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162-552: Parmesan ( Italian : Parmigiano Reggiano , Italian: [parmiˈdʒaːno redˈdʒaːno] ) is an Italian hard , granular cheese produced from cow's milk and aged at least 12 months or, outside the European Union and Lisbon Agreement countries, a locally produced imitation. Parmigiano Reggiano is named after two of the areas which produce it, the Italian provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia ( Parmigiano

324-457: A hay knife and fed to animals each day. On some farms, the loose hay was stored in a barrack , shed , or barn , normally in such a way that it would compress down and cure. Hay could be stored in a specially designed barn with little internal structure to allow more room for the hay loft . Alternatively, an upper storey of a cow-shed or stable was used, with hatches in the floor to allow hay to be thrown down into hay-racks below. Depending on

486-689: A local language of Italy , most frequently the language spoken at home in their place of origin. Italian is a major language in Europe, being one of the official languages of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and one of the working languages of the Council of Europe . It is the third-most-widely spoken native language in the European Union (13% of the EU population) and it

648-501: A tedder . If it rains while the hay is drying, turning the windrow can also allow it to dry faster. Turning the hay too often or too roughly can also cause drying leaf matter to fall off, reducing the nutrients available to animals. Drying can also be sped up by mechanized processes, such as the use of a hay conditioner , or by the use of chemicals sprayed onto the hay to speed evaporation of moisture, though these are more expensive techniques, not in general use except in areas where there

810-533: A better price per ton. The two-tie small bales are the original form factor of hay bales. Balers for both types of small bales are still manufactured, as well as stackers, bundlers and bale accumulators for handling them. Some farms still use equipment manufactured over 50 years ago to produce small bales. The small bale remains part of overall ranch lore and tradition with "hay bucking" competitions still held for fun at many rodeos and county fairs . Small square bales are often stacked mechanically or by hand in

972-421: A crisscrossed fashion sometimes called a "haystack", "rick" or "hayrick". Rain tends to wash nutrition out of hay and can cause spoilage or mold; hay in small square bales is particularly susceptible. Small bales are, therefore, often stored in a haymow or hayshed. Haystacks built outside are usually protected by tarpaulins . If this is not done, the top two layers of the stack are often lost to rot and mold, and if

1134-434: A fast pace. Hay reaches its peak nutritional value when all leaves are fully developed and seed or flower heads are just shy of full maturity. At this stage of maximum growth in the pasture or field, if timed correctly, the hay is cut. Grass hay cut too early retains high moisture content, making it harder to cure and resulting in a lower yield per acre compared to more mature grass. However, hay cut too late becomes coarser, has

1296-430: A field-constructed stack as part of their winter feeding. Haystacks are also sometimes called haycocks; among some users this term refers more specifically to small piles of cut-and-gathered hay awaiting stacking into larger stacks. The words ( haystack, haycock ) are usually styled as solid compounds , but not always. Haystacks are also sometimes called stooks , shocks , or ricks . Loose stacks are built to prevent

1458-413: A haystack by hand. To reduce labor and enhance safety, loaders and stackers were subsequently developed to mechanize the transportation of small bales from the field to the haystack or hay barn. Later in the 20th century, balers were developed capable of producing large bales that weigh up to 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg). Conditioning of hay crop during cutting or soon thereafter is popular. The basic idea

1620-512: A haystack. Building the stack was a skilled task, as it needed to be made waterproof during construction. The haystack would compress under its own weight, allowing the hay to cure through the release of heat generated by the residual moisture and compression forces. The haystack was usually enclosed in a fenced-off area, known as a rick yard, to separate it from the rest of the paddock, and was often thatched or covered with sheets to protect it from moisture. When needed, slices of hay would be cut using

1782-565: A huge number of civil servants and soldiers recruited from all over the country introduced many more words and idioms from their home languages— ciao is derived from the Venetian word s-cia[v]o ("slave", that is "your servant"), panettone comes from the Lombard word panetton , etc. Only 2.5% of Italy's population could speak the Italian standardized language properly when

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1944-546: A limited area in northern Italy. Special seals identify the product as authentic, with the identification number of the dairy, the production month and year, a code identifying the individual wheel and stamps regarding the length of aging. Parmesan cheese made outside of the European Union is a family of hard grating cheeses made from cow's milk and inspired by the original Italian cheese. They are generally pale yellow in color and usually used grated on dishes such as pasta , Caesar salad , and pizza . Some American generic Parmesan

2106-471: A little over one million people in the United States speak Italian at home. Nevertheless, an Italian language media market does exist in the country. In Canada, Italian is the second most spoken non-official language when varieties of Chinese are not grouped together, with 375,645 claiming Italian as their mother tongue in 2016. Italian immigrants to South America have also brought a presence of

2268-489: A loan. October 27 is designated "Parmigiano Reggiano Day" by The Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano. This day celebrating the " king of cheeses " originated in response to the two earthquakes hitting the area of origin in May 2012. The devastation was profound, displacing tens of thousands of residents, collapsing factories, and damaging historical churches, bell towers, and other landmarks. Years of cheese production were lost during

2430-414: A lower resale value, and loses some of its nutrients. Typically, there is a two-week "window" during which grass is at its ideal stage for harvesting hay. The time for cutting alfalfa hay is ideally done when plants reach maximum height and are producing flower buds or just beginning to bloom, cutting during or after full bloom results in lower nutritional value of the hay. Hay can be raked into rows as it

2592-423: A moveable roof supported by four posts, historically called a Dutch roof, hay barrack, or hay cap. Haystacks may also be built on top of a foundation laid on the ground to reduce spoilage, in some places made of wood or brush. In other areas, hay is stacked loose, built around a central pole, a tree, or within an area of three or four poles to add stability to the stack. One loose hay stacking technique seen in

2754-429: A native Australian plant, also known as flax weed, is highly toxic to cattle. Farmer's lung is a hypersensitivity pneumonitis induced by the inhalation of biologic dusts coming from hay dust or mold spores or other agricultural products. Exposure to hay can also trigger allergic rhinitis for people who are hypersensitive to airborne allergens. Hay must be fully dried when baled and kept dry in storage. If hay

2916-538: A part of the mix, though these plants are not necessarily desired as certain forbs are toxic to some animals. In the UK some hay is harvested from traditionally managed hay meadows which have a highly diverse flora and which support a rich eco-system. The hay produced by these meadows is species rich and was traditionally used to feed horses. Oat , barley , and wheat plant materials are occasionally cut green and made into hay for animal fodder , and more usually used in

3078-430: A part skim mixture. This mixture is pumped into copper-lined vats, which heat evenly and contribute copper ions to the mix. Starter whey (containing a mixture of certain thermophilic lactic acid bacteria ) is added, and the temperature is raised to 33–35 °C (91–95 °F). Calf rennet is added, and the mixture is left to curdle for 10–12 minutes. The curd is then broken up mechanically into small pieces (around

3240-658: A poetic and literary origin in the works of Tuscan writers of the 12th century, and, although the grammar and core lexicon are basically unchanged from those used in Florence in the 13th century, the modern standard of the language was largely shaped by relatively recent events. However, Romance vernacular as language spoken in the Italian Peninsula has a longer history. In fact, the earliest surviving texts that can definitely be called vernacular (as distinct from its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae known as

