FRANCE. 79 



acre; then they took barley, and gained 

 about as much j and after that oats, of 

 which the produce feldom exceeds the quan- 

 tity of rye and barley. The land being 

 light, they plough it with two little horfes, 

 not exceeding in ftrength one good cart-horfe 

 in England. I remarked fmall vineyards 

 all the way I went, containing generally 

 from four to ten acres each ; and, what very 

 much ama2ed me, was, feeing them, like 

 the corn fields, open, without any inclo- 

 fures. I afked the reafon of this ; they re- 

 plied, they wanted no inclofuresj for cattle 

 were never fuffered to wander about alone, 

 but always with keepers, whatever the fort 

 might be ; but that ufually they are kept in 

 parks, that is, folds, and had their food 

 regularly given. They confider thefe fmall 

 vineyards, I could plainly fee, much more 

 than all their corn ; yet the proportion of 

 of one to the other, in fpace, is nothing. 

 This I cannot conceive to be right, unlefs 

 the profit of the vine is greater than I ap- 

 prehend it to be. But this being one of the 

 moft important points in the domefticceco- 

 nomy of a country, I ihall let flip no op- 

 portunity of fatisfying myfelf. The great 



points 



