2  THE WISCONSIN FARMr b iB.



the required signature to the document! This
is the first time my passport has been called
for, and if the commission shall serve me as
well everywhere else, it's a pity I fooled away
so much time in getting the real paper at Lon-
dor and afterwards in getting it vised by the
American Consul and Prefect of the Police at
Paris.
              tritE RETROSPECT.
  It is now na1moOt noon. the train leaves at
1:16 p. m., and I am told it is yet three hours
down the mountain to Martigny.  But I am
not quite ready to resume my journey, for the
mind inclines, ere yet I leave the Alpine heights
of glorious France. to a rapid review of what
she is and is doing, before passing on to those
other countries which lie in my predetermined
sath. Anlv a hhrd's-eve viw hoee ,a the



present.
          THE EXPIRE OF FRANCE.
  To the Frenchman, all glowing with enthu-
siasm over the past glory and present power of
the dear France of his heart and hope, there
is no grander empire on the globe-scarcely
one whose area is larger. Nor is this sur-
prising, in view of the petty kingdoms which
lie at its gates, northward and eastward. But
let us look at it with an American eye, and its
boundaries rapidly shrink to within quite mod-
erate measuremetit.
  The island of Corsica and the newly added
territory of Savoy included, its area is 207,'i73
square miles, or Iv0,43i9,648 acres-a little less
than as large as four such states as Wisconsin.



Of the entire leng'h of frontier, 1400 miles are
MA. nt h1-A  -A ,1 _ia - 1I...{1n- A __n_  - t li*



  MIINERAL WEALTM.-Fr&CCe Is rich also in
her mines of iron,-which are found in nearly
all all parts of the country, and which yield
annually about 700,000 tons-of lead, copper,
and zinc. Gold, silver, cobalt and manganese
are likewise found, and in the aggregate yield
considerable wealth. Coal beds are numerous
and the salt mines and marshes yield annually
over 25,000,000 bushels of salt. Inexhaustible
quarries of valuable building stone of various
kinds, of marble, of porphyry, and of alabas-
ter abound everywhere; the number of those
actively worked numbering some 22,000, and
giving employment to over 80,000 men.
  TIHE CLI3MATE of France is greatly diversi-
fied by differences of latitude, elevation, ex-
posure, soil, &c., and is probably unsurpassed



oy -nat VI any country i'n Europe.  Cool in
the north, and well adapted to the growth of
the cereals; mild and equable in the central
portions, where the vine flourishes best; dry
and hot in the olive regions of the south.
  THE ASPECT of the country is well diversi-
fied, presenting a good deal of beautiful scen-
ery with an agreeable admixture, particularly
in the eastern and southern portions,of features
of picturesque grandeur.  The banks of the
four great rivers (fleu'es) of France-the Seine,
the Loire, the Garonne, and the Rhone-pre-
sent some of the finest scenery in the world-
broad, well cultivated fields, beautiful, sloping
vineyards, and grand old mountains, crowned
with evergreen forests or never-melting snows.
  TulE PltODUCTS of the country may be un-



derstood, as to character, from  what has nl-



V.uebu     fue at ."1,.     Ulcuast.  * inI ready been sait. Ituta word
o0 their quantity
the exception of portions of the Alpine dis- and relative proportion:
trict of Savoy, and several lesser branches of  Of the whole area, 54 per
cent. is devoted to
the Alpine and Pyrenean systems of mountains agriculture. The average aggregate
yield of
which intersect the country in different dire- some of the most important
crops is about as
tions and form great water-sheds for the drain- follows; of wheat 226,000,000
bushels, rye
age of the empire, almost the entihe surface is rye 85,000,000, oats 14,000,000,
barley 50.-
susceptible of cultivation: statisticians say 000,000, potatoes 250,000,000,
Vineyards ex-
four-fifths of the whole.  Of this, over 60,- tend through some 76 of the
"departments "
000,000 of acres are arable, about 11,000,000 and yield 900,000,000 gallons
of wine, worth
in meadow, 18,000,000 in wood, 18,000,000 are about $160,000,000 at the places
of production.
heath land, 2,000,000 in vineyards, and nearly Nearly one-fourth part of
this is exported.
1,600,000 acres in orchards and gardens.   Live stock has not received quite
so much



L



82



Size L w_ -a =



P v W * s J _ V s v D - c; s v n 2 X