THE BASIN OF PARIS is the name given to that great area of sedimentary deposits which lies between the Central Massif, the Ardennes, and the Armorican region. The outer rim of the basin consists of rocks of Jurassic age ; within that there is a belt, not fully developed in places, of Cretaceous rocks, while the centre of the basin is covered over with deposits of Tertiary times. Although the soil of this region is generally fertile, its character varies con siderably from one place to another. In the Tertiary lands the greater part of it is suitable for cultivation, but on the Cretaceous area it is less certain. Champagne, for example, consists in part of a great plain where the chalk comes to the surface and is suitable only for grazing purposes, and in part of a region of wet clays naturally opposed to cultivation. In the Jurassic lands the valleys are generally fertile, while the limestone uplands are more suitable for pastoral pursuits.
Taking the Basin of Paris as a whole, however, it is the most important agricultural region of France. It produces nearly one-half of the wheat and three-fifths of the oats grown in the country, and it also contains the best grasslands. In many places, and more especially in the vicinity of the great towns, market-gardening is an important pursuit ; and in the north-east there is grown practically the whole of the French beet-root crop. Cattle are raised mainly in the moister regions of the west and north west, and sheep in the drier districts of the east. There are two separate and important wine-growing areas—that of the Middle Loire, which produces light wines, and that of the eastern part of the Seine basin, more especially on the chalk and limestone slopes in the valleys of the Aisne and the Marne, where are grown the vines from which champagne is made.
Industrially, this region is also the most noteworthy in France. It contains part of the great coalfield which extends from Western Germany through Belgium into the departments of the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais. Unfortunately, in the French portion of the field the coals lie at a greater depth than in Belgium, and are worked at greater cost. The centre of production is at Anzin, and the total output is nearly three-fourths that of the whole country. In 1911 it amounted to 28,000,000 tons out of 38,000,000
tons.
An important iron industry is situated upon this coalfield. A certain amount of pig-iron is made on the spot, but large quantities are bought from Lorraine for the manufacture of steel to be used in the various engineering and textile machinery works which have grown up, more especially around Lille and Valenciennes.
Within the Basin of Paris there are two cotton-manufacturing districts. That of Normandy owed its origin to the fact that raw cotton was first imported into France through Rouen, and, though it is handicapped by the absence of coal, the momentum it acquired by its early start, the ease with which raw material can still be imported, and the traditional skill of its workmen, have all contributed to enable it to retain its position. It has 1,646,000, out of the 7,130,000 spindles in the country. Rouen is the centre of this district, and among other towns belonging to it are Darnetal, Maromme, Sotteville and Oissel, all in the vicinity of Rouen, Evreux and Gisors, Le Havre, and Yvetot. Upon the coalfield of the north is situated the other cotton district of this region, which contains 36 per cent. of the French spindles. Among the towns engaged in the industry are Lille and its suburbs, which do much spinning but little weaving, and St. Quentin and Amiens, where weaving is chiefly carried on.
The woollen industry also finds its principal home on the coal field where it has the further advantage of being able to import raw wool from abroad through Dunkirk, and where the chief manu facturing towns are Roubaix, Tourcoing, and Fourmies. The industry is also followed at Reims, where wool is obtained from the sheep of Champagne, in the middle Loire at Orleans, Amboise, and elsewhere, and in Normandy at Elbeuf and Louviers. The manufacture of woollen goods in France has been carried to a high state of perfection, and the country is specially noted for its output of fine dress materials, large quantities of which are exported.
Another industry which may be noted is the manufacture of sugar, carried on in the beet-growing districts, where coal is easily obtainable.