104 THE POSSIBILITIES 



the like. In 1881, 5,600 worth of apricots 

 alone was Bold out of this village, and it must 

 be borne in mind that competition is so acute 

 in the neighbourhoods of Paris that a delay of 

 twenty-four hours in the sending of apricots 

 to the, market will often mean a loss of 8s. 

 one=seventh of the sale price on each hundred- 

 weight.* 



At Perpignan, green artichokes a favourite 

 vegetable jn Franceare grown, from October 

 till June, on an area covering 2,500 acres, and 

 the net revenue is estimated at 32 per acre. 

 In. Central France, artichokes are even cultivated, 

 in the open fields, and nevertheless the crops 

 are valued (by Baltet) at from 48 to 100 per 

 acre. In the Lpiret, 1,500 gardeners, who 

 occasionally employ 5,000 workmen, obtain 

 from, 400,000 to 480,000 worth of vegetables, 

 and their yearly expenditure for manure is 

 60,000. This figure alone is the best answer 

 to those who are fond of talking about the 

 extraordinary fertility of the soil, each time they 

 are told of some success in agriculture. At 

 Lyons, a population of 430,000 inhabitants is 

 entirely supplied with vegetables by the local 



* The total production of dessert fruit as well as dried or 

 preserved fruit W France was estimated, in. 1876, at 84,000 tpng, 

 and its value was taken at about 8,000,000,000 fr. (120,000,000) 

 more than one-half of the war contribution levied by Germany. 

 It must have largely increased since 1876. 



