66 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



discouraged agriculture, and produced several dearths. Fleury, under Louis XV. , was 

 not favourable to agriculture ; but, in 1754, an act was passed for a free corn trade, which 

 effected its revival. Tlie economists of this time, however mistaken in their views, 

 inspired a taste for the art ; and agricultural societies were first established in France 

 under the patronage and at the expense of government. In 1761, there were thirteen 

 such societies in France, and nineteen cooperating societies. Those of Paris, Lyons, 

 Amiens, and Bourdeaux, have distinguished themselves by their published Memoirs. At 

 Tours a georgical society was established and directed by the Marquis of Tourbili, a 

 patriot and agricultural writer. Du Hamel and Buffon gave eclat to the study of rural 

 economy, and many other writers might be mentioned as having contributed to its im- 

 provement. M. de Trudaine introduced the Merino breed of sheep in 1776, and Comte 

 Lasteyrie has studied that breed in Spain, and written a valuable work on the subject ; 

 as has the Baron de Mortemart on the English breeds, some of which he has introduced. 



385. The agnculture of France in 1819, as compared with what it was in 1789, 

 presents, Chaptal observes, astonishing improvements. Crops of every kind cover 

 the soil ; numerous and robust animals are employed in labouring it, and they 

 also enrich it by their manure. The country population are lodged in commodious 

 habitations, decently clothed, and abundantly nourished with wholesome food. The 

 misery which existed in France in former times, when properties of immense extent 

 supported little more than a single family, is banished, and its place supplied by ease and 

 liberty. We are not to suppose, however, the same author observes, that the agriculture 

 of France has arrived at perfection ; much still remains to be done : new plans of im- 

 provement should be more generally introduced ; and a greater quantity of live stock is 

 wanted for every province of France, except two or three which abound in natural meadows. 

 Few domains have more than half the requisite number of labouring cattle ; the necessary 

 result of which is a deficiency of labour, of manure, and of crop. The only mode of 

 remedying these evils is to multiply the artificial pastures, and increase the cultivation of 

 plants of forage. Abundance of forage is indeed the foundation of every good system of 

 agriculture, as a proper succession of crops is the foundation of abundance of forage. 

 The rich inhabitants of France have already adopted these principles ; but they have not 

 yet found their way among the lowest class of cultivators. According to M. Dupin, 

 four fifths of the peasantry of France are proprietors of land, which they cultivate them- 

 selves ; and though they are at present very ignorant, yet knowledge of every kind is 

 rapidly advancing. The wages of labourers in France, compared with the price of corn, 

 are calculated to be liigher than the wages paid to labourers in England. 



SuBSECT. 2. Of the general Circumstances of France, in respect to Agnculture. 



386. The surface of France has been divided by geographers into what are called 

 basins, or great plains, through which flow the principal rivers, and which basins are 

 separated by original or secondary ridges of mountains. The chief basins are those of tlie 

 Loire {fig. 45. a), of the Seine (6), of the Garonne (c), and of the Rhone and Saone (d). 

 {Journal de Physique, torn, xxx.) 



387. The soil of France has been divided by Arthur Young into the mountainous district 

 of Languedoc and Provence (e) ; the loamy district of Limosin (/) ; the chalky districts of 

 Champagne and Poitiers (g) ; the gravelly district of Bourbonnois (/) ; the stony district 

 of Lorraine and Franche Comte (i) ; the rich loam of Picardy and Guienne {k) ; and 

 the heathy surface on gravel, or gravelly sand, of Bretagne and Gascoigne {I). {Agr. 

 France, chap, ii.) 



388. The climate of France has been ingeniously divided by the same author into that 

 of corn and common British agriculture, including Picardy, Normandy, French Flanders, 

 Artois, Hainault, &c. {fig. 45. /, b, k) ; that of vines, mulberries, and common culture 

 {y, a, h, g, i) ; that of vines, mulberries, maize, and common culture {c,f, d, i) ; that of 

 olives, vines, mulberries, maize, oranges, and common culture (o, e). It is singular that 

 these zones (m m, n n, and o o) do not run parallel to the degrees of latitude, but obliquely 

 to them to such an extent that the climate for the vines leaves off at 46 on the west coast 

 (i/ m), but extends to 49^ on the east {g m). The cause is to be found chiefly in the soil 

 and surface producing a more favourable climate in one place than in another ; but partly 

 also in the wants of cultivators. The vine is cultivated in Germany in situations where 

 it would not be cultivated in France, because wine is of more value in the former country 

 than in the latter. The northern boundary of the vine culture has even extended in 

 France since the revolution, from the natural wish of small proprietors to supply them- 

 selves with wine of their own growth. In Germany the vine is cultivated as far north as 

 latitude 52, on the warm sides of dry rocky hills. 



389. The central climate, which admits vines without being hot enough for maize 

 (y, a, h, g, i), Young considers as the finest in the world, and the most eligible part of 

 France or of Europe as to soil. " Here," he says, " you are exempt from the extreme 

 humidity which gives verdure to Normandy and England j and yet equally free from the 



