AGRICULTURE OP SPAIN. 287 



Italian breed is used for beef. This latter race is of a light-browu cream-color, and is 

 very docile. Tlie cows of this breed are yoked and worked. They give only milk 

 enough for the nurture of their calves, ■which are allowed to take milk for several 

 months and till they are fit for large veal. I was told that veal fattened on milk of 

 cows fed on overflowed grass is not of so clear color and does not bring so high a price 

 as that produced from natural grass. 



I do not deem it my place to draw conclusions or to offer criticism with respect to 

 the social and economic bearing of the facts and matfers above stated. While they 

 disclose some things contrary to our American notions, they also show two great merits 

 in Italian agriculture : One is, that the Italians have the most complete system of irri- 

 gation in Europe, if not in the world ; the other is, that they do not, in Northern Italy 

 at least, let the soil degenerate. 



AGRICULTURE OF SPAIN. 



Id a letter from the legation of the doited States at Madrid, under 

 date of March 28, 1877, the minister plenipotentiary of the United States, 

 Hon. Caleb Gushing, writes to Hon. William M. Evarts, Secretary of 

 State, concerning the agriculture of that country, as follows : 



Sir: It has' been my purpose for some time to communicate to you my impression 

 of the agriculture of Spain, and its productions, as compared with those of the United 

 States ; and I avail myself of a period of comparative leisure to perform this duty. 



Although, as a general rule, the climate of Spain is warmer and drier than that of 

 the United States, yet the inequalities of its surface enable it to produce analogous or 

 identical objects in one part or another of the peninsula. 



The northeru provinces of Galicia, Asturias, Vizcaya, Alava, Guipuzcoa, Navarre, 

 and parts of Aragon and Catalona are more or less mountainous, and with sufficient 

 rain to be well wooded, and to produce all the crops of the temperate zone, including 

 as fruits apples, pears, and peaches, a^ well as grapes and maize, wheat and other 

 cereal grains. They also raise many neat-cattle, being able to contribute to the sup- 

 ply of England. 



The eastern and southern provinces possess a semi-tropical climate, aiKl produce, 

 especially on irrigated lands, oranges, lemons, figs, rice, carobs, silk, cotton, sugar, and 

 especially grapes for consumption as fruit or for the fabrication of wine and brandy. 



The central provinces, by reason of their elevation and their comparative aridity, 

 have a more limited range of production, chiefly wheat, oats, beans, garbanzos, and 

 potatoes, with some pasturage, the wheat being quite equal to the best of the United 

 States. In these provinces, also, the grape flourishes, producing excellent wines, 

 largely consumed in the country, but entering less into exportation than, the wines of 

 the southern and eastern provinces. 



Of trees, in addition to the fruit-trees already mentioned, the most prevalent are the 

 olive and the cork-oak, which spread over a large part of the country, and, with fruits, 

 wines, and wheat, compose the most available objects of agricultural exportation to 

 other parts of Europe and to America. 



The domesticated animals, including birds, are substantially the same as ours, but 

 with difl'erence in use and distribution. Oxen and horses are used for draught, but 

 more largely and universally mules and asses. 



Sheep extensively, and, to a certain degree^ goats, are among the staple productions 

 of the ceatral provinces. I observe that the milk of goats and sheep, and even of asses, 

 as well as of cows, enters considerably into consumption at Madrid. 



In the methods of culture in Spaii, nothing has occurred to me to recommend for 

 adoption in the United States. Ou the contrary, in the use of machinery, and in the 

 scientific relations of agriculture, we are already in advance of Spain. Nor does Spain 

 produce many objects of cultivation which are not abundantly produced in the United 

 States. Several of these exceptional objects, however, merit consideration. They are : 



1. The olive-tree, {Olea Europwa.) This tree is commercially valualde for its fruit, 

 and even for its wood, and although the dampness and variableness of temperature in 

 parts of our country may not be favorable to its growth; still ic might flourish in 

 many -parts of the Southern and Western States. 



2. The cork-oak, (()«ercMS s?(6er.) This tree possesses groat permanent commercial 

 value, while the production at present is chiefly confined to Spain and Northern Africa. 

 It deserves trial in the drier regions of the United States. 



3. Algarroba, Carob tree, (Ceratovia siliqua.) The long succulent pods of this tree 

 are not withou.'j value as forage. 



4. The (/rtr&«/)^o, chick-pea, (ricerflrie^iwu??!,) is of the pea family, but larger and more 

 nutritious than the ordinary pea. It is very widely cultivated, is very cheap, and as 

 an article of food it is, perhaps, more extensively used in this country than any other 



