I tax them
neither with ignorance nor bad intentions. I only regret
that the land should be in their hands."
"Pasture-farming under such conditions as these is a
terribly hazardous pursuit. A single year of drought will
suffice to ruin a breeder completely. In the years 1854-5 we
lost from twenty to forty per cent. of our cattle; in 1856-7
from seventeen to twenty per cent: and bear in mind that
every beast, before it died, had been taxed."
A champion of the Pontifical system offered to prove to me _by
figures_ that all is for the best even in the ecclesiastical estates.
"We have our reasons," he said,
"for preferring pasture to arable land. Here is a property
consisting of a hundred _rubbia_[16] (not quite three
hundred acres). If it were farmed on the proprietor's own
account, the cultivation, harvesting, threshing, and storing
would amount to the value of 13,550 days' labour. The wages,
seed, keep of horses and cattle, the interest of capital
invested in stock, cost of superintendence, wear and tear of
tools, etc., would stand him in 8,000 scudi, or 80 scudi per
rubbio. The earth returns sevenfold on the seed sown. If 100
measures of seed are sown, the return will be 700. The
average price of the measure of corn may be taken at 10
scudi. Thus the value of the crop will be 7,000 scudi,
whereas the same crop cost to raise 8,000 scudi.
Pages:
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224