Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/556

 520 F K A N C E [MANUFACTURES. Ministry of agri culture. and of asses 450,625. The returns for the same year gave 10,023,716 head of cattle and 24,707,496 sheep. The goats, particularly numerous in Corsica and some mountainous parts, were 1,791,725. The addition of 2,500,000 beehives, of a total value of about 32,800,000 francs, 58,300,000 poultry of all kinds, and 2,300,000 dogs completes the enumeration in its principal divisions of the live stock of agricultural France. In France the interests of agriculture are entrusted to a special minister. Under him are general inspectors, whose duty it is to visit the different parts of the country, and to report on their respective position and wants. These reports serve to determine the distribution of grants and re wards which the state dispenses every year. In 1869 the sum of money given as relief in cases of fires, cattle disease, and damage caused by storms, frost, or excessive drought, floods, and other accidents, amounted to 2,171,340 francs. As rewards, the state gives premiums to the owners of the best stallions and broodmares (826,000 francs in 1873); it supports by grants riding schools and establishments for training horses (160,500 francs), gives prizes for race horses (404,500 francs), and distributes about 1,400,000 francs a year for the creation and maintenance of agricul tural societies. The principal object of these societies is the organization of provincial shows of cattle, implements, and agricultural produce, under the name of cornices agri- coles. The Government lias, besides, founded institutions that are entirely under its management and belong to the state. Such are the sheep-folds of Haut-Tingry (Pas-de- Calais) and Rambouillet (Seine-et-Oise), the cow-house of Corbon (Calvados) for the breeding of Durham cows only, and the haras or stallion stables. These stables, contain ing together about 1085 horses, and kept at an expense of 1,844,000 francs, are established in 22 central towns, and send stallions every year to 340 stations. Two great banking establishments have been founded in order to help those who are engaged in agricultural business. The one, the credit fonder, grants loans on land securities ; these loans amounted for the year 1872 to 45,482,242 francs 60 cen times, divided among 1156 borrowers. The other, the credit agricole, which dates from 1860, discounts bills and lends on personal or other security, but always with the object of promoting the progress of agricultural pursuits. In 1872 this company negotiated bills to the value of 248 millions of francs. It paid the same year a dividend of 15 francs for each 500 francs share. The credit fonder, which is an older institution (1852), paid 35 francs for each share of the same value. XII. Manufactures, Mines, and Quarries. Textile One of the foremost branches of manufacture in France manufac- is that which has for its object the working up of textile res - materials. The gross amount of its produce is not less than 3,500,000,000 francs a year, and statistics pub lished in 1873 return it as employing 308,481 men, 306,898 women, 69,948 children, 2777 steam-engines, and about 9,500,000 spindles. These figures relate to the period between 1861 and 1865, and are certainly very much less than if the enumeration had been taken more recently. Linen. The flax gathered in 1873 weighed 54,874,740 kilo grammes (1,081,276 cwt.), and represented a minimum value of 84 millions of francs ; to which must be added 10,188,721 kilogrammes (200,766 cwt.) of hemp, at an average price of one franc a kilogramme. About 800,000 spindles are kept busy with this material. In this branch of trade the department of Nord ranks first ; it manufac tures more than one-third of the total amount of linen pro duced. Seine, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, Seine-Inferieure, Calvados, Ille-et-Vilaie, Lot-et-Garonne, Indre-et-Loire, and Seine-et-Oiso are, next to the department of Nord, the chief seats of this industry. The cotton manufacture has its centre in Normandy. Cott( More than a third of the total produce of the French cotton looms comes from the department of Seine-Inferieure ; Nord, Vosges, Calvados, Aisne, Aube, Orne, Meuse, and Euro have also a large share in the production of cotton yarn and cotton cloth. The department of Rhone is famous for its cotton muslins, the value of which is not less than 28 millions of francs. Meurthe produces a special kind of trimming, valued at about 3 millions of francs a year. French cotton goods cannot cope in cheapness with the English, but they are of fine quality, and on this account command a sale in the markets. In the absence of auth entic documents, we may safely estimate the produce of cotton manufacture for 1872 at 500 millions of francs, and the plant engaged in the trade at 6 millions of spindles and 260 millions of looms of various kinds. The loss of Alsace has been a heavy blow to the cotton trade of France. In the woollen factories 3,200,000 spindles are employed, Wo n giving work to more than 172,000 people. Wool fabrics amount in value to 1,200,000,000 francs, figures which present a striking contrast to the valuation of Count Chaptal in 1812, which was not above 250 millions of francs. Large manufacturing houses are to be found especially in the departments of Ardennes (Sedan), Nord (Lille, Cambrai, &c.), Marne, Eure (Louviers), Herault ; while Rhone is noted for shawls, Bouches-du-Rhone for washing and combing, Calvados for wool yarns, Aisne for both yarns and tissues, Aude for drapery, &c. The special manufacture of Paris is that of shawls, damasks for furni ture, merinos, and lighter fabrics as gauzes, muslins, bareges, &amp;lt;fec. The rearing of silk-worms and the production of silk can Sil be traced far back in the industrial history of France. The first Avignon pope, Clement V., is said to have introduced the first silk- worms and the first mulberry trees (1305). This branch of industry soon assumed a national character, and all kings who, like Louis XL and Henry IV., cared for the progress of commerce and manufactures, gave it encouragement and privileges. In 1780 France produced 6,600,000 kilogrammes of cocoons (14,549,194 Ib), having a value of 15,500,000 francs. The following table shows the progress made in the rearing of silk-worms from that date : Years. Weight of Cocoons. Value. Kilogrammes. Cwt. Francs. 1781-88 6,200,000 122,167 18,600,000 1789-1800 3,000,000 59,113 9,800,000 1801-1807 4,200,000 82,761 13,600,000 1808-12 5,147,800 101,436 17,502,550 1813-20 5,200,000 102,463 21,520,000 1821-30 10,800,000 212,808 44,080,000 1831-40 11,537,000 227,132 42,840,000 1841-45 17,500,000 344,631 66,500.000 1846-62 24,254,000 477,911 91,816,000 1853 26,000,000 512,335 117,000,000 1863 9,578,804 188,745 51,916,837 1867 14,082,945 277,496 98,580,515 1869 8,076,545 159,144 60,170,260 1872 9,871,116 194,505 60,707,363 These 9,871,116 kilogrammes of cocoons gave 636,800 kilogrammes (12,547 cwt.) of raw silk. Twenty-one de partments are engaged in the rearing of silk-worms, those which yield the largest produce being Gard, Drome, Ardeche, Vaucluse, Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, Isere, Herault, Basses- A.lpes, &c. After having undergone the various operations which transform the cocoon into regular yarn, the silk goes to the weaver. Nine-tenths of the silk is