3402-417: A renewed interest in linguistics in the 16th century, sparked a debate that raged throughout Italy concerning the criteria that should govern the establishment of a modern Italian literary and spoken language. This discussion, known as questione della lingua (i.e., the problem of the language ), ran through the Italian culture until the end of the 19th century, often linked to the political debate on achieving

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3564-522: A result. Starting in late medieval times in much of Europe and the Mediterranean, Latin was replaced as the primary commercial language by languages of Italy, especially Tuscan and Venetian. These varieties were consolidated during the Renaissance with the strength of Italy and the rise of humanism and the arts . Italy came to enjoy increasing artistic prestige within Europe. A mark of

3726-436: A seven-vowel system, consisting of /a, ɛ, e, i, ɔ, o, u/ , as well as 23 consonants. Compared with most other Romance languages, Italian phonology is conservative, preserving many words nearly unchanged from Vulgar Latin . Some examples: Hay Hay can be used as animal fodder when or where there is not enough pasture or rangeland on which to graze an animal, when grazing is not feasible due to weather (such as during

3888-452: A single feeding, and then, due to the process of rumination , take a considerable amount of time for their stomachs to digest food, often accomplished while the animal is lying down, at rest. Thus quantity of hay is important for cattle, who can effectively digest hay of low quality if fed in sufficient amounts. Sheep will eat between two and four percent of their body weight per day in dry feed, such as hay, and are very efficient at obtaining

4050-479: A single language is that they have evolved so that they are no longer mutually intelligible ; this diagnostic is effective if mutual intelligibility is minimal or absent (e.g. in Romance, Romanian and Portuguese), but it fails in cases such as Spanish-Portuguese or Spanish-Italian, as educated native speakers of either pairing can understand each other well if they choose to do so; however, the level of intelligibility

4212-513: A united Italian state. Renaissance scholars divided into three main factions: A fourth faction claimed that the best Italian was the one that the papal court adopted, which was a mixture of the Tuscan and Roman dialects. Eventually, Bembo's ideas prevailed, and the foundation of the Accademia della Crusca in Florence (1582–1583), the official legislative body of the Italian language, led to

4374-573: A variety of illnesses, from coughs related to dust and mold , to various other illnesses, the most serious of which may be botulism , which can occur if a small animal, such as a rodent or snake, is killed by the baling equipment, then rots inside the bale, causing a toxin to form. Some animals are sensitive to particular fungi or molds that may grow on living plants. For example, an endophytic fungus that sometimes grows on fescue can cause abortion in pregnant mares . Some plants themselves may also be toxic to some animals. For example, Pimelea ,

4536-427: Is 89% with French, 87% with Catalan , 85% with Sardinian , 82% with Spanish, 80% with Portuguese , 78% with Ladin , 77% with Romanian . Estimates may differ according to sources. One study, analyzing the degree of differentiation of Romance languages in comparison to Latin (comparing phonology , inflection , discourse , syntax , vocabulary , and intonation ), estimated that distance between Italian and Latin

4698-426: Is a combination of modern technology, high prices for hay, and too much rain for hay to dry properly. Once hay is cut, dried and raked into windrows, it is usually gathered into bales or bundles, and then hauled to a central location for storage. In some places, depending on geography, region, climate, and culture, hay is gathered loose and stacked without being baled first. Columella in his De re rustica describes

4860-465: Is a legitimate alternative to drying hay completely. When processed properly, the natural fermentation process prevents mold and rot. Round bale silage is also sometimes called "haylage", and is seen more commonly in Europe than in either the United States or Australia . Hay stored in this fashion must remain completely sealed in plastic, as any holes or tears will allow the entrance of oxygen and can stop

5022-579: Is a major North American producer of grated Parmesan and has been selling it since 1945. A number of Wisconsin cheesemakers , some founded by Italian immigrants, produce Parmesan in whole wheels. A number of non-European parmesan producers have taken strong objection to the attempts of the European Union to globally control the trademark of the Parmesan name, claiming that it is more about control of trade than control of quality. Several American manufacturers have been investigated for allegedly going beyond

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5184-500: Is a particular concern in ruminants such as cows and goats, and there have been animal deaths. Another concern is with a herbicide known as aminopyralid , which can pass through the digestive tract in animals, making their resulting manure toxic to many plants and thus unsuitable as fertilizer for food crops. Aminopyralid and related herbicides can persist in the environment for several years. Small square bales are made in two main variations. The smaller "two-tie" (two twines to hold

5346-490: Is allowed as a starter, together with calf rennet. The only additive allowed is salt , which the cheese absorbs while being submerged for 20 days in brine tanks saturated to near-total salinity with Mediterranean sea salt. The product is aged a minimum of one year and an average of two years; an expert from the Consorzio typically conducts a sound test with a hammer to determine if a wheel has finished maturing. The cheese

5508-536: Is also a risk that hay bales may be moldy or contain decaying carcasses of tiny creatures accidentally killed by baling equipment and swept up into the bale, producing toxins such as botulinum toxin . Both can be deadly to non- ruminant herbivores such as horses , and when this occurs, the entire contaminated bale generally is thrown out, another reason some people continue to support the market for small bales. Farmers who need to make large amounts of hay will likely choose balers that produce much larger bales, maximizing

5670-759: Is also spoken by a minority in Monaco and France, especially in the southeastern part of the country. Italian was the official language in Savoy and in Nice until 1860, when they were both annexed by France under the Treaty of Turin , a development that triggered the " Niçard exodus ", or the emigration of a quarter of the Niçard Italians to Italy, and the Niçard Vespers . Giuseppe Garibaldi complained about

5832-571: Is an Italian cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano, but is produced mainly in Lombardy , where Padano refers to the Po Valley ( Pianura Padana ); the cows producing the milk may be fed silage as well as grass; the milk may contain slightly less fat, milk from several different days may be used, and must be aged a minimum of 9 months. Reggianito is an Argentine cheese similar to Parmigiano Reggiano. Developed by Italian Argentine cheesemakers,

5994-528: Is baled while too moist or becomes wet while in storage, there is a significant risk of spontaneous combustion . Hay stored outside must be stacked in such a way that moisture contact is minimal. Some stacks are arranged in such a manner that the hay itself sheds water when it falls. Other methods of stacking use the first layers or bales of hay as a cover to protect the rest. To completely keep out moisture, outside haystacks can also be covered by tarps, and many round bales are partially wrapped in plastic as part of

6156-423: Is cut, then turned periodically to dry, particularly if a modern swather is used. Or, especially with older equipment or methods, the hay is cut and allowed to lie spread out in the field until it is dry, then raked into rows for processing into bales afterwards. During the drying period, which can take several days, the process is usually sped up by turning the cut hay over with a hay rake or spreading it out with

6318-533: Is entirely dependent on the coincident occurrence of optimum crop, field, and weather conditions. When this occurs, there may be a period of intense activity on the hay farm while harvest proceeds until weather conditions become unfavourable. Hay or grass is the foundation of the diet for all grazing animals, and can provide as much as 100% of the fodder required for an animal. Hay is usually fed to an animal during times when winter, drought, or other conditions make pasture unavailable. Animals that can eat hay vary in

6480-534: Is higher than that between Sardinian and Latin. In particular, its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian . As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive. Italian is the official language of Italy and San Marino and is spoken fluently by the majority of the countries' populations. Italian is the third most spoken language in Switzerland (after German and French; see Swiss Italian ), although its use there has moderately declined since

