( 7%) 
Ii. How different from this picture is that of T'us- 
cany! where the soil, though less fertile (1) is cov- 
ered with grain, with vines and with cattle; and 
where a surface of 1200 square leagues, subsists a_ 
population of 950,000 inhabitants, of which 80,000 
are agriculturists.. It may amuse, if it does not in- 
struct, the reader, to offer a few details ofa husban- 
dry, among the most distinguished of the present age. 
The plough of north Europe, like that of this coun- 
try, has the power of a wedge, and acts horizontally 
—that of Tuscany has the same direction, but 
very different form. With the outline of a shovel, 
it. consists of two inclined planes, sloping fronr 
the ‘center, and forming a gutter and two ridges. 
This instrument is particularly adapted to the loose 
and friable texture of the ‘soil: A second plough, 
of the same shape, but of smaller size, follows that 
already described, and with the aid of the hoe and the 
spade (2) throws the earth, already broken and pul- 
verised, into four feet ridges, or beds, on which the 
crop issown. The furrows answer a threefold pur- 
pose; they drain the beds of excessive moisture, 
ventilate the growing crops and supply paths for 
the weeders, 
The rotation of crops,employs two periods of dif- 
ferent length; the one. of three, the other of five 
(1) “ Two thirds of Tuscany consists of mountains.” Vol, viii. p. 232. Geogra- 
phie Mathematique et physique ; Sec also Forsyth's remarks, p. 80, where are de- 
tailed the principal causes of her prosperity.  ** Leopold,” says he, ‘ in selling the 
crown lands, studiously divided large tracts of rich but neglected land, into smu!! 
properties. His favorite plan of encouraging agriculture consisted, not in boards, 
societies and premiums, but in giving the laborer a security and interest in the soil— 
in multiplying small freeholds—in extending the livelli or life leases,” &c. &c. 
(2) It is among the most important covenants of a Tuscan lease, that one third of 
the ground be actually worked with a spade, 
