1063 



FRANCE. 



FRANCE. 



IV. | 



the ' Puy ' of A u vergne consist of the craters of these volcanoes rait- 

 ing on the granite, which ia the prevailing rock of the district, and 

 oo other crystalline rock*. [ACVEBUNF.] The CVvennes and the valley 

 of the Rhone (even in thuec parts occupied by the strata between the 

 chalk and the primitive rocks) exhibit traces of volcanic agency, as 

 likewise the isolated primitive district between Auvergne and the 

 Pyrenees. Others are observed in the ancient Provence, near the 

 sources of the Argena, and one or two in the north-east of 

 France. 



The mineral riches of France are considerable. Oranite, sieuite, 

 porphyry, variolite*, and serpentine are quarried in the department 

 of Hautes-Alpes, in Corsica, and in some of the departments of the 

 north-west; lava in Auvergne, and marble of great variety and 

 beauty in the Pyrenees, in Corsica, and in various other parts. Vast 

 slate quarries are wrought at the foot of the Pyrenees and in the 

 department of Maine-et- Loire, as well as in the Ardenne district near 

 the Belgian frontier; and excellent limestone quarries for building 

 abound. Lithographic atone, clay for bricks and tiles, kaolin, or 

 porcelain clay, pipeclay, gypsum, chalk, pavingstone, and mill- 

 stones are found at various points. Of the metals iron, manga- 

 nese, antimony, and lead there is a great abundance. The mining 

 or manufacturing of iron enters into the industrial occupation of the 

 inhabitants of no less than 52 of the departments of France. Silver, 

 gold, and platiua are found in the department of Isire. Some copper- 

 mines are wrought, the most important in the neighbourhood of 

 Lyon. Gold is found in the soil brought down by some of the streams 

 which rise in the Pyrenees and the Cdvennes, by the lihflne, and by 

 the Rhine. 



No less than 46 coalfields are explored in 34 departments, the 

 greater number yielding chiefly good bituminous coal, some lignite ; 

 and others anthracite. Sulphate of iron, alum, asphalte, bitumen, 

 and petroleum are also found. The moat productive coal-districts 

 are near Valenciennes in the north, and St-Etienne in the south 

 of France. Much coal is dug in the departments of Sadne-et- 

 Loire, Aveyron, and Gard, The department of Meurthe contains 

 brine-springs and rock-salt ; the rock-salt field of Yic, discovered in 

 1819, has an extent of not less than 30 square leagues. There are 

 in France 240 mineral springs, of which more than 150 are collected 

 in baths for the reception of patients. Of hot springs the most 

 famous are those of Barege*, Cauterets, Bagnores-de-Bigorre, Kaux- 

 Chaudes, among the Pyrenees ; those of Aix and Digne at the foot of 

 the Alps ; those of Vichy, Chaudes-Aiguee, and Neris in the Cerennes 

 region ; those of Bourbonne-les-Baius in the Vosges; and those of St- 

 Arnand in the Ardennes. The hottest of the springs in France ia 

 that of Chaudes-Aigues in the Auvergne region, department of Cautal, 

 the temperature of which is not less than 190 Fahr. The adminis- 

 tration of the several hot and cold springs is under the inspection of 

 physicians appointed by the government. 



Climate. The northern and western ports of France are drier 

 than the southern and eastern. In the department of Isurc, the 

 mesa annual quantity of ruin is 32 inches ; in the mountainous part 

 of Uaut-Hhm 30 inches (French measure) ; in the plains of the same 

 department more than 23 inches; and in thu drpartuu-ut of l!li..u.- 



<!> ''->i -' inch.*: while in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine it 



i- only -21 inches; in those of Onio and Kure, between 20 and 

 Jl inches; and at Paris, in the department of Seine, between 19 and 

 20 inches. Of the d inert-lice and the variations of temperature in 

 different parts of Franco, a judgment may be formed from the 

 following table : 



Place. 



ricrmom in Auvorgnc 

 Dunkctquo 



Si-Halo 

 JSantea 

 Bordeaux 

 Manellle . 

 Monlpellior 

 Toulon 

 Ximc. . 

 Afn . . 



Average Temperature. 

 Summer. Winter. 

 64-40" 

 tfti 



61-38 

 06-02" 

 68-44' 

 70-88" 

 72'40> 

 7J-74' 

 75-02 



73-49 

 8S-70 1 



84-42 

 !* 



38-66" 

 42-08' 

 40-46' 

 11-01 

 45'SO" 

 44-00'' 

 48-88' 

 48-28 



Agriculture. France has always been considered one of the most 

 agricultural countrieit in Europe; but until very recent times the 

 system of husbandry ha* remained almost unimproved for centuries, 

 and even yet the changes for the better are far from being general. 

 The want of ready communication by roads and canals in times gone 

 by, prevented any great exertions being made to increase the produce 

 of the soil, beyond the immediate demand of the neighbourhood. 

