SUPPLEMENT 



TO THE 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AGRICULTURE. 



PART I. 



AGRICULTURE CONSIDERED AS TO ITS ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT 



STATE, ETC. (p. 4.) 



Italy. 



79SI. 274. An oil, not fit for the table, but useful for burning and other purposes, has been obtained 



bv expression from the fruit (kevs) of the Xegundo /raxinifolia. The experiment is of some importance 

 with reference to Britain, as it shows that in all probability an oil may be obtained from the keys of the 

 common sycamore, A^cer Pseudo-Platanus : and also from the common maple, /Tcer campestre. See 

 the details" respecting the oil obtained from the negundo in Gard. Mug., 1842, p. 40. 



7982.-288. The olive, we are informed by Manetti, is propagated by cuttings, by seedlings, and by 

 grafting. By cuttings is the most valuable mode when the soil is good, as the plants come soonest into 

 a bearing state. Where the soil is poor, and especially if it be rocky, seedlings are to be preferred, be- 

 cause they send down their tap-roots into the crevices of rocks, and thus derive nourishment and support, 

 where plants raised from cuttings would not live. In Tuscany, the olive is very generally raised from 

 seed and in many situations it is grafted. In Lombardy. on the Larian Hills, trees raised from cuttings 

 are always used, and this is the reason Manetti alleges why these trees have their trunks perpendicular 

 to the sides of the hill, instead of perpendicular to the horizon. Some interesting discussion on this very 

 singular appearance will be found in Gard. Mag., vol. viii. p. 68. to 70. 



79S3 299. The cause of malaria, in this and other pestilential districts of Italy, has generally been 



supposed to be the decomposition of vegetable matter on a moist surface. This, however, is to confound 

 the malaria with the marsh fever. The former is now thought to proceed from a very different cause, 

 and to be analogous to what in Eneland is called the hay fever. It is found that, while the corn or hay 

 crop is in a growing state in the pestilential districts, they are as healthy as any part of Italy ; but that 

 the moment the crop is cut down, or withers on the ground, the malaria commences, and continues 

 through the autumn and winter, till vegetation becomes vigorous in the following spring. The neigh- 

 bourhood of Rome, where malaria is so prevalent, " is very hilly, dry, and entirely without vegetation. 

 For days together, one sees nothing but desolate dried-up cornfields without trees, bushes, or wood of 

 anv description. In early times, Home was surrounded by extensive sacred woods, which were not suf- 

 fered to be destroyed. At that period malaria was unknown, though intermitting levers were well 

 known in the Pontine marshes." (Jameson's Juurn., vol. xvii. p. 167) In several districts in England, 

 the country people are liable to attacks of fever immediately after the removal of the hay crop, some in- 

 dividuals much more so than others. This may be considered as a species of malaria of a comparatively 

 mild description. See on the agriculture of Italy generally, an extract from the agronomical part of the 

 Aliideiln Terza Riunione degli Scienziati llaliani, Florence, 1842, 4to., in the Gardener's Chrontcle tor 

 1S4-' '■ No kind of potatoes has hitherto succeeded in Tuscany, owing to the great drought and heat. 

 which destrov the herbage in the month of August. In mountainous situations they succeed better ; but 

 thev are for the most part grown only in gardens, where they can be constantly watered. The sweet 

 notato Convolvulus Batatas, succeeds much better, as it naturally can stand a greater degree of heat 

 while i'ts copious herbage covers the ground, retains moisture, and affords a superior fodder for cattle. 

 (G. C, 1842, p. 679.) 



France. 

 70*4 _3S0 The backwardness of agriculture in France " is mainly attributable to the very partial 

 sriread of education in the rural districts, there being out of 40,000 communes, according to M.Dupin, 

 15 000 destitute of teachers ; and out of 25,000,000 inhabitants who have reached a teachable age, 

 lo'oOO OOOonlv are able to read. Now as the small independent proprietors of land amount to 4,000,0f0, 

 and their families to 12.000,000 or 14,000,000 more, it is obvious that this state of ignorance mint, under 

 such circumstances, be attended with far more prejudicial effects upon production than it it existed in 

 Fneland where the labourers are under the orders of about 32,000 large proprietors, and the success of 

 cultivation consequently does not so mainly depend upon the general diffusion of knowledge. It is grati- 

 fviue to find however, that the large proprietors in France are universally desirous for the instruction 

 of the rest and that societies, rural schools, and model farms have been establi.-hed under very favour- 

 able ansnices " (For. Quart. Rev. 1829.) A national svstem of public instruction was established in ]M>, 

 and the various details will be found in the Bulletin de'la Sociiti pour V Instruction E'k.ncntaire, for that 

 vear An account of the present state of French agriculture, and of the state establishments in that 

 countrv such as sheep farms, model farms, veterinary schools, haras or studs, will be found in the 

 Journal of the Agricultural Society of England, vol. i. for 1839, p. £62. ; and the statistics of French agi i- 



culture is given in the same work, vol. i. p. 411. . 



7 q"=f _38l. Present state of French agriculture. In VAgronome, a monthly agricultural journal 

 published in France, at the low price of five francs a year, it is stated in the first number, puohshed m 

 lanuarv 1833 that in France " the colonies afford no longer the means of making a fortune ; the con- 

 vents do not provide a remedv for the want of foresight of parents ; the system o peace. » hich is every 

 d iv nrocurin"- more advocates among the most highly civilised of the people, no longer offers a bnlUnt 

 ' F ° 4 N 2 



