Walker - 1967 - A geography of Italy

THE SOUTH
but in many o f the more densely populated areas the landscape closes in to become
an open orchard. The soil, which is demanding increasing quantities o f
fertilizers, is never idle; maize, wheat, beans, sugar beet, hemp, potatoes, lucerne,
clover and an almost unbroken succession o f vegetables are the main field crops.
The tree crops, either grown ‘mixed’ or in specialized orchards, include peaches,
cherries, plums, pears, almonds, oUves and hazel nuts. Vines, skilfully festooned
to form screens between pollarded elms and poplars, are a typical feature o f the
landscape. More than anywhere else in the Mezzogiomo cattle, pigs and poultry
have an important place in the economy. The agriculture o f this part o f Campania
is highly commercialized and much o f the produce, for example, the stone
fruits and tomatoes and the market-garden crops o f the coastal strip between
Naples and Castellammare, are destined for foreign markets, either fresh or in the
form o f essences and preserves. Unfortunately the proverbial bounty o f Campania
Felix is more than offset by the fecundity o f the inhabitants and the rural population
density often exceeds 500 per sq km and locally reaches 1000 in the
Aversa-Afragola zone. The vast majority o f the land is worked by direct ailtivators
{coltivatori diretti); most o f them own at least some o f the land they work
but they often supplement their incomes by hiring extra plots on a cash or
mezzadria basis. Even so the peasant’s ‘farm’ frequently amounts to no more than
2 hectares; in Naples province 64% o f the cultivated area is worked in units o f
3 hectares or less. Inevitably most villages have a large landless element. Here and
there a masseria smvives, shorn o f most o f its land, but the vast majority o f the
rural population lives in large concentrated settlements (Acera, Afragola,
Frattamaggiore) many o f which retain the rectangular Roman street plan orientated
N -S and E-W . The narrow basalt-paved streets are commonly flaiiked by
three-storied tenements built round a courtyard (cortile) which is approached
through an archway from the road. Each cortile is occupied by several families
who reach their quarters by means o f stairways and balconies surrounding the
courtyard.
In marked contrast to Campania Felix the alluvial plains o f the lower Garigliano,
Volturno (Terra di Lavoro) and Sele (Plain o f Paestum), once marshy and
malaria-ridden, repelled settlement until quite recently. Spasmodic attempts
were made to cure their hydrological disorders (the Regi Lagni canal dates from
1600) but little serious progress was made until the 1930s. With the renewed
impetus o f the land reform reclamation and colonization are being pushed ahead
and these plains once monopolized by latifondi are gradually assuming the orderly
landscape characteristic o f recent colonization. Large areas on the Garigliano and
Sele plains are now irrigable and in addition to the traditional Mediterranean
crops meat and milk production are becoming increasingly important, particularly
on a munber o f highly efficient capitalist farms. Oddly enough with the
passing o f the marsh the cow has not entirely displaced the buffalo whose rich
milk fetches high prices.
Although somewhat more extensive, the extinct cone o f Roccamonfina may be
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