GL 



AGRICULTURE, 



Since that time, several French mid Knglish writers 



I the statistics of different districts, and 



tin- mode of cultivation there in use, and tile al>l>e 



r and professor Tlumin liave published general 

 \ii-\\- of the whole kingdom. Hoimj 

 lished many new agricultural societies ami profes- 

 sorships, botanical and economical gardens, for the 

 exhibition of different modes of culture, and the 

 dissemination of plants. He also greatly'iilargcd 

 and enriched that extensive institution, the National 

 Garden, \vhosu professor of culture, the chevalier 

 Thouin, is one of tlie most scientific agriculturists in 

 Kuro|>e. The lands in France are not generally 

 enclosed and sulxlividod by hedges or other fences. 

 Some fences occur near towns, out, in general, the 

 whole country is open, the boundaries of estates 

 being marked by slight ditches or ridges, with occa- 

 sional stones or heaps of earth, trees in rows, or 

 thinly scattered. Depredations from passengers on 

 the highways are prevented by gardes champetret, 

 which are established throughout all France. Since 

 the time of Colbert, the French have paid attention 

 to sheep, and there are considerable flocks of Merinos 

 owned by individuals, besides the national flocks. 

 That of Rambouillet, established in 1786, is, or 

 lately was, managed by M. Tessier, an eminent 

 writer on agriculture. Sheep are generally housed, 

 or kept in folds and little yards or enclosures. Mr 

 l!irkl>eck considers the practice of housing or con- 

 fining sheep as the cause of foot-rot, a disease very 

 common among them in France. Where flocks re- 

 main out all night, the shepherd sleeps in a small 

 thatched hut, or portable house, placed on wheels. 

 He guides the flock by walking before them, and 

 his do<r guards them from wolves, which still abound 

 in some parts of the country. In the south part of 

 France, the ass and the mule are of frequent use in 

 husbandry. A royal stud of Arabian horses has 

 been kept up at Aurillac, in Limousin, for more 

 than a century, and another lias been more recently 



lished near Nismes. Poultry is an important 

 article in French husbandry. Mr Birkbeck thinks 

 that the consumption of poultry in towns may be 

 equal to that of mutton. The breed of swine is in 

 general bad ; but fine hams are made in Bretagne 

 from hogs reared on acorns, and fattened with Indian 

 corn. The French implements of agriculture are 

 generally rude and unwieldy, and the operations of 

 husbandry unskilfully performed. The vine is cul- 

 tivated in France in fields and on terraced hills, in a 

 way different from that which prevails elsewhere. It 

 is planted in hills, like Indian corn, kept low, and 

 managed like a plantation of raspberries. The 

 white mulberry tree is very extensively cultivated 

 for feeding the silk-worm. It is not placed in 

 regular plantations, but in corners, in rows by the 

 sides of roads, &c. The trees are raised from the 

 seed in nurseries, and sold, generally, at five years' 

 growth, when they have strong stems. They are 

 planted, staked, and treated as pollards. The eggs 

 of the silk-worm are hatched in rooms heated by 

 means of stoves to 18 of Reaumur (72 Fah.) One 

 ounce of eggs requires one hundred weight of leaves, 

 and will produce from seven to nine pounds of raw 

 silk. The hatching commences about the end of 

 April, and, with the feeding, is over in about a month. 

 Second broods are procured in some places. The 

 silk is wound off the cocoons, in little balls, by 

 women and children. The olive, the fig, the almond, 

 and various other fruits are also extensively culti- 

 vated in France. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. The 

 earliest German writer on husbandry was Conradus 

 Heresbachius, who lived and died in the 16th cen- 

 tury ' *? is work J De Re Rustica, was an avowed 

 compilation from all the authors who had preceded 



him. No other books on agriculture, of any note, 

 appeared previous to the I Till century. With regard 

 to the present stale of agriculture in Germany, we 

 would remark, that the country is very extensive, 

 and presents u great variety of soils, surface, climate, 

 and culture. Its agricukur.il produce is, for the 

 most part, consumed within its limits ; but excellent 

 wines are exported from Hungary and the Rhine, 

 together with flax, hams, geese, silk, &C. The 

 culture of the mulberry and the rearing of the silk- 

 worm are carried on as far north as Berlin. The 

 theoretical agriculturists are well acquainted with all 

 the improved implements of Great Uriiaiii. and 

 some of them have been introduced, especially in 

 Holstein, Hanover, and \Vestph-lia; but, generally 

 speaking, the ploughs, waggons, &c. are unwieldy 

 and inefficient. Fish are carefully bred and fat- 

 tened in some places, especially in Prussia, and 

 poultry is everywhere attended to, particularly in 

 the neighbourhood of Vienna. The culture of 

 forests likewise receives particular attention in that 

 country, as well as in France. The common agri- 

 culture of Germany is everywhere improving. 

 Government, as well as individuals, have formed 

 institutions for the instruction of youth in its prin- 

 ciples. The Imperial Society of Vienna, the 

 Georgical Institution at Presburg, and that of pro- 

 fessor Thaer, in Prussia, may be numbered among 

 recent institutions of this description. AGRICULTURE 

 IN ITALY. The climate, soil, and surface of Italy 

 are so various as to liave given rise to a greater 

 diversity of culture than is to be found in the whole 

 of Europe besides. Corn, grass, butcher meat, 

 cheese, butter, rice, silk, cotton, wine, oil, and fruits 

 of all kinds are found in perfection in this fertile 

 country. Loudon asserts tliat only one-fifth of the 

 surface of Italy is considered sterile, while only a 

 fifth of the surface of France is considered fertile. 

 The population of Italy is greater, in proportion to 

 its surface, than tliat of either France or Great 

 Britain. Among the writers on the rural economy 

 of Italy are, Arthur Young, in 1788, Sigismondi, in 

 1801, and Chateauvieux, in 1812. In Lombardy, 

 the lands are generally farmed by metayers (from 

 metd, half.) The landlord pays the taxes and re- 

 pairs the buildings. The tenant provides cattle, 

 implements, and seeds, and the produce is divided. 

 The irrigation of lands, in Lombardy, is a remarkable 

 feature of Italian husbandry. All canals taken 

 from rivers are the property of the state, and may 

 be carried through any man's land, provided they 

 do not pass through a garden, or within a certain 

 distance of a mansion, on paying the value of the 

 ground occupied. Water is not only employed for 

 grass-lands (which, when fully watered, are mowed 

 four and sometimes five times a-year, and, in some 

 cases, as early as March), but is conducted between 

 the narrow ridges of corn-lands, in the hollows be- 

 tween drilled crops, among vines, or to flood lands, 

 to the depth of a foot or more, which are sown with 

 rice. Water is also used for depositing a surface of 

 mud, in some places where it is charged with that 

 material. The details of watering, for these and 

 other purposes, are given in various works, and col- 

 lected in those of professor Re. In general, watered 

 lands let at one-third higher price than those not 

 irrigated. The implements and operations of agri- 

 culture in Lombardy are both imperfect. The plough 

 is a rude contrivance, with a handle 13 or 14 feet 

 long. But the cattle are fed with extraordinary 

 care. They are tied up in stalls, bled once or 

 twice, cleaned and rubbed with oil, afterwards 

 combed and brushed twice a day. Their food in 

 summer is clover or other green herbage ; in winter, 

 a mixture of elm-leaves, clover-hay, and pulverized 



