, 1874-01-31


nro the !apots that wero SOLICITED ccnu.
ries ngo for thouo cinutora OF farm.hounos.
| TlIousa,ia Of rillngcB l,aYo stood for tcn or
moro centuries; nntl t1ioro is iit!o rercopttb1o
tho inhabitants. Hinco tho tlays of tho Crusaders,
or, for that mattor, alnca tho conuuost Of Franco
| by Jnlnn Cmaar, 200 yoara ago. I hayo luolsod
at hundreds nf thoso anc|ent rurnl villages, ind
obHerye they aro NIL aako.
4 DESCRIPTION OF ONE
IS description Of al. Gonorally. toro in only
QUO streot, hut somottmos second. crossing It
ut my anglo excopt Il right ono. THO stroot is
about as to 35 feet wide; Inns no sidewalk; ia
| clean, but crooked M rnlna horn. Eael, llouaa
IT built Of brick or stono, nnd covered with tile,
having Btccp roofs with gables fronting tue
sttoot III tho rear Of each houae aro stat1o for
the shelter OF cattle some other farm buildings;
stacs; yard; place for far'n,imrloments; little
md q pile OF wood Tor turf. whore tlat Is pro-
dt1ce), cut short nntl assorted Into twiga for
hinllngs. aud split wood for heating. Ivy or
sropoE snos snt gr0w m tho sdes o tho
vlnes Frequently pretty lttle garden rnay 10
saen between tho house on tho front a1ld tho
stabling Oil the rear Of the lot. Everything Ia
| OLD and quaint. Tho universal vehicle Of thc
farmer ia cart. or rather tho body OF n tlrny
mounted on high whoels. II moro thau ono
horAe Ia used, thoy are drvon tandem. This
mode or convosanco ia only, varied by tho em~
poyment Of psek-mnles and 'lonkoyso whiel,
carry enormous loatls for their size. Ono will
often Hoo q fat old woman going to market
mounted OIL little donkoy not much lnrger
tllan sheep. which hobbies and stnggera along
" Tiled p 11olR eo ond
b1es, with all the patience al1d gravity Of mn
III addition to tho farmers, each village, or
commune, ha' it's wyine-shoop, It's little varcty
store, blacl;smith,, tailor, and some other
! echoo1maator. Some Of tho villages contain
sereral hundred houses, md trauaact n little
! local trade. But I noticed that. no n,uttor
whether the town WIS largo or small, II portion
| Of It's inhabitants
wERE FAnMEns.
of a commune Of 500 souls. However, in so1no
! parts Of frnueo, T aaw aoparate farn.-houaes
after the English style. That is, whore . man
400 acres s-ho livod on it, and had bulti In prox-
| unity to his own dwelling number OF HnlalLer
dwellings for his hired 1aborers. There arc said
to bs 600 of these rural hanlets and villages,
aggregate, upwards OF 25 600 600 OF Aons, s,---lony-
Giles. fi ~ '0S''~'' ~ ''0N ''''' "''''
Since writing tho foregolug An intelligent
Frenchman informs mo that In parts of Brit
tany ar,l In portions OF the country houth Of tho
Loire, all the way south to the pyrenocs tho
far,ns nro incloBcd with Aolgo-fcncos and tint
n,any OF the farmers live on tl,oir lands, rs in
America but those are parts of Frnl,co rarely
it. I Gnvo travclod at leaat 1900 miles in
Franco in various directions, md llaye Hoeu, in
all tint distance, no fenced iarrnH, md but fow
farm-louses away from villages.
