. Our home in Aveyron : with studies of peasant life and customs in Aveyron and the Lot . ri&aire, so small is his margin under themost favourable circumstances. At Bouillac, and many another well-watered valley,the fertile, loamy earth will yield three good cropseach year—such crops as are seen in England onlyonce in a way, being then the boast of their ownerand the pride of the country-side ; and we draw thiscomparison with Englands finest soil and finestpeasantry, the soil and the people which we knowwell and love well. The hay is five feet in height, and as thick asit will stand, and the c
. Our home in Aveyron : with studies of peasant life and customs in Aveyron and the Lot . ri&aire, so small is his margin under themost favourable circumstances. At Bouillac, and many another well-watered valley,the fertile, loamy earth will yield three good cropseach year—such crops as are seen in England onlyonce in a way, being then the boast of their ownerand the pride of the country-side ; and we draw thiscomparison with Englands finest soil and finestpeasantry, the soil and the people which we knowwell and love well. The hay is five feet in height, and as thick asit will stand, and the clover is almost up to onesshoulders, and as thick and even as a well-kept haw-thorn-hedge. The second and third crops are lesstall and heavy, but nevertheless more than fairlygood. The arable land is farmed on what might be calledthe three-course shift rolled into one year. Thuseach piece will and does produce three distinct cropsin one year. The soil never lies idle. It is alwayseither producing or being got ready to produce,except, perhaps, on fete-days, when it and its owners. mmBM WOODEN PLOUGHS. 157 get a little holiday. The land is well manured (onesees the women spreading the manure on the fieldswith their hands), and great pains are taken by theproprietaires to keep the land in good condition, fortheir livelihood depends upon the best being madeout of it. Occasionally a small quantity of limeis used upon it. It is always well watered, for eachowner has the right to turn part of the waters of aneighbouring brook across his land for certain spe-cified times. Narrow irrigating channels are cutin all directions, and the water filtering through theearth keeps it moist, hence the vivid greenness of thegrass and the general luxuriance of the vegetation. Farming implements are of the most primitivedescription, and, of course, steam - machinery isunknown. The heavy wooden ploughs are drawnby oxen, poor patient beasts, who rarely get anafter-dinner nap, and have always to put u
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