Walker - 1967 - A geography of Italy

TH E N ORTHERN LOW LANDS
of small fields and strips produce fodder crops, cereals, potatoes, mulberries,
hard fruits and vines. As in other areas of ancient settlement the pressure o f
population is reflected in the small size and fragmentation o f property; most o f
the farms are owner-worked but they rarely exceed three or four hectares.
Quite often the yoimger members o f the household are employed in factories and
only contribute to the work o f the farm in their spare time. The small mixed
farm economy also dominates the non-morainic sectors o f the Alpine hill zone
although locally one crop, for example vines on the granitic Gattinara hills, may
assume a special rôle. Settlement is often dispersed or in small hamlets, and the
residential element is becoming increasingly marked near large towns, especially
Turin.
The ‘typical’ succession from hilly margin, through the upper and lower
fluvio-glacial platforms to the modern floodplain is best exemplified in the
provinces o f Vercelli and Novara. On the higher terraces o f the altapianura large
tracts of heath, here known as baragge, are left imcultivated either because o f
excessive permeability or because of the presence o f ferretto. Elsewhere the upper
plain is dominated by cereals and fodder crops. Fontanili were exploited as early
as the thirteenth century and by the sixteenth century the Dora Baltea and Elvo
had been tapped for irrigation, but the transformation o f the economy and landscape
of the lower plain dates from the completion of the Cavour Canal in 1863.
Fed from the Po and its Alpine tributaries its flow o f 120 mc/sec irrigates some
500,000 hectares devoted overwhelmingly to the production o f rice and fodder
crops. The rice zone, centred on Vercelli, presents a mournful landscape o f vast,
imperceptibly terraced fields, glinting with water and bordered by screens o f
poplar, elm and willow. Massive brick-built farms, usually arranged round one or
more courtyards and often surrounded by high walls, stand like fortresses in an
apparently deserted countryside. These buildings house the families o f the
owner and his permanent work force and they also include vast grain stores and
machinery sheds whose lofts may be temporarily converted into dormitories for
seasonal workers. T h e large villages studding the plain were built to accommodate
the workers who were attracted into the area with the development o f
irrigation; from the first the seasonal character o f the work available was a somce
of hardship and increased mechanization has forced many to seek alternative
employment. Normally about 70% o f the Vercellese is imder rice which thrives
on what is natmrally quite mediocre soil, often imderlain by ferretto. Most o f the
cultivation is now done by machine, but if the present high yields (frequently 12
tons per hectare) are to be maintained, the planting must still be done by hand, a
task traditionally performed by teams o f women from outside the area who find
temporary accommodation on the farms. High yields demand the liberal use of
fertilizers and after several years under rice a field is put under grass, clover and
cereals. Although the Vercellese is still a monocultural area, there is a growing
tendency towards diversification, especially in the direction o f milk production.
In the neighbouring district o f the Novarese this type o f economy predominates
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