.+ the rate of
is allotment,
to be taxed,
10le territory
e larger part
»d a revenue
Ithy classes.
wltivated or
on conditions
nd paid one-
1d fruit-trees,
for sheep or
rely tenants-
11 their lands
o have been
nt Italy. As
sion by the
perty of the
bitants were
y, and their
orer citizens
, which was
omain lands.
he lands was
the former
tenants, pay-
arliest times,
cistence—the
ants, holding
vo, there was
smanded the
le the others
the Romans
, the citizens
d assigned to
enormously.
restrict the
s, but gener-
Laws. The
rise to the
r cultivation
e discourage-
ee population
Italy. The
policy that
vhabitants of
» of the land
vested in the
benefit of the
the wealthy
rents, as well
slave-labour.
to Rome from
sed by means
rce of wealth
med the most
rations were
learning ; and
copious, and
the first and
'ho died aged
of life at the
large farming
; and he gives
lars regarding
bine farm, but
» ploughing of
1g of the crop.
Romans was
to a consider-
s fallowed for
1 other words,
[, fallow. One-
nd sown with
r received from
t was sown in
AGRICULTURE.
autumn. The last ploughing left the land in narrow
ridges ; and as the seed was sown broadcast, it came
up in rows, which admitted of the crop being several
times hand-hoed. The crops of wheat ripened about
the middle of June, but the summers were too dry to
allow of millet and other summer crops being raised
with certainty. Rye, hemp, flax, beans, turnips,
lupines, vetches, and lucerne are also mentioned
as occasionally cultivated. Meadows were highly
esteemed, and irrigation to some extent adopted.
Cattle were fed in the plains in winter, and driven
towards the Apennines as the snows melted in spring,
and when the pastures below become parched by
the heat. The greater proportion of the surface of
Southern Ttaly consists of thin calcareous soils, ill
adapted for the growth of grain or grass; and the
vine, the olive, and the mulberry become the chief
objects of culture. The principal districts for grow-
ing wheat are, in the neighbourhood of Naples,
and in the ancient Apulia, where Hannibal gener-
ally wintered when he overran Italy. Some of
these rich plains are still held directly from the
government, and cultivation is of the rudest char-
acter. One-third of the land is in pasture, and
he other two-thirds in fallow and grain. Three
or four crops are taken in succession, and the soil
is then allowed to recruit its exhausted strength by
remaining under pasture.
In the great plain of Northern Italy watered by
the Po, agriculture is now in a very advanced con-
dition. A great part of it is of great natural fertility ;
it drew forth the praises of Polybius, who visited it
about fifty years after it came into the hands of the
Romans. The oak-groves which he found scattered
over the plain, fed the immense droves of swine
that were then raised in Italy. Now, however,
rich and poor soils are subjected to the fertil-
ising influences of irrigation, and the region has
become the best cultivated in Europe. No less than
1,600,000 acres of land are under irrigation, and the
results are of the most striking character. The land
is forced to produce a constant succession of grass
and grain. The irrigated meadows, like the pastures
of Ireland and Scotland, are made the corner-stone
f the systems of rotation. In general, three years
in meadow are succeeded by three years in rice;
wo years in Indian corn and flax; one year in
wheat sown out with grass-seeds. Large numbers
of cattle are kept on the farms of Lombardy, where
the land is often a complete net-work of canals,
with their smaller distributing channels. There is
a large exportation both of grain and dairy produce.
The vast ranges of snowy mountains that bound
the plain to the north, afford a never-failing supply
of water during the heats of summer. 'The vine
and mulberry beautify the country, and also give
employment to the dense population.
The lower latitude of Spain gives it a still more
arid summer climate than Italy. Rains commonly
fall only during the autumn and winter, and the
supply 18 scanty and irregular. This renders Spain
a poor and unproductive country, excepting where
the soil can be irrigated. For this reason, the
resources of its agriculture are chiefly confined to
its well-watered valleys, which are capable of being
made to outstrip Egypt itself in productiveness.
The Moors early introduced the art of irrigation in
the south of Spain, and carried it to a high pitch in
the kingdom of Granada. Before the conquest of
that country by Ferdinand and Isabella, the valley
of Granada was one well-cultivated garden. Though
the undiminished powers of the land are still
attested by a few spots in the wegas of Murecia and
Granada, its present condition cannot be compared
to its condition under the Moors. The high tempera-
ture admits of a succession of crops being raised in one
year, as in Egypt. After wheat has been gathered
in June, a crop of maize or millet, or of vegetables,
is got. Maize is scarcely grown in Spain except
where the land is irrigated, so that every valley is
more or less under the productive influences of
water. The melting of the snows in summer on
the high ranges of mountains, affords a supply
when it is most needed in the plains below. Vines,
olives, and oranges find a genial climate for their
growth in the southern parts, and are important
objects of culture.
L'rance must be regarded as one of the richest
agricultural countries in Kurope. In the south,
the climate is sufficiently hot for -olives, maize, the
mulberry, and the vine. The summer rains, too,
are more abundant than in Spain, and permit
maize to be extensively grown alternately with
wheat, ‘which forms a most productive course of
crops. Irrigation has received considerable attention
in the southern valleys, and the reclamation of the
barren wastes of the Crau in Provence, testifies to
its fertilising effects. Much of the soil is poor in
the southern provinces, and not suited to the growth
of grain; but such soil admits of the growth of
the mulberry, the olive, or the vine. All these crops
demand a large amount of labour in their culture,
and sustain a dense population. Normandy is
celebrated for its pastures. The north-west of
France generally is the most fertile tract of land
in Europe. In the less advanced districts, fallow,
wheat, and oats is the rotation still followed.
Clovers and lucerne are largely sown in the chalky
districts. In the best cultivated districts in the
north, wheat and beet-root or poppy are sown
alternately. Beet forms a most important plant
in the agriculture of Irance in the present day, as
a large part of the sugar consumed in the country
is derived from it. Much of France is divided into
small properties, which is more especially the case
in the less fertile provinces. This division of pro-
perty is, so far, a necessity, as no other industrial
occupation is open to the people. As soon as manu-
factures raise the standard of living in the town,
it will influence the condition of the rural population,
and lead to the enlargement of properties.
In Austria, Hungary, and the countries on both
sides of the Danube, the climate resembles that of
the southern half of France. Maize and wheat are
the chief products, but the agriculture labours under
so many impediments to progress, that it is yet in a
backward state. In Southern Russia, there are vast
tracts of rich land bordering on the rivers flowing
into the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, from which
Western Europe derives large supplies of wheat and
flax-seed, as well as some maize. The northern
parts of Russia are less fertile, and as yet the
means of transport is defective and limited. Oats,
flax, skins, and tallow are the chief products sent
to market. Rye forms the common bread-corn of
the lower classes. Prussia, unless along the shores
of the Baltic, has no great proportion of fertile
land within her territory : the chief article exported
is wheat from the Baltic provinces, which is of fine
quality. . The potato enters largely into the food of
the common people in Prussia, and is also used in the
manufacture of ardent spirits. Its agriculture, how-
ever, has no peculiarities deserving of special notice
in this cursory sketch.
Flanders has long been celebrated for its farming,
and its cultivators are generally supposed to have
carried improved systems into the eastern counties
of England. It 1s characterised by painstaking
management, and, at the same time, liberal appli-
cation of manure. The general size of the farms
would be considered rather small in England, but
considerable capitals are invested in stock and
83
(4
K
|
| iF
i
SR
’
