The climate varies greatly according to the seasons and localities. Along the coast the thermometer ranges in the course of the year from 34' to 00*; but it falls at times considerably lower in the high lands. The aammita of Oenargentu are often capped with snow In the courts of the winter. Bail and thunder-storms are rare, but rain falls copiously In the autumn. In the summer the country is subject to long droughts, but the heavy dews of the night partly compensate for the want of rain. Earthquakes are very rare and slight. The plains and some of the lower valleys are verb unhealthy in consequence of malaria fever, called by the natives 'intemperie Moat people remove from the plains to the higher grounds on St. John's Day, the 2Ith of June, when the air begins to be unhealthy, though it does not become dangerous till August, from which time it continues so to the end of November. The Inhabitants of the plains are viewed by those, of the highlands with marked contempt as weak and degenerate.
The !midi; of Sandie'a are divided into feudal and non-feudal. The feudal lands either belong to the respective nobles, several of whom are of Spanish families and non-resident, who entrust their domains to Indolent podataril, .or steward., or have been sold to private iodis vidaale, who still recognise the feudal lord by paying him a trifling fee, aLd are under some restrictions, such as not planting vineyards or trees without his consent. The lands not feudal belong either to com munities or individuals, and can be let or sold, or given away et the will of the owners. Small portions of these lands are inclosed and well cultivated, and are called tench° ' ; but the larger proportion consists of that is, lands belonging to communities; they are mostly divided into three parts, each of which is cultivated iu its turn, and while under culture is inclosed with a line of hurdles, and the rest, being fallow, is generally open to the wandering flocks. The government however has for several years encouraged the inclosure of fields, and trees and hedges have been planted in many places. Leases are short, and rent is generally paid in kind. In some parts farms are let on the metayer system. One-third of the surface of the island consists of macchie, bush or waste, cousistiog of sandy or Stony districts, and lakes and marshes; another third is occupied by forests or natural pastures ; and the remainder, which is estimated at 5,500,000 starelli (a measure about four-fifths of an acre), consists of corn-fields, vineyards, olive-grounds, orchards, and gardens. About a million of these starelli are allotted to the growth of corn. The Sardinian plongh resembles the aratrum of the Romans ; it is light, and penc• tracts only two or three inches into the ground, and has no coulter. Most of the garden-grounds are worked with the hoe, the spade and mattock being generally unknown. Corn is left io the fields until it
is threshed, which operation is performed by the treading of mares or colts on an area prepared by paring off the sward and beating the soil with a mallet to the requisite hardness. Wind-mills are unknown, and water-mills are found only in the northern part of the island. Corn is winuowed, and it is generally ground iu a corner of the house by means of the domestic mill, turned by an ass. There is no regular system of manuring the ground ; it is done however sometimes when urgently required. Paring and burning are the common processes. The only artificial fodder for cattle is the mischiale,' a mixture of barley, lucerne, basil, and vetches, well known to the ancients.
Cattle, sheep, goats, and swine are divided into two classes : the manso,' or tame, being those which work or yield milk, wool, &c.. aro carefully tended and kept in the best pastures; and the 'rude,' which are for slaughter or for breeding, and which are allowed to rnmblo over hills and wastes almost in a wild state. All the labour of the field is done by oxen. The breed of horses reared in the tanche, or inclosed grounds, is carefully attended to : horse-races are frequent. For the improvement of the breed there is a government establishment in the plain of Ghilarza, called Regis Tanca, where Arabian and Spanish stallions are kept, and also Swiss bulls and rams. Sardinian horses are in general free from vice, patient of fatigue, and require but mode rate food, and the Sards are generally very good horsemen. The mule is unknown. Oxen are used for drawing the carte, the wheels of which are made of a solid piece of wood, strengthened and protected by large headed nails, the only iron used in the whole machine. Tho axletreo is fixed into the wheels, and turns round with them.
The best forests are iu the mountainous districts of Callum, Ilar bargia, Gooenno, Marghine, and Planargia. On the south-west side of the ridge of Genargeutu is an extensive elevated plain, called Su Sareldanu, covered with fine oak-, beech-, chestnut-, and cork-trees; and on the Menomeni range, between San Lussurgiu and Macomer, is another elevated plain, called Su Littu do St. Antuni, about nine miles wide and eleven or twelve miles long, covered with a rich forest. Fine woods are also found in the Giant de Serri, and on the hills of Trebina and Arcuosa, and they abound with wild hogs and game. Pine-trees are not common except near Terranova. The cork-tree grows very fine and in great quantity in the northern part of the island. Timber is very scarce in the plains, and the want of roads prevents the people from making use of that of the mountain forests. Dwarf mulberry trees grow in abundance.