48 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I 



world, yet the cool temperature of some of the northern districts admits of the finest 

 pastures, while, from die warmth of others, the rocky sides of hills are as productive of 

 grapes and olives as the plains ore in com. It is the only country in Europe, with the 

 exception of some parts <>f Spain, nrhere corn, grass, butcher's meat, cheese, butter, rice, 



silk, cotton, wine, oil, and fruits arc produced, all in the highest decree of perfection. 

 Only a fifth of its surface is considered sterile ; while only a fifth of the surface of France 

 is considered fertile. The population of Italy is greater in proportion to the surface, 

 than that of either France or Britain. 



261. The writers mi i/a- rural economy of Italy are, Arthur Young, in 1788; Sis- 

 niondi, in 1801; and, Chateauvieux, in 1812. From the works of these authors, from 

 those of Forsyth, Wilson, and other recent tourists, anil from our own observations ill 

 1819, we shall select some of the most characteristic traits as to the agriculture of Italy, 

 adopting the division of Chateauvieux, of the region of irrigation, and the rotation of 

 crops, in Lombardy ; the region of vines and olives, exemplified in Tuscany ; the region 

 of insalubrious air, or the states of the church ; and the region of volcanic ashes, or the 

 Neapolitan culture. 



Subsect. 1. Of the Agriculture of Lombardy. 



262. The climate of Lombardy is less irregular than that of some other districts. It 

 is temperate on the declivities of the mountains in Piedmont, where the richest sheep 

 pastures are situated ; subject to great vicissitudes and to severe storms at the base of 

 the Alps; and warm and humid in the plain of the Po. In some parts the olive and 

 the orange endure the open air throughout the year, as in the islands of the lakes ; in 

 other places, at Milan for example, they require nearly as much protection in winter as 

 in England. 



263. The soil of the plain of the Po has evidently been formed by the recession or 

 deposition of water, and is a rich black mould, deep, and every where perfectly level. 



264. These lands are every where enclosed, either with hedges and ditches, or with open 

 water-courses for irrigation. The hedges, however, are not very well kept : they are a 

 mixture of different plants ; often of willows chiefly, occasionally of the mulberry for 

 feeding the silkworms, and sometimes of reeds. The hedge-plants of the country are 

 the Christ's thorn (Miliums australis,^. 31.), common hawthorn, and pomegranate. 



265. The lands are generally farmed by metayers 

 (from meta, one half, Ital.). The landlord pays the 

 taxes, and repairs the buildings ; the tenant provides 

 cattle, implements, and seed ; and the produce is di- 

 vided. In sonic cases the landlord's half is delivered to 

 him in kind ; in others it is valued annually at har- 

 vest, and paid in money, or partly in money and 

 partly in produce. There are some farmers who have 

 leases, generally for short periods, not exceeding nine 

 years, and pay fixed rents. The size of farms is from 

 ten to sixty acres ; but there are a few of two or three 

 hundred acres. The latter, however, are chiefly cul- 

 tivated by the proprietors. Farm-houses are of brick, 

 sometimes stuccoed, and covered with tiles. They are not always detached ; but two, 

 three, or more, farmeries are often grouped together, and their united buildings might be 

 mistaken for those of one large farm. One side of a square contains the houses of the 

 farmers, the stables, and cattle-sheds ; and the three others are sheds, supported by 

 columns, and open on all sides, for implements and produce. The metayers never get 

 rich, and are seldom totally ruined ; they are not often changed; the same farm passes 

 from father to son, like a patrimonial estate. 



266. Landed property is generally vianaged by a steward or factor (fattore), whose 

 business it is to inspect the cultivation of the lands, to direct repairs, pay taxes and tithes, 

 and see that the landlord has his proper share of the produce. Tithes have been greatly 

 lessened by the sale of a great part of the church lands at the revolution ; but are still 

 taken in kind, or commuted for, in order to support the parish clergy. 



267. The irrigation of Lombardy is its most remarkable feature. The antiquity of the 

 practice has been already noticed (180). In most states of Italy, the right and property 

 of all rivers, and in some, as Venice, even of springs and rain, are considered as 

 vested in the king or government. All canals taken from rivers are, therefore, purchased 

 from the state, and may be carried through any person's lands, provided they do not pass 

 through a garden, or within a certain distance of a mansion, on paying the value of the 

 ground occupied. Such canals, indeed, are generally considered as enhancing the value 

 of the property they pass through, by enabling them to purchase water, which is sold by 

 the hour, half hour, or quarter, or by so many days' run, at certain fixed times, in the 

 year. The right to water from such canals may even be purchased ; and Arthur Young 



