140 MELDS, FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS. 



the factory stage; and the more active the inventive 

 genius of a nation is, the more it has of these budding 

 ndustries. The countless small bicycle works which 

 have lately grown up in this country, and are supplied 

 with ready-made parts of the bicycle by the larger 

 factories, are an instance in point As also the domes- 

 tic fabrication of boxes for matches, boots,. hats, confec- 

 tionery, and so on. 



Besides, the factory stimulates the birth of new petty 

 trades by creating new wants. The cheapness of cottons 

 and woollens, of paper and brass, has created hundreds 

 of new small industries. Our households are full of 

 their produce mostly things of quite modern invention. 

 And while some of them already are turned out by the 

 million in the factory, all have passed through the small 

 workshop stage before the demand was great enough 

 to require the factory organisation. The more we may 

 have of new inventions, the more shall we have of such 

 small industries ; and again, the more we have of them, 

 the more shall we have of the inventive genius, the 

 want of which is so justly complained of in this country 

 (by W. Armstrong, amongst many others). We must 

 not wonder, therefore, if we see so many small trades in 

 this country ; but we must regret that the great number 

 have abandoned the villages in consequence of the bad 

 conditions of land tenure, and that they have migrated 

 in such numbers to the cities, to the detriment of 

 agriculture. 



Petty Trades in France. 



Small industries are met with in France in a very 

 great variety, and they represent a most important 

 feature of national economy. It is estimated, in fact, 

 that while one-half of the population of France live 

 upon agriculture, and one-fourth upon industry, this 

 fourth part is equally distributed between the great 