6642-406: Is in little danger, but bales between 120 and 140 °F (49 and 60 °C) need to be removed from a barn or structure and separated so that they can cool off. If the temperature of a bale exceeds more than 140 °F (60 °C), it can combust. To check hay moisture content, the farmer can use a hand, an oven or a moisture tester. The most efficient way is to use a moisture tester which shows

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6804-480: Is known as a certified name (which is not the same as a brand name ). In 2008, an EU court determined that the name Parmesan in Europe only refers to Parmigiano Reggiano and cannot be used for imitation Parmesan. Thus, in the European Union , Parmigiano Reggiano is a protected designation of origin (PDO); legally, the name refers exclusively to the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese manufactured in

6966-558: Is legally protected in the European Union and, in Italy, exclusive control is exercised over the cheese's production and sale by The Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano, which was created by a governmental decree. Each wheel must meet strict criteria early in the aging process, when the cheese is still soft and creamy, to merit the official seal and be placed in storage for aging. Because it is widely imitated, Parmigiano Reggiano has become an increasingly regulated product, and in 1955 it became what

7128-460: Is markedly lower between Italian-Spanish, and considerably higher between the Iberian sister languages of Portuguese-Spanish. Speakers of this latter pair can communicate with one another with remarkable ease, each speaking to the other in his own native language without slang/jargon. Nevertheless, on the basis of accumulated differences in morphology, syntax, phonology, and to some extent lexicon, it

7290-410: Is not difficult to identify that for the Romance varieties of Italy, the first extant written evidence of languages that can no longer be considered Latin comes from the ninth and tenth centuries C.E. These written sources demonstrate certain vernacular characteristics and sometimes explicitly mention the use of the vernacular in Italy. Full literary manifestations of the vernacular began to surface around

7452-402: Is often shaved or grated over other dishes such as salads . Slivers and chunks of the hardest parts of the crust (also called the rind) are sometimes simmered in soups, broths, and sauces to add flavor. They can also be broiled and eaten as a snack, if they have no wax on them, or infused in olive oil or used in a steamer basket while steaming vegetables. According to legend, Parmigiano Reggiano

7614-406: Is often stored outdoors because the outer surface of the large bale performs the weather-shedding function. The large bales can also be stacked, which allows a given degree of exposed surface area to count for a larger volume of protected interior hay. Plastic tarpaulins are sometimes used to shed the rain, with the goal of reduced hay wastage, but the cost of the tarpaulins must be weighed against

7776-438: Is possible to store round bales under a shed, they last longer, and less hay is lost to rot and moisture. For animals that eat silage , a bale wrapper may be used to seal a round bale completely and trigger the fermentation process. It is a technique used as a money-saving process by producers who do not have access to a superior silo , and for producing silage that is transported to other locations. In very damp climates, it

7938-453: Is produced daily, and it can show a natural variability. True Parmigiano Reggiano cheese has a sharp, complex fruity/nutty taste with a strong savory flavor and a slightly gritty texture. Inferior versions can impart a bitter taste. A typical Parmigiano Reggiano wheel is about 18–24 cm (7–9 in) high, 40–45 cm (16–18 in) in diameter , and weighs 38 kg (84 lb). All producers of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese belong to

8100-442: Is sold already grated and has been aged for less than 12 months. Within the European Union , the term Parmesan may only be used, by law, to refer to Parmigiano Reggiano itself, which must be made in a restricted geographic area, using stringently defined methods. In many areas outside Europe the name Parmesan has become genericised and may denote any of a number of hard Italian-style grating cheeses. These cheeses, chiefly from

8262-594: Is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens (3%). Including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries (such as Switzerland, Albania and the United Kingdom ) and on other continents, the total number of speakers is approximately 85 million. Italian is the main working language of the Holy See , serving as the lingua franca (common language) in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as

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8424-516: Is stacked with wet grass, the heat produced can be sufficient to ignite the hay causing a fire. Farmers have to be careful about moisture levels to avoid spontaneous combustion , which is a leading cause of haystack fires. Heat is produced by the respiration process, which occurs until the moisture content of drying hay drops below 40%. Hay is considered fully dry when it reaches 20% moisture. Combustion problems typically occur within five to seven days of baling. A bale cooler than 120 °F (49 °C)

8586-550: Is that it decreases drying time, particularly in humid climates or if rain threatens to interfere with haying. Usually, rollers or flails inside a mower conditioner crimp, crack or strip the alfalfa or grass stems to increase evaporation rate. Sometimes, a salt solution is sprayed over the top of the hay (generally alfalfa) that helps to dry the hay. Modern hay production often relies on artificial fertilizer and herbicides. Traditionally, manure has been used on hayfields, but modern chemical fertilizers are used today as well. Hay that

8748-768: Is the Italian adjective for the city and province of Parma and Reggiano is the adjective for the province of Reggio Emilia); it is also produced in the part of Bologna west of the River Reno and in Modena (all of the above being located in the Emilia-Romagna region), as well as in the part of Mantua ( Lombardy ) on the south bank of the River Po . The names Parmigiano Reggiano and Parmesan are protected designations of origin (PDO) for cheeses produced in these provinces under Italian and European law. Outside

8910-434: Is the leading cause of death in horses. Contaminated hay can also lead to respiratory problems in horses. Hay can be soaked in water, sprinkled with water or subjected to steaming to reduce dust. Methods and the terminology to describe the steps of making hay have varied greatly throughout history, and many regional variations still exist today. Whether done by hand or by modern mechanized equipment, tall grass and legumes at

9072-602: Is the least divergent language from Latin , together with Sardinian (meaning that Italian and Sardinian are the most conservative Romance languages). Spoken by about 85 million people, including 67 million native speakers (2024), Italian is an official language in Italy , San Marino , Switzerland ( Ticino and the Grisons ), Corsica , and Vatican City . It has official minority status in Croatia , Slovenian Istria , and

9234-497: Is to be certified as weed-free for use in wilderness areas must often be sprayed with chemical herbicides to keep unwanted weeds from the field, and sometimes even non-certified hayfields are sprayed to limit the production of noxious weeds . Organic forms of fertilization and weed control are required for hay grown for consumption by animals whose meat will ultimately be certified organic. To that end, compost and field rotation can enhance soil fertility, and regular mowing of fields in

9396-549: Is used, and the town of Chipilo near Puebla, Mexico; each continues to use a derived form of Venetian dating back to the 19th century. Other examples are Cocoliche , an Italian–Spanish pidgin once spoken in Argentina and especially in Buenos Aires , and Lunfardo . The Rioplatense Spanish dialect of Argentina and Uruguay today has thus been heavily influenced by both standard Italian and Italian regional languages as

9558-777: Is usually performed by a number of machines. While small operations use a tractor to pull various implements for mowing and raking, larger operations use specialized machines such as a mower or a swather , which are designed to cut the hay and arrange it into a windrow in one step. Balers are usually pulled by a tractor, with larger balers requiring more powerful tractors. Mobile balers , machines that gather and bale hay in one process were first developed around 1940. The initial balers produced rectangular bales that were small enough for an individual to lift, typically weighing between 70 and 100 pounds (32 to 45 kg) each. The size and shape of these bales allowed for manual handling, including lifting, stacking on transport vehicles, and constructing

