The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-09-21

Bpssu cs--srpoodsn-s q Ts Sunday Rspubre.
Havre. FrancA sept Al have crossed
] from Dnsinnd TO Franco and am now IN
Aths City Of HRvTe the great port on the
tEnSrsa ChranG at the mouth Of the
tesne This In one Of the most important
Commercial potrt1 Of north Europa Il is
thu nsevly from the Atlantic not only TO
Paris and Frrnce, but to Switzerland and
Southwestern Germany, and for many
cADes Of goods. 20 Holland and Belgium
as well Il vfes with AArseilies as the
chief port Ct the French. and Il Il the
ehs1 landing place Of tho American In
vsson Last year about 100000 tons OF
goods were loaded or discharged mere
Three-fourths OF al ths cotton which We
ship TO France comes to Havre and also
the bulk Of our machinery. breaastuis and
nottDnA
Before 7 dGcrfbe Havre let me give you
O btrd'e-eye glimpse OF this land Of the
French 10 show you that II L. well worth
your consideration IN pushing your trade
We a=e apt 10 look upon the European
states az comparatively small. and the aver
age Amer1can does not realize their popu-
lation and wealth
France is no exs province either IN area
81 richness She u one OF the largest coun-
fries Of Europe She Is more than four
y times as big As New York or Pennsylvania,
I FIVE times az big as Ohio and over twenty
times the size OF Maryland With the SIN
gle exception oS Texas we have no State as
large. and none I venture. which IL uni
forraly no rich IN its agricultural products
France has some OF the richest soil in
Europe. and almost every hit OF II Is good
land II ranks next TO Austria
Hungary and Russia IN area and its peo-
pie are the thrifuest OF the whole Europ-
can continent
FRENCH FARMERS HAVE
ALWAYS MADE MONEY.
The population OF Francs IN more than
G.0oo.6O. or about half as large as that of
the United States II has only about 5000
900 less people than Great Britain and Ire
land. but there the country In owned by the
lords and the rich II IS one OF vast estates
and the most OF Il is pasture rather than
cultivated farms Indeed. al the farm lands
Of the United Kingdom are held by about
1900 msn. In France there are more than
10000 land-owners. and the average hold
ing is less than six acres The French
farmers have Away made money. They
konv how 10 TIL the soil as well, II not
better. than any other people on earth, and
they TIL II 30 well that they practically sup
port and feed themselves They raise more
than 2o.oe9.00 bushels OF wheat every year,
and II is only when their crop is short that
they have TO import breadstuns from US.
About four men out Of every ten are en-
gagged IN farming. and IL is that
one-tfth ID all The French earnings come
-AA5 LALAS NutdL
In proportion 70 its population than auy
European nation except Russia Her land
has been farmed hundreds OF years but,
by careful culture. II still yields far more
per acre than ours.
Intensive farming IN carried On nIuaoS.
everywhere. There are market gardens
scattered throughout Northern France
which ship their products 10 England. 1
I saw loads OF French vegetables in the mar
fkets OF London. and when ! was at Man
AlRaTRr 1pcT euTf-C cha abF1S u-a-a -.,-.H-
out for the Channel Islands and Northern
France for new potatoes About 80, 90. e1c
pounds Of potatoes are annually shipped
from C~herbourg 10 London. and the FIRST
OF the corn comes on as early as February.
the potatoes being raised under glass.
In all France II is stimate that more
than 10000 acres are devoted TO market
gardening, and that the average yield per
acre is more than Ss7 per annum. There
Is an early vegetable farm OF $50 acres near
Cherbourg that brings in l 900 a year. Il
is such culture that creates the demand
Tor our plovs, cultivRtors and the smaller
farm tools.
PANAMA CANAL MONEY WAS
LOANED BY PEASANTS.
The farmers Of France have always been
noted for their thrift They are good GUS
toners because they can pay for what they
kuy. Nearly every peasant. man or
,txoman. has money in the savings bank or
a. ~ Ah0AeA away sonltSncro III hA
old wooden stocking.
When De Lesseps was pouring millions
into the Panama Canal he was asked where
the money came from He replied: Prom
the wooden stockings OF France, where
there are sdli hundreds OF millions more"
II was these same stocking boards that
paid the cost Of the Franco-German war,
the greatest payment ever made by one |
nation TO another. The cost OF the war /
and Of the Indemnity amounted 10 more
than S.oo0.Co0.oo. The Government issued \
bonds. and the peasant farmers of France \
brought out their stockings and bought
them Sincs then these stockings have /
again become fun. and although France
hss a national debt q almost seven BIZ