Between these regions of tree culture lie zones of different herbaceous culture, cereals, vegetables and textile plants. The style of cultivation varies according to the nature of the ground, terraces supported by stone walls being much used in mountainous districts. Cereal cultivation occupies the foremost place in area and quantity though it has been on the decline since 1903, still representing, however, an advance on previous years. Wheat is the most important crop and is widely distributed. In 1905 12,734,491 acres, or about 18% of the total area, produced 151,696,571 bushels of wheat, a yield of only 12 bushels per acre. The importation has, however, enormously increased since 1882--from 164,600 to 1,126,368 tons; while the extent of land devoted to corn cultivation has slightly decreased. Next in importance to wheat comes maize, occupying about 7% of the total area of the country, and cultivated almost everywhere as an alternative crop. The production of maize in 1905 reached about 96,250,000 bushels, a slight increase on the average. The production of maize is, however, insufficient, and 208,719 tons were imported in 1902--about double the amount imported in 1882.
Rice is cultivated in low-lying, moist lands, where spring and summer temperatures are high. The Po valley and the valleys of Emilia and the Romagna are best adapted for rice, but the area is diminishing on account of the competition of foreign rice and of the impoverishment of the soil by too intense cultivation. The area is about 0.5% of the total of Italy. The area under rye is about 0.5% of the total, of which about two-thirds lie in the Alpine and about one-third in the Apennine zone. The barley zone is geographically extensive but embraces not more than 1% of the total area, of which half is situated in Sardinia and Sicily. Oats, cultivated in the Roman and Tuscan maremma and in Apulia, are used almost exclusively for horses and cattle. The area of oats cultivation is 1.5% of the total area. The other cereals, millet and _panico sorgo_ (_Panicum italicum_), have lost much of their importance in consequence of the introduction of maize and rice. Millet, however, is still cultivated in the north of Italy, and is used as bread for agricultural labourers, and as forage when mixed with buckwheat (_Sorghum saccaratum_). The manufacture of macaroni and similar foodstuff is a characteristic Italian industry. It is extensively distributed, but especially flourishes in the Neapolitan provinces. The exportation of "corn-flour pastes" sank, however, from 7100 tons to 350 between 1882 and 1902.