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I T A L V. 



8ud*ic*. health of the labourers and reapers, that the Milanese 

 v V~^ government lias prohibited its extension beyond the li- 

 mits to which it had reached at the time of the enact- 

 ment. 



Fniit di- The second region, where the culture of fruits, espe- 

 uict. cially of the olive, predominates over that of grain, ex- 



tends along the south declivity of the Appenines, from 

 the frontiers of France to the borders of Calabria. In 

 this district, particularly in Tuscany, the alluvial soil 

 prevails, and is so deep and rich as to require manure 

 only once in five years. The property is extremely 

 subiiivided, and the farms also so very small, that a 

 single pair of oxen is sufficient to serve ten or twelve 

 of them for ploughing the ground. The greater part 

 of the tillage, indeed, is performed by a triangular 

 spade, which the tenant is often bound to use, as sup- 

 posed to be more favourable for the produce ; and the 

 corn fields are so much intersected by rows of vines 

 and olive-trees, that a plough can with difficulty work 

 between them. The most common rotation of crops is 

 the following: 



1st year, Maize, haricots, peas, or other legumes, 

 with dung. 



2d ... Wheat. 



3d ... Winter beans. 



4th ... Wheat. 



5th . . . Clover sown after the wheat, and cut in the 

 spring, followed by sorgho, a sort of great parsnip, 

 which yields a coarse flour for soup. 



In this country, the utmost care and skill are exert- 

 ed in the cultivation of the soil ; and every spot'presents 

 the appearance of a garden. The produce is abundant, 

 and the population immense ; but the cultivators are 

 always poor, and rather to be regarded as peasantry 

 than as farmers. No leases are granted to the meta- 

 yers, or tenants, who are, however, scarcely ever known 

 to be ejected ; but the terms of rent are highly unfa- 

 vourable to industry or saving on the part of the la- 

 bourer. The farmer engages to perform all the la- 

 bour of the field at his own expence to furnish the 

 wood for the support of the vines to bear half the 

 cost of seed and dung to pay the proprietor half the 

 produce, or, if required, to sell it for his benefit and to 

 divide equally with him all the profit of the stock, even of 

 the poultry and pigeons. On the other hand, the land- 

 lord lays out all other expences, and provides all other 

 things not mentioned in the preceding articles. Thus 

 the farmer has little inducement to improve his posses- 

 sion, to repair his house, or to add to the stock, which 

 belongs to the landlord, or to take in more ground, 

 which should be done at the expence of his proprie- 

 tor; and having thus no direct or profitable mode of 

 laying oat his savings, he generally spends every year 

 on himself and family all the gains of the season. Be- 

 ing too poor also to hire labourers, and having to at- 

 tend alone to the labours of the seed-time and harvest, 

 the pruning of the vines, and the culture of the olives, 

 he is often too late in the most essential operations, and 

 loses much time in the irresolution and indifference 

 which his hurry creates. Hence, in the midst of a 

 country, where every spot is covered with valuable 

 produce, and every individual actively employed, there 

 is nevertheless an entire absence of the conveniences of 

 life, and an appearance even of the greatest penury. 



By the utmost labour and skill the soil is supported 

 by mounds of earth or stone, and the benefits of irriga- 

 tion carried along the heights and declivities of the 

 mountainous districts, which are thus clothed almost 

 to the summit with vines and olives. One great agri- 



cultural improvement deserves to be particularly no- Statistics. 

 ticed, by which the Tuscans have contrived at once to *" ~\~~~*' 

 arrest the fury of the inundStory torrents from the Ap- 

 penines, and to convert them into a Source of wealth. 

 The quantity of mud and sand, carried down by the 

 streams during the violent rains, is so great, as fre- 

 quently to obstruct the course of the rivers in the more 

 level parts of the country, and particularly to form 

 complete marshes at their entrances into the sea. At 

 the suggestion originally of the celebrated Torricelli, 

 these marshy grounds are inclosed with a dike or em- 

 bankment, and the water of the river being admitted 

 into this enclosure, is retained by sluices in a stagnant 

 state, till its sediment be deposited. This operation is 

 repeated several times in the year; and, ns three or 

 four inches of earth are often deposited at one time, 

 the level in the course of three or four years is so much 

 raised, as to be no longer liable to be overflowed by the 

 river; while the soil thus acquired is of the richest 

 kind and highest fertility, so as to have been known in 

 one instance to yield in the first crop twenty-five mea- 

 sures of wheat from one. This operation is named 

 Colmata, and some of the most remarkable instances of 

 it are to be seen in the Val di Chiana, in the plain of 

 Pisa, and in the Val di Nievole. 



The third region, or pastoral district, extends along 'Pasture 

 the shore of the Mediterranean from Leghorn to Ter- district, 

 racina, and reaches inland as far as the first chain of 

 the Appenines, about 1 92 geographical miles in length, 

 and- about 40 at its greatest breadth, in the Campagna 

 di Roma. This tract is denominated Maremma, and 

 remains chiefly in a state of natural pasture, not in con- 

 sequence of its being unfit for cultivation, but of its 

 being uninhabitable except in winter. This proceeds 

 from the prevalence of what is characteristically deno- 

 minated Mai-Aria, an unhealthy constitution of the 

 atmosphere, or of the soil, during the summer season, 

 which produces the worst kind of intermittent fever, 

 and which has been already described. (See under Cli- 

 mate, p. 364. ) In the Tuscan Maremma, the soil seems 

 to consist of pure argil, mixed with a little sulphur, 

 and is becoming quite sterile. In the eastern part, 

 where the Pontine marshes extend, the soil is con- 

 stantly humid ; but produces, when drained, the finest 

 crops of maize, hemp, and legumes. These marshes, 

 which had often been unsuccessfully and partially 

 drained in former times, were more completely im- 

 proved by Pius VI. between the years 1778 and 1788; 

 but a still more effectual plan was commenced by the 

 French engineers in 1813, under the direction of M. 

 Prony. As the ground falls towards the sea by an in- 

 clination of seven feet, it was proposed to open paral- 

 lels at certain distances for carrying off the water, and 

 to intersect these by secondary canals, at an angle of 

 45, by which means, as far as can be judged from the 

 portion finished, the whole surface of the marsh might 

 be rendered capable of cultivation. The soil in the 

 Campagna di Roma, as well as in many other parts 

 of the Maremma, is composed of those substances 

 which are thrown out from volcanoes, such as Tufa 

 and Lava, upon a basis of calcareous sand-stone, more 

 or less consolidated, and abounding in sea-shells. The 

 vegetable productions of the Maremma are rich and 

 luxuriant. The lands are allowed to rest in pasturage 

 during six successive years ; are ploughed and sown 

 on'the seventh; and being left to themselves, are im- 

 mediately covered with verdure, which is pastured 

 again for five or six years by herds of cattle, horses, and 

 sheep, during the winter season. The principal inha- 

 bitants of these countries are a race of wandering 



