Litchfield enquirer., 1874-02-12


 O0O of these rural hamlets and villages. called communes, in France, containing, Tn the aggregate, upward of26, ,OOO, 600 ot souls, leaving about 12, ,OO0, 900 in the large towns and cities. ..t
 Since writing the foregoing an intelligent Frenchman informs me that in parts of Brittany, and in portions of the country south of the Loire, all the way south to the Pyrenees, the farms are inclosed with hedge-fences, and that many of the farm CTS live on their lands as in America: but those are parts of France rarely visited by travellers. and only have his word for it. nave travelled at least 1,500 miles in France ln various directions, and have seen, in all that distance, no fenced farms and but few farm houses away from vil- lages.
 Another thing that arrests the atten tlon of the tourist in the universally care tuI manner in which the country is culti- yated. There seems to be not an acre of ground III France that is not devoted to some useful purpose. .There is no waste or Idle ground. The marshes appear to be dralned and reclaimed; the brooks and creeks have been strengthened, and, where they would be likely to wash away the earth, the banks thereof are carefully walled up; and the same is done with riy- CTS where, Ill making bends, they would cut away the adjoining fields, stone walls protect the land against such apprehended loss. Where streams, large or small overflow their banks, levees are raised to prevent It, and protect the adjacent lands rom damage Fine stone-arch bridges cross all the streams. The largest rivers In France have been thus spanned. Be- fore the era of railways, the government ou1lG those bridges for military purposes, and they will endure for centuries.
 All the country roads have seen are sold turnpikes, paved with the hardest procurable stones. The French foka great pains with their roads, and keen them carefully repaired Ride out into the country in any direction, from any city, and you are always sure of finding smooth, solid, clean road. At intervals ot 1Qlle or two will be found road-menG- CTS, breaking stone or repairing spots needing 1t. All along, at short distances apart, may be seen piles of ''Macadam'' on the road-sldes, ready for use when re- | quired. Where the country is hilIy or the ground uneven, the track of the road IS choked, but runs where the best grade can be found.
 Wherever tree can be planted without injury to grain crops, there it will be tound. Along the sides of the road. alonn lanes leading into the farms, along the banks of brooks or streams of any size will be found beautiful rows of trees of different kinds. Wherever there is q patch or strip of ground not arabic or fit for vine or grass, 1t is sure to be planted with tree, unless 1t be naked rok. The north ern mountain slopes are all covered with forest trees where it is possible to grow them; and the same IS true of the steep hll-sldes. The sunny sides of all accliNi- ties are kept for the growth of grapes. mulberry, olive, peach and other valua- Die trees; but the shady sides are given to the ire-wood trees. The willow is grown on the wet and low lands,- for bas- ket making and for fuel. Trees are en- s2s9gss 4a t2 RE2a$Se !9EgS t2Rs and many wool. The Lombardy poplar is largely grown for the sake of the biennial or the triennial crop of limbs they produce; and so of many other varieties of trees In addition 10 the trees grown by the farm CTS for fuel, shade, and ornament, there are many large forests owned by the gov ernment, ill which wood is produced for city consumption. There are several of those forests in the vicinity of Paris, con tainlng each from 15, GOO to 5O,OOO acres. and which have been carefully preserved as state timber-lands for centuries Paris IS mainly supplied with fuel from those forests. They are full of deer, hares, and other game.
 Manure is collected and saved with as much care in France as anything else. All the leaves of the trees are carefully raked together and conveyed to the stable yards to assist in forming compost-heaps, to be applied in the production of corps. Lime and gypsum are also largely used where procurable; and all manures and night soils of the cities, as well as bones and blood of slaughtered animals, are carted off into the country, and prepared for the use Of the fields and gardens.
 In short, no substance which will help the land, and increase the growth of veg citation, but IS utilized in France. The English, know, are in the habit of saying that the farming of France is inferior to that of Great Britain. And the reason they assign IS, that the land is cut up into small freeholds, ands, and not so scientif- lcally cultivated as in England, where the farms are large and not owned by the cul- tlvatOr. It is true that more machinery IS employed on English farms, and that the blowing is deeper, because four or six horses or steam power IS used to subsoil blow; and more guano is imported, and manure is applied, because there are Il larger proportion of cattle to produce it to a given area than in France; but, for all this, the farming in England is no better than in France, and nothing like as tasty and neat.
 England has climate better adapted to the growth of grass, grain, and root crops than France, because it is cooler and more humid; yet Great Britain does not produce half the food she consumes, while France yields enough and 10 spare. The wheat production of France exceeds that of the United States. She exports less breadstuffs than the latter, because she consumes more wheat. The people of our southern states chiefly subsist on corn; whereas, in France, everybody eats ''white bread, as wheaton flour is called. The wheat exported by the United States would not bread the ''south," if it's peo- pie did not eat corn.
 Wherever l have travelled through France, 1 have been impressed with the careful, pains-taking character of it's farm ing. No weeds or thistles are allowed to appear. Every acre seems to be cultivated or made to contribute to the wants and necessities of the population. Everything is neatly and exactly done. One sees no slovenly, careless agriculture The French are naturally tasty, cleanly, tidy people, with an eye to the beautiful as well as useful. They love flowers and fruits, shrubs, climbing vines and ornamental trees, and cultivate them with great care and taste. They are good agricul- turists and horticulturists. They could not be therwise to effect the great re- suits they do. Here is population near 1 ly equal to that of the whole United l States subsisted in comfort on territory no larger than the four states of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and al l most destitute of coal for fuel or power. The soil is not naturally rich. It is far b inferior to that of the states named, and has been subject to the exhaustion of twenty centuries of continual cropping. And yet, since the farmers came into pos session of the land. eighty years ago. and