﻿na 



MARKE. 



MARXB. 



rN 



supplied with Diateriala for thrir ediBeca. (Stnibo, pi 5SS.) More rs- 

 ceiitly ConnUntinople bai been partly iodeblrd to thcar quarries for tlie 

 emWlliKlimrut of ita moaquen, foontaina, and other public biiildingi; 

 bat the marble ia now principally UBcd for the nepulchral moiiumenta 

 of the Turka and Anueoiana. It ia raid to bare abounded with 

 deer, from which drcumatanos the Greek namea Prooonneaua and ita 

 earlier appellation Elapbonnaaoa are anid to be derived. 



It baa a mountainoua range of niodemto height and aterile aspect, 

 and ia poorly inhabited. The chief town, which ia alao called Afar- 

 mora, ia aituated on ita aouth-weat aide, and is built of wood. The 

 island has aereral Tillage*, and ita inbnbitanta are chiefly Greek 

 Chriatiana. Bom* wine ia produced in the island. 



MARKE, a department in the north of France, ia bounded N. by 

 the departmenta of Aiane and Ardennt^ E. by those of Meuae and 

 Haute-Mame, 9k by that of Aube, and W. by Seine-et-Mame and Aiane. 

 It liea between 48* 28' and 4 a- 23' N. lat., 3° 25' and 6* G. long. Ita 

 form is irregular. The greatest length from north-west to south-east 

 is 74 miles; from north-eaat to aouth-weat 81 miles. The area is 

 S168-6 aqoaremilesL The popuUtion in 1841 was 356,632; in 1851 

 it amoonted to 973,302, which givea 118-185 inhabitants to a aquare 

 mile, being 56*399 below the average per square mile for the whole of 

 France. The department is formed out of the central part of the old 

 province of Champagne, and ia named from one of ita principal rivers. 



The department presenta a bare plain, aloping generally towards 

 the west, and broken here and there by steep isolated hills, which 

 nowhere exceed 1200 feet in height or 2 miles in length. From the 

 OBlitn of the department almost to its extremitiee the arid and almost 

 barren aoil oonaiata of a thin layer of sandy earth not two inches 

 in depth, and resting on a chalk bottom ; bushes are rare ; the 

 villages far apart. Between Reims and Fiamea the land is good, and 

 along the western border, and in the valley of the M.^me, there is 

 some strong deep land. Again in the Perthois district in the south- 

 east of the department, along a considemble margin from Vitry to 

 8aiDt«-M6nAould, and in the valley of the Aisne, the soil is in general 

 ridi and productive. 