Another thing TINT arrests tho attention OF the
tourist is tho
uS1yERsALLY-cAnEFu1. MANNER
in which tho country is cultivated. There seems
to bc not All aero Of ground in Franco TINT IL
not devoted to some useful purpose; Tlero ia
no waste Or idlo ground: The n,asshes appear
fr3 Ind HruSf,o 3nrtf S1H I'm Iro1 1Y,1
crooks hnve been straightcncd. aud, whore thoy
would bo likely to wash away tho earth, tho banks
thereof arc carefully walled up aud tho same
Is tono with rivers whero in milking bends.
walls protect tho land against such apprehonded
losa. Whcro styeams large or small, overflow
their banks, levees are raised to prevent it, and
protect the adjacent lands from damage. Fiuo
largest rivers in Franco have been tllua spannod.
DoIore tho era Of railways, the Government
built those bridges for military purposes, and
they will endure for centuries.
All the collntry-roads hayo soon arc
aoLlD TunNriKEs.
paved with the hnrdcst-procurable stone. Tho
French tako gront ra|us with their roads. nnd
keep thon carefully repaired. Ride outinto the
arc always e,,ro Of finding smooth solid, clean
road, At intervals OF a milo or two will DO
fc;,pi1 oad-mondera, breaking stone or repair-
ti;the p3tR neediug 1t. All along. at short 3ie-
| On tho rosi-sidos ready for use whom required.
Wlle:o the country is lilly or the ground I'M
even, tho track OF tho road ia crooked, but runs
| whcro tho oasiest grade can be found
WHEREVER TREE CAN BE PLANTED
| without injury to gratn-cropB, thoro it will be
found. Along the sides Of Tho road along lanes
| leading into the farms, along the banks
| Of brooka or streams Of my size, will 10
found bcnutifu rowB Of trees Of different hlndE.
Wherever there is Il patch or strip Of ground
not arabic Or tit for vine or grass, it is sure to
bo planted with trees unless it be naked rock.
Tho northern noultnin-slopos arc ali covered
With foreBt-trces whero it il possible to grow
.lcm aud tho same " true Of the stoep hill
sidcs Tho Aanny sides Of all nccllyites are ltopt
for Tie growth Of grapss, mulberry, olive peach.
and othor valuable tTocs; but tho shady sidcs arc
| given to tho Are-wood trees. The willow is
grown on thu wot or low }anan, for baB}tet-mnla-
| ing and for fuol Troes aro encouraged to pro-
duco largo tops nnd many branches; and these
are clipped OIL Tor fsol rs regularly aud systenl-
| atically Oh sheep arc s4orn In WlSconsin Tor
their wool. Tho Lonlbardy pon!ar Is largely
grown for the sale Of the bieinial or tho trien-
| niAl crop Of limbs they produce: and 80 oE
rnnny other varieties Of trees.
! In addition to tho trees grown by the farmers
! for fuel, shade, mud ornun,ont, tlloro arc many
| largo forests owned by tho Government. in
whicl, wood 10 produced for city-conaumption.
There ar0 several Of those forests In tho yioill-
ity Of Paris containing each from 5000 to 50,-
600 aercs, aud which have been carefully pre-
il mainly supplied with fuel from those forests.
| Thoy arc full of doer. haros, and other gnme.
| MANURE
IL collected and Bayoa will, asmuch care In France
az anything olse All tho leayes OF the trees aro
carefully raked together and conveyed to the
stable-yarts to aaslst in forming compost-heapA
to bo applied in tho production OF crops. Lime
and gypsum arc also lnrGo1y used wllere procura-
BILE; nnd all manuros and niglt-solls Of tho
cities, as well al bones and blood of slaughtered
animals. are carted of into the country md pre-
pnrod for tho uso Of tho folds and gardens.
fl short, no substance which will help tho
land aud increase tho growth Of vegetation, but
is utilized in France. Tho English, know. arc
i'll tho habit Of saying thas the farming of
the reason they assign is that tho land ia cut up
it,to small frooholde. and not 10 scientifically
cultivated as in England, where the farms arc
large and not owned by tho ouftiyator. It 1s
true that moro machinery il employed on ls1,-
glisl far1ns, aud that tho plowng il deeper, be-
cauBo four or six horsca or steam power is used