PRODUCTS OF FRENCH AGRICULTURE. 131 



experience has declared to be best suited to the soil and 

 climate, as well as to those of which the products are the 

 most advantageous to the proprietor. 



In compact lands, containing a portion of clay, and 

 which from their quality are suitable for wheat, the succes- 

 sive crops may consist of wheat, oats, trefoil, clover, vetch- 

 es, beans, turnips, radishes, cabbages, mustard, &lc. A 

 succession or rotation of crops should be established in 

 these various soils, according to the principles which I 

 have explained. 



A succession of crops well conducted, economizes labor, 

 manure, expense of transportation, &lc. : it furnishes the 

 means of raising and fattening a greater number of ani- 

 mals, and it ameliorates the soil to such a degree as en- 

 tirely to change its nature ; so that the most delicate plants, 

 and those requiring the most nourishment, may be raised 

 in a soil originally sterile and ungrateful. The arid sands 

 of Belgium, and many of the alluvions on the borders of 

 our great rivers, offer numerous examples of the truth of 

 this. A good system of cropping alone can give security 

 of a lasting prosperity in agriculture. 



CHAPTER VIIL 



VIEW OP THE PRODUCTS OF FRENCH AGRICULTURE. 



A REGISTER of the products of French agriculture, made 

 with great care from 1800 till 1812, gives as the mean 

 result of these twelve years,* 



1. Wheat 51,500,200 hectolitres. t 



2. Rye and meslin {meteil) . 30,290,161 



3. Indian corn 6,302,316 



4. Buckwheat 8,509,473 



5. Barley 12,576,503 



6. Dry pulse 1,798,616 



* For the details relative to the various products here xinited in a 

 tabular form, the reader may consult ray Treatise on French Industry. 

 He will there find, not only the observations and the data which were 

 deemed necessary to establish these results, but also the valuation and 

 estimate of all these products in money. 



[t The hectolitre is equivalent to 22.009667 gallons. — Tr.] 



