The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1871-11-10
Agriculture in Italy.

The kingdom of Italy now embra-
ces an area of 10000 square miles,
and a population of 100000.
In 1865 the surface of Italy, in
Guiding Venetia and the Roman
States, was thus distributed Arabic
lands, including vineyards, %, 749, ,I67
acres; natural and artificial grass
lands, 3,742,712 acres; rice planta-
tiOns, 363,742 acres; olive groves,
I,5O3,32I acres; chestnut groves,
l,609,937 acres woods and forests,
l2,08S,822 acres /; pasturage, 16, ,794, ,S47
acres marshes, lakes, &c, 3,005,S
acres waste lands, from 100000 to
5000 600 acres; making a total of
about 100000 acres. One-half of
soil that is cultivated is devoted to
cereals, while only per cent. of the
entire surface is devoted to the culti-
vated grasses; cattle and other do
mestic animals are, therefore, nu-
merOus. In the whole of Italy the
estimated number of domestic ami
mails is given as follows: Horses,
1852, 2,SI6; cattle, 1907, ,472; sheep,
9,736, l0l; swine, 4,050,02I; goats,
2,6l5, ,427. This is only one-ffth the
number of domestic animals in the
United States in 1859. The annual
average of cereal and other produc-
tions, in bushels, is as follows
Wheat, 10l ,4S4, ,236 ;maize, IS, 727, $50
rice, 3,972,325; chestnut, 1911, 900
potatoes, y, ,794 157 other vegetables
11.S99,17S. OF oil the average is
l,I75,S49 hectOliters, aud of win
34,977, ,S49 hcctoliters. Northern Ital
is i'll higher state of cultivation than
the southern portion. Among the
hills of Piedmont, which are as 0,774
to 0,226 of plain, and more particu-
laTly where the vine is cultivated,
the land is mainly owned by small
farmers, in lots averaging from L.
to ~ acres, but on the plains, es-
pecially where rice is grown, the
farms are large, ranging from 100
acres to $500 and upward, and are
generally leased to substantial farm
ers. The principal products are
wheat, rice, Indian corn, oats, rye and
other grains, vines and mulberry
trees, lucerne, flax and hemp apples,
peaches, pears, cherries, chestnuts
and walnuts. Irrigation is general
upon the plains. TIE yield OF wheat
however, owing to defective tilIage
is only about One-third of the Eng
lish average per acre. Experiments
have proved that it may be doubled
with proper cultivation. The use of
improved agricultural machines,
hitherto discouraged, and of com
IIcrcial fertilizers, is increasing. The
cultivation OF the vine in Piedmont
is also receiving greater attention,
the old practice of festooning having
been generally abandoned, and the
improved French methods Of culture
substituted. In LombaUdy there is
much activity III agricultural pUr-
suits. AS in Piedmont, small farms
are common in hilly districts, and
large farms on the plains. Most of
the latter are irrigated. On the
small Mountain faIms the spade is
largely used, as it is also on the hills
of Piedmont. The cultivation of
the vine and mulberry trees, with
wheat and other grains, prevails in
the hills of Lombardy, while rice,
flax and hay are grown on the plains.
Silk is the staple product. Cattle
are generally kept by all farmers,
and the country is rich in butter and
cheese. In Venetia none of the ce-
reals are largely cultiYa ted, but are
mostly imported from the Levant
and the Black Sea. In the Roman
States and the provinces which I'M
mediately join them, the modes of
culture are very rude, and the pro-
ductiOn is, of course, very limited.
The subdivision of the soil
throughout Italy is much more IA
vorable to farmers of small means
than the English system of large
landed estates, but is not SO minute
and impoverished as that which pre-
walls in France. In population of
26,000,000 the number of landed
proprietOrs is given at 4, 10000, with
an average of 12l2 acres each. In
Piedmont and Sicily, one in four is a
land-holder; in Param and LOmbar-
dy, one in six; in Tuscany, one in
thirteen; and in all Italy, in 1862,
seventeen in one hundred owned
land. The most subdivisions are in
Piedmont and the two Sicilies; the
fcwest, in Tuscany, ROmagna and
Umbria, where large tracts are
owned by the province, the com
mune, and the religious orders, and
are generally badly farmed.
The cultivation of cotton and to-
baccO has been introduced into soma
of the Italian provinces, and most
satisfactory results have been obtain
ed.