on the subject of agriculture in Italy, based 

 upon observations made by him in a recent visit to that country. Mr. 

 Andrews's visit was specially to the valley of the Po, comprising the 

 famous provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy, constitutiag one of the 

 most extensive areas of the wheat-production of the country, which, 

 on account of its fertility, is called the " Kidney of Piedmont." Mr. 

 Andrews's dispatch, in addition to the valuable information it affords 

 respecting the agriculture of Italy,- contains some very entertaining 

 sketches of the general character and peculiar habits of the farming 

 population of the country. The following extracts will be found inter- 

 esting : 



Owing to the almost perfect flatness of the land in the valley of the Po, the general 

 appearance of the country would be somewhat monotonous were it not enlivened by 

 the beautiful chain of the Alps and their more distant towering summits. Bath at 

 Turin and Milan the range of mountains, as seen to the north, and always in winter 

 covered with snow, does not seem to be many miles distant. The descent of their 

 lower slopes by rail, in the early morning, and with so rapidly changing view, was 

 very interesting. There were many thin chestnut forests, but scarcely any other 

 trees. By the use of terraces, and stone- bottomed drains, every patch of land appeared 

 to be saved to husbandry that could possibly be cultivated. Rye appeared to be con- 

 siderably cultivated ; find there were also many email vineyards. The dwellings were 

 quite simple. At the time of my visit the ground in the whole valley of the Po was 

 perfectly free from snow, and one could thus in winter obtain perhaps as correct an 

 impression of the capability of the soil as could be acquired in summer, because in 

 summer the view is much obstructed by the foliage of the many mulberry and willow 

 trees. On getting down into the level part of Piedmont, there were two features of 

 its agriculture wnich were different from what is to be seen anywhere north of the 

 Alps ; first, that Indian corn is a leading crop ; and, second, the peculiar shape — the 

 narrow oval ridges or beds — in* which the ground is left when sown with wheat. At 

 this time these wheat-fields, with their verdant winter growth, somewhat resembled 

 the well-hoed fields of sweet-potatoes as they appear in our Southern States, say in 

 August, or like one of our uni^lowed corn-fields run to grass. The corn, whose low-cut 

 stubble still remained, instead of being planted in hills, as in our Northern States, ap- 

 peared to have been sown in rather close rows, which had been sharply ridged by the 

 plow. These were features which struck me as approaching Turin. During the trip 

 to Fossano I had an opportunity to notice other peculiarities of the country. As 

 a great deal of the land was in winter-wheat, and as all of the grass-land — except 

 that upon which manure had lately been spread — appeared in an almost spring garb, 

 much of the surface was green. For the jjurpose of irrigation the laud is traversed 

 by narrow channels of running water, eo as to form fields of from two to six acres. 

 Along either side of these channels are willow-tress, in some places a few feet, m 

 others some rods, apart. They are a common feature of the country along the banks 

 of all the ditches and canals. Their sprouts, which grow out from the tops of the 

 trees, are sometimes used for making baskets ; but generally they are allowed to grow 

 three years, and are then cut for fuel, In good soil a sprout grows to the length of 10 

 feet tlie first year. The second year it will have grown to the length of 15 feet, and 

 when cut the third year its diameter will be 3 inches. The trunks of the trees are 

 straight, and from 15 to 20 feet in height. In many fields are also mulberry-trees in 

 rows about a hundred yards apart. In the richest .soil they have a diameter of 2 feet, 

 and, like the willows, the tops of their trunks, from repeated cutting ot the limbs, have 

 an overgrown and knobbed appearance. The grape-viue-j were covered with corn- 

 stalks for protection from the frost. They are not here festooned upon the trees, as is 

 the practice farther south, but are trained upon poles, which in wiuter are stared for 

 safety in the farm-yard. By the road-side were thorn-hedges, and occasionally some wild 

 blackbei:ry bushes, but no fences anywhere. I occasionally saw men at work trimming 

 the hedges and the willows, and that was the only farm-work which was being done. 

 The hauling out of manure^ usually done in winter, seemed to be finished. This, how- 



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