9720-538: The Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano ( lit.   ' Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Consortium ' ), which was founded in 1928. Besides setting and enforcing the standards for the PDO , the Consorzio also sponsors marketing activities. As of 2017, about 3.6 million wheels (approx. 137,000 metric tons ) of Parmesan are produced every year; they use about 18% of all the milk produced in Italy. Most workers in

9882-509: The Il Globo (Australia) and the La gazzetta del Sud Africa (South Africa). Italian is widely taught in many schools around the world, but rarely as the first foreign language. In the 21st century, technology also allows for the continual spread of the Italian language, as people have new ways to learn how to speak, read, and write languages at their own pace and at any given time. For example,

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10044-991: The La Voce del Popolo ( Croatia ), the Corriere d'Italia (Germany), the L'italoeuropeo (United Kingdom), the Passaparola ( Luxembourg ), the America Oggi (United States), the Corriere Canadese and the Corriere Italiano (Canada), the Il punto d'incontro (Mexico), the L'Italia del Popolo ( Argentina ), the Fanfulla (Brazil), the Gente d'Italia ( Uruguay ), the La Voce d'Italia ( Venezuela ),

10206-522: The comune (municipality) of Lodi , in Lombardy, not Parma. Though Casanova knew his table and claimed in his memoir to have been compiling a (never completed) dictionary of cheeses, his comment has been taken to refer mistakenly to a grana cheese similar to Parmigiano, Grana Padano , which is produced in the Lodi area. Parmigiano Reggiano has been the target of organized crime in Italy , particularly

10368-702: The Gallo-Italic linguistic panorama of Northern Italy , the Italo-Dalmatian , Neapolitan and its related dialects were largely unaffected by the Franco- Occitan influences introduced to Italy mainly by bards from France during the Middle Ages, but after the Norman conquest of southern Italy , Sicily became the first Italian land to adopt Occitan lyric moods (and words) in poetry. Even in

10530-674: The Kingdom of Italy in the Dodecanese ). Italian is widely spoken in Malta , where nearly two-thirds of the population can speak it fluently (see Maltese Italian ). Italian served as Malta's official language until 1934, when it was abolished by the British colonial administration amid strong local opposition. Italian language in Slovenia is an officially recognized minority language in

10692-773: The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia ), although the masses kept speaking primarily their local vernaculars. Italian was also one of the many recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire . Italy has always had a distinctive dialect for each city because the cities, until recently, were thought of as city-states . Those dialects now have considerable variety . As Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian . The most characteristic differences, for instance, between Roman Italian and Milanese Italian are syntactic gemination of initial consonants in some contexts and

10854-1033: The Middle Ages , the established written language in Europe was Latin, although the great majority of people were illiterate, and only few were well versed in the language. In the Italian Peninsula , as in most of Europe, most would instead speak a local vernacular. These dialects, as they are commonly referred to, evolved from Vulgar Latin over the course of centuries, unaffected by formal standards and teachings. They are not in any sense "dialects" of standard Italian, which itself started off as one of these local tongues, but sister languages of Italian. Mutual intelligibility with Italian varies widely, as it does with Romance languages in general. The Romance languages of Italy can differ greatly from Italian at all levels ( phonology , morphology , syntax , lexicon , pragmatics ) and are classified typologically as distinct languages. The standard Italian language has

11016-554: The Placiti Cassinesi from the province of Benevento that date from 960 to 963, although the Veronese Riddle , probably from the 8th or early 9th century, contains a late form of Vulgar Latin that can be seen as a very early sample of a vernacular dialect of Italy. The Commodilla catacomb inscription is also a similar case. The Italian language has progressed through a long and slow process, which started after

11178-528: The Western Roman Empire's fall in the 5th century. The language that came to be thought of as Italian developed in central Tuscany and was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri , written in his native Florentine . Dante's epic poems, known collectively as the Commedia , to which another Tuscan poet Giovanni Boccaccio later affixed

11340-532: The 111 Italian lecturer sections belonging to foreign schools where Italian is taught as a language of culture. As of 2022, Australia had the highest number of students learning Italian in the world. This occurred because of support by the Italian community in Australia and the Italian Government and also because of successful educational reform efforts led by local governments in Australia. From

11502-510: The 13th century in the form of various religious texts and poetry. Although these are the first written records of Italian varieties separate from Latin, the spoken language had probably diverged long before the first written records appeared since those who were literate generally wrote in Latin even if they spoke other Romance varieties in person. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the use of Standard Italian became increasingly widespread and

11664-562: The 1970s. It is official both on the national level and on regional level in two cantons : Ticino and Grisons . In the latter canton, however, it is only spoken by a small minority, in the Italian Grisons . Ticino, which includes Lugano , the largest Italian-speaking city outside Italy, is the only canton where Italian is predominant. Italian is also used in administration and official documents in Vatican City . Italian

11826-445: The 4% cellulose limit (allowed as an anticaking agent for grated cheese, 21 CFR 133.146). In one case, FDA findings found "no Parmesan cheese was used to manufacture" a Pennsylvania manufacturer's grated cheese labeled "Parmesan", apparently made from a mixture of other cheeses and cellulose. The manufacturer pleaded guilty and received a sentence of three years' probation, a $ 5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service. Grana Padano

11988-496: The British Isles is to initially stack freshly cut hay into smaller mounds called foot cocks, hay coles, kyles, hayshocks or haycocks, to facilitate initial curing. These are sometimes built atop platforms or tripods formed of three poles, used to keep hay off the ground and let air into the center for better drying. The shape causes dew and rainwater to roll down the sides, allowing the hay within to cure. People who handle

12150-417: The EU, the name Parmesan is legally used for similar cheeses , with only the full Italian name unambiguously referring to PDO Parmigiano Reggiano. It has been called the " king of cheeses " and "practically perfect food". Parmigiano Reggiano is made from unpasteurised cow's milk . The whole milk of the morning milking is mixed with the naturally skimmed milk of the previous evening's milking, resulting in

12312-543: The Italian dairy industry ( bergamini ) belong to the Italian General Confederation of Labour . As older dairy workers retire, younger Italians have tended to work in factories or offices. Immigrants have filled that role. In 2015, 60 percent of the workers in the Parmesan industry were immigrants from India , almost all Sikhs . Parmigiano Reggiano is commonly grated over pasta dishes, stirred into soups and risottos , and eaten on its own. It

12474-417: The Italian dialects has declined in the modern era , as Italy unified under Standard Italian and continues to do so aided by mass media from newspapers to radio to television, diglossia is still frequently encountered in Italy and triglossia is not uncommon in emigrant communities among older speakers. Both situations normally involve some degree of code-switching and code-mixing . Notes: Italian has

12636-489: The Italian language into a lingua franca used not only among clerks, nobility, and functionaries in the Italian courts but also by the bourgeoisie . Italian literature's first modern novel, I promessi sposi ( The Betrothed ) by Alessandro Manzoni , further defined the standard by "rinsing" his Milanese "in the waters of the Arno " ( Florence 's river), as he states in the preface to his 1840 edition. After unification,

12798-523: The Mafia or Camorra , which ambush delivery trucks on the Autostrada A1 , in northern Italy , between Milan and Bologna , hijacking shipments. The cheese is ultimately sold in southern Italy . Between November 2013 and January 2015, an organised crime gang stole 2039 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano from warehouses in northern and central Italy. Some banks will accept Parmesan cheese as collateral for

