The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1918-03-20
FOOD PLENTIFUL
IN FRANCE ANS
Des Moines Man Enjoys "a Square
Meal" and is Surprised to Find
the Price Not Outrageous.
NO WOMEN IN FRENCH FIELDS
Striking Contrast to Scenes Witnessed
in Germany When Writer Was
There With Peace Party.
(BY H. c. EvANs.)
(COpyriehted 1917

copyrighted 1879 "F
SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE, Feb
21-Southern France is as fair coun-
try as ere the sun shone on-and as
prolific. Nowhere, not even in Switz-
erland, have ! seen such picturesque
homes and villages as beautiful as
the rolling prairies and fertile valleys
OF this part of France. The farmers
live in villages of from four to forty
homes.
And such villages! The houses
are built OF stone or cement, with the
the corners and cornices. window and
above castings, of brick The roofs
are Of red tile. often overgroWn with
moss. The different building materi-
ial affords variety of colors that con-
trast sharply with the somber red
brick tenements Of the villages of Ger
many.
Each house in the French village
has an individuality of its own, and
is not directly connected with other
houses. The architecture varies from
the gothic to the bungalow. The glory
OF these villages is in the homes, the
trees, the shrubs, the flowers, the
stone fences.
The best landscape gardener in
America can take lessons from the
French peasant There is great
variety of beautiful shrubbery, fash
ioned into lodges and clusters. Near
ly every home is surrounded by an
attractive stone fence, often covered
with ivy, all combining to make d pic
ture as alluring as pastel drawing.
farmers Of France.
And here live the farmers of France
From these villages they go out to
their little farms, in the morning. The
farmers OF Germany also live in viii
lagos, but their villages are more like
tenement rows. The men who till the
soil of Germany do not own the land;
they are not even tenants; they are
hired men, and there is little incentive
or time for them to beauty the homes
and villages, which are owned by their
landlords. They raise large families
on a wage Of fifty cents day, a gar
den and a COW. The farmers of France
own the land they till, at least most
of them do, and the others rent There
are four million land owners in Ger
many and eight million in France, and
Germany has twice the population of
France.
To man accustomed to the black
loom of the Iowa prairies the yellow
soil of France. filled with gravel, looks
ungenerous. Yet it has been farmed
since the days of Clovis, before Christ.
and still yields abundantly. On this
1st day Of February the farmers are
plowing. Their seeding and breaking
is largely done in the fall, however.
Their fields are now green with wheat
gld winter vegetables, There are
fields upon fields of Brussel sprouts,
endives, parsnips, etc.
Food is Plentiful.
Southern France is veritable ar
senal Of foodstuffs. Long trains of
ears are constantly moving northward
armament and food trains. There
are train loads of grain in sacks, COW
cred with canvass; other trains, many
Of them, loaded with hay. Hay stacks
dot every farm. Threshing machines
are still separating last years crop
About all the depots are piled the
products of the country, and at ports
and bases Of supply the products of
other countries. Among the products
being moved l noted coal, telephone
poles, railroad ties, barrels of wine
and oil, wood, tiling, paving blocks,