The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-10-27
Agriculture in Italy.

& 49,
The kingdom of Italy now cmbra-
ccs an area of 1S0,UO square miles,
and q population of 26,0000OO.
In 1865 the surface of Italy, in
gliding Venctia and the Roman
States, was thus distributed: Arabic
lands, including vineyards, %, 7f9, l61
acres; natural and artificial grass
Lands. 3,742,772 acres; rice planta-
fions. 363,742 acres; olive groves,
I.5I3 1927 acres; chestnut groves,
I.G09.937 acres; woods and forests,
I2,OSS, S22 acres pasturage, l6, 74 ,SE
acres marshes, lakes, &c, 3,SO5.S30
acres; waste lands, from G, 800, 600 10
500 600 acres; making total of
about 75,0O0,000 acres. One-half of
soil that il cultivated is devoted to
cereals, while only 4 per cent. of the
entire surface is devoted to the Guilt
waited grasses |; cattle and other do
Incstic animals are, therefore. nu-
merous. In the whole of Italy the
estimated number of domestic ami
mails is given as follows: Horses,
I.i62,Sl6; cattle, 4,0O7, i12; sheep,
9,I36,l0l; swine, 4,0J0,02l; goats,
2,Gl5, 427. This is only one-fiiih the
number of domestic animals in the
United States in 1869. The annual
average of cereal and other produc-
tions, in bushels, is as follows:
Wheat, 10l, 4S4 ,236 maize, As, ~ $50
rice, 3972,32J; chestnut, 13,71l 900;
potatoes. y, 794 Isl other vegetables
1I.S99.I7S. Of oil the average is
1.775,S49 hcctoliters, and of wine,
3I,977,S49 hectoliters. Northern Italy
is in higher state of cultivation than
the southern portion. Among the
hills of Piedmont, which are as 9TH
10 0.22G of plain, and more particu-
larly where the vine is cultivated,
the land is mainly owned by small
farmers, in lots averaging from IL
TO ~ acres, but on the plains, es-
pecially where rice is grown, the
farms are large, ranging from 100
acres 10 $500 and upward, and are
generally leased to substantial farm
CTS. The principal products arc
wheat, rice, Indian corn. oats, rye and
other grains, vines and mulberry
trees, luccrne, flax and hemp; apples,
peaches, pears, cherries, chestnuts
and walnuts. Irrigation is general
upon the plains. Tie ) icld OF wheat
However, owing 10 defective tillage
is only about one-third of the Eng
]ish average per acre. Experiments
have proved that il may be doubled
" it'll proper cultivation. The use of
improved agricultural machines,
hitherto discouraged, and of COM
nIercial fertilizers, is increasing. The
cultivation of the vine in Piedmont
il also receiving greater attention,
the old practice of fcstoOning having
been generally abandoned, and the
improved French methods of culture
substituted. In Lombardy there is
mech activity in agricultural pur-
suits. As in Piedmont, small farms
are common in hilly districts, and
large farms on the plains. Most Of
tue lattcr are irrigated. On the
small Mountain farms the spade is
largely used, as it is also on the hills
of Piedmont. The cultivation of
the vino and mulberry trees, with
wheat and other grains, prevails in
the hills of Lombardy, while rice,
fax and hay are grown Oh 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 &C
reals are largely cultivated, but are
mostly imported from the Levant
and the Black Sea. In the Roman
States and the provinces which i'm
mcjiatcly 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
~Orable 10 farmers OF small means
THAN the English system of large
landed estates. but is not so minute
and Impoverished as that which pre-
wills in France. In population of
a6,O00,000 the number of landed
proprietOrs is given at 4, 10000, with
an average of l2l. acres each. In
Piedmont and Sicily, one in four is a
land-holder; in Param and Lombar-
dy. one in six; in tuscany, one i'm
thirteen; and in all Italy, i'm 1862,
seventeen in one hundred owned
land. The most subdivisions arc in
Piedmont aud the two Sicilics; the
fewest, in Tuscany, Romagna and
Umbria, where large tracts are
owned by the province, the com
mune. and the religious orders, and
are generally badly fafmcd. I
The cultivation of cotton aud to-
bacco has been introduced into some
of the Italian provinces, and most
satisfactory results have been obtain
cd.