deck. The Charles Martel, which is closely resembled by the Jauréguiberry and the Carnot, was designed by M. Huin. The following are her principal characteristics:-Length 392ft. 6in., beam 71ft. 2in., stern draught 27ft. 6in., displacement 11,693 tons, speed 17 knots with 9,500 horse-power, and 18 knots with forced draught (13,500 horse power). The protection of the ship consists of an over-all steel belt 17.71 in. thick, and further broadside plating about 4in. thick intended to protect the armoured deck (which is 2.75in. thick) from the direct action of high explosive shells. The Jauréguiberry, designed by M. Lagane, is a most interesting vessel. All her guns are worked either by hand or by electricity. Eight of her secondary guns are coupled in closed turrets; and in the St. Louis and Charlemagne this disposition is to be made for the heavy guns. These ships are therefore interesting, and it seems likely that the type will be continued in the battleships proposed. The Charlemagne and her two sisters, St. Louis and Gaulois, have been launched. They displace 11,275 tons, and are 385ft. long with 66 6in. beam. The armaments consist of four 12in. guns, with ten 55in., eight 3.9in., and twenty-six smaller quick-firers; engines of 5,400 horse-power are to give a speed of 18 knots. The Iéna is another ship of the same class, launched at Brest in September 1898, which displaces 12,052 tons. She has Belleville boilers, and is better protected, and carries a more powerful secondary armament, Another battleship of the same type, apparently a sister, the Suffren, has been laid down at Brest. One battleship in the programme of 1899 marks a further development. She will have four 12in. guns coupled, as in the other recent vessels, and will otherwise resemble them, but the displacement of 14,500 tons is much greater, and approaches within 400 tons of that of the Magnificent. The additional weight will be devoted largely to giving the ships better protection in the form of an end to end belt of great height and equal vertical thickness, backed by cellular cofferdams, as well as to the provision of larger coal capacity. Progress with this ship is likely to be slow. Of French cruisers the Dupuy de Lôme has three screws, is provided with what is practically a complete coat of armour, and has both an armoured and a splinter-proof deck. Her guns are well protected, and are admirably disposed for use in any direction, and are besides of great penetrating power. Many of her characteristics are found in the somewhat smaller armoured, turtle-back-decked cruisers Latouche-Tréville, Charner, and their sisters, as well as the Pothuau. The new armoured cruisers are of two principal classes, those of the Gloire (10,000 tons) and the Kléber (7,700 tons.) The former will be 452ft. 9in. long, with 63ft. 8in. beam, and 23ft. mean draft. Protection will be given by a 6in. water-line belt, with thinner plating above it, and by armoured and splinter-proof decks. The two heavy guns will be in turrets, and the others in casemates. All will have water tube boilers. The Kléber type, though smaller, generally resembles the other. The Kléber herself will have Niclausse water-tube boilers. France also possesses some interesting types of deck-protected cruisers, and has recently added to her navy some very swift torpedo-boats, one of which, the Forban, built by Normand, has attained a speed of a little over 31 knots. Production and Industry. I. AGRICULTURE. Of the total area of France (52,921,578 hectares) 8.397,131 hectares are under forests and 36,977,098 hectares under all kinds of crops, fallow, and grasses. The following tables show the area under the leading crops and the production for four years :— The annual production of wine and cider appears as follows: The value of the crop of chestnuts, walnuts, olives, cider-apples, plums, and mulberry leaves in 1896 was estimated at 187,391,708 francs; in 1897, at 171,132,758 francs. In Alpes-Maritimes, Var, and Corsica, the orange and lemon crop was estimated at 1,140,355 francs. On December 31, 1897, the numbers of farm animals were: Horses, 2,899,131; mules, 205,715; asses, 361,414; cattle, 13,486,519; sheep, 21,445,113; pigs, 6,262,764; goats, 1,495,756. Silk culture, with Government encouragement (primes), is carried on in 27 departments of France-most extensively in Gard, Drôme, Ardêche, and Vaucluse. In 1897, 133,253 persons were employed in this