Excepting in the case of forests, the trend is away from working the
lands in common. Examples of the later methods are to be seen in the
cantons of Ticino and Glarus, as follows:--

Several communes in Ticino, notably Airolo, have much public wealth.
Airolo has seventeen mountain pastures, each of which feeds forty to
eighty head of cattle. Each member of the corporation has the right to
send up to these pastures five head for the summer. Those sending more,
pay for the privilege; those sending less, receive a rental. On a
specified day at the beginning of the season and on another at the
close, the milk of each cow is weighed; from these amounts her average
yield is estimated, and her total produce computed. The cheese and
butter from the herds are sold, most of it in Milan, the hire of the
herders paid, and the net revenue divided among the members according to
the yield of their cows.

In Glarus, the produce of the greater part of the communal lands,
instead of being directly divided among the inhabitants, is substituted
for taxation. The commonable alps are let by auction for a term of
years, and, in opposition to ancient principles, strangers may bid for
them. Some of the Glarus communes sell the right to cut timber in the
forest under the superintendence of the guardians. The mountain hotels,
in not a few instances the property of the communes, are let year by
year. Land is frequently rented from the communes by manufacturing
establishments. A citizen not using his share of the communal land may
lease it to the commune, which in turn will let it to a tenant. The
communes of Glarus are watchful that enough arable land is preserved for
distribution among the members. If a plot is sold to manufacturers, or
for private building purposes, a piece of equal or greater extent is