The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-12-31
L0VVORN REPORTS
ON ITALIAN CROPS

ABOUT the agriculture of Italy is
It's abundance of Vineyards" says
DR.. R. L. Lovvofn, who has Just
returned to State College after a
three months teaching assignment
With the CT. school at Florence
italy.
The whole agricultural program
81 the country is built around its
vine trees" as the vineyards are
known among Italians. "And the
term vine trees is actually true -
he says, "as trees are used for
trellises to support the vines"
The tree trellises are kept
pruned back so that they never
achieve great height, but at the
same time, develop sturdy trunks.
This pruning serves a double pur-
pose with the Italian people, for
due to the scarcity Of fuel in the
country, the brush and branches
trimmed are used for fuel wood,
DR.. Lovvorn, who spent the
three months Of September, Octo-
Der and November in Italy with
, the American University at Flor
ence as an instructor in agrono-
my. has returned to his former
position at State College as asso.
ciate agronomist with the Agricul-
tural Experiment Station.
During his tenure in Italy, he
was able 10 visit number of the
rural areas of that country, and
observe the farming conditions
there.
Olives he describes as the sec.
ond most important crop of Italy.
These two major crops are fire.
quently interplanted within the
same field, and in some cases.
other crops are also added to the
field.
In the area around Florence, all
grain and hay crops are planted
between rows of grapes and
olives. This is practical, he says,
since the grapes are a summer
crop while the grains mature in
the winter, and olives are a late
fall crop.
One Of the most picturesque
scenes in the Italian landscape are
the stone terraces in which the
fields are divided into a series OF
steps with one level used for one
crop, and succeeding steps, set
about two or three feet below each
other, are used for other crops.
In the fall, when the leaves are
colorful, the se stone terraces
make pretty sight, DR.. Lovvorn
says.
Around Rome, where the land
is more level as a coastal plain
area, small grains and sheep are
the principal crops. The sheep are
used to Craze the fields after har-
vest. In Italy, as in Biblical days,
sheep h e r d m are familiar
sights. The expenditure of labor in
this manner is one of the out
comes of surplus supply of labor
on the peninsula.
Another result Of this high labor
supply Is the large number of
people maintained on small tracts
of land. In a typical truck crop
farm near Florence, consisting of
only seven and a half acres Of
land, total Of 2 people plus the
owner are used to work the land
Within 12-month's period, on a
farm such as this, located in the
fertile valley land and highly IT.
rigated, as many as IS different
crops can be raised ton the same
tract of land. The mild year
around weather is contributing
factor to this high productivity.
In the Naples area, where the
climate is similar to that of Flori-
da, citrus fruits are grown quite
abundantly. There, in addition to
the inevitable grapes, truck farm
ing is also a flourishing business.
AS for mechanization, Italy is
far behind the United States in
this respect, he says. Oxen are
used abundantly, and at the end
of the life cycle of an OK, it is
butchered and eaten.
In the coastal plain area. more
tractors are used to cultivate the
small grain fields there. However,
most farm machinery is still quite
crude. In many cases, the grain
is sown broadcast by hand.
Due to the abundance OF labor,
it is not an uncommon sight tc
see a woman slowly cutting field
of alfalfa with a hand sickle. and
a child following her raking the
hay by hand. Using such methods,
harvesting is a slow, tedious proc
ess, but because of the mild year
around weather, no harvest dates
have to be observed.
Once the grain is cut, most of
the straw is stacked in the yard
of the homes in a fashion similar
to the hay stacks here. In the flat.
ter country, it is often baled and
the bales stacked high with roof
on top.
One of the greatest shortages in
of fertilizer. Most of the fertilizer
used on the farms was brought in
from other countries, and this
source was cut off during the war.
The supplying of this material,
feed and machinery are among
the major jobs facing the Allied
Commission governing Italy, DR..