350 
April  16,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  IWRTICFLTURF 
Vine  growers  are  a  more  prosperous  race  of  farmers  than 
those  occupying  hill  holdings.  Mulberries,  too,  are  much 
cultivated  as  a  farm  crop  for  the  sake  of  the  silk  industry. 
If  we  want  good  beef  or  mutton  we  should  not  find  it  in 
Italy.  There  are  but  few  sheep,  and  the  cattle  are  mainly 
bi-ed  for  draught  or  dairy  purposes,  which  brings  us  to 
another  point — the  exceeding  prosperous  state  of  the  butter 
and  cheese  industry.  The  irrigated  meadows  of  Lower 
Lombai’dy  are  capable  of  growing  six  or  more  crops  of  grass 
during  the  year,  the  aggregate  w’eight  of  which  will  be  from 
six  to  nine  tons  per  acre.  The  rearing  of  poultry  and  the 
export  trade  for  eggs  are  in  a  most  flourishing  and  in¬ 
creasing  condition.  The  Italian  farmer  has  been  very 
heavily  hit  by  two  destructive  diseases  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years.  The  one  affecting  the  Vines  called 
peronospora  (not  phylloxera,  that  is  the  French  pest),  and 
the  disease  which  has  attacked  the  silkworm.  We  talk  of 
our  land  burden — possibly  Is.  in  £ — and  not  that  if  we  are 
in  the  position  to  escape  the  calls  and  claims  of  the  income 
tax  collector  ;  but  what  should  w’e  think  of  a  land  tax  of 
4s.  to  5s.  in  £,  and  a  local  tax  on  live  stock,  and  heavy  duty 
on  all  imported  machinery,  wdaich  really  covers  all  the  decent 
■machinery  he  has.  Mr.  King  says  that  up  to  twenty-five 
years  ago  agriculture  was  in  about  as  bad  a  case  as  it  could 
be  ;  but  since  then  things  have  taken  a  turn  for  the  better,  : 
the  depression  has  worked  its  own  cure.  With  no  rotation  ; 
of  crops  ;  no  manure,  or  very  little,  either  farmyard  "pr 
artificial  ;  no  machinery  of  later  date  than  the  time  of  Gin-  , 
cinnatus,  and  no  decent  stock,  there  was  ample  room  for 
improvement,  and  it  has  come,  and  come  to  stay. 
When  the  Italian  farmer  awoke  to  the  fact  that  the  time  I 
had  come  to  try  a  new  line,  a  new  method,  he  began  in  ; 
earnest  to  cultivate  his  land  on  a  more  modern  system,  and  • 
by  the  aid  of  co-operative  societies  purchased  largely  of  ; 
manures  for  his  fields,  sulphur  disinfectants  for  his  Vines, 
and  better  seeds,  and  new  machinery  for  general  cultivation. 
These  co-operative  societies,  or  syndicates,  have  developed 
out  of  the  Comizi  Agrari,  which  are  nearly  related  to  our 
County  Agricultural  Societies.  These  societies  exist  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  to  farmers  manures,  machinery,  dis¬ 
infectants,  and  whatever  he  needs  at  wholesale  rates  and  of 
first  class  quality.  The  membership  will,  in  some  cases,  run 
from  300  to  1,200,  and  the  district  taken  in  will  represent  one 
of  our  county  divisions.  In  addition  to  this  cheap,  or  com- 
l^aratively  cheap,  distribution  of  farmer’s  necessaries  there 
are  to  be  found  itinerant  teachers  whose  business  it  is  to 
.  advise  and  direct  as  to  proper  modes  of  cultivation,  proper 
manures,  and  suitable  remedies. 
Many  of  the  customers  are  best  able  to  purchase  in  large 
quantities,  and  therefore  in  remote  districts  stores,  have 
.  been  established  from  which  the  farmer  can  fetch  at  his 
need,  however  large  or  small,  a  quantity  he  may  require.  To 
buy  to  advantage  the  syndicate  requires  ready  money  ;  the 
customers,  for  the  most  part,  require  six  months’  credit. 
