Walker - 1967 - A geography of Italy

THE N ORTHERN LOW LANDS
which include the owner’s house and accommodation for the permanent workers,
arranged roimd a large rectangular courtyard. Small dispersed farmsteads are
also fairly common but the majority o f the rural population still lives in villages
many o f whose inhabitants may be employed in industry. In fact the landscape
of the upper plain, dotted with Milan’s satellite towns and laced with high-tension
wires and autostrade, is becoming increasingly an industrialized zone.
In the northern belt o f the lower plain the high water table, the fine texture
of the diluvial deposits and the presence of fontanili, which are better represented
here than in any part o f the Northern Lowlands, have encouraged irrigation
since the Middle Ages. The economy is geared to the production o f milk for
cheese (Parmesan and Gorgonzola) and butterj the animals are fed mainly on
fodder grown on water meadows (marcite) over whose imperceptibly inclined
surface trickles a fine film o f water tapped from fontanili and enriched with
treated sewerage. Irrigationis continuous from September till March and the long
growing period assisted by the tepid spring waters assures almost unchecked
growth; ten cuttings per annum are quite normal. The cows are stall-fed in the
cassina, a specialized type o f cone, and are rarely seen in the fields. The milk may
be processed on the farm or it may be sent to co-operative dairies.
South of the water-rich fontanili zone marcite are still a frequent element in the
landscape, particularly between the Ticino and Adda, but except in the specialized
rice-growing zone o f Lomellina, forage crops share the land-use with wheat
and maize. Irrigation here is much more intermittent than in the marcite but the
importance o f animal rearing is reflected in the rotations, conunonly a seven-year
cycle in which four years o f cereals, interspersed with grass and clover, are followed
by three years o f meadow. With the progress o f drainage this type o f landuse
occupies much o f the modern floodplains but the massive levees and the
extensive poplar plantations on land unsuited to the plough are a reminder o f the
menace o f flooding. On the whole the lower plain is an area o f mediiun (10-25
hecs) and large farms, the latter dominant in the specialized marcite and risaie.
When not farmed or managed by the owner, rents are paid in cash on a longterm
tenure; except in the less progressive eastern sector o f Lombardy, mezzadria
is unimportant.
Although often falling short o f the most modern standards o f productivity the
exuberance o f its agriculture has earned the admiration o f visitors to Lombardy
for centuries. The credit for this achievement should be given less to the natural
fertihty o f the area (which has often been exaggerated) than to those who knew
how to realize its opportunities. O f these by far the greatest was Lombardy’s
bountiful water supplies. Although the Romans were active in water control
their main object seems to have been to supply the cities with domestic water;
hence the diversion o f the Olona and Seveso for the benefit o f Milan. The most
easily exploitable sources for irrigation are the fontanili’, they have been used
since the eleventh century and even today they serve nearly 40% o f Lombardy’s
irrigated surface. The utilization o f the major Alpine rivers for the irrigation of
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