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is now occupied by the singular lake of Bouchet. Westward from the Allier are the forest-clad granitic hills of La Margeride, which rise to a height of nearly 5000 feet. The Luguet massif (3300 feet) rises in the north-west of the department on the left bank of the Alagnon, a tributary of the Allier. The river Loire, to which the department owes its name, enters at a point 16 miles distant from its source, and 2923 feet above the level of the sea. Within the 63 miles of its course through the eastern portion of the department, first in a northerly and afterwards in a north-easterly direction, it falls 1565 feet. The Allier, which joins the Loire at Nevers, traverses the western portion of Haute-Loire in a northerly direction, entering at a point 25 miles distant from its source, and 2369 feet above the sea; it traverses a narrow and deep valley overhung by lofty hills, and falls 1090 feet. The chief affluents of the Loire within the limits of the department are the Borne on the left, joining it near Pay, and the Lignon, which descends from the Mézenc, between the Boutières and Meygal ranges, on the right. The climate, owing to the altitude, the northward direction of the valleys, and the winds from the Cevennes, is cold, the winters being long and rigorous. Storms and violent rains are frequent on the higher grounds, and would give rise to serious inundations were not the rivers for the most part confined within deep rocky channels. Two-fifths of the area is occupied by arable lands, one-fifth by natural meadow and by orchards, and a somewhat smaller proportion by wood. The rest consists of pasture lands, vineyards, and uncultivated lands.
Numerous cattle of the celebrated Mézenc breed are reared, and also sheep and mules. The crops raised are wheat, meslin, rye, barley, oats, maize, potatoes (in large quantity), hemp, colza, and second-class wine. The woods yield pine, fir, oak, and beech. Large quantities of aromatic and pharmaceutical plants are found in the Mézenc massif. The department has two coal basins, – those of Brassac and Langeac, both on the Allier; in 1880 their total output was 225,153 tons. Copper, iron, zinc, argentiferous lead, arsenic, antimony, barytes, and fluor spar are also obtained, and there are good quarries of trachyte and limestone, as well as numerous unutilized mineral springs. Lace-making in various materials is the most extensive industry, occupying from 100,000 to 130,000 persons, and producing goods to the annual value of about £1,000,000. Ribbons and cloth are manufactured to some extent, and silk-dressing, wool-spinning, caoutchouc-making, various kinds of smith work, paper-making, glass-blowing, brewing, wood-sawing, and flour-milling are also carried on. There are three arrondissements – Puy, Brioude, and Yssingeaux; the capital is Puy. The population in 1876 was 313,721.
LOIRE-INFÉRIEURE, a maritime department of
western France, is made up of a portion of Brittany on the
right and of the district of Retz on the left of the Loire,
and lies between 46 3 45 and 47 40 N. lat. and between
55 and 2 32 W. long., being bounded on the W. by the
ocean, on the N. by Morbihan and Ille-et-Vilaine, on the
E. by Maine-et-Loire, and on the S. by Vendée. Its
greatest length from east to west is 76 miles, its greatest
breadth 65 miles, and its area 2654 square miles. The
surface is very flat, and the highest point, in the north on
the borders of Ille-et-Vilaine, is only 377 feet. The line
of hillocks skirting the right bank of the Loire, and known
as the "sillon de Bretagne," nowhere attains a height of
265 feet; below Savenay they recede from the river, and
the meadows give place to peat bogs. North of St Nazaire
the Grande Brière, measuring 9 miles by 6, and rising
scarcely 10 feet above the sea-level, still supplies old
trees which can be used for joiner work; a few scattered
villages occur on the more elevated spots, but communica
tion is effected chiefly by means of the canals which inter
sect it. The district on the south of the Loire lies equally
low; its most salient feature is the lake of Grandlieu,
covering an area of 27 square miles, and surrounded by low
and marshy ground, but so shallow (6.5 feet at most) that
