two, and so on.

Metayage, or the system of half-profits, is rarely found in the Cantal.
Tenancy at a fixed rental is preferred, as less complicated and
troublesome. [Footnote: I have described the metayage of Berri in a
contribution to _Macmillan's Magazine_, 'In George Sand's
Country,' 1886.] It was pleasant to see the people working in their
little field or garden, or minding their goats and sheep, their decent
appearance, cheerfulness and healthful looks testifying to the
satisfactory conditions of existence.

I do not for a moment aver that such a state of things exists in every
part of France; but everywhere we find the same qualities--
independence, thrift and foresight--called forth by the all-potent
agency of possession. I have somewhere seen the fact mentioned, and
adduced as an argument against peasant property, that the owner of
seven cows had not a wardrobe in which to hang so much as his wife's
clothes; they were suspended on a rope. Was the writer aware of the
money-value of seven cows, the capital thereby represented, and could
she point to any farm-labourer in England, however well off in the
matter of cupboards and clothes-pegs, possessed of seven cows, their
stalls and pasture-ground--in other words, a capitalist to the extent
of several hundred pounds? Few French peasants, we fancy, would
exchange their house, land and stock for the furniture of an English
labourer's cottage, wardrobe included. As a matter of fact, most of
these small farmers own furniture, clothes and house-linen in
abundance.

Cheese-making is the chief industry of the place. Far away on the
summit of every green hill may be descried the red-roofed hut, or