12960-556: The Mediterranean. The increasing political and cultural relevance of Florence during the periods of the rise of the Medici Bank , humanism , and the Renaissance made its dialect, or rather a refined version of it, a standard in the arts. The Renaissance era, known as il Rinascimento in Italian, was seen as a time of rebirth, which is the literal meaning of both renaissance (from French) and rinascimento (Italian). During this time, long-existing beliefs stemming from

13122-590: The Parmigiano Reggiano name, the plant's number, and month and year of production is put around the cheese and the metal form is buckled tight again. The imprints take hold on the rind of the cheese in about a day and the wheel is then put into a brine bath to absorb salt for 20–25 days. After brining, the wheels are then transferred to the aging rooms in the plant for 12 months. Each cheese is placed on wooden shelves that can be 24 cheeses high by 90 cheeses long or 2,160 total wheels per aisle. Each cheese and

13284-503: The US and Argentina, are often commercialised under names intended to evoke the original, such as Parmesan, Parmigiana, Parmesana, Parmabon, Real Parma, Parmezan, or Parmezano. After the European ruling that "parmesan" could not be used as a generic name, Kraft renamed its grated cheese "Pamesello" in Europe. Parmesan cheese is defined differently in various jurisdictions outside of Europe. In

13446-593: The United States, the Code of Federal Regulations includes a Standard of Identity for "Parmesan and Reggiano cheese". This defines both aspects of the production process and of the final result. In particular, Parmesan must be made of cow's milk, cured for 10 months or more, contain no more than 32% water, and have no less than 32% milkfat in its solids. Similarly, the Canadian regulation only defines moisture and fat levels, with no restriction on aging time. Kraft Foods

13608-399: The accumulation of moisture and promote drying or curing. In some places, this is accomplished by constructing stacks with a conical or ridged top. The exterior may look gray on the surface after weathering, but the inner hay retains traces of its fresh-cut aroma and maintains a faded green tint. They can be covered with thatch , or kept within a protective structure. One such structure is

13770-424: The amount of hay protected from the elements. Large bales come in two types: round and square. Large square bales, which can weigh up to 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb), can be stacked and easily transported on trucks. Large round bales, which typically weigh 300 to 400 kilograms (660–880 lb), are more moisture-resistant and pack the hay more densely (especially at the center). Round bales are quickly fed with

13932-436: The bale together) or larger "three-tie" (three twines to hold the bale together). They vary in size within both groups but are generally popular in different markets. The smaller two-tie bales are favored in the hobby animal market and are preferred for their convenient size. The larger, three-tie bales are favored by producers wanting to export bales because of the increase of efficiency in transportation and also by customers for

14094-460: The baling process. Hay is also stored under a roof when resources permit. It is frequently placed inside sheds, or stacked inside of a barn . On the other hand, care must also be taken that hay is never exposed to any possible source of heat or flame, as dry hay and the dust it produces are highly flammable . Hay baled before it is fully dry can produce enough heat to start a fire. Haystacks produce internal heat due to bacterial fermentation. If hay

14256-468: The best that ever was drunk, and never a drop of water therein'. During the Great Fire of London of 1666, Samuel Pepys buried his "Parmazan cheese, as well as his wine and some other things" to preserve them. In the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova , he remarked that the name Parmesan was a misnomer common throughout an "ungrateful" Europe in his time (mid-18th century), as the cheese was produced in

14418-444: The case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are careful not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages. The economic might and relatively advanced development of Tuscany at the time ( Late Middle Ages ) gave its language weight, although Venetian remained widespread in medieval Italian commercial life, and Ligurian (or Genoese) remained in use in maritime trade alongside

14580-586: The cheese is made in smaller wheels and aged for less time, but is otherwise broadly similar. Italian language Italian ( italiano , pronounced [itaˈljaːno] , or lingua italiana , pronounced [ˈliŋɡwa itaˈljaːna] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . Italian

14742-653: The colonial period. In the early 19th century, Eritrea was the country with the highest number of Italians abroad, and the Italian Eritreans grew from 4,000 during World War I to nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II. In Asmara there are two Italian schools, the Italian School of Asmara (Italian primary school with a Montessori department) and the Liceo Sperimentale "G. Marconi" (Italian international senior high school). Italian

14904-437: The convenience of humans, as most grazing animals on pasture naturally consume fodder in multiple feedings throughout the day. Some animals, especially those being raised for meat, may be given enough hay that they simply are able to eat all day. Other animals, especially those that are ridden or driven as working animals may be given a more limited amount of hay to prevent them from getting too fat. The proper amount of hay and

15066-633: The cost of the hay spoilage percentage difference; it may not be worth the cost, or the plastic's environmental footprint. After World War II , British farmers found that the demand outstripped supply for skilled farm laborers experienced in the thatching of haystacks. This no doubt contributed to the pressure for baling in large bales to increasingly replace stacking, which was happening anyway as haymaking technology (like other farm technology) continued toward extensive mechanization with one-person operation of many tasks. Today tons of hay can be cut, conditioned, dried, raked, and baled by one person, as long as

15228-573: The country (some 0.42% of the total population). Their numbers dropped dramatically after World War II following the Istrian–Dalmatian exodus , which caused the emigration of between 230,000 and 350,000 Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians. Italian was the official language of the Republic of Ragusa from 1492 to 1807. It formerly had official status in Albania due to the annexation of

15390-518: The country to the Kingdom of Italy (1939–1943). Albania has a large population of non-native speakers, with over half of the population having some knowledge of the Italian language. The Albanian government has pushed to make Italian a compulsory second language in schools. The Italian language is well-known and studied in Albania, due to its historical ties and geographical proximity to Italy and to

15552-446: The country. A few hundred Italian settlers returned to Libya in the 2000s. Italian was the official language of Eritrea during Italian colonisation . Italian is today used in commerce, and it is still spoken especially among elders; besides that, Italian words are incorporated as loan words in the main language spoken in the country (Tigrinya). The capital city of Eritrea, Asmara , still has several Italian schools, established during

15714-525: The country. The official census, carried out in 2002, reported 2,258 ethnic Italians ( Istrian Italians ) in Slovenia (0.11% of the total population). Italian language in Croatia is an official minority language in the country, with many schools and public announcements published in both languages. The 2001 census in Croatia reported 19,636 ethnic Italians (Istrian Italians and Dalmatian Italians ) in

15876-413: The degree of shedding of rainwater by the stack's outer surface is an important factor, and the stacking of loose hay was developed into a skilled-labor task that in its more advanced forms even involved thatching the top. In many stacking methods (with or without thatched tops), stems were oriented in sheaves, which were laid in oriented sequence. With the advent of large bales since the 1960s, today hay

16038-464: The design and fashion industries, in some sports such as football and especially in culinary terms. In Italy, almost all the other languages spoken as the vernacular —other than standard Italian and some languages spoken among immigrant communities—are often called " Italian dialects ", a label that can be very misleading if it is understood to mean "dialects of Italian". The Romance dialects of Italy are local evolutions of spoken Latin that pre-date

16200-534: The diffusion of Italian television in the country. Due to heavy Italian influence during the Italian colonial period , Italian is still understood by some in former colonies such as Libya. Although it was the primary language in Libya since colonial rule , Italian greatly declined under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi , who expelled the Italian Libyan population and made Arabic the sole official language of