The department takes ita name from the river Marne (the Matrona 

 of Julioa Cteaar), which liaea in the department of Uaute-Mame, 

 about 3 miles'Bouth from Langrea, and flowing nearly north past St- 

 Dizier, then sweeps round to the west and enters the department of 

 Mame : here its course ia north-west past Vitry and as far as Chftlons, 

 whence it flows west, and continues in this genrral direction across 

 the soutii of the department of Aisne, the north of Seine-et-Mame, 

 •nd to its junction with the Seine at Chareuton, in the department of 

 Sein»et-Oise. Ita whole length is 217 miles, of which 147, from St- 

 Diaier to its mouth, are navigable. Ita principal feeders on the right 

 hank are the Rognon, the Saulx (which reoeivea the Omain), and the 

 Ouroq ; on the left bank the Blaise, the CoUd, the Somo-Soude, the 

 Orand-Morin, and the Petit-Morin. The north-east of the department 

 is drained 1^ the Aiske ; the north and north-weat by the Suippe and 

 tba Vesle, feeders of the Aisne ; the south is skirted by the Seine, 

 and erosseJ by the Aube, both of which rivers are navigable in this 

 department By the Saulx, the Omain, the Planche-Coulon Canal 

 from the Omain to the Ch<$e, the Ch6e, and the Revigny Canal, barges 

 ply between the Mame and Bar-le-Duc, in the department of Meuae, 

 and by other works finished in 1853 the water commtmication between 

 the Mame and the Rhine waa completed, uniting the valleys of the 

 Mame, the Meoae, the Mosdie, the Meorthe, and the Rhme. The 

 line of the navigation ia i250 milaa long, including rivers and canals, 

 and in the distance are many tunneli, cuttings, aqueducts, and 

 180 locka. The department is crossed by 8 state, 16 departmenta], 

 and a great number of parish roads ; it is also traversed by the Paris- 

 Straabourg railway, which passes throngh £pemay, Ch&lons, and Vitry- 

 la-Fran^aia. A brandi line joina Reims with the main line at £pemay, 

 and an«>th er branch runs from Blesme, a small village on the Saulx 

 east of Vitiy-le-Frsnfais, to St-Dizier, in the department of Uaute- 

 Mame. 



The climate ia temperate and the air pure, except along the eastern 

 and western bordeia of the department, where in the low, rich, and 

 aometimea marshy bottoms fogs are not unfrequcnt at certain seaaona 

 afUia year. The common bread-atuSa are grown ; rye and oats are 

 ffodoMd in quantitv more than enough for the consumption. Fruit- 

 tossi tn extensively cultivatad in the armndissement of Sainte- 

 MD^bonld J that of CbAlons is famoua for ita melona ; other crops 

 M* eaw-«abbage, onions, which are grown in great quantitiea, arti- 

 Oiokes, Ac. The department containa aevenU large forests ; and 

 witUn the laat twenty years a considerable portion of the ahallow 

 dMlky soU abov-msntimiad haa been planted with pines. Along the 

 Ifamsk tha AiMM, tha Anbcb and the Seine, there is some fine grass 

 land, mda nod dsal of hay ia made. 



Bat tba vine for the prmluotion of the famous Champagne wines 

 fa Um eUef objrct of the landholder's care all through the department, 

 matvespeeiaUy in the arrondiaaementa of Reims and Itpcmay, wherein 

 the whita winea of Sillery, Al, Mareiiil, Pierry, fiixmay, and Dizy ; 

 ■ad tba niak wines of Verasnay, Veny, Bouqr, Taisay, Cnmiferes, Al, 

 BaotrUUsn, Marenil, Diay, and nerry, all of the first cIom, differing 

 and dfatingoialiabU from onaanotlMr 1^ oerlain inexpressible elemenU 

 of asoeUaDca, an produced from the bungiy chalky soil, on which 

 littla afa* than the rlnv-bnali vUl gipF. Tbe ncceUnit qualities of the 



Chsmpagne wines are owing however not wholly to the peculiarity of 

 the Boil, but in a great degree also to the unremitting care uf the 

 growers in the selection and management of tlieir \-ines, and in the 

 manipulation of the wine*, which experience teaches them to make ao 

 as to suit the different palates of Uie lovers of Champagne in the 

 various countries of the world. The beat white Champagne wines are 

 made from black grapes. These are suffered to remain on the vine 

 till they attain perfect maturity ; when gathered they are put in the 

 wine-pres', and the first pressmgs are aet apart for wine of the first 

 quality. The juice thus obtained is put into a tun, where it remaina 

 from 20 to 30 hours, after which time it is put into sulphured casks, 

 and these are deposited in cool cellars. During the frosty weather 

 the wine is transferred into other casks, and darified by means of 

 isinglass ; this process is repeated once or twice (if neceesaty) after an 

 interval of a fortnight each time. From the 20th to the 30th of March 

 the bottling process for the effervescing wines begins, but this is some- 

 times delayed even to the end of May, as the greatest attention muat 

 be paid to the temperature of the air, otherwise the deUcacy of the 

 wine and ita effervescence would be materially injured. The bottles 

 ore placed in deep cellara, so as to have the most equable temperature 

 possible, in order to diminish the chance of logs by breakage, which 

 however, when the wines become brisk in the autumn, often amounts 

 to 20 per cent. The quantity of wine of all kinds made in the 

 department annually amounts to about 1 5,400,000 gallons. The wines 

 are roughly distinguished aa ' vin de riviire,' or the wine grown along 

 the Mame, which is chiefly white, and ' vin de montagne,' or wine 

 grown on the bills, most of which is red. The proprietors of the vine* 

 yards in this the true Champagne country are greatly injured by the 

 competition of a fictitious Champagne (or ohampagniasd) wine, manu- 

 factured in several other departmenta of Franco, and sold at a much 

 lower price than the true and great Champagne wine. 



