ON SPANISH AGRICULTURE. 229 



every kind are taxed on entering the town. The rural 

 farmer, it is true, escapes the town taxes, but as a counter- 

 poise, to tax his produce on its way to market, is clearly 

 saddling the wrong horse.* The incidence of such a 

 burden clearly falls upon the already over-taxed consumer 

 in the towns, increasing the cost of the necessaries of 

 life. The whole system is, moreover, arbitrary and irri- 

 tating. How would one like at home to be stopped 

 every time he came in from a day's shooting, in order 

 that a " duty " may be assessed on his bag of partridge, 

 rabbits, or quail? Or, worse still, on a few bottles of 

 wine which may remain unconsumed at luncheon, but 

 which the official of the octroi knows perfectly well were 

 taken out into the campo that same morning ? 



The principal crops raised (Andalucia) are wheat, barley, 

 beans, and chick-pea (garhanzo), together with rye, alfalfa, 

 vetches, and canary-seed. Very few oats are sown, barley 

 forming the chief grain-food for horses, t No roots are 

 cultivated, no manure applied, nor any scientific rotation 

 of crops attempted. 



Neither maize nor rice are cultivated in the south, 

 though both form important items in other parts of the 

 Peninsula. Eice, especially, is grown on the Mediterranean 

 coast (Valencia, &c), and in Portugal. Possibly the Anda- 

 lucian marismas might form " paddy -fields " that would 

 make San Lucar a rival of Kangoon, as similarly Cadiz 

 might compete with Odessa. But may these " improve- 



* Taxation falls heavily enough on the fanner direct. Land- 

 owners are asked by the State for about one-fourth of the rental. 

 The tax on tenant-farmers is equally heavy, estimated by a cumbrous 

 assessment, based on the number of draught-oxen employed, or the 

 head of grazing stock. A large proportion of the taxation leviable is, 

 however, evaded. 



t The following table shows the production of cereals (in Spain) in 

 a normal year : — 



Wheat 32,776,055 hectolitres. 



Barley 

 Rye ... 

 Maize 

 Oats ... 



17,410,164 

 7,392,778 

 7,788,183 

 2,633,672 