16362-442: The disaster, about $ 50 million worth. In order to assist the cheese producers, Modena native chef Massimo Bottura created the recipe riso cacio e pepe . He invited the world to cook this new dish along with him launching "Parmigiano Reggiano Day"—October 27. Parmigiano Reggiano has many aroma -active compounds, including various aldehydes and butyrates . Butyric acid and isovaleric acid together are sometimes used to imitate

16524-431: The dominant aromas. Parmigiano Reggiano is also particularly high in glutamate , containing as much as 1.2 g of glutamate per 100 g of cheese. The high concentration of glutamate explains the strong umami taste of Parmigiano Reggiano. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese typically contains cheese crystals , semi-solid to gritty crystalline spots that at least partially consist of the amino acid tyrosine . The name

16686-540: The early 20th century in the United States , though both plants are native to Europe . Hay was baled for easier handling and to reduce space required for storage and shipment. The first bales weighed about 300 pounds. The original machines were of a vertical design similar to the one photographed by the Greene Co. Historical Society . They used a horse-driven screw-press mechanism or a dropped weight to compress

16848-478: The educated gentlemen was to make the Grand Tour , visiting Italy to see its great historical monuments and works of art. It was expected that the visitor would learn at least some Italian, understood as language based on Florentine. In England, while the classical languages Latin and Greek were the first to be learned, Italian became the second most common modern language after French, a position it held until

17010-462: The establishment of Italian, and as such are sister languages to the Tuscan that was the historical source of Italian. They can be quite different from Italian and from each other, with some belonging to different linguistic branches of Romance. The only exceptions to this are twelve groups considered " historical language minorities ", which are officially recognized as distinct minority languages by

17172-433: The fact that it was linguistically an intermediate between the northern and the southern Italian dialects. Thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the official language of Italy. Italian was progressively made an official language of most of the Italian states predating unification, slowly replacing Latin, even when ruled by foreign powers (such as Spain in the Kingdom of Naples , or Austria in

17334-430: The field before it can be baled. Consequently, the primary challenge and risk for farmers in hay production is managing the weather, especially during the critical few weeks when the plants are at optimal maturity for harvesting. A lucky break in the weather often moves the haymaking tasks (such as mowing, tedding , and baling) to the top priority on the farm's to-do list. This is reflected in the idiom to make hay while

17496-403: The form of straw , a harvest byproduct of stems and dead leaves that are baled after the grain has been harvested and threshed . Straw is used mainly for animal bedding. Although straw is also used as fodder, particularly as a source of dietary fiber , it has lower nutritional value than hay. In agroforestry systems are developed to produce tree hay . It is the leaf and seed material in

17658-527: The four-chambered stomach of cattle, they are often able to break down older forage and have more tolerance of mold and changes in diet. The single-chambered stomach and cecum or "hindgut" of the horse uses bacterial processes to break down cellulose that are more sensitive to changes in feeds and the presence of mold or other toxins, requiring horses to be fed hay of a more consistent type and quality. Different animals also use hay in different ways: cattle evolved to eat forages in relatively large quantities at

17820-476: The free website and application Duolingo has 4.94 million English speakers learning the Italian language. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs , every year there are more than 200,000 foreign students who study the Italian language; they are distributed among the 90 Institutes of Italian Culture that are located around the world, in the 179 Italian schools located abroad, or in

17982-512: The ground by machinery and processed into storage in bales, stacks or pits. Methods of haymaking thus aim to minimize the shattering and falling away of the leaves during handling. Hay production is highly sensitive to weather conditions, particularly during the harvest period. In drought conditions, both seed and leaf production are stunted, resulting in hay with a high ratio of dry, coarse stems that possess very low nutritional value. Conversely, excessively wet weather can cause cut hay to spoil in

18144-405: The growth phase of the hay will often reduce the prevalence of undesired weeds. In recent times, some producers have experimented with human sewage sludge to grow hay. This is not a certified organic method and no warning labels are mandated by EPA. One concern with hay grown on human sewage sludge is that the hay can take up heavy metals, which are then consumed by animals. Molybdenum poisoning

18306-552: The hay may use hayforks or pitchforks to move or pitch the hay in building haycocks and haystacks. Construction of tall haystacks is sometimes aided with a ramp, ranging from simple poles to a device for building large loose stacks called a beaverslide . Hay is generally one of the safest feeds to provide to domesticated grazing herbivores . Amounts must be monitored so animals do not get too fat or too thin. Supplemental feed may be required for working animals with high energy requirements. Animals who eat spoiled hay may develop

18468-417: The hay that determines its quality, because they contain more of the nutrition value for the animal than the stems do. Farmers try to harvest hay at the point when the seed heads are not quite ripe and the leaf is at its maximum when the grass is mowed in the field. The cut material is allowed to dry so that the bulk of the moisture is removed but the leafy material is still robust enough to be picked up from

18630-496: The hay. The first patent went to HL Emery for a horse-powered, screw-operated hay press in 1853. Other models were reported as early as 1843 built by PK Dederick's Sons of Albany, New York , or Samuel Hewitt of Switzerland County, Indiana . Later, horizontal machines were devised. One was the “Perpetual Press” made by PK Dederick of Albany in 1872. They could be powered by steam engines by about 1882. The continuous hay baler arrived in 1914. Modern mechanized hay production today

18792-489: The island of Corsica (but not in the neighbouring Sardinia , which on the contrary underwent Italianization well into the late 18th century, under Savoyard sway: the island's linguistic composition, roofed by the prestige of Spanish among the Sardinians , would therein make for a rather slow process of assimilation to the Italian cultural sphere ). The rediscovery of Dante's De vulgari eloquentia , as well as

18954-640: The language to that continent. According to some sources, Italian is the second most spoken language in Argentina after the official language of Spanish, although its number of speakers, mainly of the older generation, is decreasing. Italian bilingual speakers can be found scattered across the Southeast of Brazil as well as in the South. In Venezuela , Italian is the most spoken language after Spanish and Portuguese, with around 200,000 speakers. In Uruguay , people who speak Italian as their home language are 1.1% of

19116-498: The late 18th century when it tended to be replaced by German. John Milton , for instance, wrote some of his early poetry in Italian. Within the Catholic Church , Italian is known by a large part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and is used in substitution for Latin in some official documents. Italian loanwords continue to be used in most languages in matters of art and music (especially classical music including opera), in

19278-534: The late 19th to the mid-20th century, millions of Italians settled in Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil and Venezuela, as well as in Canada and the United States, where they formed a physical and cultural presence. In some cases, colonies were established where variants of regional languages of Italy were used, and some continue to use this regional language. Examples are Rio Grande do Sul , Brazil, where Talian

19440-567: The law. On the other hand, Corsican (a language spoken on the French island of Corsica ) is closely related to medieval Tuscan , from which Standard Italian derives and evolved. The differences in the evolution of Latin in the different regions of Italy can be attributed to the natural changes that all languages in regular use are subject to, and to some extent to the presence of three other types of languages: substrata, superstrata, and adstrata . The most prevalent were substrata (the language of

19602-429: The moisture content in a few seconds. Due to its weight, hay can cause a number of injuries to humans, particularly those related to lifting and moving bales, as well as risks related to stacking and storing. Hazards include the danger of having a poorly constructed stack collapse, causing either falls to people on the stack or injuries to people on the ground who are struck by falling bales. Large round hay bales present

