od pasture. The
scenery is fine, though the country is hardly at all visited by travellers.
The coast strip is very fertile, and though some parts are almost deserted
owing to malaria, others produce wine, olive-oil and fruit (oranges and
lemons, figs, &c.) in abundance, the neighbourhood of Reggio being
especially fertile. The neighbourhood of Cosenza is also highly cultivated;
and at the latter place a school of agriculture has been founded, though
the methods used in many parts of Calabria are still primitive. Wheat,
rice, cotton, liquorice, saffron and tobacco are also cultivated. The coast
fisheries are important, especially in and near the straits of Messina.
Commercial organization is, however, wanting. The climate is very hot in
summer, while snow lies on the mountain-tops for at least half the year.
Earthquakes are frequent and have done great damage: that of the autumn of
1905 was very disastrous (O. Malagodi, _Calabria Desolata_, Rome, 1905),
but it was surpassed in its effects by the terrible earthquake of 1908, by
which Messina (_q.v._) was destroyed, and in Calabria itself Reggio and
numerous smaller places ruined. The railway communications are sufficient
for the coast districts; there are lines along both the east and west
coasts (the latter forms part of the through route by land from Italy to
Sicily, ferry-boats traversing the Strait of Messina with the through
trains on board) which meet at Reggio di Calabria. They are connected by a
branch from Marina di Catanzaro passing through Catanzaro to S. Eufemia;
and there is also a line from Sibari up the valley of the Crati to Cosenza
and Pietrafitta. The interior is otherwise untouched by railways; indeed
many of the villages in the interior can only be approached by paths; and
this is one of the causes of the economic difficulties of Calabria. Another
is the unequal distribution of wealth, there being practically no middle
class; a third is the injudicious disforestation which has been carried on
without regard to the future. The natural check upon torrents is thus
removed, and they sometimes do great damage. The Calabrian costumes are
still much worn in the remoter districts: they vary considerably in the
different villages. There is, and has been, considerable emigration to
America, but many of the emigrants return, forming a slightly higher class,
and producing a rise in the rate of payment to cultivators, which has
increased the difficulties of the small