Rural Economy of France since 1789. 
545 
mountains ; the remainder forms a beautiful plain, watered 
by the Garonne, and intersected by the famous Canal du 
Midi. In respect of population, agricultural and industrial 
prosperity, notwithstanding the many natural advantages which 
it ])ossesses, this is one of the poorest districts in France. M. de 
Lavergne explains this inferiority from historical deductions, 
which we cannot follow out in the pages of this Journal, though 
their cogency is beyond a doubt. Out of nearly 22,000,000 
acres, this division has no less than 5,000,000 acres of uncul- 
tivated land, a large proportion of which might be reclaimed 
with a moderate supply of capital and labour. Such is the 
marshy plain that extends from Bordeaux to Bayonne, measuring 
nearly 2,000,000 acres. There are, besides, 3,000,000 acres in 
woods and forests. 
It is especially in this part of France that the system of tenure 
known under the name of metayage most generally prevails. This 
system, as is well known, consists in the tenant paying his rent in 
kind instead of money. The landowner provides the land and 
buildings, and sometimes the horses, implements, and stock under 
certain stipulations ; and both equally divide the produce what- 
ever it be. When a metayer enters upon his farm an account 
is drawn of everything he finds there in the shape of implements, 
horses, and cattle, and when he leaves it he must hand over to 
his successor exactly the same stock or its equivalent. In fact, 
the tenant gives his labour and provides half the capital or its 
equivalent in stock, the landlord provides the land and his share 
of the capital or its equivalent in stock. In some parts of 
Anjou, Touraine, and adjacent districts, this system proves a 
real advantage to both parties, because both tenant and landlord 
have capital and intelligence, both are eager to increase their 
produce by adopting a progressive system, and especially by libe- 
rally manuring their lancl. They work together, the landlord 
with his brains and money, the tenant with his activity and 
experience ; but in the south-western division this system, 
instead of being beneficial to the landlord, is a dire necessity 
which he is obliged to bear, but from which he would gladly 
escape. M. de Lavergne truly says that metayage has two 
aspects — the one bright and prosperous when the common inte- 
rest and the private interest of both parties are presumed to 
coincide, and each seeks to increase his share by increasing that 
of the other ; the other aspect — and this is the one that prevails 
in the south-western region — where each party seeks to increase 
his share by curtailing that of the other. This unhappy feeling 
gives rise to all sorts of injustice and robbery. When thus 
cari'ied on, this system is no longer an association — it is anta- 
gonism in its very worst form. 
