Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/51

* ITALY. 35 ITALY. subtropical grain ■nhicli is raised in Italy for export as well as for home consumption, is con- stantly diminishing owing to competition of other countries, as will be seen in the table given below. Rice is raised principally in Lombardy, Piedmont, Venetia, and Emilia. C)ats, barley, and rye are also important cereal crops. Potatoes, turnips, beet-root, and sugar-beet are of consid- erable importance. The production of hay, both from the natural grass meadows and the various cultivated varieties, is very extensive. Some hemp and flax are gro%^'n, but cotton cultivation has been reduced to insignificance. In the agricultural economy of Italy, fruit plays a more important part than cereals. The vine crop alone has an annual value of about $150,000,000, only $20,000,000 less than the ■wheat crop. The (Government is spending large sums of money in combating the phylloxera and maintaining schools for teaching the art of wine- making. The vine is grown all over the country, especially in the provinces of Bari. Alessandria, Lecce, Foggia, Rome, Catania, and Florence. The wines of Italy are of many kinds, but. owing to the defective methods of preparing them, they deteriorate with age and are to a great extent unfit for export. The best-known wines are the llarsala of Sicily, the Chianti of Tuscany, and the Asti of Piedmont. These are quite largely exported. The olive-tree thrives best in Liguria and throughout Central and Southern Italy, as well as on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily. It occupies an area nearly one-third as large as that under the vine. Luxuriant groves of orange and lemon delight the eye of the traveler in Sicily and Sardinia, adorn the coasts of Liguria, and thrive in the coast provinces of Southern Italy. The prov- inces of Messina, Palermo, Catania, Syra- cuse, Trapani, Calabria, Salerno, Catanzaro, Foggia, Caserta, and Xaples are famous for the delicious fruit they produce. Italy had more than 10,000,000 orange and lemon trees at the end of the nineteenth century — nearly twice the number in the State of California. Almonds are growTi in Southern and insular Italy, and other fruits, such as figs, dates, melons, and pistachio- nuts, are produced in large quantities and ex- ported. Silk culture is no less prominent, the annual yield of raw silk being valued in 1899 at $32,350,000, giving Italy first place in Europe as a raw silk producer, and second only to C^hina and Japan in the world. Its output makes up 80 per cent, of the total European production and nearly one-fifth of the world's product. Silk- worms are raised chiefly in Northern and Middle Italy. The cultivation of mulberry-trees is ex- tensive, having developed in connection with the silk industry. The following table shows the fluctuations in the chief crops during the last three decades of the nineteenth centurv: output for the vears 1S79-83 having been 37,- 766,000 hundred, and the yield in 1900, 38,520,00* hundred. In speaking of the economic aspects of Italian agriculture it is necessary to distinguish between North and South Italy. The northern part is the more progressive section. The agricultural and industrial methods prevailing there are es- sentially the same as in other countries of West- ern Europe, being characterized by the intensive cultivation, the use of modern machinerj', and the eniplo3'ment of the best methods of irriga- tion and fertilization. On the contrary. Southern Italy, though essentially an agricultural coun- try, suffers from crude, primitive methods of cultivation. The Italian peasant is among the pcorest in Europe. The prevalence of large es- tates and the presence of tenants and hired laborers who cultivate the land are characteris- tic features of Italian agriculture. No definite statistics are gathered on the subject, but it is estimated that the agricultural producers are made up of 40 per cent, laborers, 40 per cent, tenants, and 20 per cent, owners. The cultiva- tion of the soil by owners is most common in Venetia. Other regions in which peasant pro- prietorship is most prevalent are the northern districts of Piedmont and Liguria. and to a con- siderable extent also the provinces of Rome, Abruzzi e Molise, Campania, Calabria, Apulia,, and Potenza, and the islands of Sicily and Sar- dinia. The system of rent varies greatly in the differ- ent regions, and often in the same region, but it is almost always some form of grain or share rent. Only in a few places is the cash system well known. Sometimes the owner not only sup- plies the land and bears the burden of the taxes, but in addition furnishes the stock, implements,, and seed, and also sometimes free house-rent, in which ease the bulk of the product goes to the owTier. Indeed, the owner much more commonly has a share in supplying the requisites for the running of the farm than is the case in America. -ccording to some systems, however, the renter supplies some cr all the requisites and sometimes pays a portion of the taxes. The rent period varies in length with the diflferent systems, but- is most often short. Stock-Breedixg. Tills industry is in a back- ward state. The only branch that may be said to be carried on in a rational way is the breeding of horses and horned cattle in the northern part of the country. The exports of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, though small, exceed the im- ports. The production of wool is nearly 10.- COO.OOO kilograms annually, but this is not suffi- cient to satisfy the domestic demand. Sheep- raising is carried on most extensively in the poorer provinces of Southern Italy. In Northern or Continental Italy extensive methods of cattle- TEAK Wheat (bushels) 144.448..524 132.142.9.36 131.4.36.160 117.774.162 127,795,140 Corn (bushels) Rice (bushels) 27.806.724 20.663.478 17.SS7.914 17 010 972 16.886.100 Wine (gallons) 727.497.763 971,088.920 778.163. .369 640.306.582 789.868,300 Olive oil (gallons) 87.783.691 89.553.630 81.522.862 76.430.798 39,440,581 Silk cocoons (lbs.) TobMco (lbs.) 1870-74* 88,471.812 84.188.018 74.974.2S4 70.490,244 86,275,200 8.340.974 1879-83* 1890 1893 91.651.6.36 89.890.360 92.736.340 111,342,300 13.331.281 5.0.57.815 14.865..332 1900 12,401.14* ♦Annual average. There do not seem to be any noteworthy changes raising are followed, and stall feeding is com- in the orange and lemon industry, the average mon, but in peninsular and insular Italy open-