Heport on the Dairy-Farming of the North-west of France. 283 
dant, and, indeed, as superabundant, as in some portions of the 
West of England. In fact, in some parts of the country the 
small fields are surrounded by a fence consisting of a huge 
raised bank, with a growth of underwood upon it, protected 
and guarded, as it were, by a row of closely planted trees on 
each side. 
Another peculiarity may be seen in the apple-orchards. Cider 
is as much the national beverage of the Normans and Bretons 
as of the people of Hereford, Devon, Somerset, and the rest of 
the West ; but the French farmer expects that his thickly planted 
orchard will not interfere with the growth of corn or grass. I 
do not propose at present to describe the " Rural Economy " of 
France, but it may be observed that the small farmers have a 
great desire to make one instrument perform two duties. The 
tendency is, of course, economical ; and although it may be in 
some cases a little strained, yet in the long run, reflected as it 
is in the daily life of the farmer and his family, it has done 
much to place the small French farmer in the comfortable posi- 
tion in which he is frequently now seen. Many writers have 
been severe upon the French peasant-farmer for his economical 
and hoarding propensities, but I should be inclined to hold him 
up as a pattern of virtue, considering the extent of English im- 
providence, in the hope that our labourers might be induced 
to adopt his " providence " to some extent, and in the belief 
that it is not in the nature of Englishmen to pursue such self- 
denying practices too far. 
In one respect French " providence," aided by the Continental 
necessity of a large standing army, has done much to check 
the development of the French nation, both agriculturally and 
commercially. All over rural France there is the same com- 
plaint — " want of hands," — but still agricultural wages do not 
rise to the height one would expect in the face of so universal 
a dearth of labour. From 2s. to 2*'. Qd. a day without food, and 
from 16/. to 20/. a year with food, besides lodging in the stable 
or cow-house, are the prices usually paid for agricultural labour 
in the north of France, except where the immediate neighbour- 
hood of a large town or an extensive manufactory exerts a 
distinct influence on the labour-market. 
The wages just mentioned do not include, it need scarcely 
be stated, the earnings of the maker of the cheese or butter on 
a dairy farm ; but it is generally the case that the farmer's wife 
or daughter performs this very important duty. The French 
law of succession to property — which limits almost to vanishing 
point the power of the father of the family to devise his property 
otherwise than in equal shares to his children — whatever its bad 
effects may be, produces one undeniably good result amongst 
