The French Peasant- Farmers^ Seed Fund. 
339 
the mayor either came or delegated some one to receive the 
order, and to remove the grain from the stores. On receipt of 
the grain it was distributed by the mayor, with the aid of his 
municipal council, and each recipient signed his name as an 
acknowledgement of the quantity given to him, the return, when 
thus completed, being brought back to me. 
"By this means a salutary check was maintained on the mayors, 
who in small communes are often mere peasants, and who would 
naturally feel inclined to favour their friends and relations at the 
expense of others whose wants might be equal or greater." (Pp. 
5 and 6.) 
"In allotting grain to the department of the Somme, in which 
I have resided during the greater part of the war, I have been 
guided by my knowledge of the proportion in which each com- 
mune has suffered during the invasion ; for instance, those in 
whose immediate neighbourhood battles took place, and where 
bouses and property have been destroyed, have naturally received 
the largest share of assistance, as also have those communes 
which, being on or near the main roads traversed by the belli- 
gerents, and in the vicinity of the usual halting places, have 
suffered the most from requisitions." ! (P. 6.) 
The annexed fac-simile reduction of one of the tableaux used 
will give a better idea than any description of the thorough 
manner in which the precautions were carried out. It also 
shows the prevailing size of the farms in the district, and, what 
will astonish many Englishmen, that almost every one of the 
peasant-farmers was able to sign his name. 
Such having been the history, organization, and spring work 
of the Seed Fund, it remains to describe the result. Fortunately, 
it is easy to give an authentic summary under this head, because 
at a General Meeting of the subscribers held on the 23rd 
' of May, the Executive Committee were authorized to send a 
representative to France for the purpose of obtaining information 
jn this question. Capt. Delf, the gentleman who undertook this 
duty, presented an able report, from which the following extracts 
ire made, the only preface necessary being that the general result 
IS a complete success in every respect but one. The nursery 
eat was generally a failure, owing to the circumstances stated 
ifu the following paragraphs ; the April wheat, barley, oats, maize, 
( tches, and other fodder crops, as well as the garden-seeds, were 
eminently successful. 
On pp. 5 and 6 of his Report, Capt. Delf states : — 
"On July 20th I drove to Meslay, which had been the scene 
m engagement between the Prussians and French ; very great 
I been the necessities of this commune, and much relief had 
n rendered by a liberal distribution of wheat, barley, oats, 
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