The  syndicates  have  not  a  great  working  capital.  The 
shares  will  run  from  8s.  to  £l,  and  the  capital  thus  may 
reach  £1,500,  or,  in  one  case,  £8,000’  Without  the  peoples’ 
banks  there  would  be  an  insuperable  difficulty.  The  bank 
will  lend  to  the  member  of  the  syndicate  whose  credit  is 
good,  and  will  pay  over  to  the  syndicate  the  whole,  or  part, 
of  the  cost  of  goods  supplied  to  that  member.  The  people’s 
bank  at  Mantua  in  1900  advanced  £4,500  ;  at  Cremona  in 
1901  it  had  advanced  £16,500.  The  Cremona  Syndicate  had 
over  £9,000  owing  on  July  30,  1899,  but  after  harvest  all 
was  paid  up  but  £49,  and  that  payment  was  only  delayed, 
not  lost.  On  five  years’  working,  with  an  annual  business 
of  £40,000,  the  loss  has  been  the  very  small  sum  of  £7  4s. 
The  syndicate  of  Parma,  with  an  equal  business,  lost  £4 
in  nine  years  ;  Padua,  Mantua,  and  Bergamo  have  not  lost 
one  penny.  So  much  for  the  honesty  of  the  Italian  farmer ! 
M  hat  strikes  an  outsider  the  most  wdll  probably  be  the 
small  outlay  in  salaries  paid  by  the  syndicates.  When  it 
comes  to  a  question  of  0.9  per  cent,  of  the  business  done  as 
the  salary  account,  we  think  we  shall  be  perfectly  safe  in 
remarking  that  this  could  not,  and  has  not,  ever  been  done 
here.  The  Mantua  Syndicate,  with  a  turn-over  of  £28,000 
per  annum,  pays  in  salaries  £l56.  In  another  case  £163,000 
worth  of  business  is  done  for  £l,000  in  salaries,  or  0.6  per 
cent.  The  Milanese  Syndicate  in  1901  paid  1.8  per  cent,  on 
.  turn-over.  The  profits  of  these  societies  are  not  large,  but 
it  is  not  profit-earning  which  is  the  first  object ;  still,  “  evei’y 
mickle  makes  a  muckle,”  and  some  are  laying  by  nice 
reserves. 
AFD  COTi'AGE  GARDEXER. 
Some  of  these  syndicates  are  beginning  to  manufacture 
and  not  to  buy  for  their  customers,  and  Milan  and  Mantua 
have  started  phosphate  factories.  And  again,  some  of  ‘the 
syndicates  are  banded  together  in  a  federation  to  import 
manures,  disinfectants,  such  as  nitrates,  basic  slag,  and 
sulphate  of  copper.  It  has  taken  up  the  question  of  imple¬ 
ments,  cakes,  and  seed,  and  is  extending  rapidly.  The  chief 
articles  dealt  in  by  these  syndicates  may  be  classed  out 
thus  :  Over  90  per  cent,  may  be  put  down  under  the  head 
of  manures  and  sulphur  disinfectants  ;  in  seeds  we  apportion 
5  per  cent,  (seed  Wheat  particularly),  red  Clover,  and  Sain¬ 
foin  ;  and  then  we  come  to  machinery  and  implements, 
fumigators,  spraying  machines,  drills,  and  reapers.  There 
is  a  little  done  in  stock  importation.  Shorthorns  or 
Normandy  bulls,  and  actually  a  few  Shires  have  found  their 
way  hither.  The  syndicates  are  perfectly  alive  to  the 
value  of  analysis  in  the  case  of  manures  and  disinfectants, 
and  of  a  germinating  test  in  the  case  of  seeds.  As  a  com¬ 
pany  or  federation  they  can  insist  on  being  supplied  with 
only  absolutely  pure  goods  or  clean  seeds,  and  in  this  way 
the  smallest  order  from  the  poorest  farmer  is  sure  to  be  of 
as  good  quality  as  the  bulky  order  of  the  landed  proprietor. 
The  syndicate  protects  the  poor  man  in  a  way  in  which  he 
cduld  not,  or  would  not,  protect  himself.  When  we  con¬ 
sider  that  this  movement  has  only  been  in  operation  from 
ten  to  twelve  years  we  are  astonished  at  what  has  been 
achieved. 
