Delmar ] 



320 



[Jan. 15, 



Fanning machines are now in use near tLe towns ; the thresher has 

 been introduced ; and the first American mower and reaper was imported 

 a year or two ago. 



English implements are too heavy for Spanish hands (L. T., 29), and 

 many that have been imported are left to rot for want of men able to 

 handle them. The American implements are much preferred. 



On the whole, it may be stated that Spain is but on the threshold of a 

 change from the inefficient implements of antiquity to the powerful 

 machines of modern agricultural progress. 



Domestic Animals. 



Since the destruction of her forests Spain must have lost much of the 

 pastoral character which undoubtedly distinguished her to a great degree 

 under the rule of the Mo^rs. There are now, properly speaking, no 

 meadows (grasslands) in Spain. Young noticed a single patch during 

 his journey in 1787 ; but late observers do not speak of any at all. (L. 

 T., 28, and elsewhere.) 



Said M'CuUoch, abDut forty years ago : 



"The Pyrenees, the billy parts of Biscay and the Asturias, the vast 

 plains of Andalusia, the two Castiles, Estramadura and Leon, are almost 

 wholly in pasture ; and in some parts the traveler may journey for many 

 miles without seeing either a house or an individual. In point of fact, 

 however, half the pastures really consist of heaths, or of neglected tracts 

 covered with thyme and other wild herbs, that are at present next to 

 worthless. There are few or no irrigated meadows, and hay is seldom or 

 never prepared for fodder." 



Except that portions of this wasteland have of late years been reclaimed, 

 .this description will answer for to-day. 



The following table exhibits a comparison of the number of domestic 

 laniraals in Spain in 1808 and 18G5, respectively, from which it will be 

 .seen that there has been a small increase of horses, a considerable increase 

 of mules and asses, a decrease of horned cattle, sheep and goats, and an 

 increase of swine. 



It should be stated that a great many incomplete and incorrect state- 

 ments on this subject have appeared in statistical works. 



The authoi'ities for the figures given in the text are, for 1 808, the report 

 to the Cortes quoted by Macgregor, and for 1865 the report of Senores 

 Feliciano Herreros de Tejada and Victoriano Ballaguer to the Statistical 

 Congress of the Hague. 



Domestic Animals. 



Horses 



3Iules and asses . 

 Horned cattle. . . . 

 Sheep and lambs. 



Pigs 



Goats 



Camels 



Poultry ..... .. . . 



Tear 1808. 



533,926 

 1,079,002 

 3,694,156 

 24,916,212 

 3,628,283 

 6,916,890 

 No data. 



Year 1865. 



680,373 

 2,319,846 

 2,967,303 

 22,468,969 

 4,351,736 

 4,531,228 

 3,104 

 No data. 



