of her climates, every kind of European produce finds representation within her boundaries. From the oranges and olive groves of sunny Provence and the winter flowers of the Riviera, through the rich vineyards of southern and central France and the industrial crops such as colza, flax, and tobacco, to the great area devoted to crops and live-stock similar to our own, an agricultural panorama of unrivalled variety passes before our eyes. At first sight it might seem that this variety is a disadvantage in any comparison of her land-system with our own, since it affords conditions of success in the one case that are absent in the other. Indirectly, however, it is of considerable value in enabling us to gain a clearer idea of the comparative possibilities of our own produce in the general scheme of European agriculture.

Secondly, as every kind of produce is found in France, so also is every kind of land-tenure. Freedom is the foundation-stone of the French land-system. Legislation has confined itself to throwing the door open to all, and beyond that the State has stood aside, permitting free play to individual enterprise. Thus we find large proprietors and small ones, proprietors living on their rents, proprietors exploiting their farms themselves, and proprietors who are also working as hired labourers. There are tenant farmers and métayers, and, finally, the landless labourer living sometimes in his master's house and sometimes in his own. Every kind of tenure and holding, and every class amongst those who gain a living out of the soil, flourish under the French land-system. This variety makes it an especially valuable study for us in the solution of our own land problem, for not only can we gain a comprehensive view of the merits of different holdings, but in their respective increase or decrease we may perceive the natural tendency of free economic development.

To the English traveller, rural France presents a striking and novel picture. If we go out from one of the large towns, we seem only to have passed from one kind of city to another-to a garden-city, not planned upon the stiff lines with which we are apt to associate the movement in our minds in this country, but one that

has sprung up naturally and spontaneously. Outside all French towns we encounter a long stretch of marketgardens before the ordinary produce of the district commences. From that point the land unfolds itself to our gaze, cultivated and populated, so far as eye can reach, under the form and size of holding that is best adapted to the district and the produce.

Variety and abundance are the chief features of French agriculture. Leaving Lyons behind us, we may proceed down the rich valley of the Rhone, through acres of orchards gleaming in the spring-time with the pink and white blossoms of peach and cherry trees, past terraced vineyards and picturesque villages, clustering along the shores of the great river; then, turning our backs upon the wonderful old Roman cities in which at first sight all the life of Provence seems to have centred, we may strike inland across hill, valley and gorge until we reach the great mountain barrier that forms the eastern boundary of Provence, and we shall find everywhere a land yielding its increase to a numerous and prosperous peasantry. After centuries of strife and oppression, the Provençal peasant has at last come into his own. Amidst the relics of the great civilisations of the past and the ruined castles of his overlords, his little plastered stone house is planted solidly down in the middle of his own acres, and he reaps to-day the full fruit of his strenuous toil. The culture of the land in its pleasantest formthe production of fruit, flowers and vegetables-a fertile soil and a ready market provide ideal conditions for the smallholder in Provence.

It is generally reckoned that a couple of hectares (5 acres) will provide a good living for a family of four persons and enable them to save at least a thousand francs a year. At the same time it must be noted that their success is due not only to favourable conditions. Almost every little village has its Syndicat agricole; and by enterprising cooperation the smallest holder is able to send forth his produce direct to the markets of other countries. Thus, in a small out-of-the-way village one may find the peasants, through their Syndicate, sending their asparagus direct to Covent Garden, without the aid of any middle-man; and the net profits for the day may possibly amount to 101.-no inconsiderable sum to

come into a small village. The horticulturists on the Riviera make the highest profits, for, owing to their special winter season, they have Europe for their market; and a carnation-grower, with not more than two acres, will employ five men all the year round at a regular wage of four and a half francs a day, and give employment also to their wives for half the year. Austria and Russia are their best customers; but this wide market is not without its disadvantages, for it is quickly affected by international complications, and the present war has hit these horticulturists hard.

But it is not only in this favoured corner of southeastern France that we find a thriving peasantry and a productive land. Crossing over to the south-west, through long stretches of vineyards, we may strike into the heart of the Pyrenees, where, even on the rugged mountain slopes we shall find hamlets and farms, perched almost at the base of the crags, the upland pastures and forests ringing with the music of the cattle and sheep bells, and the mountain paths peopled with a merry race of men, women and children wending their way on horse, mule and donkey to the markets below. Of all the sons and daughters of France, none lead a harder existence than these sturdy Pyrenean peasants. Snowed up sometimes in their farm-houses for five winter months, it is little more than a bare living that they wring out of the soil; but one hears few complaints of their lot, and their unfailing hospitality is a fine trait.