The  Italian  farmer  of  to-day  is  in  a  far  better  ease  than 
he  has  ever  been  before.  In  some  districts  the  yield  of 
Wheat  has  been  increased  by  half  as  much.  In  the  dairy 
districts  the  co-operative  dairies  have  increased  the  incomes 
of  the  farmers  by  30  per  cent.  In  another  part  the  value 
of  land  is  doubled.  The  co-operative  wine  factories,  where 
wine  can  be  refined  and  reduced  to  a  common  type,  will 
be  the  means  of  placing  on  the  market  excellent  wine,  which 
only  wants  to  be  known  to  be  appreciated.  The  silkworm 
has  not  got  off  scot  free,  for  the  Mantua  Syndicate  has 
established  a  co-operative  drying-shed  for  silk  cocoons,  and 
we  may  presume  as  long  as  the  fair  sex  is  in  evidence  there 
will  always  be  a  demand,  and  a  growing  one,  for  that  article 
of  beauty  and  utility,  silk.  We  should  like  to  hear  in  the 
near  future  more  of  Italy  and  its  agricultural  industry. 
Work  on  the  Home  Farm. 
Thus  read.s  the  calendar  for  the  week:  Weather  rainy,  work 
nil,  progress  nil!  It  is  wearisome  to  describe.  A  fine  breezy 
morning,  the  land  di'ying  nicely,  men  and  horses  get  nicely  set  to 
work,  when  up  come  the  clouds  and  down  comes  the  rain!  Mhat  ! 
Grumbling  again?  Oh,  no!  We  only  wish  to  remark  that  cart 
horses  are  not  fed  on  air  or  anything  so  inexpensive,  that  farm 
labourers  have  a  habit  of  turning  up  at  tea-time  on  Saturday 
night,  and  that  to  employ  horses  and  men  in  marching  up  and 
down  the  King’s  highway  is  too  great  a  luxury  for  the  farmer  if 
he  is  to  pay  his  way. 
We  have  had  an  urban  council  election,  and  being  deeply 
interested  in  political  or,  rather,  local  economy,  we  had  just  put 
on  our  war-paint  ready  to  proceed  in  proper  state  to  the  poll, 
when  a  cow  thought  it  the  most  convenient  time  to  present  the 
homestead  with  a  new  calf.  We  did  not  get  to  the  poll,  but  we 
shall  live  on  custard  for  a  week,  and  our  man  got  in  by  one  vote, 
so  all  is  well. 
Wheat  grows  well,  and  so  do.  the  earliest  sown  Oats  and 
Barley.  If  we  cannot  get  the  rest  sown  it  is  pleasant  to  see  this 
doing  well.  Wheat  has  not  promised  so  well  for  some  time.  The 
forward  fields  must  be  hoed  or  weeded  at  once,  for  they  will  soon 
cover  a  hare. 
Some  people  are  xflanting  Potatoes  for  the  sake  of  a  job,  but 
Potatoes  recjuire  a  dry  seed-bed  equally  as  much  as  Barley.  A 
small  farmer  in  this  parish  is  washing  and  delivering  Carrots  sold 
last  autumn.  He  was  fortunate  to  sell  them,  but  would 
have  preferred  getting  them  away  before.  lie  is  accommodating 
his  customer,  who  must  be  selling  at  a  serious  loss.  We  were 
across  a  Potato  field  to-day.  one  that  was  planted  very  early.  The 
ridges  were  left  rough,  and  thev  are  now  in  fine  loose  condition 
considering  the  wet  weather.  There  is  no  sign  of  a  sprout  appear¬ 
ing,  but  there  are  millions  of  weeds,  and  the  ridge  harrows  will 
have  to  be  employed.  If  we  bare  any  young  Potato  shoots  we 
must  earth  them  up  again. 
In  default  of  other  employment  we  have  been  chain  harrow¬ 
ing  and  rolling  the  meadows,  and  also  some  pasture  land.  We 
are  confident  that  the  land  will  greatly  benefit,  as  well  as  the 
grass  reajDers,  when  midsummer  arrives. 
Sheep  are  going  off  Turnips  .steadily  now.  They  are  all  being 
clipped  for  sale.  Wool  is  worth  very  little  either  on  the  .sheeps’ 
backs  or  off,  so  we  will  take  it  off  and  speculate  with  it.  -  ,-i 