industry; the production of cocoons was 7,760,132 kilogrammes; 463,232 kilogrammes of cocoons were exported, valued at 4,053, 280 francs, and 4,142,009 kilogrammes of raw silk, valued at 89,308,843 francs. II. MINING AND METALS. In France there were in 1896, 499 mines (out of 1,407 conceded mines) in work, with 152,125 workers. The annual yield was estimated at 33,811,705 tons, valued at 345,092,580 francs, as against 347,115,810 francs in 1894. The following are statistics of the leading mineral and metal products : In 1896 there were produced also: silver, 70,479 kilogrammes; zinc. 35,585 tons; copper, 6,544 tons; nickel, 1,545 tons; aluminium, 370 tons, III. MANUFACTURES. The total number of industrial establishments in France in 1896 was as follows: Textile Industries. --In 1896 the numbers of factories for silk, cotton, woollen, and other manufactures were: silk, for unwinding cocoons, 221 with 10,468 pans; carding and combing, 37 with 692 machines; throwing, 708 with 1,624,530 spindles, &c. ; for spinning, 19 with 150,000 spindles; for weaving, 745 with 28,270 power looms and 39, 165 hand-looms; cotton, for carding, &c., 46 with 186 machines; for spinning 275 with 4,024,811 spindles; wool, for carding 229 with 351 machines; for spinning, 837 with 3,173,274 spindles; for carpet weaving, 82 with 5,593 looms; for other woollen goods, 1,043 with 11,714 power looms and 16,604 hand looms; for various manufactures of cotton, flax or hemp, 2,112 factories, and for mixed tissues, 990 factories; for spinning hemp, flax, or jute, &c., 103 factories. The values of the yearly imports and exports of woollens and silks in millions of francs are seen from the subjoined table : Sugar.-In 1896-97 there were 358 sugar works, employing regularly 43,654 men, 3,597 women, and 2,556 children, with occasionally about 8,000 other workpeople. The yield of sugar during the last 12 years (expressed in thousands of kilogrammes of refined sugar) was : 1885-86 265,071 1888-89 414,870 1891-92 578,110 1894-95 704,454 1886-87 434,044 1889-90 700, 409 1892-93 523,366 1895-96 593,647 1887-88 347,785 1890-91 616,890 || 1893-94 514,789 1896-97 668,545 In 1895 2,166,000 hectolitres of alcohol were produced; in 1896, 2,022,000 hectolitres; in 1897, 2,208,140 hectolitres. IV. FISHERIES. In 1894 the number of boats engaged in the French home fishing was 27,062 of 131,159 tons; the boats engaged in the cod fisheries numbered 353 of 40,153 tons. The total number of men employed was 155, 125, of whom 9,046 were in the cod fisheries, and 146,079 in the home fisheries; of the latter, 84,727 were employed in boats, and 61,352 on foot. In 1896 the total value of the sea and shore fishing in boats was 93,025,568 francs; of the shore fisheries on foot, 8,599,224 francs. In 1897 the total weight of cod, oil, &c., landed in France by French and colonial boats was 569, 155 metric quintals; of herring, 319, 186 metric quintals. The number of boats was 664, and of the fishermen 12,523. Government assistance (primes) is given to the cod fishers, amounting to 4,983,000 francs annually. Commerce. In French statistics General Trade includes all goods entering or leaving France, while Special Trade includes only imports for home use and exports of French origin. The Commission Permanente des Valeurs annually determines the values (called actua! values) which represent the average prices of the different articles in the Customs list during the year. The values fixed at the end of one year and applied to that year retrospectively, are applied also during the following year, at the end of which the provisional results thus obtained are revised according to new values definitely fixed by the Commission. Thus each year there are published first the provisional and later the definitive commercial statistics. The customs entries show the country of origin of imports and that of ultimate destination of exports. For five years the actual values were:- Food products Manufactured goods Total Imports (1,000,000 francs) 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 Exports (1,000,000 francs) 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1,061 1,198 1,036 1,007 1,029 710 666 591 652 721 2,229 2,104 2,101 2,174 2,319 784 755 874 836 944 564 548 583 618 608 1,742 1,657 1,909 1,913 1,933 3,854 3,850 3,720 3,799 3,956 3,236 3,078 3,774 3,401 3,598 The chief articles of import and export (special trade) were in millions of francs: |