SECRETARY'S REPORT. 275 



And this is not for a mile or two around Milan, but for nearly 

 the whole length and breadth of Lombardy and some of the 

 adjoining provinces which we passed through, a hundred miles, 

 perhaps, for after leaving Milan for Lonato, where we struck 

 into the fields for a tramp to the battle-ground of Solfcrino, we 

 passed through a constant succession of irrigated lands for 

 eighty miles ; and subsequently, in going west from Milan 

 towards Turin, the same general system prevailed. 



One feature in the landscape that surprised us was the entire 

 absence of cattle grazing. On inquiry it was found that the 

 whole produce of the permanent grasses and the clovers is cut 

 for soiling cattle, kept mostly in stalls. They avoid the uneven- 

 ness of surface consequent upon the treading of cattle, make 

 more manure and economise it better, by the frequent addition 

 of rufuse substances, and are enabled to keep far more stock 

 on a given extent of land. 



This irrigation of Lombardy had interested me so much for 

 the last ten years, that I determined to learn what I could 

 about it on the spot. As I made but bungling work of Italian, 

 and found but few who could understand my French, it was an 

 example of the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties. Still, 

 not to be daunted, it was easy to get an idea here and another 

 there, and putting this and that together it was hoped that 

 some progress might be the result. 



Xever was water more obedient, or more under the control 

 of man. It seemed as if trained to mind. An old woman 

 would go along and stick down a board, and off the water 

 would turn, without perversely attempting to work its way 

 through the sluice-way. 



Sauntering around the streets of Milan, gazing into shop win- 

 dows, and wondering what a population of upwards of 175,000 

 could find to do in such a city, my^eye rested on a small work 

 on the very subject that was uppermost in my mind, a little 

 treatise on the agriculture of Milan, prepared for the Italian 

 Scientific Association, and, of course, as reliable as one could 

 expect to find. It is the report of Devincenzi, and that part 

 relating to irrigation may be condensed as follows : — 



There exist in Lombardy two very different systems of agri- 

 culture, each of which is well adapted to the circumstances 

 under which it is pursued. 



