“Benefit of old phenodata series - Evaluation and
declaring ability” COST action 725 workshop
Rome 6-7 November 2008
Dal Monte G. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology 39-44 (1) 2009
OLD PHENOLOGICAL DATA IN PUBLICATIONS
OF CRA-CMA HISTORICAL LIBRARY
SERIE STORICHE DI DATI FENOLOGICI NELLE PUBBLICAZIONI DELLA BIBLIOTECA DEL CRA-CMA
Giovanni Dal Monte
CRA-CMA (Agriculture Research Council – Research unit for climatology and meteorology applied to agriculture), via del
Caravita, 7/a, 00186 Roma, Italy.Tel. +39 06 69531218 Fax +39 06 69531215, E-mail [email protected]
Received 15/12/2008 – Accepted 16/02/2009
Abstract
This paper illustrates the most interesting series of old phenological data contained in publications of CRA-CMA historical
library. The books we examine are, in particular:
- Louis Cotte: Traité de météorologie. 1774, Paris
- Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio: Osservazioni fenoscopiche sulle piante. Roma, 1887
- Istituto centrale di statistica del Regno d'Italia: Periodi di semina e di raccolto per le principali coltivazioni. Roma, 1937
- Ufficio centrale di meteorologia e geodinamica: Rivista meteorico-agraria. Roma, 1879-1917
For these publications, we illustrate main characteristics of phenological data and we give some examples of them.
Key words: meteorological data, crops, wild plants, birds, insects.
Riassunto
Vengono illustrate le più interessanti serie storiche di dati fenologici contenute in testi conservati nella biblioteca storica
del CRA-CMA. In particolare vengono esaminati:
- Louis Cotte: Traité de météorologie. 1774, Paris
- Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio: Osservazioni fenoscopiche sulle piante. Roma, 1887
- Istituto centrale di statistica del Regno d'Italia: Periodi di semina e di raccolto per le principali coltivazioni. Roma, 1937
- Ufficio centrale di meteorologia e geodinamica: Rivista meteorico-agraria. Roma, 1879-1917
Per ogni pubblicazioni vengono presentate le caratteristiche principali dei dati e mostrato qualche esempio.
Parole chiave: dati meteorologici, piante coltivate, piante spontanee, uccelli, insetti.
Introduction
CRA-CMA (former UCEA) was established in 1876,
with the name of “UFFICIO CENTRALE DI METEOROLOGIA” (CENTRAL METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE), the first national meteorological institution in Italy. In 1879 it was transferred to the present building,
named “Collegio Romano” (XVI cent.).
CRA-CMA has an important meteorological and geophysical library; it comes from meteorological and geophysical collections once belonged to the “Collegio
Romano Astronomical and Meteorological Observatory”,
whose establishment dates back to the 1570s by the Jesuits.
Such collections became the core of the CRA-CMA library in 1880, when the “Regio Ufficio Centrale di Meteorologia” was transferred to the Collegio Romano
premises, already hosting the “Observatory”.
Since then, the library has been enriched by a great many
books and periodicals (both national and international)
on meteorology, climatology and agrometeorology.
Old phenological data
Among this old books, some of them concern old
phenological data. In particular we will focus our attention on four publications:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Louis Cotte: Traité de météorologie. 1774, Paris
Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio:
Osservazioni fenoscopiche sulle piante. Roma,
1887
Istituto centrale di statistica del Regno d'Italia: Periodi di semina e di raccolto per le principali coltivazioni. Roma, 1937
Ufficio centrale di meteorologia e geodinamica: Rivista meteorico-agraria. Roma, 1879-1917
1) Louis Cotte: Traité de météorologie. 1774,
Paris
The oldest of these publications is the «Traité de
météorologie» (Cotte, 1774) (Fig.1), published in Paris
in 1774. The author, Louis Cotte (1740-1815) was a
French priest, correspondent of Académie Royal des Sciences.The fourth chapter of his treatise, named "Les Tables des Observations météorologiques & Botanicométéorologiques" presents several tables on phenological
data.
