1406 DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES 



acres of arable land not only produce about 30 acres of fodder and grain 

 crops consumed on the farm but also an additional 10^ acres of corn crops 

 which are sold away. Average yields for the last 10 years have been : 



The dead stock consists of 2 ploughs, i set of harrows, 2 cultivators, 

 2 horse hoes, i small horse drill, i mower with corn cutting attachment, I 

 swath turner, i horse rake. The hve stock consists of : (i) a dairy herd 

 of 10 to 12 milking cows (also 3 or 4 heifers, 3 or 4 yearlings and 2 bulls) 

 yielding from 22 % cwts, to 28 ^^ cwts. of butter per annum and a gross 

 profit of £120 to £165 , besides 7 or 8 calves sold fat to the butcher for 

 £20 to £24 ; (2) one old horse and 2 mares from which one foal is bred an- 

 nually and sold; (3) about 50 hens and pullets of the de Janze breed; and 

 (4) a number of pigs. 



The labour is provided by the farmer and his family, a maidservant 

 and a man living in the house, and during the busiest seasons of the year 

 additional men are occasionally hired by the day. 



The returns of this type of holding are excellent in the majority of 

 cases and where the farmers, who are generally industrious and fairly en- 

 Hghtened, have also been good business men and skilful cultivators, actual 

 fortunes have been made out of the land. 



II. The sand dunes extend over many thousands of acres along the 

 northern and southern coast of Brittany. They are covered by a meagre 

 vegetation consisting chiefly of couch grass, sand sedges, small fescues, 

 sweet vernal, cock's foot and timothy, with occasional clumps of furze, 

 Ephedra, asparagus, various medicks, bracken, wild beet, and here and 

 there a pine wood. The dunes are usually either State owned or the pro- 

 perty of the communes. In certain parts they have been successfully re- 

 claimed as for instance at Rotheneitf near St. Malo where early vegetables 

 are now grown at a profit, at Roscoff, at Saint-Paul-de-L,eon and at Plou- 

 hinec near L,orient which is celebrated for its early carrots. 



The work of reclamation shoitld always start with ploughing to a depth 

 which varies with the flora. I/iming and chalking are useless at the initial 

 stage, -but farm yard manure or seaweed must be applied with dressings of 

 superphosphate and potash salts. lyCvelling should be carried but as far 

 as possible. The most important question is that of protection against 

 wind. In points of extreme exposure Atriplex, tamarisk, sea-buckthorn 

 or gorse should be used as wind screens, while white poplar, Cytisus, elm 

 and the maritime fir may also be employed with profit. With regard to 

 wind resistant crops the best results have been obtained with rye and cab- 

 bages. Once the land is under cultivation, early potatoes, green rye, 

 crimson clover and winter barley may be grown as well as asparagus and 

 lucerne. After the early potatoes, green rye, etc... cabbages, mangels, 



