FRANCE. 
_ Statistics. count of the rotations pursued in the south of the king- 
-—_~" dom. It.is planted in rows .or squares, so far asunder 
that all n y tillage may be given between them. 
part of the summer it affords, as it were, 
a rich meadow, the leaves being stripped regularly for 
fattening food, 
the cattle in 
t -will-maintain four cows 
hausting crop, in the Pays.de 
suligheticieabond ietamedionnds a claedtidee 
i without: manure; and_ this 
e : mentioned by 
shelter of these 
Buck wheat, Buck wheat is cultivated to considerable extent, par- 
Turnips. 
ticularly on the poorer:soils ; and being of rapid growth, 
sufficient time i allowed to clean the land, belore the 
; wheat.or rye is sown, Jt is much 
en ey ee and, in some parts, as has been 
already noticed, as green-tood for cattle: in this case, 
it is a stubble crop. 
A very few years before the Revolution, considerable 
exertions were made es a a several 
provinces, to. introduce the regular general culture 
of turnips. They distributed seed, and published small 
treatises on the proper and great advan- 
tages of this root; but their exertions seem to have 
been in a great measure unsuccessful ; for turnips are 
little cultivated in any of France. Mr Birk- 
» who travelled in 1814 i ‘through Paris 
and Lyons to the paw pa end) back by the route of 
Toulouse, says, he did not see a single acre of turnips, 
or even of raves, in his whole journey. | Thatthey are 
not grown in the south of France, he ascribes to the 
extreme dryness of the climate. This undoubtedly 
701 
would render them a very precarious crop ; but when 
he assigns. the severity of the winter in the northern 
districts of France, as the cause of their not being cul- 
tivated there, his reason does not seem equally good. 
In fact, they ave cultivated in French Flanders, in Al- 
sace, Lorraine, and in other-districts:in the north and 
east ; and. it from Mr Young’s Tour, in 1787, 
1788, 1789, that at that period they were not entirely 
nknown even in the middle and southern districts. In 
the department.of the Lot, raves, that is a kind of tur- 
nips with a carrot root, long, thin, and poor, are culti- 
vated ; these are also grown near Caen in Normandy, 
in the road to Bayeaux ; and in: Bresse, or the : 
ment of the Ain, where. they are known under the de- 
nomination of navets. Between St Palais and Bayonne, 
many turnips are grown in a si hu ; the 
wheat stubble is either burnt by itself, or where it has 
not been left long enough, straw is spread over it, and 
then it is set on fire. The ground thus cleaned of weeds, 
as well as manured, is then. sown with turnips. On 
the whole, however, the culture of this valuable root 
is very partially known in France ; and where known, 
is miserably conducted, as no hoeing is ever given 'to it. 
Potatoes have not been long cultivated, even as a gar- 
den. crop, in France, and as a field crop to any extent, 
or under good. ent, they are yet comparative- 
ly little known. The Lyonnois was one of the first 
istricts in France where they were cultivated. At their 
introduction, they were called white truffles, from the 
root bling the truffle in form, and from their being 
dry, like a, out of the d. It is computed, 
that since this valuable root was brought into general 
use in the Lyonnois, the consumption of corn has been 
lessened one-third ; the inhabitants give them to their 
cattle and poultry, and the of this district is 
highly celebrated. Soon after M. Turgot was appoint- 
a , A.D. tL 
to his ity the cultivation of potatoes. ie peo- 
at aipnieaating root with apprehension, or dis~ 
in, as beneath the dignity of the human ies ; and 
they were not reconciled to it, till the intendant had 
caused it tobe served at his own table, and to the first 
* elass of citizens, and had introduced it among the 
fashionable and rich. At present, a ‘vast quantity of 
potatoes, of a tolerable good quality, are grown in the 
provinces of Poitou, Normandy, Limosin, Gatinois, 
and the Isle of France, aes in. less quantities in 
other districts. 
‘are cultivated in French Flanders, Alsace, 
and a few other districts. In the neighbourhood of 
Strasburg icularly, this plant is cultivated on a 
very extensive scale, but almost entirely for the con- 
sumption of Holland and Mentz, to which places it is 
calculated that cabbages to the value of above 30,000 
crowns are sent annually. In) French Flanders, the 
Brassica arvensis of Linnzeus, there called Colza, is cul- 
tivated in astonishing quantities by the farmers. ‘There 
are two kinds of colza,. one ‘called white colza, because 
the leaves of the flower are white ; the other, cold col- 
za, the leaves of which are larger and thicker. It has 
this name, because it supports better the rigours of win- 
ter. ‘This plant is cultivated on rather a strong rich 
‘soil, ‘There are two modes of sowing it; either in a 
nursery. to be transplanted, or in the usual mode. The 
white ‘colza requires less manure than the cold colza. 
The seed is commonly ripe about the end of June or 
July. The plant is cut -with a sickle, having a sharp 
edge. . Colza-intended solely for winter food, is sown in 
June in a field prepared for the purpose ; it is cut, and 
Statistics. 
Potatoes. 
Cabbages. 
