AGRICULTURE. The surface of the country, ac cording to the uses made of it, may be thus di vided: agriculture and gardening, 22.4 per cent. of the total area; the vine, 2.2: pasturage and hay. 26.7; woodland, 2.9: unproductive, 45.8. The result is that the food requirements of the scanty population are not met. Farming also is in a low state of development and methods and implements are very primitive. The Portuguese plow has been described as "a crooked branch with a ten-penny nail tied to the end of it." There are three principal regions of cereal cul ture: that of maize, chiefly north of the Tagus River, where the climate is more humid than in the south; that of wheat, on the wide dry warm plains south of the Tagus; and that of rye, on the poorer dry soil and in the colder temperature of the eastern lands bordering Spain. Flax is ex tensively grown in the north and citrus fruits and olives are produced in the south. Vine-grow
ing, the most noted branch of Portuguese hus bandry, is of great importance, particularly on the Douro, where the costly port wine is pro duced. Though the industry is carried on in somewhat antiquated fashion, Portugal is one of the leading wine countries, judged by the quality of its wine. The largest vineyard in the world, at Poceirao (5930 acres), contains 6,000, 000 vines, annually producing about 2,650,000 gallons of red and white wine.
Live-stock raising is an important branch of agriculture, the number of horses averaging 90, 000; mules and asses, 200.000; cattle, 600,000; sheep and goats, 4,000,000; and swine, over 1.000,000. Cattle are raised in largest numbers in the valleys and on the plains of the north, while sheep and swine are found chiefly in the south_ Silkworm culture is increasing, particu larly in the north.