Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
In the Dauphiné region, the fibre was
reportedly soft, fine, and measured 4-5 feet in
length. Such fibre was easily combed and was
preferred by the navy.
One cannot finish this presentation with-
hemp growing regions of Le Maine, Mayenne,
Sarthe and Le Perche, in the heart of the
Breton peninsula, towns gave their names to
the canvas they produced; thus, we hear of
les
olonnes de Locronan
,
les olonnes de
Merdrignac
and
les noyales de Rennes
. The
first of these was named for wrapping that
enveloped the salt produced from the salt
marshes of Saint-Gilles d'Olonne. In the same
way, the town of Pouldavid gave its name to
pouldavoirs
, a canvas material sold in England
(particularly Cornwall, which had a special
trading relationship with Brittany). Breton can-
vas was also marketed in Spain, where it
proved very popular with Spanish mariners
and the navy, and was accepted as the new
French
olonnes
. Canvas orders from Spain
put Bretons in competition with the Dutch.
Across the countryside, in Brittany as in Le
Perche, hundreds of seasonal weavers worked
to supply traders.
The records show that hemp production
declined during the Locronan crisis. This can
be explained partly by foreign competition
(from Russia in particular), with the arrival of
cheaper fibre of comparable quality. But it
was also a result of Louis XIV's programme
during the Seven Years War of building
factories and workshops, especially in Rennes,
that concentrated raw imports and the work-
force in one place. Faced with increasing
competition, merchants paid weavers less and
less for their canvas. These, in turn, compen-
sated by lengthening the weft of their canvas,
making fabric that tore easily when caught
by the slightest gust of wind. This cycle of
events inevitably led to the collapse of the
industry in Brittany and the end of the culture
it subtended.
Other, more mundane, evidence further
demonstrates the presence of hemp through-
out the French countryside. In Aquitaine,
10
from Libourne to Sainte Foy, the hemp crop
was consumed locally and production might
have been increased had prices been higher.
In the area of Blaye, hemp was produced for
local demand and there was not enough to
meet commercial demand, necessitating impor-
tation from abroad.
The seeds were pressed for oil; some
were exported to Bordeaux and Holland for
pressing. In Marmande, 4720 ql (ql = quintal;
1 quintal = 100 kg) of surplus were sold to
Bordeaux. These originated from the plains
of the Garonne, where hemp had replaced
tobacco. In this particular report, an increase
in production was advocated in order to avoid
importation, providing, of course, the
demands from navies allowed for this. The
records of this period are very useful in allow-
ing us to become more aware of the signifi-
cance of hemp. Advice was even given on
how production could be increased.
In another example, in a parish of the
Aveyron, in a lease farming contract dated
9 March 1669, the owner of the sharecrop-
ping farm is a sheet maker:
On March 9, 1669, Gilbert Bousquet, master
sheet-maker in the village of Cayssiols (in the
parish of Ampiac, near Rodez) has rented to
Pierre Béteille, a labourer from the village of
Ruols (Paroisse de Luc), the Bousquet
sharecropping farm for 7 years.
For the farm rental, the farmer promises
to pay:
. . . Bousquet will be required to supply to the
lentils and 5 quarts of
Canabou
(hemp) seed
for sowing the
chènevières
(hemp fields). The
hemp will belong to Beteille this year and the
final year excepting the
paladou
, the whole to
be delivered annually to Bousquet.
The statistical annals kept by the Gironde
trends and the concerns over whether manu-
facturers might set up locally and threaten
the income sources of local people in the
Cantal.
Cannabis hemp:
. . . is generally cultivated in the communes
(villages). In the villages and hamlets of our
Eastern, Western and Northern valleys there
are no inhabitants who do not grow this crop.
After harvesting it, retting it, they grind it,
process it and spin it. This work is all
