TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 115 
the bays of Douarnenez and Concarneau, are exported in considerable quantities. A 
_ certain number of ships are annually equipped to the shores and banks of Newfound- 
land; and there is a considerable manufacture of the flax and hemp grown within 
_ the province ; ; but an obstinate adherence to old instruments and methods, and a 
positive rejection of better, has gradually reduced both spinners and weavers to the 
most abject misery, in competition with the improved processes and growing com- 
_binations of capital in the world around them. Exclusive of the weeding of the flax, 
the culture and manufacture of one hectare (2% acres) of either flax or hemp, costs 
4483 days’ labour, distributed as follows :— 
q 
4 Processes. Days. Agency. Bes al Total francs. 
Agriculture ..... seseseeeeeeee| 296 |Men and horses at...) 0°75 221:00 
PPDECSSING. -sansoncdesses sce s«..| 700 |Men and women...... 0°40 280:00 
SU ier Eopebale 2OGOr -] WV OMON > i sauscrece scons 0°22 599°85 
Winding, warping, KC. ese E64) (WOMER) oancsoudde-vess]s, O750 82°00 
| Quill-winding .........0. 143 |Children .......:.... ely en UE 2G 41°47 
MIGAVULE 6. .uscesceenieovcnes B87. (Wen. aesascescev sesssct..¢ 00. 287,00 
| Bleaching ...... R{aaaas «cisuean 90 |Men........ pan er 0°75 67°50 
Getting-up and despatching 17, | Men, .s.accesee-eet.caeus 0°75 102°75 
Rent of a hectare of land fit for the cultivation of flax 100-00 
SIPRHEYI [Ista sessquovscssosetle copgautec 
Half the price ‘of the seed “(that which is is gathered being . } 
worth the other half) ........... de etaagae eas sid fs Reaaieaes } 57 Bf 326/00 
| Profit of the cultivator or farmer .........cssseecesscesssenee aaeee 
; Thus the mere cultivation costs 27 per cent. of the whole value; dressing, 14 ; 
spinning, 29; weaving, 20; bleaching, 5 ; getting up and despatching, 5. Under flax 
there are 20,357 hectares ; under hemp, 14,560—making a total of 34,917 ; and the 
average produce of each hectare of flax, after the removal of the rind, is from 2000 
to 2500 kil. of dry stalks. With the largest and coarsest hemp is made cordage ; 
with the finer, sailcloth ; and with the hemp and flax united, coarse linens. There 
is likewise a dwindling woollen manufacture at Vitré, &c. 
- The population of Brittany in 1800, was 2,202,700 ; in 1831, 2,574,000; in 1836, 
2,620,300 ; 3 in 1841, 2,666,200. The increase from 1830 to 1835 inclusive was 30 
r cent. in Loire- Inférieure, 25 in Finistére, 22 in Ille-et-Vilaine, 20 in Cétes-du- 
ord, and only 12 in Morbihan ; the average in all Brittany being 19 per cent. 
tance generally it has been 22, ” while the increase in England and Wales is more 
than double even the latter rate. 
_ Notwithstanding this slow increase of population in Brittany, its actual amount, 
in even the most waste and uncultivated departments, is greater in proportion to the 
total surface than in France generally, including its most fertile provinces; the 
. yerage in all France being 1256 inhabitants per square league, while in Morbihan 
1270, Loire-Inférieure 1364, Ille-et-Vilaine 1618, Finistére 1623, Cétes-du- 
ord 1781, and all Brittany 1528. Two-thirds of this population i is dispersed over 
surface of the country on small properties, small tenancies, and cottage holdings ; 
proportion of town population being small as compared with France generally. 
of 540,000 houses in the whole department, 400,000 have only two or three 
nings, 7. e. one or two besides the door. 
Movement of the population in Brittany and in all France, 1831 to 1836. 
Brittany. France. 
Mean population..........+. 2,597,230 ...... 33,055,060 
One cDirtin £0) vatsss ena smeos BOIOG.  e  crskap 33°90 
One death toss tsscss dancens SEPT ae eRe 38°60 
One marriage to ......+2+... TSO0°00 iw sa265. 127°00 
Births to each marriage.. 21010 ene “ 3°57 
One illegitimate birth to... 30°12 Hectic 13°81 
12 
