Tape. 
Spurry. 
Parsnips. 
Lupins. 
Clover, 
702 FRANCE 
Statistics. given to the cattle in the course of the winter ; and af- 
—\— 
terwards the stalks are cut some inches above the sur- 
face of the earth, and they will furnish a second 
of leaves in the spring. Colza furnishes the best o1 
that can be extracted the soil of the north. In the 
central of France, the oil of walnuts supplies the 
want of the colza, which is but little cultivated there. 
The mass remaining after the extraction of the oil, 
makes a good winter food for cattle. The corn that is 
sown after — is generally both abundant, and 
of excellent quality. : r 
Rape is extensively cultivated in French Flanders, 
Artois, &c. but not in the other districts of the king- 
dom. ie mmm a small quantity of 
ground, that has been fallowed, well d , and’ work- 
ed repeatedly os ae binot or plough. is af- 
terwards transplanted into a field, that had formerly 
produced winter barley, or winter wheat. The young 
plants are put into the ground, either by the dibble, or 
by the plough. Rape is either as green food for 
sheep, or for the sake of oil. The latter is the more 
common, as well as the more profitable. In a small 
circle round Lisle, there are 450 windmills for extract- 
ing oil from the seeds produced in that nei urhood, 
In the year 1810, the produce was estimated as follows: 
Ist, 180,000 pictolitres of oil, at 109 francs each, in Eng- 
lish money £817,580; 2d, The cakes 'valued at one- 
sixth part, £ 136,260; the total value of the produce 
£ 958,840. The crops of wheat after rape in French 
Flanders, are reckoned to be better than those that are 
grown after fallow. Poppies are also cultivated in the 
northern districts of France for their oil. 
In the same district of France, where indeed the 
most spirited and successful agriculture is carried on, 
spurry (Spergula arvensis) is cultivated. After the 
crops have been , the grain is slightly ploughed 
and sown with it. In October, the cows are tethered 
on it. The butter from the milk thus obtained, is call- 
ed we ay butter, and it is employed for the use of the 
ki , a8 being both cheaper and more profitable than 
any other for that purpose. 
In some parts of Brittany, parsnips are cultivated. 
The seed is sown in F or March, and the par- 
snips are raised out of the ground in October or No- 
vember. They are chiefly employed in fattening cat- 
tle and hogs. Lupins ( principally Lupinus albus) are 
grown very extensively in the southern districts, either 
on the wheat stubbles, as winter food for their flocks ; 
or for the sake of the seed, which is eaten by the inha- 
bitants. Of all the species of clover, trefoil, or yellow 
clover, is most-abundant, especially in the south. It is 
erally sown as forage on the wheat stubbles.” In 
the district of the Pyrenees, these are ploughed in the 
beginning of A and the clover seed is harrowed, 
or rather rubbed in by-means ofa piece of wood fixed 
to the oa This clover produces much luxuriant 
and valuable food for sheep and -Jambs early in the 
spring, after which it is watered,-and produces by the 
end of May a full crop of hay.; it is then ploughed up, 
and haricots, maize, or millet:planted, either.of which 
is off in time for putting in wheat. The other kinds of 
clover, till very lately, were scarcely met with any where 
except in French Flanders ; but within these very few 
years, what the French call Praires artificielles, which 
were less pope een , have been introdu- 
ced into several districts, Sin these and turnips, the 
two grand distinguishing features of good husbandry in 
on Britain, are comparatively little known or v. 
in France, ~ 
became at length 
» sixteen, twenty, and even thi 
originally from Media; and ing through Persia, it 
ee 
it assiduously, and recommended it prs eran 
Greece it was transferred to Italy, and before the time of 
Cs ne pean ate i credit with the Ro- 
mans. It ished with them as long as their empire 
flourished. Before the destruction of the empire, it seems 
Oe Davis eve canes Sane ee eer 
troduced there by the Moors, with whom, during their 
abode in that country, it was in high esteem. ; 
the arts revived, it returned again into Italy, and was 
assiduously cultivated in that country, especially in the 
kingdom of Naples ; thence it advanced into the south« 
ern part of France; and from the place where it «was 
first or principally cultivated, it was called grand , 
trefle, or foin de Bourgogne. The era of its i Cc 
tion into France is not accurately known ; but as it 
passed from that country into the Palatinate, upwards 
of 250 years PM a ad as 
cultivated in France. It is now grown in Pi 5 
of France, Rousillon, * Gascony, Poitou, 
toa extent, and partially in other districts 
ieingdeen: It is invariably sown broadcast, and , 
rally without corn, sometimes with oats. It is 
cut for the first time, in the southern districts, about the 
Where iigation is pesotaed, i teswatseed every 
Where irrigation is i it is» every 
days after the. first cutting, to the extent of five cuttings 
in all, If the land be not watered, it is cut thrice with 
a full product, where the soil and climate are favour~ 
able, and the management good. The watering, how~ 
ever, brings it to maturity, or rather decay compara- 
tively quickly, since in this case its duration is not 
above seven or eight years, but on other lands twelve, 
years. In some parts 
of Rousillon, they take three crops of wheat after lu- 
cerne. This crop is apt to get weedy. In which case, 
in some of the southern districts, it is cleaned by means 
shay vng sty weather ‘This operation, perform 
8 wi , 
ed at this season, kills the weeds, but not injure the 
lucerne. Where the land is not very rich, or where it is 
not intended to crop it severely, the ice of sowi 
sowing 
wheat after it, is not pursued ; but oarley and oats cut, 
green, or made into hay, and not to ri are 
taken. By this the roots of the: ne, 
which are not easily or soon eradicated, and which 
would prove injurious to of corn, are turned to 
advantage, the shoots from with the fo« 
rage of the barley or oats. The pro 
varies considerably in weight. In 
of Liancourt, where it is well ; 
will yield 1600 bottles of hay, each of 12 1b. or 19,2001 
which is above seven tons the English acre. In general, 
the crop may be estimated at 12,000 lb. or rather more 
than five tons the English acre. The hay made from 
the two first cuttings, is 'y given to horses. The 
hay from the three cuttings to cows. We have been 
thus particular in our account of the lucerne husbandry 
.of France, since, as we have already remarked, it forms 
snouishine f , 
,one of its best and most di 
. Sainfoin is not nearly so 
eertainly by no means so, well nor so valuable 
a crop, either in its actual produce, or as a preparation 
