786 
Notes on French Agriculture. 
Dijon, in which it is proposed that the State should at once resume 
possession of all landed property, both above and under the ground, 
and thinks that if it is brought to the notice of peasant proprietors 
it will be enough, as they are by no means desirous of sharing 
their goods with outsiders. He laments the want of the spirit of 
association amongst farmers which enables the middleman to thrive 
upon them, and finally asks for freedom from internal and external 
enemies (anarchy and foreign produce). 
The next article I notice is upon the harvest of 1894, many of 
the details of which have appeared in our newspapers. The result, 
so far as the farmers of France are concerned, appears to be that they 
have had the best crop of wheat they have ever grown excepting that 
of 1874, and that they will have a surplus of over two million hecto- 
litres (or about 700,000 qrs.) to sell, or to carry over to next season. 
Hence, they are not likely to compete with us for foreign wheat. 
The resolutions of the Conseils Generaux on agricultural questions 
are interesting. They relate to adulteration and frauds in produce, 
and to taxation, protection, and migration from country to town. A 
homestead law is proposed that would ensure 240/. to 480/. per 
farming family, with freedom from seizure. There are also reso- 
lutions against drunkenness, several against tramps, and one in 
favour of co-operative dairies, and it is proposed that the law against 
tuberculous animals should not be enforced until money for 
compensation is voted. There is a quotation from a speech of M. 
Leygues, referring to the universal complaint of the depopulation 
of the country districts and the increased competition with the 
workmen in the towns, which the reviewer suggests is caused 
by the want of agricultural teaching. 
Notice is taken of a special branch of the Pasteur Institute, 
which is to investigate the destruction of hurtful animals and 
parasites. Under the heading of Importation of Cattle into France 
it is stated that from January 1 to July 31 of this year 63,784 
foreign beasts have entered, against 3,442 of the corresponding 
period in 1893, and 12,353 in 1892. These principally came from 
Algeria, 41,878, against 2,337 and 9,867, and from the United States 
6,725, against 1 and 170, showing that the States have found a new 
market for their cattle. The problem of reaping by steam-power 
appears to be coming again to the front, and is said to have been 
successfully solved by Mr. Miller, of Dawson, Minnesota, U.S.A., 
who, by attaching three binders to a traction engine, was able to 
cut twenty hectares (about 50 acres) a day at a cost of 3 francs 45 
centimes per hectare (or Is. 2d. per acre) ; as, however, he appears 
to have paid the men working his binders 3 francs per diem, he 
must have been fortunate in finding very cheap harvest-men. 
In a later issue of the Bulletin (October 15) M. A. de More has 
written to the National Agricultural Society of France upon feeding 
horses with bread. He was in the habit of giving 72 litres of oats 
to six horses per diem (i.e. about 2l> gallons per horse), of the value 
of 21 francs for 2 hectolitres, the "total cost being 7 francs 35 cen- 
times, or 1-23 francs (or about Is.) per horse per day. For the last 
