cultivator pays the whole expence, except
the taxes, which are paid by the proprietor.
Walnut-trees, of immense size and o:reat
beauty, enrich the scenery of Savoy, and
supply sufficient oil for the consumption of
the inhabitants, and for the adjoining canton
of Geneva. Walnuts have been called
the olive of the country. The trees belong
principally to the larger proprietors. They
are planted by nature, being scattered over
the fields, and in the woods and hedge-rows,
intermixed with chesnut and forest trees of
various kinds. The walnut harvest has
been already described. Sixty pounds of
kernel, of 24 oz., equal to 901b. avoirdupois,
I was informed by M. Berthel, yield from
20 to 24 quart bottles of oil.
Tobacco, which is much used in Savoy,
was cultivated with success in the neighbourhood
of Rumilly; but on the restoration
of the old despotism its culture was
prohibited, and the implements of manufacture
seized. This was done to increase
the revenue that the king derives from the
sale of tobacco. So strict are the officers
of the douane respecting tlie introduction
oi this aiticle, that a Genevese lady had
iffm
her carriage and horses seized between Geneva
and Annecy, because her 'coachman
had brought with him a pound of tobacco
for his own use.
The agriculture of Savoy will be regarded
as in a low state of improvement, if the
answers I received respecting the average
quantity of the produce be correct. One
of the answers stated the average increase
of wheat to be from three to five on the
quantity sown, and near the towns from
five to seven. Another agriculturist stated
the average increase on the best lands to
be nine, and in the neighbourhood of Annecy
thirteen fold. One part of Savoy is,
perhaps, the finest corn land in Europe ;
and the very heavy crops I saw in the
neighbourhood of Aix and Annecy, made
me doubt the accuracy of the above statements.
But on referring to Arthur Young’s
account of the agriculture of France,
before the revolution, I find it stated,
that four and a half was regarded as the
average increase in that country, which
is very similar in climate to Savoy. —
Since that period, the agriculture of France
has greatly improved. The culture of artificial
grasses is spreading in Savoy, but it
mr