Note 221 — Chapter III · (continued 3)

Between 1851 and 1856 the population of Languedoc and Provence had increased by 101,000 souls. The augmentation, however, was wholly in the provinces of the plains, where all the principal cities are found. In these provinces the increase was 204,000, while in the mountain provinces there was a diminution of 103,000. The reduction of the area of arable land is perhaps even more striking. In 1842, the department of the Lower Alps possessed 99,000 hectares, or nearly 245,000 acres, of cultivated soil. In 1852, it had but 74,000 hectares. In other words, in ten years 25,000 hectares, or 61,000 acres, had been washed away or rendered worthless for cultivation, by torrents and the abuses of pasturage.—Clavé, Études, pp. 66, 67.