Contenu du sommaire

A New Classification for French Farms. After acknowledging the increasing need for a classification of different farm types according to systems of production and taking into consideration technological and socio-economic structures, the author mentions the criteria and methods used in previous classificatory experiences and comments on their short-comings. He then discusses the kind of data necessary for a more objective and more scientific classification and explains the techniques used to analyze statistical information obtained on a sample of 6 000 farms. One of the tables accompanying this article gives the results of this classification, based on types of labor (part-time, full-time; family, hired) and principal forms of animal and/or plant production (cereals, green vegetables, dairy cattle, fowl, etc.). Several maps indicate the geographical distribution of another sample of 20 000 farms classified according to the 15 systems of production distinguished by the author.

Contribution to the Study of Vertical Societies in the Andes: the Yucay Valley (Peru.) On the basis of a detailed analysis of "verticality" in a well-delimited Peruvian region, the author proves that the "vertical archipelago" model defined by J. Murra using data on pre-conquest Andean societies is still valid, even though the traditional economy has been modified. After describing the principal vertical environments of the Yucay Valley (the deep, narrow river valley with luxuriant vegetation; the high, snow-covered mountains; the arid, eroded plateau; the sub-tropical valleys), she studies the patterns of human settlement and exploitation associated with each ecological level, explaining the different systems of land tenure and the complementarity of economic activities as shown by the vertical exchange of both traditional and commercial products. With the introduction of a market economy, capitalist relations arise parallel to, or replace traditional reciprocal relations, characteristic of the production and distribution circuits that link the inhabitants of different levels. After presenting a table formalizing these various vertical relations, the author gives several examples illustrating how populations living at different levels differ not only economically and socially but also culturally and ideologically.

Land Legislation and Rural Society: the Application of the Law of July 26, 1873 in the Douars of Algérois. The author narrates the turbulent history of the Warmer law, a series of measures concerning land titles and designed to extend French civil territory and encourage official colonization in Algeria. The great number of incidents provoked by the application of this law indicates the extent to which it upset rural Algerian society, inciting community conflicts over ancestral lands and undermining family solidarity by contesting hereditary property rights. A wide variety of problems were encountered in trying to determine the "rightful" owners of both melk (private) and arch (collective or tribal) lands, and the numerous complaints and rectifications following various decisions, casts doubts on the value of such a law and on the competence of the commissioners recruited to enforce it. The accomplishments of these commissioners are reviewed in the light of their qualifications, prejudices, powers, and interpretations of the law in question. The author explains how the sequestrations and expropriations resulting from this legislation contributed to the impoverishment and confusion of rural populations, and he then discusses why the law was progressively abandoned, revealing the contradiction between colonial imperatives and traditional administrative and judiciary procedure. Above all, the failure of this land legislation, hastened by the mediocrity and inconsistency of its application, proves that it is impossible to impose an imported law on a coherent society with a profoundly different form of economic, social and judiciary organization.

Summer- Fallow in 18th-Century Scotland: the Ultimate Phase in the Development of a Technique. A brief history of the origins of summer-fallow in Europe is followed by the analysis and comparison of terms used in various languages to designate this practice. Excerpts from an article published in the Farmer's Magazine in 1800 illustrate the technical problems posed by the introduction of summer-fallow in Scotland and relate the circumstances and results of one of the first experiences, citing the opinions of contemporary critics. Scottish farming prior to this innovation is described so that the reader can better comprehend the effects of summer-fallow and of wheat cultivation (with which it is associated) on the agricultural system. Although praised by agronomists and advocated by land owners, this practice was not always enthusiastically accepted by farmers, and it had barely reached the height of its development before beginning to disappear, challenged by other techniques associated with other crops. In conclusion, the author offers several examples of the introduction of summer-fallow in other countries (England, Finland, Denmark) and comments on the misunderstandings that hindered its acceptance in France.