By the utmost labour and skill the soil is supported by mounds of earth or stone, and the benefits of irrigation carried along the heights and declivities of the mountain ous districts, which are thus clothed almost to the summit with vines and olives. One great agricultural improve ment deserves to be particularly noticed, by which the Tuscans have contrived at once to arrest the fury of the inundatory torrents from the Appenines, and to convert them into a source of wealth. The quantity of mud and sand, carried down by the streams during the violent rains, is so great, as frequently to obstruct the course of the rivers in the more level parts of the country, and particu larly to form complete marshes at their entrances into the sea. At the suggestion originally of the celebrated Tor ricelli, these marshy grounds are inclosed with a dike or embankment, and the water of the river being admitted into this enclosure, is retained by sluices in a stagnant state, till its sediment be deposited. This operation is re peated several times in the year; and, as three or four inches of earth are often deposited at one time, the level in the course of three or four years is so much raised, as to be no longer liable to be overflowed by the river ; While the soil thus acquired is of the richest kind and highest fertility, so as to have been known in one instance to yield in the first crop twenty-five measures of wheat from one. This operation is named Coltnata, and some of the most remarkable instances of it are to be seen in the Val di Chiana, in the plain of Pisa, and in the Val di Nicvole.
The third region, or pastoral district, extends along the shore of the Mediterranean from Leghorn to Terracina, and reaches inland as far as the first chain of the Appe nines, about 192 geographical miles in length, and about 40 at its greatest breadth, in the Canipagna di Roma. This tract is denominated Maremma, and remains chiefly in a state of natural pasture, riot in consequence of its be ing unfit for cultivation, but of its being uninhabitable ex cept in winter. This proceeds from the prevalence of what is characteristically denominated Mal-Aria, an un healthy constitution of the atmosphere, or of the soil, dur ing the summer season, which produces the worst kind of intermittent fever, and which has been already described. (See under Climate, p. 533.) In the Tuscan Maremma, the soil seems to consist of pure argil, mixed with a little sulphur, and is becoming quite sterile. In the eastern part, where the Pontine marshes extend, the soil is con stantly humid; but produces, when drained, the finest crops of maize, hemp, and legumes. These marshes, (+Inch had often been unsuccessfully and partially drained in former times, were more completely improved by Pius VI. between the years 1778 and 1788 ; but a still more effectual plan was commenced by the French engineers in 1813, under the direction of M. Prony. As the ground falls towards the sea by an inclination of seven feet, it was proposed to open parallels at certain distances for carrying off the water, and to intersect these by secondary canals, at an angle of 45°, by which means, as far as can he judged from the portion finished, the whole surface of the marsh might be rendered capable of cultivation. The soil in the Campagna di Roma, as well as in many other parts of the Maremma, is composed of those substances which are thrown out from volcanoes, such as Tufa and Lava, upon a basis of calcareous sand-stone, more or less consolidated, and abounding in sea-shells. The vegetable productions
of the. Maremma are rich and luxuriant. The lands are allowed to rest in pasturage during six successive years ; are ploughed and sown on the seventh ; and being left to themselves, are immediately covered with verdure, which is pastured again for five or six years by herds of cattle, horses, and sheep, during the winter season. The prin cipal inhabitants, of these countries are a race of wandering shepherds, who remove to the hilly or level districts ac cording to the seasons; and a few sickly labourers, who remain only as long as the sowing and reaping of the crops require their presence. In the Tuscan Maremma, 400,000 sheep, 30,000 horses, and a vast number of cows and goats are annually reared for the supply of the Valdarno, and other vales of Tuscany, where no cattle are bred.
In the south of Italy the state of agriculture is as low as can well be conceived, and even the wealthiest proprietors are both ignorant of the subject, and indifferent about any attempts for its improvement. Throughout the whole realm of Naples, every kind of agricultural production is indebted to the mildness of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, rather than to the industry and skill of tha inha bitants. They have no idea of the proper management of land, especially in the application of manure, and the sow ing of artificial grasses ; and, except in the districts where wine, oil, and almonds are produced, the uniform round of husbandry consists in sowing corn, as long as the land will yield a crop, and then letting it lie fallow, or rather in natural grass, to recover its exhausted powers. Even the most ordinary attention to the nature of the soil is often omitted in laying it under crop ; and in many towns and villages, the usual order of cultivation, namely, gardens in the nearest grounds, then orchards, then olive-grounds, then vineyards, then natural pastures, is pertinaciously followed, though it should even happen that the nature of the sea was such, as to require the very reverse of such an arrangement. The grains most frequently sown are wheat, barley, Indian corn, and pulse ; but not one half of what might easily be raised ; and for every ten persons employed in the culture of corn, it is calculated that twenty are occupied in that of the grape. These two kinds of produce also are greatly mixed together. Elms• and poplars are planted in rows for the support of the vines, and between these rows are sown corn and pulse, without any fallow ; but sometimes, to prevent the land from being exhausted, early crops of lupins and beans are put in, which are hoed up before coming to fruit, and buried under the surface by way of manure. Yet, though the husbandry is so slovenly, and the horticulture almost equally superficial, every production is found in the highest perfection, and greatest abundance ; and, in some places, the fields are so fertile as to yield three crops in one year ; namely, beans, Turkey-wheat, and brocoli, or some similar vegetable, which grows through the winter. It is no small discouragement to agricultural improvement in the Nea politan territories, that every kind of stock and produce, all live animals, and even the sheep, are subject to an ex cise, which is rendered still more injurious by the oppres sive mode in which it is collected.