i5i 



It took but a few hours to be transported from this ag- 

 ricultural affluence to the less striking, of farming in 

 France. As I travelled by rail from Calais to Paris there 

 was a generally diffused agricultural prosperity, such as is 

 seen in wheat fields and hop yards, and common herds of 

 cattle. The scene indicated thrift and popular welfare, 

 but no application of scientific skill and special cultivation, 

 and so from Paris southward through that historic section 

 of France until you come into the neighborhood of Bor- 

 deaux, where the vineyards cover hill and valley and con- 

 stitute by far the most important part of the agricultural 

 industry, an interesting branch of farming, but not one 

 the Essex Agricultural Society could imitate. 



From Bordeaux onward the farming becomes more diffi- 

 cult and less interesting. You are soon brought into the 

 region of the Pyrenees, whose steep and lofty cliffs are 

 unfit for cultivation, and whose valleys arj overshadowed 

 a large part of even the long summer days. And when 

 you have crossed this ridge of mountains and have entered 

 Spain, the prospect becomes still more discouraging. I 

 should say that from Burgos, one of the first towns of im- 

 portance you enter in Spain, all the way to Madrid the re 

 is hardly an acre of fine farming land. 



I shall never forget the view I had of the famous Esco- 

 rial in the early sunrise of a summer day. The palace win- 

 dows were glistening in the sun, the splendid architecture 

 was brought out in all its beauty by the morning light, 

 and nature had provided for the most impressive view of 

 this magnificent building. But the surrounding land- 

 scape was most discouraging, even to the eye of taste, ut- 

 terly hopeless to the eye of the farmer. On every hand 

 hill and valley were covered with stones and small boul- 

 ders as thickly strewed as if scattered from a huge pepper- 

 box prepared for the seasoning of utter desolation. Even 

 the spaces between the stones appeared hard, dry and bar- 

 ren, and this condition of the land continued all the way 



