390 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



as applied to agriculture, are regularly given, to which access is 

 entirely gratuitous, the professors being supported by the govern 

 ment j so that here is presented to inquisitive minds the best 

 means of learning the application of science to agriculture. 

 Perhaps, in the science which involves the connection of chem 

 istry with agriculture, no country has made so great advances as 

 France, as the labors of Chaptal, Boussingault, Pay en, and 

 other distinguished men decisively show. If agricultural chem 

 istry could make men good farmers, the French should take 

 precedence of all others. How far the facts conform to this sup 

 position I shall leave to others to judge ; because I have no wish 

 to put my head into the lion s cage ; though I am compelled to 

 say, in passing, that the best arable farming which I have evei 

 seen, the cleanest, the most exact, apparently also the most pro 

 ductive and economical, is in countries where there is no science, 

 technically so called, and implements only of the most ordinary 

 description; I mean Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland. I 

 shall take occasion to remark upon this fact in another place. 



9. SOCIETY FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF WOOL. Besides the 

 Society of Agriculture, which meets in Paris twice every month, 

 and is the centre of the correspondence of all the agricultural 

 societies of the country, there is likewise a Society for the Im 

 provement of Wool, which twice a year bestows valuable premi 

 ums upon persons who have made the greatest advances in the 

 improvement of the fleeces of their flocks. This society has its 

 public exhibitions of wool, and has undoubtedly accomplished 

 much good. 



CXX. PARIS MARKETS. 



1. CORN MARKET. Paris concentrates much within itself 

 that is extremely interesting to an agriculturist. Its markets 

 are in the highest style of convenience, neatness, and abundance. 

 The market for the sale of all kinds of grain is a circular stone 

 building, two stones in height, and 126 feet in diameter, sur 

 rounded by high galleries for the storage of flour, the unground 



