PA It IS. 3&> 



appearance : it is wholly deprived of its bark on one side, 

 and a large hole passes through and through ; a stripe of 

 bark, however, remains fresh on the other side, and con- 

 veys support to a handsome and vigorous head. Another 

 great tree appears to have been recently cut over about 

 the same height ; and wc learned, that the proprietors are 

 in the practice of heading down such old chesnut-trees, 

 with the view of renovating the bearing wood, and im- 

 proving the fruit. Although those now spoken of are 

 i'hata'igmers ox common chesnut-trees, and not marroniers, 

 or of the large-fruited variety, their nuts meet with a ready 

 sale at Paris. 



Many very small or narrow vineyards here presented 

 themselves ; and all of these, we were told, are probably 

 separate properties. The gavelkind succession, or equal 

 division of territorial property among heirs, introduced by 

 the revolution, has already produced some strange ano- 

 malies in this district ; one person having sometimes suc- 

 ceeded to different small stripes of ground, at the distance 

 of a mile or more from each other. The division takes 

 place in ridges and half-ridges, varving in breadth accord- 

 ing to the size of the property to be divided ; and it has 

 sometimes happened that an heir who succeeded only to a~ 

 half ridge, might be able to hop across his estate. If part 

 of the land be of good quality, and part of inferior quality, 

 each heir has assigned to him a rateable proportion of each. 

 The country, in populous districts, has thus acquired a sort 

 of patchwork aspect ; small plantations of vines being flanked 

 by tiny fields of corn, or of some kind of green crop. 

 The natural jealousy of the heirs very generally prevents 

 a concert among themselves, which, one would think, might 

 be beneficial to all parlies; for the cultivation of detached 

 stripes of ground must be attended with great additional 