19764-400: The most nutrition possible from three to five pounds per day of hay or other forage. They require three to four hours per day to eat enough hay to meet their nutritional requirements. Unlike ruminants, horses digest their food in small portions throughout the day and can utilize only about 2.5% of their body weight in feed within a 24-hour period. Horses evolved to graze continuously while on

19926-451: The move, covering up to 50 miles (80 km) per day in the wild. Their stomachs digest food quickly, allowing them to extract a higher nutritional value from smaller quantities of feed When horses are fed low-quality hay, they may develop an unhealthy, obese, "hay belly" due to over-consumption of "empty" calories. If their type of feed is changed dramatically, or if they are fed moldy hay or hay containing toxic plants, they can become ill; colic

20088-820: The municipalities of Santa Tereza and Encantado in Brazil . Italian is also spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia . Italian is included under the languages covered by the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Romania , although Italian is neither a co-official nor a protected language in these countries. Some speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both Italian (either in its standard form or regional varieties ) and

20250-412: The nation was unified in 1861. Italian is a Romance language , a descendant of Vulgar Latin (colloquial spoken Latin). Standard Italian is based on Tuscan , especially its Florentine dialect , and is, therefore, an Italo-Dalmatian language , a classification that includes most other central and southern Italian languages and the extinct Dalmatian . According to Ethnologue , lexical similarity

20412-408: The number of printing presses in Italy grew rapidly and by the year 1500 reached a total of 56, the biggest number of printing presses in all of Europe. This enabled the production of more pieces of literature at a lower cost and Italian, as the dominant language, spread. Italian became the language used in the courts of every state in the Italian Peninsula , as well as the prestige variety used on

20574-590: The official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta . Italian has a significant use in musical terminology and opera with numerous Italian words referring to music that have become international terms taken into various languages worldwide. Almost all native Italian words end with vowels , and the language has a 7-vowel sound system ('e' and 'o' have mid-low and mid-high sounds). Italian has contrast between short and long consonants and gemination (doubling) of consonants. During

20736-630: The openness of vowels, the length of the consonants, and influence of the local language (for example, in informal situations andà , annà and nare replace the standard Italian andare in the area of Tuscany, Rome and Venice respectively for the infinitive "to go"). There is no definitive date when the various Italian variants of Latin—including varieties that contributed to modern Standard Italian—began to be distinct enough from Latin to be considered separate languages. One criterion for determining that two language variants are to be considered separate languages rather than variants of

20898-584: The original inhabitants), as the Italian dialects were most probably simply Latin as spoken by native cultural groups. Superstrata and adstrata were both less important. Foreign conquerors of Italy that dominated different regions at different times left behind little to no influence on the dialects. Foreign cultures with which Italy engaged in peaceful relations with, such as trade, had no significant influence either. Throughout Italy, regional varieties of Standard Italian, called Regional Italian , are spoken. Regional differences can be recognized by various factors:

21060-458: The other hand, almost everyone still speaks the Corsican idiom , which, due to its linguistic proximity to the Italian standard language, appears both linguistically as an Italian dialect and therefore as a carrier of Italian culture, despite the French government's decades-long efforts to cut Corsica off from the Italian motherland. Italian was the official language in Monaco until 1860, when it

21222-406: The population of Italy could speak Standard Italian. He reports that in 1951 that percentage had risen to 87%. The ability to speak Italian did not necessarily mean it was in everyday use, and most people (63.5%) still usually spoke their native dialects. In addition, other factors such as mass emigration, industrialization, and urbanization, and internal migrations after World War II , contributed to

21384-403: The preservation properties of fermentation and lead to spoilage. Hay requires protection from the weather, and is optimally stored inside buildings, but weather protection is also provided in other ways involving outdoor storage, either in haystacks or in large tight bales (round or rectangular); these methods all depend on the surface of an outdoor mass of hay (stack or bale) taking the hit of

21546-469: The proliferation of Standard Italian. The Italians who emigrated during the Italian diaspora beginning in 1861 were often of the uneducated lower class, and thus the emigration had the effect of increasing the percentage of literates, who often knew and understood the importance of Standard Italian, back home in Italy. A large percentage of those who had emigrated also eventually returned to Italy, often more educated than when they had left. Although use of

21708-528: The pronunciation of stressed "e", and of "s" between vowels in many words: e.g. va bene "all right" is pronounced [vabˈbɛːne] by a Roman (and by any standard Italian speaker), [vaˈbeːne] by a Milanese (and by any speaker whose native dialect lies to the north of the La Spezia–Rimini Line ); a casa "at home" is [akˈkaːsa] for Roman, [akˈkaːsa] or [akˈkaːza] for standard, [aˈkaːza] for Milanese and generally northern. In contrast to

21870-436: The proper stage of maturity must be cut, then allowed to dry (preferably by the sun), then raked into long, narrow piles known as windrows . Next, the cured hay is gathered up in some form (usually by some type of baling process) and placed for storage into a haystack or into a barn or shed to protect it from moisture and rot. During the growing season, which is spring and early summer in temperate climates , grass grows at

22032-415: The publication of Agnolo Monosini 's Latin tome Floris italicae linguae libri novem in 1604 followed by the first Italian dictionary in 1612. An important event that helped the diffusion of Italian was the conquest and occupation of Italy by Napoleon in the early 19th century (who was himself of Italian-Corsican descent). This conquest propelled the unification of Italy some decades after and pushed

22194-487: The referendum that allowed France to annex Savoy and Nice, and a group of his followers (among the Italian Savoyards ) took refuge in Italy in the following years. Corsica passed from the Republic of Genoa to France in 1769 after the Treaty of Versailles . Italian was the official language of Corsica until 1859. Giuseppe Garibaldi called for the inclusion of the " Corsican Italians " within Italy when Rome

22356-419: The region, the term "hay rick" could refer to the machine for cutting hay, the haystack or the wagon used to collect the hay. With the invention of agricultural machinery such as the tractor and the baler , most hay production became mechanized by the 1930s. Hay baling began with the invention of the first hay press in about 1850. Timothy grass and clover were the most common plants used for hay in

22518-407: The right equipment is at hand (although that equipment is expensive). These tons of hay can also be moved by one person, again with the right (expensive) equipment, as loaders with long spikes run by hydraulic circuits pick up each large bale and move it to its feeding location. A fence may be built to enclose a haystack and prevent roaming animals from eating it, or animals may feed directly from

22680-407: The rind with the Consorzio 's logo. Those that do not pass the test used to have their rinds marked with lines or crosses all the way around to inform consumers that they are not getting top-quality Parmigiano Reggiano; more recent practices simply have these lesser rinds stripped of all markings. Traditionally cows are fed only on grass or hay , producing grass-fed milk. Only natural whey culture

22842-409: The shelf underneath it is then cleaned every seven days, and the cheese is turned. At 12 months, the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano ( lit.   ' Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Consortium ' ) inspects every wheel. The cheese is tested by a master grader who taps each wheel to identify undesirable cracks and voids within the wheel. Wheels that pass the test are then heat-branded on

23004-476: The size of rice grains). The temperature is then raised to 55 °C (131 °F) with careful control by the cheese-maker. The curd is left to settle for 45–60 minutes. The compacted curd is collected in a piece of muslin before being divided in two and placed in molds. There are 1,100 litres (290 US gal) of milk per vat, producing two cheeses each. The curd making up each wheel at this point weighs around 45 kilograms (99 lb). The remaining whey in