These data aren’t original observations made by the author, but he reports the observations carried out for 30
years (1741-1770) by Henri Louis Duhamel du Mon-
39
“Benefit of old phenodata series - Evaluation and
declaring ability” COST action 725 workshop
Rome 6-7 November 2008
Dal Monte G. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology 39-44 (1) 2009
Fig. 3 - L. Cotte: table with phenological data on fruit plants
(flowering and ripening).
Fig. 3- L. Cotte: tabella con i dati fenologici sui fruttiferi
(fioritura e maturazione).
Fig. 1- The title page of Louis Cotte’s book.
Fig. 1- Il frontespizio del libro di Louis Cotte
Fig. 4 - L. Cotte: table with phenological data on birds and insects.
Fig. 4 - L. Cotte: tabella con i dati fenologici su uccelli e insetti.
Fig. 2 - L. Cotte: table with phenological data on cereals
(day of ripening).
Fig. 2 -L. Cotte: tabella con i dati fenologici sui cereali
(giorno di maturazione).
ceau, a French botanist and engineer (1700 -1782), at
Denainvilliers castle, near Pithiviers, a little town 80 km
south of Paris.
The data concern:
a) herbaceous plants: wheat, rye, oats, with only one
phenological phase, day of ripening.
b)
woody crops: peach, plum, pear, apple, apricot,
cherry, vine, with two phases: day of flowering and
day of ripening.
c) birds (swallow, nightingale, cuckoo, …) with the
date of appearance and disappearance, the dates of
start and end of the songs, and insects.
40
Fig. 5- L. Cotte: table with monthly warm degree sum.
Fig. 5- L. Cotte: tabella con i valori mensili di gradi di calore
“Benefit of old phenodata series - Evaluation and
declaring ability” COST action 725 workshop
Rome 6-7 November 2008
Dal Monte G. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology 39-44 (1) 2009
Fig. 6- L. Cotte: table with climatic values of daily
degree of cold and of warmth.
Fig. 6 -L. Cotte: tabella con i valori climatici giornalieri dei gradi di calore e di freddo.
Fig. 7 - The title page of the book “Osservazioni fenoscopiche
sulle piante”.
Fig. 7 - Il frontespizio del libro “Osservazioni fenoscopiche
sulle piante”.
Phenological data are accompanied by meteorological
data, as:
- warm degree sum ⎛⎜ temp. at 6 am + temp. at 3 pm ⎞⎟
⎝
2
⎠
for April, May and June, from 1748 to 1769;
- climatic values of daily degree of cold (only for
cold months, from November to March) and of
warmth;
- from 1699 to 1770, minimum and maximum absolute yearly temperature, minimum and maximum
absolute yearly pressure, prevailing yearly wind direction, total yearly precipitation.
On the Internet, you can find a copy of the book (from
Oxford University) completely scanned and freely
downloadable at the address http://books.google.com.
2) Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio: Osservazioni fenoscopiche sulle
piante. Roma, 1887
The contents of this book (Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio, 1887) are:
− history of phenological observations in Europe
− rules for observations for the agrophenological network
started in Italy in1885 by MAIC
− phenological (and weather) data:
•
data from the new network (year 1885) (published for the first time)
•
main previous Italian phenodata (already published in other publications)
The main phenological series available in this book are:
a) O. Targioni Tozzetti Tabella della temperatura
dell’atmosfera (…) nell’anno 1810. in Annali
dell’agricoltura del Regno d’Italia, 1811
b) T. Caruel Osservazioni fenologiche 1848-1864
nell’orto botanico del Museo di scienze naturali di
Fig. 8- O. Targioni Tozzetti: table with phenological data (ordered by scientific name of plants).
Fig. 8 - O. Targioni Tozzetti: tabella con dati fenologici (ordinati per nome scientifico delle piante).
