Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/380

 368 FRANCE running through the Vosges, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the peninsula of Brittany, forms a kind of basin in the centre of which a pile of the same formation rises. This constitutes the Auvergne mountains, which, being mostly composed of granite, gneiss, and micaceous schists, bear abundant traces of recent volcanic activity; extinct craters, lava streams, &c., present an interesting field for the observations of the geologist. The primary rocks at the circumference are of the greatest diversity, the granite however predominating at the ex- tremity of the peninsula of Brittany. The in- tervals between the external belt and the cen- tral nucleus are mostly filled up by secondary formations, interspersed with tertiary deposits. Both are interesting. The former, which are calcareous or marly and generally compact, contain a vast number of shells, madrepores, and other organic remains ; stretching in long hill ranges, of little elevation, they run through Lorraine, Burgundy, Tranche - Comte, Dau- phiny, and Languedoc. Many are steep and bare, or covered only by a thin vegetable soil ; but some, the hills of the C6te d'Or especial- ly, are admirably suited for the vine. The most remarkable tract of tertiary formations is known as the "Paris basin;" a larger one covers nearly the whole of the valleys of the Garonne and the Adour, while several others of smaller extent are found in the valleys of the Loire and the Allier. These are mostly calcareous, enclosing great quantities of shells and the remains of fossil mammalia of large size. The district around the mouth of the Rhone is entirely alluvial. The soil of France, taken as a whole, is of superior quality ; and the productive part of it bears a larger pro- portion to the entire extent of the country than in most other European states. Of the entire soil only 7*5 per cent, is uncultivated or unproductive. Of the productive portion 50 per cent, is arable land and gardens, 4 per cent, vineyards, 28 per cent, meadows and pas- tures, and 18 per cent., forests. The climate, being on the whole temperate, is one of the finest in Europe ; it is however greatly diver- sified by the differences of latitude, elevation, soil, exposure, &c. In this respect France has been divided into four regions, each being characterized by a special production : the first, the region of the cereals, extends from the northern frontier to a line drawn from M6- zieres to Nantes ; the second, the region of the vine, is comprised between this line and an- other passing from a point near Nancy to the mouth of the Charente ; the third, through which the cultivation of maize prevails, is bounded S. by a line extending from Grenoble to Perpignan; and the fourth, the region of the olive, includes the southeastern part of the country. The air is generally pure and healthy. The mean annual temperature of different parts of France has been estimated as follows by Humboldt : at Toulon, 62 F. ; at Marseilles, 59-5 ; at Bordeaux, 56; at Nantes, 55-2 ; at Paris, 51-2 ; and at Dunkirk, 50-5. More rain falls annually in the valley of the Rh6ne than on the Atlantic slope ; the aver- age fall in the former being about 30 inches, while it does not exceed 20 inches in the latter. The centre of the country enjoys a happy me- dium of temperature and climate ; in the south the summers are long, dry, and hot. The mountainous region of Auvergne is visited by long and severe winters. The departments around the gulf of Lyons are subject to disa- greeable winds, which sometimes prove injuri- ous to the crops; the most dreaded is the mistral. Of the vegetable products, the most generally cultivated are wheat, rye, maize, buckwheat, oats, barley, potatoes, colewort, black poppy, &c. The chief grain-growing districts are the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Aisne, Le Nord, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Seine-et- Marne, Seine-et-Oise, Seine-Inferieure, Somme, and Pas-de-Calais. Barley, oats, oleaginous seeds, hops, and beet root are mostly cultiva- ted in the department of Le Nord; buck- wheat in Brittany. Meadows and pastures are principally found in Normandy. There are vineyards in 76 of the departments. As regards the cultivation of the vine, France occupies the first rank among the states of Europe. Though the amount of wine produ- ced is subject to very considerable variations, it always constitutes one of the most important articles of export. From 1864 to 1869 the produce was as follows (1 hectolitre =26*41 gal- lons) : 1864, 50,653,000 hectolitres ; 1865, 68,- 943,000; 1866, 63,838.000; 1867, 39,128,000; 1868, 52,098,000; 1869, 70,000,000. The pro- duction of red is to that of white wine near- ly as 3 to 1. The average price of red wine is 14 francs a hectolitre; that of white is 11 francs. Apple trees are abundant in the northwest, and the Normandy cider enjoys a wide reputation in France ; hemp and flax are raised in large quantities in the same region ; attention is given to the mulberry tree in the south and southeast; madder is successfully cultivated in the southeast on the banks of the Durance ; tobacco is raised in the departments of Le Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Gironde, Ille-et- Vilaine, Lot, and Lot-et-Garonne. The prin- cipal forest trees are the chestnut on the cen- tral mountains, the oak in the Pyrenees, and the fir in Gascony. The most richly wooded dis- tricts are the Ardennes table-land, the Vosges, the plateau of Langres, the C6te d'Or, the C6vennes and their ramifications, the Jura, and the Alps. The destruction of wood has been considerable within the last two centuries, and the forests do not cover more than -^ of the whole area of the country. The principal forests still in existence are those of Com- piegne, Fontainebleau, L'Esterel, Rambouillet, Villers-Cotterets, and Orleans. The French flora comprises upward of 800 genera and 6,000 species. The numbers of live stock in 1866 were as follows: horned cattle, 12,333,000; sheep, 30,116,000; horses, 3,163,000; mules