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In AND AROUND BESANCON. 59 
the candles were placed behind them they gave the impression of 
fantastically carved ivory work. ‘The tops are usually flat with a 
faint depression towards the centre, into which the drop charged 
with the lime falls. These three grottos, which I have made 
mention of, are by no means famous but happen to be easily 
accessible from Besancon. 
Botanically speaking, the Juras are divided into three zones 
according to their altitude. All below 1200 feet form what may 
be called the plain; here cereals are grown, but by far the 
greater part of the sloping hill sides is taken up with the cultiva- 
tion of the vine. The best of champagne may be had for half- 
a-crown the bottle, the wine for every-day use being sold at any- 
thing up to threepence the bottle. Every here and there you 
could see the vine-stumps covering fairly large portions of the 
ground where they had been burned down after having been 
attacked by the phylloxera or vine disease insect ; this treatment 
is meted out to the infested areas to keep the pest from spread- 
ing. Fruit trees, such as the apricot, plum, quince, are to be 
seen at their best, as are also the walnut, peach, and cherry. 
Very few farms are to be seen, the people living in villages, and 
going out to the fields in the vicinity. In the next zone, extend- 
ing from 1200 feet to 2500 feet, and which may be called the 
“Hilly Region,’’ the apricot disappears, and the vine, if found 
at all, produces but a poor varietv of wine. More space is 
therefore given to the cereals such as rve, barley, maize, and 
corn, though these naturally don’t grow so well as lower down. 
In the “ Mountain Region,’’ extending from 2500 feet to 5000 
feet, the fruit trees entirely disappear, and barley and corn are 
cultivated. Here are the best grazing patches for the cattle, and 
the forests are then composed of conifers. At lower altitudes 
the cattle are never to be seen grazing ; any hay that is grown is 
cut and stored indoors for feeding. It is one of the striking facts 
of the lowland landscape of France, Germany, and Switzerland, 
the entire absence of cattle and hedges. In the “ Plain ’’ there 
are numerous fairly extensive forests, the principal trees being 
beech, oak, plane, alder, and aspen. Only a small fraction of 
these forests are in the hands of the Government. 
Among wild flowers the leguminous plants are very common 
by the wayside, and other plants which catch one’s eye are the 
Traveller’s Joy (Clematis vitalba) and Marjoram (Origanum 
