RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 159 



woven before the war. The work was mostly done in the winter 

 between the seasons suitable for working on the land. 



Near Caudry no less than 36,000 people were said to be living on 

 30,000 acres of land, with the result that fine crops of sugar beet and 

 grain were being produced from poor soil. At Sedan, in the valley 

 of the Moselle, hand-weaving was carried on extensively, and each of 

 3,500 weavers owned their own house and field; earning from two to 

 three francs per day from weaving. Bolts and nuts were also made 

 by the men, and brushes by the women. The intelligence of the 

 peasantry was improved as a result of being engaged in skilled indus- 

 try, and they enjoyed seeming comfort and prosperity. Round 

 Nancy and Mirecourt, in the Vosges, the women engaged in hand- 

 embroidery and the making of lace and straw hats from imported 

 plait, while the men made stringed instruments. 



Pictured as before the war, Amiens, behind the present British 

 lines, is a great centre for the manufacture of parts of umbrellas, 

 shoes and ironmongery. At Escarbotin, in the northwest of Amiens, 

 a large amount of ironmongery — padlocks, screws, safes, etc. — is made. 

 Although this town and its environs contain only about 1,200 people, 

 it is the centre of a population of over 40,000, distributed in small 

 villages, and living in comfortable houses situated in large productive 

 orchards. Each family has its cow and pig. Even here, however, 

 is found the drift towards the towns, for there is that lack of co-opera- 

 tion and modern methods of manufacture which is necessary to make 

 these small industries successful. 



Between Amiens and Paris, the towns of Beauvais, Mouy and 

 Noailles are centres of a great brush-making industry, employing 

 about 15,000 persons. Some of the peasants live on their holdings, 

 and work in factories in the town — one factory employs 3,000 workers 

 and has an annual output valued at 5,000,000 francs. Boots, shoes, 

 and hair and tooth brushes are also made in this district. The handles 

 of the brushes are made in the homes of the workers, with the aid of 

 electrical power obtained from the river Therain. It is said that 

 in this district and in Neuilly, near Paris, nearly every peasant carries 

 on some petty industry. In the department of the Oise, in which 

 Beauvais is situated, the value of the vegetable crops in some yean 

 has amounted to over 1,000,000 francs. At Mem, in this depart- 

 ment, paper knives, napkin rings and shoe-horns arc made, and the 

 famous French fan industry — which alone yields France about 10,- 

 000,000 francs per annum — is carried on. 



At Nogent-le-roi, to the south of Chaumont, on the Marne, the 