The domestic animals of the department are small and of bad 

 breed ; sheep are numerous ; game is abundant ; deer and wild boars 

 are met with in the forests ; the rivers and ponds yield abundance of 

 fiah ; poultry is plentiful ; bees are carefully tended. 



The western side of the department is occupied by the supracrata- 

 ceous formations of the Paris basin, and the rest of the department 

 by the chalk itself, except just along the eastern b order, where the 

 formations that underlie the chalk crop out. Chalk, flint, millstone of 

 the best quality, building-stone, potters'- and brick-clay, and turf are 

 the chief mineral productions. 



The chief manufactures are woollen stuffi) of all kinds, and cotton 

 hosiery, which centre chiefly at Reims. There are also several tan- 

 yards, dye-houses, paper-mills, glass-works, potteries, rope-walks, oil- 

 mills, soaperirs, and establishments for the making of Spauiah white. 



The most important article of commerce is Champagne wine, the 

 great marts for which are Reims and fipemay. Other articles of trade 

 are com, flour, brandy, the articles previously named, together with 

 timber, hides, and fircwoo<l, of which great quantities are sent for the 

 suj)ply of Paris. About 670 fairs and markets are hold in the year. 



The department contains 2,021,41)6 acres. Of this area 1,510,320 

 acres are more or less capable of cultivation ; 95,025 acres are grass- 

 land ; 45,701 acrea are under vine culture ; 231,106 aorea are covered 

 with woods and forests ; 22,927 acrea are laid out in nurseries, orchards, 

 gardens, &c. ; 41,013 acres consist of heath- and moor-land; 15,749 

 acrea are covered with riven, marshes, ponds, canals, &c. ; and 46,766 

 acres are occupied by roads, streets, and buildings. 



Diviiiotu and Tmetu. — The department ia divided into 5 arroniHsss 

 menta, which, with their subdivisions and population, are as follows : — 



ArrondiMements. 



Cantons. 



Communes. 



Population in 18S1. 



1. Cbtlons-sor-Mame . 



5. Kpemsy . 



i. Hrlnis , , . 

 4. Sainte-Mtaihould . 



6. Vllry-le-Fran;ois . 



5 

 D 

 10 

 3 

 i 



108 

 180 

 181 

 80 

 ISS 



SS,SG2 

 93,000 

 138,031 

 36,346 

 i3,3;3 



Total . . . 



*t 



677 



173,301 



1. In the first arrondisscment the chief town is Cbalons-sur-Marne, 

 which is also the capital of the department. The population given 

 with the following places is that of the commune. Suippa, an im- 

 proving and well-built little town, of 2353 inhabitants, stands E.N.E. 

 of ChUons, on the Suippe, a feeder of the Aisne, and has important 

 manufactures of coarse woollens, woollen-yam, and leather, besides 

 dye-houses, and a considerable trade in com, cattle, hemp, and wooL 

 Verlut, an ill-built town at the foot of a high vincclad hill, W. by S. 

 of ChAlona, haa 2200 inhabitants. About 6 miles E.N.K. from ChAloiis, 

 near the left bank of the Vcle, is the village of Kpint, celebrated for 

 its magificcut gothic church of Notre-Dama-de-l'Kpinc, which for the 

 vast number of its sculptured ornaments has few equals in Kurope. 



2. Of the second arrondissement the chief town, F.pemay, stands 

 in a rich vino district, near the left bank of the river Marne, which 

 Li here crossed by a bridge of seven arches, 15 mile.i by niilway west 

 from ChAlons, in 49° 2' 52" N. lat., 8° 57' 10 " K. lonpf. The town is 

 well-built, clean, and woll-paved. It has tribunals of firxt instance 

 and of pg^nnieroe, a college, and 7380 inhabitant", who manufacture 