The lot of the agricultural worker in the centre of France provides a striking contrast. The fertile districts, for example, of Touraine, 'the garden of France,' watered by the great rivers Indre and Loire, yield some of the richest crops in the whole country; and the prosperous aspect of the villages, and the absence of all poverty, are sufficient evidence that a comfortable living is obtained by all. The land is almost equally divided here between vines and crops; but, while large, middle-sized and small proprietors and farmers compete side by side, it is universally admitted that the smallholder, owing to the more minute and thorough labour that he bestows upon his land, obtains twice the yield of the larger farmer. While the latter can only grow wheat in a three years' rotation, the smallholder will grow it every two years.

As we wend our way northwards, the appearance of cattle in the fields gives the country a more familiar and welcome aspect to English eyes; and it is in Normandy, the land of fat dairy farms and apple orchards, that the conditions of farming are most like our own. Within the last thirty years the area under corn has diminished in favour of pastures; and, for the most part, the land is split up into large farms. Norman farmers, as a rule, are contented with tenancy, though not infrequently they buy their farms on retiring. Unlike their French neighbours, they are not thrifty; they live well, and drink has taken an unfortunately strong hold upon the people. We see, again, in Norman towns-in contrast with the rest of France-those degraded and povertystricken wrecks of humanity with whom we are so terribly familiar in our own country. It is a noteworthy fact that, in districts in Normandy where the farmer wears the most prosperous aspect, the labourers receive the lowest wages, and the small-holding movement makes less progress than in other parts of France. While, throughout the country in general, wages vary from between three and a half to four and a half francs a day, there are districts in Normandy where they are as low as two francs.

To turn to statistics. Out of the total area of about 130,000,000 acres which form the territory of France, her agricultural land occupies a little over 90,000,000 acres, exclusive of about 23,000,000 acres of woods and forests. The total area of Great Britain is a little under 57,000,000 acres, and the land under cultivation occupies about 32,000,000 acres.* Thus, in a country more than twice the size of Great Britain, France possesses nearly three times the cultivated territory; in other words, she has almost three-fourths of her land under cultivation, while we have a little over half of ours. The number of agricultural workers in France, according to the census of 1906, was 8,777,053, while the total number of active agriculturists in England, Wales and Scotland, according to our last census, does not exceed 1,340,000. From these figures it appears that France has about six times the number

* Agricultural Statistics. Board of Agriculture, 1913.

of workers employed upon a territory three times the size of ours; but an analysis of the French figures will show us that over 3,000,000 of the workers are women and that there are only 5,500,000 active male agriculturists. As a matter of fact, France has lost about half a million male agriculturists in the last thirty years; and the continual increase in her active agricultural population is due to the number of her women agriculturists, who have increased from rather less than 2,000,000 in 1866 to 3,330,000 in 1906.* As a certain number of domestic servants have only lately been included amongst the agriculturists in the French census reports, the increase is not so great as it appears; but undoubtedly the growth in the number of smallholders has added considerably to the women workers. The agricultural output of France in 1911 reached a total value of 21,396,000,000 francs † (about 855,000,000l.) or almost six times that of Great Britain, which was estimated in 1908 at 150,800,000%.‡ Thus we see that, while France has a far larger proportion of her territory under cultivation than we have, she also employs twice the number of workers per cultivated acre and obtains an output of double the value.

When we come to consider how it is that she has achieved this greater agricultural success, a primary question at once suggests itself. How far is it due to special advantages of climate and soil? It is indeed constantly asserted that the greater variety of her produce, which her different climates permit, is the underlying factor in her success. As a matter of fact, a careful study of the division of her soil and of the respective contributions of her different products to the general output does not justify this statement. Though France possesses a greater variety of produce than Great Britain, the territory occupied by produce different to our own is comparatively insignificant in extent. Out of the total cultivated area, vines, industrial crops, market gardens and diverse special cultures occupy

* Résultats statistiques du recensement général de la population. Ministère du Commerce, 1906.

+ Statistique agricole annuelle. Ministère de l'Agriculture, 1911. Agricultural Output of Great Britain. Board of Agriculture, 1912. [Cd. 6277.]