1808 28,000,000 1854 .....10,789,869 1829 ...30,973,000 1858 .45,805,000 1848 51,622,150 1874 .63,146,125 The average yearly produce of the vineyards of F. is estimated at about 50 millions of hectoliters (about 1000 millions of gallons). Of this, about 4-th is made into brandy. F. consumes nearly all the wine raised on her soil; the annual exports being on an average little more than 2 millions of hectoliters, valued at about 218 millions oefrancs.
The principal forest-trees are the chestnut and beech on the central mountains, the oak and cork tree in the Pyrenees, and the fir in the Landes. The destruction of the national forests has been enormous within the last two centuries, but measures have been taken in recent years to plant wood, in order to protect those mountain slopes which are exposed to inundations from Alpine torrents, and to provide a supply for the ever-increasing demand of wood for fuel. About one-seventh of the entire territory of F. is still covered with wood. Turf taken from the marshy lands is extensively used, more especially in the rural districts, for fuel.
Animals.—F. is not so well stocked with domestic animals as her great resources might warrant us in assuming that she ought to be. During the 50 years intervening from 1812 to 1862, the numbers of horned cattle were almost doubled in France. In 1872, according to the census report for that year, there were in F., in round numbers, 2,880,000 horses, 500,000 asses, 300,000 mules, 11,000,000 horned cattle, 25.000,000 sheep, 5,000,000 swine, and 2,250,000 dogs. There were in the same year about 2,390,000 hives of bees; valued at about 20 millions of francs; the mean annual returns are, for honey, 6,670,000 kilograms, and for wax, 1,620,000 kilograms. Poultry constitutes an important item of farm-produce in F., estimated at 451 millions of francs; while the eggs and feathers yield S5f millions of francs: the number of fowls in 1872 58,000,000. The wild animals are fast diminishing from the soil of F.; the lynx is. rarely seen, even among the higher alpine regions but wolves are still 'numerous in the mountainous districts of the central departments; while the chamois and wild goat, as well as the marmot, ermine, and hamster, are found among the Pyrenees, Alps, and Vosges. The wild-boar, roebuck, fox, squirrel, polecat, and marten are to be met with in the woods. The red and fallow deer are scarce; hares and rabbits abound, and game generally is plentiful. The wanton destruction of small (singing) birds having been found to be conducive to the excessive increase of noxious insects, stringent municipal enactments are now being put into force for the protection of those birds.
Fisheries.—The French government expends between three and four millions of francs annually in aiding those engaged in the great fisheries. The value of the exports of fish
from F. (12 millions of francs) is little more than half the value of the imports. There are no official reports of river and other fresh-water fishing in F., or of the minor fish. eries carried on along the coasts, which constitute the principal means of occupation and support of the majority of the local population. Pilchards and mackerel are caught in large quantities off Normandy The w. coasts have extensive oyster and muscle beds; tunnies and anchovies are caught on the shores of the Mediterranean. The following table shows the condition of the principal branches of the fishing-trade. in 1870: Numbers of men Quantities in employed. Ships. Metric Quintals.
Cod fisheries .13,189 661 359,046* Herring fisheries.... . 9,709 681 244,645 Mineral Products.—The chief mineral products of F. are coal and iron, in the excava tion of which nearly 250,000 men were employed in 1868: Although F. is not rich in. coal, it possesses several very considerable , coal-beds, which are situated principally the e.s.e. and•north. The supply hitherto has not equaled the demand; although in 1874—the latest period determined—it rose to the enormous amount of 170 millions of quintals. Notwithstanding this home supply, it was found necessary to import many millions of quintals to meet the increased annual demand, which, before the late war, had risen above 200 millions of quintals, while in 1852 it was still under 120 millions. The iron mines of F. are of excellent quality, but their distance from the fuel necessary for the working of the mineral, renders them of relatively small value. In 1874, there were 150 mines in operation, from which 40 millions of quintals were taken; more than half of this quantity being obtained from the five departments of Haute-Marne, Haute-Sa8ne, Cher, Moselle, and Nord. F. imports iron from Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and England. Argentiferous galena, a little silver and gold, copper, lead, manganese, anti mony, and tin occur, but hitherto their working has not proved very productive. The department of Charente-Inferieure yields the largest amount of salt, the mean annual produce being 1+ million of quintals (2i millions of francs), which is fully one third of the entire annual produce of the whole country. F. derives about 41 millions of francs from its quarries of granite and freestone, its kaolin, marbles, sands, lithographic stones, millstones, etc. Granite and syenite are found in the Alps,Vosges, Corsica, Normandy, and Burgundy • porphyry in the Vosges, and basalt and lava for pavements in the mountains of Auvergne. Marble is met with in more than 40 departments; alabaster occurs in the Pyrenees; the largest slate-quarries are situated near Cherbourg and St. L8.