241 



1851 to 400 in 18G1, and 700 in 1871, Workers and proprietors 

 of agricultural implements numbered 55 in 1851, 1,441 in 18(31, and 2,100 

 (including 8 females) in 1871. The increase in this class marks not only 

 the greater use of machinery, but also the investment of independent 

 capital in an auxiliary branch of agricultural enterprise. In the land- 

 drainage service there were only 11 returned in the census of 1851, 

 against 1,701 in 1801, and 1,255 in 1871. 



The census-commissioners notice " a noiseless but rapid increase in 

 the number and proportion of women engaged in specific productive 

 work." This increase is outside of the increased number of wives of 

 the industrious classes. About 10 per cent, of the tenant-farmers are 

 women, who are found in largest numbers in dairy and grazing counties, 

 such as Derbyshire and Cheshire, where they are about one in seven. 



The increase in the number of farm-bailiffs, land-agents and surveyors, 

 and workers or [)roprietors of agricultural machinery, taken in con- 

 nection with the decline of hand-laborers, shows an increase in the 

 labor of direction and in skilled labor. Thus mind is relieving 

 muscle of its heavier tasks, and elevating practical agriculture from the 

 mechanical, abject thing it has been in the past to a dignified and 

 intellectual calling. 



Co]N"SCRirTiON OF HORSES i]N' FRANCE. — The French government is 

 now enforcing in all the departments the stringent law of August 1, 

 1874, in regard to the conscription of horses. All owners of horses and, 

 mules over six years of age are required to bring them before an itin- 

 erant board of examination on the first day of its session within their 

 commune. Penalties for neglect of this requirement range from 50 to 

 1,000 francs. Those who knowingly make false declarations are fined 

 from 200 to 2,(i00 francs. There is noticeable a general promptness in 

 meeting this requirement on the part of horse-proprietors in France. 



Phosphates in FRANCE.-^The Academy of Sciences has awarded to 

 M. de Molon the " Morogues " prize for his labors in regard to phos- 

 phates. After a summary of the role of phosphates in vegetation, and 

 their influence upon the fertility of arable land, the learned statistician 

 estimates at from 150,000 tons to 200,000 tons the weight of powdered 

 mineral phosphates annually applied to the French farming-lands. The 

 average price on delivery is 50 francs, or $10 per ton. It is only since 

 1848 that efforts had been made in England to substitute mineral phos- 

 phates for bone as a fertilizer. M. de Molon has for many years been 

 persistently urging the same agricultural improvement in France. In 

 a paper read before the Academy in 1850, he pointed out the leading- 

 deposits, regularly stratified, abundant, and capabieof easy working, in 

 the departments of Ardennes, Meuse, Marne, Upper Marne, and Yonne. 

 These deposits have since become the grand centers of French exploita- 

 tion. These operations are now to be extended to other fields. Among 

 the labors of M. de Molon was a map of the country, showing the location 

 of the beds of mineral phosphates, the mills for pulverizing the mate- 

 rial, together with the deposits of other valuable minerals. M. de Molon 

 has also presented at each of the great expositions within twenty years 

 collections of maps and specimens showing the location and character 

 of these fossil phosphates. He has also been indefatigable in his efforts 

 to induce French agriculturists to adopt this material as their chief 

 reliance in fertilization. The great public benefit resulting from his 

 labors was gracefully recognized by the Academy in awarding the prize 

 founded by M. JMorogues. 



