Page 202 - Panjek, Aleksander, Jesper Larsson and Luca Mocarelli, eds. 2017. Integrated Peasant Economy in a Comparative Perspective: Alps, Scandinavia and Beyond. Koper: University of Primorska Press
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integr ated peasant economy in a compar ative perspective
time. A wide series of surveys and statistics, aimed at knowing in depth the
rural reality, is included in the archives of the institution that supervised
these operations, the Presidenza del Censo (Presidency of Census). For ex-
ample, in the early forties of the 19th century (1843), the Presidency of Cen-
sus, sent a questionnaire to the heads of local governments to find out the
state of agriculture, by asking for information about every sector of ag-
ricultural activities, geological conditions and infrastructure. In particu-
lar, question number 15 referred to “the main improvements in lands cul-
tivation from 1810 to the present day”. The answers provided by the local
institutions, and the time taken to provide them, emphasised meaningful
differences. The answer from the province of Macerata revealed that the
improvements lied “in the subdivision of many farms, reduced in medium
and small, with an increase of farmhouses and, consequently, of families
and individuals assigned to agriculture”.19 As regards the adjacent province
of Ascoli, it was reported that the improvements had been similar to those
executed in the other territories within the Marche region: “new planta-
tions of trees with vines, olives and mulberry [...] the most extended farms
have been divided into small land tenure so farmhouses, families and indi-
viduals assigned to agriculture were increased”.20 Otherwise, in the prov-
ince of Viterbo it was noted that “agriculture in this province has remained
unchanged for a long time”. Only two main systems of agriculture were in
use in this province: small tenures, “practised in the neighbourhood of the
villages with industrial plantations” (esercitata nei luoghi prossimi all’abita-
to e vestiti di piantagioni industriali), and extensive agriculture.21
The purpose of the papal government, during the 19th century, was to
increase sharecropping cultivation already present in some regions of the
State. To define this kind of initiative, the expression “to cover industrial-
ly” the soil was often used. The presence of the so called “industrial” cul-
tivations referred to the image of “vertical cropping,” as the promiscuous
sharecropping cultivation has also been defined, Moroni (2003). The spe-
cialised woody crops (olive, vine, mulberries, and chestnuts) were defined
as industrial because they increased the value of farm production and be-
cause, as in the case of the mulberries, they represented a bridge between
the primary and secondary sector. Moreover, such cultivations improved
the industriousness of the rural population, by increasing farm activities,
19 ASR, Presidenza del Censo, b. 1914, September 1843.
20 ASR, Presidenza del Censo, b. 1914, February 1845.
21 ASR, Presidenza del Censo, b. 1915, October 1851.
200
time. A wide series of surveys and statistics, aimed at knowing in depth the
rural reality, is included in the archives of the institution that supervised
these operations, the Presidenza del Censo (Presidency of Census). For ex-
ample, in the early forties of the 19th century (1843), the Presidency of Cen-
sus, sent a questionnaire to the heads of local governments to find out the
state of agriculture, by asking for information about every sector of ag-
ricultural activities, geological conditions and infrastructure. In particu-
lar, question number 15 referred to “the main improvements in lands cul-
tivation from 1810 to the present day”. The answers provided by the local
institutions, and the time taken to provide them, emphasised meaningful
differences. The answer from the province of Macerata revealed that the
improvements lied “in the subdivision of many farms, reduced in medium
and small, with an increase of farmhouses and, consequently, of families
and individuals assigned to agriculture”.19 As regards the adjacent province
of Ascoli, it was reported that the improvements had been similar to those
executed in the other territories within the Marche region: “new planta-
tions of trees with vines, olives and mulberry [...] the most extended farms
have been divided into small land tenure so farmhouses, families and indi-
viduals assigned to agriculture were increased”.20 Otherwise, in the prov-
ince of Viterbo it was noted that “agriculture in this province has remained
unchanged for a long time”. Only two main systems of agriculture were in
use in this province: small tenures, “practised in the neighbourhood of the
villages with industrial plantations” (esercitata nei luoghi prossimi all’abita-
to e vestiti di piantagioni industriali), and extensive agriculture.21
The purpose of the papal government, during the 19th century, was to
increase sharecropping cultivation already present in some regions of the
State. To define this kind of initiative, the expression “to cover industrial-
ly” the soil was often used. The presence of the so called “industrial” cul-
tivations referred to the image of “vertical cropping,” as the promiscuous
sharecropping cultivation has also been defined, Moroni (2003). The spe-
cialised woody crops (olive, vine, mulberries, and chestnuts) were defined
as industrial because they increased the value of farm production and be-
cause, as in the case of the mulberries, they represented a bridge between
the primary and secondary sector. Moreover, such cultivations improved
the industriousness of the rural population, by increasing farm activities,
19 ASR, Presidenza del Censo, b. 1914, September 1843.
20 ASR, Presidenza del Censo, b. 1914, February 1845.
21 ASR, Presidenza del Censo, b. 1915, October 1851.
200
