FBANCE 188 FBANCE the Meuse; the Moselle, flowing into the Rhine; and the Saone, flowing into the Rhone. France has over 1,500 miles of sea-coast, of which 395 is Mediter- ranean, 584 Atlantic, and 572 washed by the North Sea, English Channel, and Dover Straits. The principal ports are Havre, at the mouth of the Seine ; Brest on the W. extremity of Brittany; Nantes, on the Loire estuary; Bordeaux, on the Garonne, having the Gironde estuary for a harbor; and Toulon on the Mediterranean. The Atlantic coast is mostly bold and rocky. The principal outlying islands are the Channel Islands in Bay St. Michael. The island of Corsica, in the Mediterranean, belongs to France. Agriculture. — France is essentially an agricultural country of great richness and fertility. There were in 1912 nearly 100,000,000 acres available for cultiva- tion, and of this about 60,000,000 acres were under crops. The war area in- cluded some of the richest agricultural land in the country and this, for more than four years, was practically un- touched, and after the conclusion of the war remained in such condition that it will be probably useless for cultivation for many years. The arable ground torn up by shell fire and troops was about 9,925,000 acres. The fact that practically all the men available were engaged in the armies or in military services, threw the burden of agricultural cultivation on the women, girls, and boys. In spite of this fact the production of agricul- tural products continued to an amazing extent. The decrease in production, how- ever, is shown by comparative figures. There were planted to wheat in 1914 6,060,000 hectares (a hectare is equal to 2.47 acres) ; in 1919 4,579,000 hectares, and in 1920 4,896,000 hectares. There were planted in rye in 1914 1,050,000 hectares; in 1919 827,000; and in 1920 906,000. In 1914 there were planted to oats 3,590,000 hectares; in 1919 2,758,- 000; and in 1920 3,014,000. France is a great wine producing country. The production of wine in 1919 was as great as that in the pre-war period, amounting to 1,132,161,000 gallons. The Germans removed from France a great number of cattle and horses. The cattle taken by them numbered 523,000 head; the horses and mules, 367,000; and the sheep and goats, 465,000 head. According to the terms of the Peace Treaty these ani- mals were to be replaced. In 1920 74,000 head of cattle, 4,400 horses and mules, and 43,000 sheep and goats were re- placed. Mineral Production. — Prior to the World War there were 41,638 mines and quarries, employing 372,517 workers. The annual yield of the mines was valued at 829,458,262 francs and of the quarries 305,955,651 francs. During the war the coal area was directly in the line of military operations and the coal mines were not worked during that time. The systematic destruction of the coal mines was carried on by the Germans. The production of coal before the war was 42,000,000 tons. The production in 1920 was about 2,000,000 tons a month. By the terms of the Peace Treaty Ger- many is to deliver to France a specified amount of coal a month, and France has practical possession of the Sarre Basin. See Sarre Basin. The iron industry was of great im- portance during the war. There were in operation in 1914 72 blast furnaces, and in 1920 there were about 17 operated. The iron and steel industry in the in- vaded districts represented 85 per cent, of the total French production before the war. In 1920 this was being re-estab- lished to about 50 per cent., except the heavy steel works, of which about 14 per cent, had been restored. Of the roll- ing mills ZV2 per cent, had been restored. The rolling mills were dismounted and machinery taken to Germany. Accord- ing to the terms of the Peace Treaty this must be restored to France. Commerce. — The commercial life of France was entirely disorganized as a result of the World War. In 1917 the imports were valued at 16,311,000,000 francs and the exports to 3,837,000,000 francs. During the first half of 1919 the imports exceeded the exports by 10,000,- 000,000 francs, while the imports during that period exceeded by 2,389,000,000 francs those during the same period in 1918. In spite of this enormous in- crease in value, the quantity had slightly diminished. This decrease was in ma- terial and manufactured products, while in food products there was an increase. As a result of the rise of prices the value of the exports, in spite of the fall- ing off in quantity was nearly equal to that of 1913. The enormous rise of price was shovni by the fact that the quantity had diminished by more than 500 per cent. The imports of food for the first eight months of 1919 amounted to 5,463,- 270,000 francs, and the total imports for the eight months of that year amounted to 18,475,706,000 francs. This was an increase of about 4,000,000,000 francs over the same period of 1918. The im- ports greatly exceeded the exports, and this continued throughout the year. The imports from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, 1919, amounted to 25,336,978,000 francs, while the exports amounted to 6,223,448,000 francs, or a deficit of about 19,000,000,- 000 francs. This condition is explained
