I.ARGE AND SMALL ESTATES. 231 



season may be obtained by manual labor; 2. in vine coun- 

 tries, where the cultivation requires constant labor, and 

 where the production is always proportional to the care 

 bestowed upon the land ; 3. in uneven lands, like valleys, 

 mountains, &lc. where cultivation is confined within narrow 

 limits, and where the lands capable of it are separated by a 

 barren soil. 



In all these cases, the plough and working-cattle can- 

 not be employed in labor ; every thing is done by manual 

 labor, and at most, the owner of each estate possesses a 

 few cows and goats, and sometimes a few sheep, to secure 

 subsistence, and increase the comfort of his household. 

 We often find a numerous population assembled in those 

 wild places where the soil seems to refuse any cultiva- 

 tion, and where the inhabitant, temperate and hardy, ob- 

 tains, by industrious labor, crops which satisfy his wants 

 and supply the neighboring markets. Those numerous 

 countries, which are not capable of high cultivation, would 

 be deserted without the assistance of the small proprietor ; 

 and it may be said, to his credit, that he creates produce 

 in places which nature had devoted to the most complete 

 sterility. 



We nowhere see small proprietorships existing in places 

 favorable to high cultivation. The vast domains of Beauce, 

 Brie, Soissonnais, Upper Languedoc, exist undivided, and 

 are always the granaries oT France ; the rich pasture lands 

 of Normandy, Poitou, Anjou, &c. always maintain the 

 same number of cattle ; our large forests have remained 

 untouched ; population and the means of living have con- 

 siderably increased ; our markets are abundantly supplied ; 

 wealth has spread through the country ; upanufactures have 

 made immense progress ; taxes are paid regularly and with- 

 out compulsion. 



Let us beware of disturbing, by laws or regulations 

 relative to property, this general harmony and public pros- 

 perity, which secure the happiness and prosperity of our 

 country. 



