Roman road, and stopped to gaze with astonishment on the group of _forestieri_, who, in their turn, gazed with interest into her good, honest face, and begged to take a photograph. [Illustration: _M. M. Newell_ THE OLD WINE JAR. CHIANTI] [Illustration: _M. M. Newell_ A PEASANT OF THE CHIANTI] The method of letting and working farms in Tuscany is novel and peculiarly interesting to Americans, and we urged Signor G---- to enlighten our ignorance somewhat on the subject. It seems that his estates, like the majority in Tuscany, are let on the _mezzadria_ or _metayerage_ system--words indicating the halving, or equal division, of products between the proprietor and his farmer.[3] The proprietor's land in Tuscany is almost invariably divided into _poderi_ (_i.e._, small farms of about forty acres), and each farm is tilled by a single family, who must live on the land in a comfortable house (_casa colonica_), furnished by the proprietor, who also provides farming tools, cattle, etc. The system is of ancient date and has come to stand as an habitual form of contract, and in Tuscany has become legalized by almost universal usage. The contract between proprietor and _metayer_, or farmer, holds only from year to year, but is regularly renewed, and, in most cases, the same family remains on the farm for generations. Attached to the soil they cultivate, their interest is one with that of the proprietor, and they consider themselves as much owners of the land as the proprietor himself. So old is the system that language has been influenced by it; dating back to feudal times, the word _contadino_ meant "count's man," etc. There are various understood conditions attached to the contract. The _contadino_ must annually replant a certain number of shrubs and trees, keep roads and watercourses in order, and at Easter, Michaelmas, and Christmas supply the landlord with a fixed number of fowls and eggs. In his own house the _contadino_, with the title of _capoccia_ (head), represents the family in all its dealings with the outer world: assigns tasks, decides when the vintage or harvest shall begin, apportions personal expenses, and must be consulted before his children marry; also no member of the family may marry without the consent of the proprietor, and he may even require any member of the family to marry. By the father's side stands the _massaia_, the wife, who superintends all housework, governs the women, assigns tasks of weaving, spinning, and mending, presides over the poultry-yard, raising of the silk-worm, etc. The _mezzadria_ system, if not "the perfect social contract between the owner and tiller of the soil," as some claim, seems to be, in Tuscany at least, the solution of many vexed questions; it holds that labour is an absolute equivalent for capital. The _metayer_, or _contadino_, works directly for his own interests, and is generally in comfortable circumstances, has a good house, excellent food and necessary