ITALY. 353 



In the western and slightly more elevated division of the province, 

 toward Lendinara, where forage cultivation is somewhat more extended, 

 occupying from one-fifth to one-tenth of the surface according to locali- 

 ties, with a yield of 70 to 80 quintals to the hectare, the animal improves 

 greatly and is reported to give, without taking into account the cost of 

 land and forage, 10 to 12 per cent, on his purchase price ; in the low- 

 land of Kovigo never more than 5 per cent. 



Here there is also a trifling fabrication of cheese and butter for do- 

 mestic use, limited, however, by the fear of stinting the calves, which 

 are the principal care and reliance of the farmer. 



In this region some steps of improvement are made in the construc- 

 tion of stables, a few of a better description having been introduced 

 by the wealthier proprietors to replace older ones fallen into decay. 

 The greater number, however, are still reported to maintain the pre- 

 vailing aspect of neglect and rusticity. 



CATTLE IN THE DISTRICT OF VENICE. 



Of the region in the immediate dependence of the city little remains 

 to be said; its various districts form so many appendages to the dif- 

 ferent provinces which incircle it and share the character of their rural 

 life. Extremely fertile to the north, where it consists of the finer sedi- 

 ment of the Piave, it is stocked with the mixture of Austrian and Friv- 

 lona cattle which stock the adjoining districts of Udine and Treviso. 

 The portions bordering the lagoon in the immediate neighborhood of 

 Venice are occupied by cows kept expressly for the milk supply of the 

 place, almost entirely of the Bellunese breed ; indifferent milkers, but 

 hardy and not fastidious in their nourishment. Some attempts have 

 been made to introduce Swiss cows into this group, but on account of 

 the objectionable quality of the water and forage they did not answer 

 expectations. 



The lower border of the lagoon, including Chioggia, is for all agricult- 

 ural purposes a part of the low land of Eovigo, the Polesiue just de- 

 scribed, and contains the same exclusive stock of Pugliese cattle, though 

 in number insufficient for the extended tracts of natural pasturage now 

 utilized by large herds of mountain cattle from Belluno, which find 

 here a cheap subsistence for the winter. In all this region no dairy in- 

 dustry is ever attempted, the native cows being used only for labor, 

 and the scanty supply of milk and butter needed for home use fur- 

 nished by the few cows of other races bred or imported for the purpose. 



EFFECTS OF THE ITALIAN CLIMATE AND HERBAGE ON IMPORTED 



CATTLE. 



It is significant for the object of the present inquiry that in every 

 part of Northern Italy the fabrication of dairy products as an industry 

 is only carried on with the aid of imported races. The Bellunese are a 

 domesticated branch of Tyrolese, the milch cows of Vicenza and the 

 seven communes are almost entirely Swiss, and both groups are such in- 

 different milk-givers that it would be impossible to bring their product 

 into general or even local commerce without the advantage of mountain 

 pastures at trifling cost. The Lombard dairymen, it is said, find it more 

 profitable to import Swiss cows directly than to depend on crossing tho 

 breed, and it has been seen that the animals imported fall off immedi- 

 ately, so that the yield of milk never approaches that of a Swiss pasture. 



All these facts point to a radical difference of local conditions, and 

 tbe effect of this difference may bo traced progressively. In leaving 

 H. Ex. 51- 23 