Firenze. Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano v. XI anno 1879.
c) T. Caruel e F. Cazzuola Osservazioni fenologiche
1876 nell’orto botanico dell’Università di Pisa, Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano v. XII anno 1880
d) A. da Schio Rete di osservazioni nelle provincie di
Vicenza, Venezia, Padova e Bologna con osservazioni per 9 anni, i primi 5 pubblicati (con la collaborazione di Domenico Lampertico) in un opuscolo. Vicenza 1881
e) Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio. Direzione generale dell’agricoltura. Circolare 586. Osservazioni fenoscopiche. 1887
41
“Benefit of old phenodata series - Evaluation and
declaring ability” COST action 725 workshop
Rome 6-7 November 2008
Fig. 9 - T. Caruel: table with phenological data (ordered by date).
Fig. 9 - T. Caruel: tabella con dati fenologici (ordinati per data).
Fig. 10 - T. Caruel and F. Cazzuola: the list of observed species.
Fig. 10 - T. Caruel and F. Cazzuola: l’elenco delle specie osservate.
Dal Monte G. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology 39-44 (1) 2009
a) Ottaviano Targioni Tozzetti Tabella della temperatura dell’atmosfera presa dalla vegetazione delle
piante nell’anno 1810. (Table of atmospheric temperature (…) in the year 1810) 1811 Annali
dell’agricoltura del Regno d’Italia (edited by
Filippo Re)
These phenological observations were carried out at
Florence in 1810 and refer to 149 species, both of wild
and cultivated plants, with three phases: leaf development, flowering and ripening. There are no meteorological data.
b) Teodoro Caruel Osservazioni fenologiche 18481864 nell’orto botanico del Museo di scienze naturali di Firenze
(Phenological observations 1848-1864 in the botanical garden of the Natural science museum of
Florence)
Nuovo Giornale Botanico Italiano v. XI anno
1879.
The series is 17 years long (1848-1864) and it concerns
mainly wild plants, with a yearly variable number of
species: from 1 (1857) to some dozens (1863). The
phases are five: leaf development, flowering, petals fall,
fruit development and leaf fall. The site is only one, in
Florence. The meteorological data are monthly temperature (minimum and maximum) and rain.
c) Teodoro Caruel e Ferdinando Cazzuola
Osservazioni sull’influenza della temperatura sulle piante fatte nell’orto botanico pisano
(Observations on the influence of temperature on
plants, made at botanical garden of Pisa) Nuovo
Giornale Botanico Italiano v. XII, 1880
These data concern one year (1876), one site (Pisa) and
47 species (mainly wild plants), cultivated in plots of 25
cm of diameter; the observed phases are three: emer-
20 June
22 June
23 June
24 June
Fig. 11 - T. Caruel and F. Cazzuola: table with phenological data (magnified data on flowering of Emilia sonchifolia and Phtox
Drummondi and on emergence of Sesamum indicum and Crozophora tinctoria).
Fig. 11 - T. Caruel and F. Cazzuola: tabella con dati fenologici (nell’ingrandimento, dati sulla fioritura di Emilia sonchifolia e
Phtox Drummondi e sull’emergenza di Sesamum indicum e Crozophora tinctoria).
42
“Benefit of old phenodata series - Evaluation and
declaring ability” COST action 725 workshop
Rome 6-7 November 2008
Dal Monte G. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology 39-44 (1) 2009
gence, flowering and ripening.
The meteorological data consist of daily minimum temperature and diurnal hourly temperature.
d) Almerico da Schio, Domenico Lampertico: Osservazioni fenoscopiche su vegetabili coltivati e spontanei fatte nel Vicentino e regioni finitime. 1881
(Phenoscopic observations on cultivated and wild
plants in the province of Vicenza and in the
neighbouring areas)
This series is 9 years long (1876-1884) and concerns 186
species, both of wild and cultivated plants. Only the data
for 102 species are showed in this publication.
The observed phases are four:
for woody plants: leaf development, flowering, ripening and leaf fall
for herbaceous plants: first leaf, flowering, first
fruit ripening, harvest/leaf fall
The network includes 16 stations in 4 different provinces: Vicenza (10), Venice (2), Padua (1) and Bologna
(3).
The meteorological data consist of monthly average temperature and monthly total rain.
e) Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio.
Direzione generale dell’agricoltura. Circolare 586.
