THE ARMORICAN MASSIF is in its general character a region of primary rocks, its most striking feature being its tendency to rise towards the ocean as the two ranges of Archman and pre Cambrian age, which run through the country from the east towards the west, converge upon one another. These ranges separate three lowland districts, one of which lies along the north coast, one in the centre, and one along the south coast. The uplands are generally infertile and unproductive, while in the lowlands good and bad lands alternate. The coastal plains are carefully cultivated, and, in the northern one, much attention is paid to market-gardening. The basin of Rennes and some districts around the Lower Loire are devoted to arable farming, and con siderable quantities of wheat are grown. In the north, in the " bocage normand " of north-west Normandy, and in the south, in the " bocage vendeen " of north-west Poitou, softer schists provide good grazing grounds intermingled with woodlands. The humidity of these districts makes them especially suitable for cattle, and it is instructive to note that the Armorican region has one-fifth of the cattle, but only one-twenty-fifth of the sheep, of the whole of France.
The conditions favourable to the growth of towns and industrial development are generally wanting, and there are few manu factures. Laval and Nantes are engaged in textile pursuits, and Nantes in the tanning of leather. On the other hand, the sea, which has always been an attractive force, has drawn many people to fishing and seafaring, and Breton fishermen still go to the Banks of Newfoundland. Some of the principal naval stations of France, Cherbourg, Brest, and Lorient, are situated on the coast ; but, owing to their remoteness from the industrial parts of the country, the ports of the Armorican region do but a small trade, with the exception of Nantes and St. Nazaire, which owe their importance to being at the outlet of the basin of the Loire. Cherbourg is now a port of call for many foreign liners.