Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1895-12-19

49, Quefeu England In
1866, and became
king of that country.
whise still retaining his dukedom. His
successors in the dukedom were enter
prising and powerful Princes and took
an active part in the crusades and other
warlike enterprises. at the same time
they encouraged both agriculture and
navigation, and the people of their sea
coast were the most daring and skill
full amongst the navigators of that
time. They conducted an active traffic
with foreign countries. and as early as
the fourteenth century established
treaty ports on the coast of Africa, and
elsewhere. In the sixteenth century
they discovered the St Lawrence river,
and occupied it's shores; and also estab
lished settlements in Brazil and other
parts of South America. This COM
merce necessarily called for the estab
lishment of seaports in France. The
least important Of these ports was
Havre, at the mouth of the Seine,
founded by Francis, the first King of
France, about 1886, the previous port
of Harfleu, at the mouth Of that stream,
having become Ineligible on account of
the filling up OF the stream by allu
the mouth of the Mississippi and other
rivers Of its kind. The harbor has ever
since been maintained and improved at
great expenditure Of money, and it's
docks are now more extensive than
those of any other port except Liver
pool, and its commerce equals, if not
exceeds, that of any French port. Dur
ing the growth OF the commercial prop
erty the agricultural interests of Nor
mandy made corresponding improve
ment, this being mainly due to the
fact that, unlike England, the land, in
stead Of descending always in body to
the eldest son, was divided among all
the children, until the whole country
is held in small tracts. This state Of
things have continued until this day,
and now nearly the whole of France is
owned by occupants of the soil, who
thus have the greatest interest, as it is
TO their advantage, to bring and keep
the same III the highest state of cult
Walton and productiveness. The lands
are now in better condition than they
were five hundred years ago, the policy
OF the farmers being to replace the
drain upon the soil each year by it's
equivalent in barn-yard manure. The
propretors of land make it an invari-
able practice in renting to require the
tenants to be skillful producers of barn
yard fertilizers. Such tenants have but
little difficulty in renting the best lands
In Normandy. Many of these lands are
occupied by the fifth and sixth genera
ton of tenants.
Three-quarters of all the land in
England is owned by less than 20 900
proprietors, while hree-fourths of all
the lands of France are owned bv
three-fourths Of the people, who work
tnem; hence, for seventeen consecutive
years, up to the last twelve years, the
French farmer, with about 40. OOO. 900 of
people on territory but little larger
than the State of Texas, produced a
surplus of wheat, horses. cattle. butter
and eggs; and, in fact, furnishing q
very large share Of table supplies to
London. A French farmer on siytv
acres OF land. with but few fences tn
keep In repair, other than mud fences
mat require little or no attention after
they are made; although they are about
four feet at the base. they take up less
than no land at all, as they are four
feet high and two feet wide on ton. and
as they are universally cultivated in
grass, which is cut and grazed as grass
'ahds are in this country, with the adj
dltion of a line of trees, mostly beech
This class of French farmers, which
are about the average, will have at the
end OF the year little balance sheet of
sales about as follows:
ok mead of cattle, at an average of
l.4oo pounds; s head of hogs, at an
average of 200 pounds; 400 or 500 chick
ems, worth so cents each; 700 or 500
pounds of butter; or Norman draft
colts, where they work mares flor they
90 not keep their stations and mares
on the same farm; together with their
wheat and fruit, for there is an orchard
on almost every tract of land. Such
iarm has more money to it's credit than
the average of our farms with 900
acres. When our people raise corn and
hogs and pay taxes on at least one-half
OF a 3OO-acre farm that is not cultivat-
co. our farmer making his land poorer.
ana the French farmer increasing the
productive quality of his land every
year. The tillers of the French soil
understand. furthermore, the import
ance OF growing crops adapted to par
ucuiar qualities of land, taking into
olose consideration climatic influences
a0d weather nrnha hilities