Osservazioni fenoscopiche. 1885
In 1885, the Agricultural General Direction of the MAIC
decided to complete the “Rivista meteorico-agraria” (see
point 4) with regular agrophenological observations and
it issued the rules for a national agrophenological network based on the experiences and suggestions of
Almerico da Schio. The network started in 1885 and the
data of this year were published here. We have no information about what happened in the following years, if
the network continued to work or it ended after only one
year of activity.
Data of the first year concern 75 species: 5 cereals (with
4 varieties), 6 annual species, 17 biennials and perennials
species, 20 fruit plants, 27 woody plants. The observed
phases are four and they depend on the species. The network includes 38 sites in 12 regions. Meteorological data
are daily and ten days average temperature and monthly
rain.
Fig. 12 - The title page of phenological observations made by A.
Da Schio and D. Lampertico.
Fig. 12 - Il frontespizio delle osservazioni fenologiche fatte da A.
Da Schio e D. Lampertico
Fig. 13 -A. Da Schio and D. Lampertico: table with phenological
data on tomato.
Fig. 13 - A. Da Schio and D. Lampertico: tabella con dati fenologici sul pomodoro.
3) Istituto centrale di statistica del Regno
d'Italia Periodi di semina e di raccolto per le
principali coltivazioni, Roma, 1937
This book (Sowing and harvesting periods for the main
crops) (Istituto centrale di statistica del Regno d'Italia,
1937) contains data about normal values (climatic values) for phenological phases. For three altitude zones
(mountain, hill and plain) for each Italian province, we
have starting and ending date (as ten days period) for two
phases (sowing and harvesting) of 29 herbaceous crops
and for one phase (harvesting) of 19 woody crops. For 11
woody crops, there is also the list of most widespread
varieties, with indication of the earliest and the latest
one.
Fig. 14 -The title page of the tables with data from the network
started in 1885 in Italy by Ministry of agriculture, industry
and commerce (MAIC).
Fig. 14 -Il frontespizio delle tabelle con i dati della rete istituita
nel 1885 in Italia dal Ministero dell’agricoltura, industria e
commercio (MAIC).
43
“Benefit of old phenodata series - Evaluation and
declaring ability” COST action 725 workshop
Rome 6-7 November 2008
Dal Monte G. Italian Journal of Agrometeorology 39-44 (1) 2009
Fig. 15 - Table with phenological data on winter wheat of the Italian network started in 1885.
Fig. 15 - Tabella con dati fenologici sul grano tenero della rete italiana istituita nel 1885.
Fig. 16 - Title page and news from Rivista Meteorica Agraria, 2nd ten days of June, 1905.
Fig. 16 - Frontespizio e notizie tratte dalla Rivista Meteorica Agraria, II decade di Giugno, 1905.
4) Rivista meteorico-agraria. Roma, 18791917
This periodical, published every ten days by our institution from 1879 to 1917, contains agricultural information
(about crops, agricultural practices, phenological phases,
pests and diseases, meteorological damages, …) and meteorological data (average and extreme temperatures,
rainy days, total precipitation) for about 70 provinces.
Phenological data are mostly descriptive and not quantitative.
Conclusions
Old Italian and foreign phenological data available at the
CRA-CMA historical library could be very interesting to
study, both from the historical and climatic points of
view, but the main problem is that the data have not yet
44
been digitized. Last September, CRA-CMA obtained by
the Ministry of Agriculture funds for a national research
project called “AGROSCENARI-Scenarios of adaptation
of Italian agriculture to climate change”. In this project
there is a specific research theme on agrophenology and
climate change. Hopefully, in the framework of this new
project we will digitize and analyse the old phenological
data described in this paper .
References
Louis Cotte 1774 Traité de météorologie Paris , Imprimerie Royale
XXXVI, 635 pp., XIV tt
Ministero di agricoltura, industria e commercio: OSSERVAZIONI FENOSCOPICHE SULLE PIANTE. ROMA 1887 LII, 437 pp.
Istituto centrale di statistica del Regno d'Italia Periodi di semina e di
raccolto per le principali coltivazioni, Roma, 1937, 103 pp.
Rivista meteorico-agraria 1879-1917