78 



FRANCE - AGRICUI.TURAI. ECONOMY IN GENERAI, 



SO that the average number of square metres (i) per personal unit dimi- 

 nishes very much. 



Twenty seven per cent, of the agricultural households have their own 

 closets. Almost all of them have gardens. 



Table VII. — Housing conditions of the agricultural labourers' families. 



Number 



of 



persons 



of the household 



Total number 



of rooms 

 in relation to 



a I 



a/ O 



a V 

 3 o. 



u 3 



a H 



Average number 



of 



square metres 



Number of dwellings 

 having 



2 



3 



4 • 



5 



6 



7 



8 



9 and more . . • 



Total . . . 



456 



1.38 



1.08 

 0.86 



0.76 

 0.61 



0.55 

 0.48 



0.42 



44-5 

 42.4 



43-5 

 46.7 



50-2 

 42.0 

 50.2 

 54-5 



0.74 



46.0 



22.2 

 14.1 

 10.9 



9-3 

 8.4 

 6.0 



6.3 

 5.6 



9.3 



393 43 



61 

 69 

 69 



60 

 62 



37 

 25 

 26 



409 



The enquiry compared the housing conditions of industrial workers in 

 small places, of town working-people and of agricultural labourers, and 

 established that the last named were the worst lodged. 



It was the general opinion of the investigators that the progress in the 

 living conditions of country families in the last thirty years has mainly 

 affected their food and clothes, their housing conditions only in a far less 

 degree. Rural dwellings are still ver}^ defective in man}^ districts. In 

 Seine- Inferieure it is not uncommon to find a labourer's cottage consisting 

 of a single dark room, and having mud walls and a roof of thatch. Con- 

 ditions are no better in Finistere and Morbihan although mention is 

 made of improvements there. In I/oiret and Sarthethe state of affairs 

 is from a hygienic point of view very unsatisfactory. Conditions seem to 

 be better in Oise and Meuse. In other districts rural dwellings are found 

 to be adequate as regards area but to be, for the most part, in a deplorable 

 condition hygienically. 



(i) I square metre = 1.196 square yards. 



