152 LANDLOEDS A NATUEAL GEOWTR 



competitions, the whole country is divided into twelve 

 regions, Algiers forming a thirteenth. These concours 

 regionaux are under the direction of the State, which 

 gives the prizes and pays the expenses of the judges. 

 Agricultural societies have been formed under State 

 patronage for the departments, the arrondissements, and 

 even for the cantons. Veterinary science is a subject to 

 which the State pays great attention. A veterinary 

 officer is attached to each arrondissement, who has passed 

 through the four years' course at one of the three veteri- 

 nary schools, and has received the diploma entitling him 

 to practise. His powers are considerable. All the 

 foreign livestock is subjected to a veterinary examina- 

 tion at one of the points at which it is permitted to be 

 imported, and only sound animals enter the country. 

 Internally, the existing law contains most stringent 

 provisions for the slaughter of infected cattle. State 

 indemnities are granted to owners of slaughtered animals. 

 The State interests itself in the breeding of horses, cattle, 

 and sheep. The Ministry of Agriculture contains, for 

 instance, a Directeur des Haras, who has under him 

 inspectors general and inspectors. At the Haras du Pin 

 there is a free school, in which is taught every detail 

 connected with the management of horses. There are 

 twenty-one depots of the great Haras de Pompadour ; and 

 more than 2,500 stallions are placed at the disposal of the 

 owners of mares. 



Nor is the State aid confined to education and the 

 improvement in livestock. Each arrondissement has its 

 Ingenieur des Ponts et Chaussees, who assists proprietors 

 in all drainage operations. In each arrondissement again 

 there is the agent roijer^ who inspects the roads of the dis- 

 trict in his care. There are three different classes of roads. 



