Omaha daily bee., 1902-09-21

ISNYEf1i France aud am now in the city of
~ Havre. the great port on the Eng
fish channel at the mouth OF the Seine. This
is one of the most important commercial
points Of north Europe. 1t is the gateway
from the Atlantic, not only to Paris and
France, but to Switzerland and southwest
crn Germany, and for many classes Of goods
to Holland and Belgium as well. 1t vies
with Marseilles as the chief port of the
French, and 1t Is the chief landing place
Of the American invasion. Last year about
1000. 900 tons Of goods were loaded or dis
charged here. Threc-fourths of all cotton
which we ship to France comes to Havre,
and also the bulk Of our machinery, bread
stuffs and notions.
Before | describe Havre let me give you
a bird's-eye glimpse of this land Of the
French to show you that 1t is well worth
your consideration in pushing your trade.
We arc apt to look upon the European states
as comparatively small, and the average
American does not realize their population
and wealth.
France is no six by nine province, either
in area or richness. She is one Of the larg-
est countries of Europe. She is more than
four times as big as New York or P%ennsyl-
vania, FIVE times as big as Ohio and over
twenty times the size of Maryland. With
a single exception, OF Texas, we have no
state as large and none, | venture, which 8
uniformly so rich in its agricultural prod
ucts. France has some of the richest soil
of Europe. and almost every bit of 1t Is
good land. 1t ranks next to Germany. Au-
stria- Hungary and Russia in area, and its
people are the thriftiest of the whole Eu-
rooean continent.
The population of France is more than
IS. 900 900, or about half as large as that
V-4A- 49, IL hoe anlu hnI
5000. 900 less people than Great Britain
and Ireland. but there the country Is
owned by the lords and the rich. 1t is one
of vast estates and the most OF 1t is pas
ture rather than cultivated farms. In
deed. all the farm lands of the United
Kingdom are held by about 10000 men. In
France there are more than $500, 600 land
owners. and the average holding is less
than six acres. The French farmers have
always made money. They know how to
till the soil as well as, II not better, than
any other peole on earth, and they till 1t
so well that they practically support and
feed themselves. They raise more than
800, 900, 900 bushels of wheat every year,
and il is only when their crop is short
that they have to import breadstuffs from
us. About every four men out of every
ten are engaged i'm farming, and 1t is es-
timated that one-hfth Of all the French
earnings come from the soil. France grows
more wheat in proportion to its popula-
tion than any European nation except
Russia. Her land has been farmed hun
dreds OF years, but by careful culture II
sim yields far more per acre than ours.
Intensive farming is carried on almost
everywhere. There are market gardens
scattered throughout northern France
which ship their products to England, |
saw loads Of French vegetables in the mar
kets Of London, and when l was at Man
chester last spring the ships were starting
out for the Channel islands and northern
France for new potatoes. About 5000, 900
pounds of potatoes are annually shipped
from Cherbourg to London, end the first
of the crop comes on as early as Feb
ruaTy, the potatoes being raised under
glass.
In all France it is estimate that more
than 1000, 900 acres are devoted to market
gardening and that the average yield per
acre is more than $167 per annum. There
is an early vegetable farm of $50 acres
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