23166-445: The stack is not arranged in a proper haystack, moisture can seep even deeper into the stack. The rounded shape and tighter compaction of round bales make them less susceptible to spoilage, as the water is less likely to penetrate the bale. Adding net wrap, which is not used on square bales, offers even more weather resistance. People who keep small numbers of animals may prefer small bales that one person can handle without machinery. There

23328-485: The sun shines . Hay that was too wet at cutting may develop rot and mold after being baled, creating the potential for toxins to form in the feed, which could make the animals sick. After harvest, hay also has to be stored in a manner to prevent it from getting wet. Mold and spoilage reduce nutritional value and may cause illness in animals. A symbiotic fungus in fescue may cause illness in horses and cattle. The successful harvest of maximum yields of high-quality hay

23490-473: The teachings of the Roman Catholic Church began to be understood from new perspectives as humanists —individuals who placed emphasis on the human body and its full potential—began to shift focus from the church to human beings themselves. The continual advancements in technology play a crucial role in the diffusion of languages. After the invention of the printing press in the 15th century,

23652-469: The title Divina , were read throughout the peninsula and his written dialect became the "canonical standard" that all educated Italians could understand. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language. In addition to the widespread exposure gained through literature, the Florentine dialect also gained prestige due to the political and cultural significance of Florence at the time and

23814-542: The total population of the country. In Australia, Italian is the second most spoken foreign language after Chinese, with 1.4% of the population speaking it as their home language. The main Italian-language newspapers published outside Italy are the L'Osservatore Romano ( Vatican City ), the L'Informazione di San Marino ( San Marino ), the Corriere del Ticino and the laRegione Ticino ( Switzerland ),

23976-545: The type of hay required varies somewhat between different species. Some animals are also fed concentrated feeds such as grain or vitamin supplements in addition to hay. In most cases, hay or pasture forage must make up 50% or more of the diet by weight. One of the most significant differences in hay digestion is between ruminant animals, such as cattle and sheep , and nonruminant, hindgut fermentors , such as horses . Both types of animals can digest cellulose in grass and hay, but do so by different mechanisms. Because of

24138-411: The types of grasses suitable for consumption, the ways they consume hay, and how they digest it. Therefore, different types of animals require hay that consists of similar plants to what they would eat while grazing, and, likewise, plants that are toxic to an animal in pasture are generally also toxic if they are dried into hay. Most animals are fed hay in two daily feedings, morning and evening, more for

24300-462: The use of mechanized equipment. The volume-to-surface area ratio allows many dry-area farmers to leave large bales outside until consumed. Wet-area farmers and those in climates with heavy snowfall can stack round bales under a shed or tarp and use a light but durable plastic wrap that partially encloses outside bales. The wrap repels moisture but leaves the ends of the bale exposed so that the hay itself can "breathe" and does not begin to ferment. When it

24462-409: The usual haying process of the early Roman Empire. Much hay was originally cut by scythe by teams of workers, dried in the field and gathered loose on wagons . Later, haying was accomplished with horse-drawn implements such as mowers . After hay was cut and dried, it was raked or rowed up by raking it into a linear heap by hand or with a horse-drawn implement. Turning hay, when needed, originally

24624-428: The vat was traditionally used to feed the pigs from which prosciutto di Parma was produced. The barns for these animals were usually just a few metres away from the cheese production rooms. The cheese is put into a stainless steel, round form that is pulled tight with a spring-powered buckle so the cheese retains its wheel shape. After a day or two, the buckle is released and a plastic belt imprinted numerous times with

24786-540: The way that grain crops are, but regular fertilizing is usually desirable, and overseeding a field every few years helps increase yield. Commonly used plants for hay include mixtures of grasses such as ryegrass ( Lolium species), timothy , brome , fescue , Bermuda grass , orchard grass , and other species, depending on region. Hay may also include legumes , such as alfalfa (lucerne) and clovers ( red , white and subterranean ). Legumes in hay are ideally cut pre-bloom. Other pasture forbs are also sometimes

24948-495: The weather and thereby preserving the main body of hay underneath. Traditionally, outdoor hay storage was done with haystacks of loose hay, where most of the hay was sufficiently preserved to last through the winter, and the top surface of the stack (being weathered) was consigned to become compost the next summer. The term "loose" means not pressed or baled but does not necessarily mean a light, fluffy lay of randomly oriented stems. Especially in wet climates, such as those of Britain,

25110-463: The winter), or when lush pasture by itself would be too rich for the health of the animal. It is also fed when an animal cannot access any pastures—for example, when the animal is being kept in a stable or barn . Hay production and harvest, commonly known as "making hay", "haymaking", "haying" or "doing hay", involves a multiple step process: cutting, drying or "curing", raking, processing, and storing. Hayfields do not have to be reseeded each year in

25272-561: Was also introduced to Somalia through colonialism and was the sole official language of administration and education during the colonial period but fell out of use after government, educational and economic infrastructure were destroyed in the Somali Civil War . Italian is also spoken by large immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. Although over 17 million Americans are of Italian descent , only

25434-525: Was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy , but King Victor Emmanuel II did not agree to it. Italian is generally understood in Corsica by the population resident therein who speak Corsican , which is an Italo-Romance idiom similar to Tuscan. Francization occurred in Nice case, and caused a near-disappearance of the Italian language as many of the Italian speakers in these areas migrated to Italy. In Corsica, on

25596-457: Was created in the course of the Middle Ages in the comune (municipality) of Bibbiano , in the province of Reggio Emilia . Its production soon spread to the Parma and Modena areas. Historical documents show that in the 13th and 14th centuries, Parmigiano was already very similar to that produced today, which suggests its origins can be traced to far earlier. Some evidence suggests that the name

25758-417: Was done by hand with a fork or rake. Once the dried hay was rowed up, pitchforks were used to pile it loose, originally onto a horse-drawn cart or wagon , later onto a truck or tractor-drawn trailer, for which a sweep could be used instead of pitch forks. Loose hay was transported to a designated storage area, typically a slightly elevated location to ensure proper drainage, where it was constructed into

25920-443: Was mirrored by a decline in the use of the dialects. An increase in literacy was one of the main driving factors (one can assume that only literates were capable of learning Standard Italian, whereas those who were illiterate had access only to their native dialect). The percentage of literates rose from 25% in 1861 to 60% in 1911, and then on to 78.1% in 1951. Tullio De Mauro , an Italian linguist, has asserted that in 1861 only 2.5% of

26082-658: Was replaced by the French. This was due to the annexation of the surrounding County of Nice to France following the Treaty of Turin (1860) . It formerly had official status in Montenegro (because of the Venetian Albania ), parts of Slovenia and Croatia (because of the Venetian Istria and Venetian Dalmatia ), parts of Greece (because of the Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands and by

26244-471: Was used for Parmesan cheese in Italy and France in the 17th-19th century. It was praised as early as 1348 in the writings of Boccaccio ; in the Decameron , he invents a 'mountain, all of grated Parmesan cheese', on which 'dwell folk that do nought else but make macaroni and ravioli , and boil them in capon's broth, and then throw them down to be scrambled for; and hard by flows a rivulet of Vernaccia ,

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