Fourth year, Indian corn, or millet.
In the _Syanese Maremna_, where the lands want neither repose or
manure, the constant alternation is _hemp_ and _wheat_, and the
produce of the latter, often twenty-four bushels threshed, for one
sown.
It will be seen from this course of crops, that the principal
object of Tuscan agriculture, is wheat, of which they have two
species, the one bald, the other bearded; both larger than the
corresponding species in other countries of Europe; convertible
into excellent bread and pastes, and probably but varieties of that
_Sicilian family_, which Pliny describes, as yielding "_most flour_
and _least bran_, and _suffering no degradation from time_." It
is harvested about the middle of June and when the grain crop is
secured, the ploughing for the second, or forage crop, begins; which
besides lupins, lupinella, and beans, often consists of a mixture of
lupins, turnips, and flax. The lupins ripen first and are gathered
in autumn; the turnips are drawn in the winter and the flax in the
spring.
Besides the application of _ordinary manures_, the lupin is ploughed
down, _when in flower_; a practice that began with the Romans:
Columella says, "of all leguminous vegetables, the _lupin_ is
that which most merits attention, because it costs least, employs
least time and furnishes an _excellent manure_." The culture of
this vegetable is different, according to the purposes for which
it is raised; if for grain, the ground has two ploughings and
twenty-five pounds weight of seed to a square of a hundred toises:
if for manure, one ploughing is sufficient. Like our buckwheat,
its vegetation is quick and its growth rapid; whence the farther
advantage of suppressing, and even of destroying the weeds that
would have infested any other crop. In the neighbourhood of
Florence, they are in the practice of _burning the soil_; which they
do by digging holes, filling them with faggots and raising the earth
into mounds over them.--The faggots are then inflamed and burnt, and
with them the incumbent earth, which is afterwards scattered, so as
to give the whole field the same preparation.
3d. "The countries," says Arthur Young, "the most rich and
flourishing of Europe, in proportion to their extent, are probably
_Piedmont_ and the _Milanese_. We there meet all the signs of
prosperity--an active and well conditioned population, great
exportations, considerable interior consumption, superb roads, many
opulent towns, a ready and abundant circulation, the interest of
money low, the price of labour high; in one word, it is impossible
to cite a single fact that shews that Manchester, Birmingham, Rouen,
and Lyons, are in a condition equally prosperous, as the whole of
these Dutchies." Their population is stated at "1,114,000, and the
territory at little more than two millions of arpents, (acres.)
Wheat, rye, indian corn, flax and hemp, the vine and the olive,
the caper and the cotton tree, with all kinds of garden fruits and
vegetables, are cultivated here: the soil knows no repose, and much
of it yields annually and uniformly two crops of grain, or three
of grass."[6] These are the miracles of irrigation; not a drop of
water is lost. Besides the permanent supplies furnished from lakes,
ponds, rivers, creeks and springs, even the winter torrent and
summer shower, are every where intercepted by drains, and led to
reservoirs; whence they are distributed at will to the neighbouring
grounds.
[6] Geographic, Mathematique, &c. Article Italie.
In 1770, an agricultural school was established at Milan, consisting
of 220 boys, who were instructed in theoretical and practical
husbandry.--This institution has escaped the notice of travellers;
and we are unable to say whether it has or has not, fulfilled the
intentions of its projectors.
4. _Switzerland_ has about 1444 square leagues of surface, and
presents an assemblage of mountains, one rising above another, until
the summits are lost in masses of snow and ice, which never melt.
This short description sufficiently indicates the character of both
the soil and the climate; yet unpropitious as these are, we find
a population of 1242 inhabitants to each square league! "This is
perhaps the country of the world, which presents the most happy
effects of an industry always active and persevering. The traveller
who climbs her mountains, is struck with admiration when he beholds
vineyards and rich pastures in those places, which before appeared
naked and barren rocks. The traces of the plough are perceived on
the border of precipices, where the most savage animals do not pass
without danger; in one word the inhabitants appear to have conquered
all obstacles, whether arising from soil, position or climate and
to have drawn abundance from territory, condemned by nature to
perpetual sterility."[7]
[7] Idem. Article Helvetia.
5. The classical reader will remember, that _Spain_ was the garden
of the Hesperides of the Roman writers; by which was meant the
combinations of a fine climate, a rich soil and an active and
intelligent agriculture. To this state of things, even the empire of
the Goths was not fatal,[8] and that of the Moors rendered it still
more distinguished. In their hands, the plains of Valentia were
cultivated throughout, with the utmost care and skill; and where
their wheels, reservoirs, and drains of irrigation, yet remain, the
soil continues to yield the richest and most abundant products.
In Catalonia, Navarre, Galitia and the Austurias, many species of
the ancient agriculture are yet in vigour, because "the _leases
are long_, and the _landlord cannot capriciously violate them_."
