XXXVl INTRODUCTION. 



workshop of the artisan the materials of his industry, 

 and thus supply every necessary of hfe. 



The lot of the agriculturist who cultivates only one 

 species of produce, is always precarious ; he is dependent 

 not only upon the chances of the harvest, but upon the 

 rate of sales and the necessities of consumers ; whilst 

 he who can procure from the soil a variety of produc- 

 tions, is nearly sure of obtaining a market for some of 

 them. It is thus at the south, where, independent of the 

 productions common to all the country, the large propri- 

 etor has still his harvests of wine, silk, and oil, and is 

 indemnified by the abundance of one of these for the 

 mediocrity of the others. 



Another advantage resulting to the agriculturist from 

 the cultivation of a variety of productions, is the power 

 of appropriating each portion of the land to the vegeta- 

 ble for which it is best adapted, and, by this means, of 

 preserving the soil in good condition. This mode of man- 

 agement offers to the agriculturist immense resources for 

 a rotation of crops ; where only grains are cultivated, it 

 is impossible to establish a judicious succession of crops ; 

 since it is only upon a variety of productions that there 

 can be founded that system of rotation or succession, 

 which will preserve the land in a constant state of fertil- 

 ity, and permit it to produce without interruption. We 

 have already introduced into agriculture the cultivation 

 of grasses, grains, oil, and roots, and have thus furnished 

 the materials for a succession of crops. We have for a 

 long time raised flax, hemp, madder, and hops ; but we 

 are still obliged to purchase of foreign nations the great- 

 er part of those articles. Why cannot the soil of France 

 furnish all we need of them ? Neither land nor hands 



