ITALY. 



343 



Operations and results of some associate dairies, &c. Continued. 



NOTE. By substituting pounds for kilograms in the columns of quantities, the relative results 

 will bo more speedily realized by the American reader. 



PROVINCE OF VICENZA. 



The region just described, embracing the valleys of the Piave and its 

 confluents, is the only wholly Alpine and pastoral province of the ter- 

 ritory. The Austrian frontier, no\^ advancing suddenly southward to 

 embrace the disputed Trentine valley, crosses the Brenta only'16 miles 

 from entrance into the Venetian plain at Bassano, leaving the last mount- 

 ain spurs to form, with the broad terrace at their feet, the province of 

 Vicenza. The Brenta and the Astico, in close proximity at their sources, 

 diverge immediately and inclose between them the Alpine portion of 

 the province, the peculiar district known as the " Seven Communes," 

 assigned by tradition as the refuge of the Ciinbri, defeated by Marius, 

 and"iu habited at present by a population speaking an ancient Suabian 

 dialect, a bleak plateau of about 48,000 acres, with a nearly uniform 

 elevation of about 3,200 feet, girdled by mountains of from 6,000 to 7,000 

 feet, and its chief town, Asiago, 2,900 feet above the sea. Exposed to the 

 prevailing northwest wind from the snows behind, the mean annual tem- 

 perature is 7 0., with a maximum of +26.! aiul a minimum of 18, 

 while the meeting of this cold current with the equally prevalent moist 

 sirocco from the plain below causes an abundance of rain, unknown to 

 any other part of Italy, a medium rainfall for three years of 1,703.9 

 millimeters toward the center, and of 2,019 at its southeastern border. 

 This remarkable humidity and the excellent soil derived from the cre- 

 taceous and dolomitic masses, tufa and red sandstone of the surround- 

 ing peaks, produce a luxuriant growth of forest and pasture, and make 

 this the grazing region of the whole province. 







MOUNTAIN HERDING AND DAIRYING IN VICENZA. 



The cattle of the lowland are driven here in great numbers to pass 

 the summer months, and the irregular fabrication of dairy products 

 during this ;; montieation," as it is called, represents nearly all its in- 

 dustry of the kind, the plain being taken up with the cultivation of 

 cereals. This mountain industry recalls that of Belluno, but in better 

 conditions. 



