| Arpents or Acres. | |
| Alluvial and other rich soil, | 26,159,340 |
| Chalky do | 13,268,911 |
| Gravelly do | 3,261,826 |
| Stony do | 18,128,660 |
| Sandy do | 7,553,956 |
| Substratum of clay with a slight | |
| covering of sand—called | |
| landes, | 21,879,120 |
| Granitic and other mountains | 25,261,946 |
AGRICULTURAL TABLES.
| Arable land | 63,600,000 |
| Vineyards, | 4,764,960 |
| Woods, | 15,931,850 |
| Natural meadows, | 5,464,800 |
| Artificial meadows, | 6,332,100 |
| Lakes, marshes, wastes, | 19,400,049 |
| Total, | 115,493,759 |
From the average of a number of statistical tables made by the Abbe D'Expillyt and others, it appears that in 1777, the agriculture of France was sufficient for the subsistence of its inhabitants, and had a surplus to spare;[15] and though it be universally admitted that her condition in this respect is not less prosperous now than it was then,[16] still it cannot be dissembled that her husbandry has many defects.
1. A supposed resemblance between the earth and animals, gave rise to fallows; because men and horses required repose after labour, it was supposed that after cropping, the earth also required it. Faithful to this absurd analogy, the French landlord binds down his tenent by lease, not to crop the soil more than three years in four, which in effect is to consign to barrenness or weeds, one fourth of the whole arable land of France yearly!
2. There is not a sufficiently fixed, or steady proportion, between arable and pasture land.—The production of grain is the great object of culture—often with too little regard to the nature of the soil, and generally without any to its improvement. "Where pasturage is scanty, where natural meadows are bad, where artificial are rare, and root husbandry little extended, cattle cannot be either numerous or well conditioned; and as without these there can be no manure, so without manure there can be no abundance."[17]
3. The land is generally worked by farmers, hired for that purpose, or by renters on short leases; which in neither case betters the condition of the soil; the one having no interest in improvements, and the other too small a one to justify any expense in making them.
4. A good rotation system, adapted to the soil and climate, is not absolutely unknown, and may be found even in whole districts (as in French Flanders) but much too rarely. We have seen wheat and fallows alternately for years; and wheat, rye, hemp, and rye, and many others equally ridiculous.
5. To the eye, more than one half of France is a common, without fences of any kind, excepting garden or park walls. Can there be order, economy and security, under such circumstances? Can the police and the gens d'armes be sufficient substitutes?
[Albany Argus.