FRANCE, 
Statistics. _ To this general account of the woods in France, we 
| 
Orange 
trees. 
shall add some short notices of such trees as are sources 
national wealth, independently of the timber which. 
as an. aj ‘iate introduction to our ac- 
vine-hu » and the wines of France. 
turpentine. tree is found in the southern 
a aa fey gasy of Chio, and alga 
e juice is Chio, or Cyprus turpentine 
Considerable ‘quantities “of ntine are 
A 
Ee 
UW 
it is known by the name of Strasbu 
F 
pounded, is 
very common in some parts of France, i in the 
ent of the Aisne, and is used instead of butter. 
the oil has been extracted: from the mast, the 
marc, as itis called, is also used for food, in various 
as the extraction leaves it, in 
boutted ; or asa kind 
n Bur ly and Franche 
pté, marc of walnuts is made into this kind of 
JSromage, after the oil is extracted from it. Walnuts 
are grown very extensively in France, and a great deal 
of oil is made from them. 
Chesnuts abound in France, particularly in the Li- 
mosin, where. the land is almost every where covered 
with chesnut trees. The fruit serves for food to the 
country people, but not, as has been asserted, reduced 
into flour to make bread. Their manner of preparing 
chesnuts for food is as follows: they take off the first 
1 or rhind, when they are dry, then they boil thema 
ittle, to take off the second peel ; and afterwards they 
Thess tamper apres mh tralord pleco pa 
us pr « are said to a pleasant 
neeloe article of food - 
to the peasantry of the Limo- 
sn, and other of France. pane ip 
caper grows in great perfection in 
southern provinces, ially in the vicinity of Cuges, 
between 7S he Toulon, where an extensive val- 
ley is wholly devoted to the culture ofthem. The caper 
is not suffered to grow here, as it does in many places, 
into a bush ; but is made to creep on the in long 
runners; and being cultivated only for the trade, is 
never left to flower, it being the little bud of the flower 
that is used for pickling. The fruit also, which re- 
sembles a very small in, is pi ; but these 
have the name of corni , the French name for gher- 
kins: it is the flower-bud which has the appellation of 
> When suffered to flower, it is a very beautiful 
b, 
’ The islands of Hieres, not far from Toulon, were for- 
merly famous for their orange groves. In the year 
1565, Charles IX. visited these is in a progress he 
made the south of France: he was accompa- 
nied by the young King of Navarre, afterwards Henry 
LV. and the deans Sens and there was then an 
orange tree so large, that these three royal personages, 
taking each other by. the hand, could but just encircle 
the stem: it had produced in one year 14,000 oranges. 
But the climate even of the south of France, is not 
steadily warm enough for this fruit; the severe winter 
of 1789 killed every tree in the Hieres, down to the 
roots; and the trees at present there are only such as 
have shot up from their roots. Most of the oranges of 
Hieres are sent to Paris. In these/islands, and in some 
other parts of the south of France, the lemon, citron, 
Til 
date, and pomegranate, are not uncommon ; the lime is 
also cultivated, especially in Provence. . 
The trade of almonds carried on in France is con- 
siderable, both on account of. their oil, and the large 
quantity of them used in Lent, either shelled or unshelled: 
a great quantity of the sweet almonds are used in sugar« 
plumbs, and of the bitter ones in biscuits, confectionary, 
&e. The grocers and ists of France have both 
sorts from the provinces in the middle and south of 
France, especially Provence, Languedoc, Tourraine, the 
county of Venaissin, Avignon, &c. The best ave those 
of the county of the Venaissin ; those from Chiron in 
Tourraine are the worst. The environs of Aix are parti~ 
cularly noted of all parts of Provence, for the abundance 
of almonds they produce: they are an ‘uncertain pro 
duce ; a frosty night will sometimes come on, while 
are in blossom, which is commonly about the end 
of January, and in a few hours the greatest part of the 
crop will be destroyed. At the time when the almonds 
are gathered, it is a curious sight at Aix to see the wo- 
men ya at their doors cracking them for the mer- 
chants. The shells being an excellent article of fuel, 
great interest is made to get the almonds to crack, 
which is paid by having the shells: a certain measure 
in the shells is expected to: produce a certain measure 
without them. The person cracking them has a basket 
of fruit on one side of her, and another basket on the 
other side to receive them when cracked : she has’a flat 
iece of stone on her knee, and a bone with a knob to 
it in her hand; and laying the almond on the stone, 
she strikes it with the bone, which seldom fails to crack 
it at the first stroke : it isthen thrown shell and all into 
the receiving basket, and when,that is full, the almonds 
are emptied out upon a large table, and the kernels 
picked from among the shells. The whole process is 
performed with wonderful dexterity and rapiliog. 
Figs are another im t article among the pro- 
ductions of Provence, as well as of several other dis- 
tricts of the south of France.. The most celebrated is a 
very small green, or white fig, as it is often called, 
which grows only in the territory of Marseilles, whence 
it takes the name of the fig of Marseilles. Brignolles 
in Provence, a town about thirty miles from Marseilles, 
is one of the most famous places in the kingdom for 
the dried plums, which are so well known by the name 
of French plums. Prunes, or St Catherine’s plums, 
constitute a lucrative branch of traffic, almost exclusive- 
ly carried on at Tours and Chatelherault. These prunes 
are gathered at La Haie, Sainte Maurevaux, Maudion, 
&c. They are with the greatest care at the 
places where they are grown; and’ sent to the mer- 
chants of Tours and Chatelherault, who supply eve 
other of France, as well as foreign countries, with 
them. The grand purchases of this fruit are made at 
the commencement of the new year, and of Lent: du- 
ring the latter season, the demand is particularly great 
at Paris, and in other large cities and towns in France. 
Dried plums of excellent quality are also prepared at 
Agen, Cutroen, Toulouse, and Bourdeaux. 
Mulberries succeed best in the olive climate of France; 
Tours being the only place north of the maize climate, 
where they are cultivated for silk with any success ; 
the spring frosts being fatal impediments to their cul- 
ture im the central, and even sometimes in the southern 
districts of the kingdom, Considerable experiments 
have been made for introducing them into Normandy, 
&c. but without success. In ing from Paris to 
the south, they are not met with till we come to Cau- 
sade near Montauban ; there are a few at Auch; and 
Statistics. 
—_——— 
Almonds. 
Figs. 
Plums, 
Mulberries, r 
