SECRETARY'S REPORT. 221 



The capital employed amounts to $80 an acre of the culti- 

 vated land, and includes the stock, fixtures, forage, grain, &c., 

 that is, the whole working outfit of the farm. This capital pays 

 on the average about 10 per cent. ; a part of it goes to the 

 share-holders, a part to the increase of implements, and a part 

 to the establishment of a reserve or sinking fund, which is 

 already about .$16,000. 



As to the farm, it was not necessary, to show the merits of 

 improved culture and the benefit it can render to the country, 

 to select lands already rich and productive. M. Bella refused 

 other places which were offered, and chose Grignon, which was 

 noted for its undesirable condition and the poverty of its soil. 

 Many things were in its favor, however. The extent of the 

 domain, the importance of the buildings, a large park walled in, 

 a sufficient distance from cities, a very favorable climate, a soil 

 so situated as to correspond to conditions farther south than 

 even many places in the south of France itself, the neighbor- 

 hood of the great markets of Poissy and Saint Germain, and of 

 the celebrated flocks of Rambouillet, Videville and of Doua- 

 riere, and that of Paris, with its great scientific and industrial 

 establishments, its museum of natural history, its conserva- 

 tory of arts and trades, while several great and practically 

 model farms, which offered an opportunity for valuable practical 

 instruction to the pupils were near by, and pointed to Grignon 

 as the place to found a great agricultural institute. 



The domain is situated about twenty or twenty-five miles 

 west of Paris, and sixteen or eighteen north of Rambouillet, 

 and consists of about 1,170 acres, of which 600 are arable, 70 

 or so in natural pasture, 10 in garden, 6 under water, 70 occu- 

 pied by buildings, roads and gardens, and the balance woodland. 



These lands are partly on a plateau, nearly 400 feet above 

 the level of the sea, and partly in a valley rather abrupt, at the 

 bottom of which runs a stream which rises at Versailles, about 

 ten miles off. This valley embraces tlie park of Grignon, of 

 about 750 acres in extent, enclosed. They formerly belonged 

 to the immense estates of noble families, till divided at the 

 revolution of 1793, when this part, the estate of Grignon, 

 passed into the hands of the father-in-law of Marshal Ney, who 

 was married there. It was bought by Napoleon I. and given to 

 Marshal Bessieres. Napoleon used to come there to hunt foxes. 