drainage would be comparatively easy. The Loire has a course of 68 miles within the department; its width above Nantes varies from 1300 to 3280 feet, and its volume at Nantes, where the tide begins to be felt, is never under 700 cubic metres per second. It has numerous islands. At Paimbœuf it is nearly 2 miles broad, but narrows again opposite St Nazaire before finally entering the ocean. The bed is not sufficiently regular to allow easily the passage of vessels drawing more than 10 feet of water. On the left bank a canal of 9 miles is about to be opened between Pellerin, where the dikes which protect the Loire valley from inundation terminate, and Paimbœuf. The principal towns on the river within the department are Ancenis, Nantes, and St Nazaire (one of the most important commercial ports of France) on the right, and Paimbœuf on the left. The chief affluents are on the right the Erdre and on the left the Sèvre, both debouching at Nantes. The Erdre has a succession of broad lakes which give it the appearance of a first class river; it forms part of the canal from Nantes to Brest. The Sèvre, on the other hand, is hemmed in by picturesque hills; at the point where it enters the department it flows past the famous castle of Clisson. Apart from the Loire itself, the only navigable channel of importance within the department is the Nantes and Brest canal already referred to, fed by the Isac, a tributary of the Vilaine, which separates Loire-Inférieure from Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. The climate partakes of the general Armorican character in respect of humidity, but is Girondine in its mildness. At Nantes the mean annual temperature is 54.7° Fahr., and there are one hundred and twenty-two rainy days, the annual rainfall being 25.6 inches. Of the entire area nearly two-thirds is arable; one-seventh is occupied by meadows; and vineyards, woods, heath, lakes, pools, and marshes occupy the remainder.
The quantity of live stock is considerable: – 320,000 horned
cattle, 180,000 slice]), 80,000 pigs, 38,000 horses, asses, and mules.
Poultry also is reared, and there is a good deal of bee-keeping.
Wheat, rye, buckwheat, oats, and potatoes are produced in great
abundance; leguminous plants are also largely cultivated, especially
near Nantes. Beetroot, hemp, and chestnuts represent, along with
wine and cider, the chief remaining agricultural products. The
woods are of oak in the interior and pine on the coast. The
department has deposits of tin, lead, and iron, which are hardly
wrought, if at all. North-west from Ancenis a little anthracite is
obtained from a coal-bed which is a prolongation of that of Anjou.
The salt marshes, about 6000 acres in all, occur for the most part
between the mouth of the Vilaine and the Loire, and on the Bay
of Bourgneuf. The salt manufacture, which as late as 1874 pro
duced 43,475 tons, is now decaying. There are slate quarries in
the north-east of the department, and the granite of the sea-coast
and of the Loire up to Nantes is quarried for large blocks, while
the limestone about Chateanb riant occupies numerous kilns. The
industries of the department are well developed: steam-engines are
built for Government at Indret, a few miles below Nantes; the
forges of Basse-Indre are in good repute for the quality of their
iron; and the production of the lead-smelting works at Coueron
amounts to several millions of francs annually. There are also
considerable foundries at Nantes, Chantenay, and St Nazaire, and
shipbuilding yards at Nantes, St Nazaire, Paimbœuf, and Croisic.
Among other industries may be mentioned the preparation of
pickles and preserved meats at Nantes, the curing of sardines at
Croisic and in the neighbouring communes, salt-refining, the great
sugar refinery at Nantes, and the tobacco manufacture also there.
Fishing is prosecuted along the entire coast. Nantes, formerly one
of the most important of French ports, has now given way before
St Nazaire, the trade of which in 1878 exceeded 1,500,000 tons.
The principal imports are coal, colonial wares, wood, metals,
manure; the exports are wine, salt, preserved meats and pickles,
flour, refined sugar, and butter. The department is divided into
five arrondissements Nantes, Ancenis, Châteaubriant, Paimbœuf,
and St Nazaire; Nantes is the capital. The population in 1876
was 612,972, an increase of 243,667 since 1801.
LOIRET, a department of central France, made up of three districts of the ancient province of Orléanais, – Orléanais proper, Gâtinais, and Dunois, together with portions of the Isle of France and Berri, lies between