 On* part of Franc* often had a deficiency of corn approaching to a 

 famine, when plenty reigned in another. The price of gmiixui the 

 south of France varied 10 much from that in the north, thut there 

 was a difference in the duty paid on the importation of foreign corn 

 in different port* Arthur Young, in his tour through France in 

 1787, wa* surprised to find the state of cultivation so low in every 

 province, except those bordering on the Netherlands. His observa- 

 tions have been acknowledged to bo just by the French agricultural 

 writers themselves, and a certain spirit of improvement has been 



excited by his remarks. Since the revolution in 1793, every encou- 

 ragement to agriculture has been held out by the government; but 

 notwithstanding the numerous excellent publications which have 

 been produced, and the establishment of agricultural school*, and 

 model farms, the progress towards a more general adoption of 

 improved methods of cultivation is slow. In most parts of France 

 the farmer resides in or near the village, and the land which he 

 cultivates U dispersed over a considerable extent of distant uuiu- 

 closed fields. He loses much time in going and returning, and he 

 has a great way to carry the little manure which he makes. Artificial 

 grasses are cultivated to a considerable extent, especially in the 

 southern province*, but not sufficiently to maintain as much stock as 

 would produce the requisite quantity of manure ; and the very small 

 demand for animal food, at a distance from the large towns, give* 

 little encouragement to the feeding and fnttening of cattle, except 

 where natural meadows abound, which is chiefly along the course of 

 the rivers, and in the provinces of Noruiandie and Brittany. 



The great division of property which arises from the law of equal 

 distribution among all the children at the death of the parent, tends 

 much to lessen the size of farms. In a country where there are 

 domestic manufactures to give employment to the labourer or pi' 

 when his plot of ground does not require all his time, a more careful 

 cultivation is the consequence of small occupations. Habits of constant 

 employment excitu industry; and the ingenuity is sharpeiu'il by tin' 

 practice of the mechanical arts. But in an ignorant pea 

 produces idleness ; and if a mere sufficiency of food can l 

 from a small possession, for which no rent is paid, it is seldom that a 

 great surplus is raised. 



The proportion of the population of France which is occupied in 

 agriculture, is much greater than in those countries which are clm'lly 

 engaged in manufactures anil commerce. There arc in From 

 few large proprietors of laud, who, like the English country gentle- 

 men, spend a great port of their time in the country, and take an 

 interest in agricultural pursuits. There are not many spoc< 

 farmers who have capital, and are possessed of a superior pn 

 as well as a theoretical knowledge of agriculture, and who make it a 

 means of acquiring wealth. Few expensive instruments can conse- 

 quently ever be tried, or brought into general use, nor any extensive 

 improvements undertaken. All these causes concur in preventing a 

 rapid improvement in French agriculture. 



The northern part of France, on the confines of Belgium, anil in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of Paris, are the best cultivated. In 

 most other parts, except where maize is cultivated, the old 

 of two or three crops of corn and a fallow is generally adopted. If 

 the fallows were well worked and clean, the crops would be better ; 

 but this is by no means the case. The variegated appearance of the 

 corn in Kay, from the abundant blossoms of weeds, proves that tln-y 

 have not been extirpated. When they appear likely to choke the 

 corn they are sometimes weeded out; but as the method of sowing 

 the seed in rows or drills with an instrument is unknown or > 

 valued, there is no possibility of hociug the intervals btt-.virn lh<: 

 growing plants, and all the weeding must be effected with the 

 hand. 



Arthur Young divides the whole of France into four distinct climates 

 as regards agriculture. In the northern the vine docs not thrive so 

 as to make good wine. This district lies north-west of a line which 

 passes north of Paris, and is parallel to the line of the French coast on 

 the Channel. The next division is that in which wine is made, but 

 maize or Indian corn does not thrive. The boundary of this district 

 to the south is nearly parallel to the line first mentioned, and passing 

 through Nancy in Lorraine divides France nearly into two equal parts. 

 The third division is that in which both maize and wine abound, but 

 where the climate is still too severe for the olive or the white mul- 

 berry ; this is bounded on the south-east by the Jura and a line passing 

 to the north of Lyon. The last division consists of the sot. 

 provinces from the last-mentioned line to the Pyrenees, where the 

 olive and the mulberry abound as well as maize and the vine. In this 

 part the year often yields two harvests of corn, but the soil is not well 

 adapted to permanent pastures except at a considerable elevation 

 above the sea. 



The finest climate is in the third division, where corn, mai, 

 wine are good and abundant. The heat is not so oppressive as in tho 

 southern provinces, and there is the greatest scope for agricultur.il 

 operations. Tho most fertile lands are towards the north and east 

 The licence immediately south of Paris H also a fine \\li.-.i' r<nmtry, 

 and so are Touraiue, Alsace, and the plain of the Garonne. The 

 noils are in Champagne, Sologne, and along the coast of the Bay of 

 Biscay. Tho cultivation of rice has been in recent years introduced 

 into the Isle of Cumargue, in the department of Bouchcs-du-l()i< >u<-, 

 with we believe tolerable success. 



The Comte du Oasparin, in his ' Cours d' Agriculture,' divides France 

 into three zones, which he names regions of cereals, vines, and olives, 

 according to the most important product of each. Tho cereal region 

 comprises nil the north of Franco to a line drawn from the mouth of 

 the Loire to the Rhine, a little north of Paris. To the south of tliii 

 is the region of vines, which extends to a line drawn nearly parallel 

 to the former through the town of Orange. The remainder of France 

 forms tho zone of the olive. 