The same causes are followed by the same effects, in the three
districts of Biscaya, Guiposcoa and Alava. "In running over these,
every thing one finds is animated by the presence of liberty and
industry; nothing can be more charming than the coasts, nothing more
attractive than the culture of the vallies. Throughout the thirty
leagues that separate Bedassod from Vittoria, every quarter of an
hour we discover some well built village, or comfortable cottage."[9]
[8] It appears from Varro _Dere rustica_ and the letters of
Cassiodorus, that the Goths introduced into Spain the subterranean
granaries, called _Siilos_, and the _art of irrigation_. The former
are now exclusively used in Tuscany, and Cato's precept, 'Prata
irrigua,' &c. shews whence their knowledge of the latter was derived.
[9] Burgoing's modern Spain, vol. i.
How different is the aspect of the other provinces! In these, not
more than two thirds of the earth are cultivated; and "it is not
uncommon to travel eight and ten leagues together, without finding
a trace of human industry. In the district of Badejoz alone, is a
desert of twenty-six leagues in length and twelve in breadth.[10]
Ten of the fourteen leagues that traverse the duchy of Medina
Sidonia, consist altogether of pasturage. There is no where a
vestige of man; not an orchard, not a garden, not a ditch, not a
cottage to be seen! The great proprietor appears to reign, like the
lion in the desert, repulsing by his roaring all who would approach
him. But, instead of human colonies, we encounter troops of horned
cattle and of _mares_, wandering, self directed, over plains, to
which the eye can discover no boundary or barrier, and which brings
to one's recollection the days when the beasts shared with man the
empire of the earth."[11]
[10] Borde's Hineraira de l'Espagne, vol. iv. p. 30.
[11] Burgoing. Spain has been long renowned for its horses. The
Romans, in settling their pedigree and illustrating their swiftness,
called them '_the children of the winds_.'
"Even when the plough is used, it is little more than a great knife
fastened to a stick, that just scratches the surface. The grain is
threshed by horses, or mules driven over it, of by means of a plank
studded with nails or flint stones and drawn across it. With even
this miserable culture, the land in Andalusia yields considerable
crops; yet are the inhabitants too lazy or too few to gather them
together. This is done by Galiegos, who are the labourers of Spain."
We need scarcely remark, that in a state of agriculture like this,
the peasantry cannot be either well fed or well clothed. "The
mountaineers live principally upon roasted acorns and goats' milk,
and those of the plain (from Barcelona to Malaga) on bread steeped
with oil, and occasionally seasoned with vinegar."[12]
[12] Swinburne's Travels, Vol. I. A Spanish peasant, who has earned
or begged enough for the wants of the day, will refuse to earn more,
even by running an errand. Striking as this fact is, it does not so
well illustrate Spanish indolence as the following anecdote from the
same pen. In the great sedition at Madrid, which ended in the defeat
of the king and the disgrace of his minister, (the Marquis des
Squillas) and in its most fervid moments, both parties retired about
dinner time to take their _nap_ or _meridiana_, after which they
returned to the combat with new vigour and enraged fury. If _habits_
can thus control the _passions_, to what important uses might not a
wise legislation turn them?
It is wide of our object to examine the causes of the degradation
of character, which marks the agriculture of Spain. Well informed
writers have ascribed it to the expulsion of the Moors and Jews,
to the weight of taxes and imposts, to the _mesta_ or common right
of pasturage, to the discovery of America and its consequences,
to the effect of climate and the ill judged charity of bishops
and convents, but principally to the great _manorial grants_ and
_unequal division_ of the soil, which followed the conquest. "We
often find six, eight, ten, and even fifteen leagues of extent
belonging to one master. The nobility and clergy possess nearly the
whole country. One third of Spain belongs to the families of Medina,
Celi, D'Alva, De l'Infatado, D'Aceda, and to the archbishops,
bishops and chapters of Toledo, Compostella, Valentia, Seville
and Murcia. A great proportion of these lands remain untilled and
untenanted, and those which are let in _Cortijo_ or farms are double
or treble the quantity that can be occupied in tillage."[13]
[13] Le Borde's Heneraire D'Espagne, Vol. 1.
6. The agriculture of _Portugal_, has been subjected to the same
evils as that of Spain, to which may be superadded, her connexion
with Great Britain; under whose policy she has become a raiser of
_fruit_ instead of _grain_.
7. _France_ is probably the country of Europe, which most unites
the great desiderata of an extended and profitable agriculture;
fertility of soil, mildness of climate, a dense population, an
enlightened government, and facility of exportation. Within her
ancient limits, she boasts of a surface of more than one hundred and
fifteen millions of arpents, and a population of twenty-two millions
of inhabitants. The following tables will shew, in a compressed
form, the nature of her soil, and the use to which it is put.[14]
[14] See Geographique, &c. Vol. VI. Art. _France_, p. 13, and
Young's tour through France.