David H. Walker
240
nes.”
10 The long-term deleterious effects of this lack of investment
would soon be widespread. And when market prices began to fall, the
relationship between owners and the tenant- farmers who worked the
land for them became extremely fraught. As Désert explains,
whenever leases came up for renewal, tough negotiations were the
order of the day: “La lutte […] aboutit dans quelques régions à de
véritables grèves organisées au moment du renouvellement des baux,
aspect original de la lutte des classes dans un monde qui la connaît
peu.”
11 The flight from the land having reduced the number of
prospective farmers, those remaining could increasingly impose
whatever conditions they liked: “Les propriétaires sont dans
l’obligation, pour trouver des fermiers, de consentir des réductions sur
les baux ou même, afin de conserver ceux qui sont en place, de leur
accorder des remises.” Some were forced to agree to substitute “le
fermage en argent au fermage en nature” and: “Certains, faute de
trouver des candidats, sont obligés de reprendre en main l’exploitation
de leurs terres.”
12 So Gide found himself on the uncomfortable side of
the “grande déroute du rentier du sol”:
13 he had an estate which had
suffered from under-investment, and a population of farmers intent on
extracting maximum advantage from the sellers’ market in which they
found themselves.
Now at this very moment Rouart was impatient to become actively involved in a real agricultural concern. He had already come
close, in January 1895, to throwing up his studies, and taking on an
actual farm (GR, I, p. 248). So that clearly, when Gide turned to him
for advice, he was eager to lend a hand. To begin with, he recommended to Gide a fellow student from Grignon, Lecomte, who did indeed come and do some work for him at La Roque in the summer of
1895. Rouart congratulated Gide on having taken the young man on
and for giving him a chance to show off his skills (GR, I, p. 293, 19
August 1895). However the following year it had became clear to
Gide that La Roque could well ruin him and he asked Rouart to come
and spend a few days with him there, to study the situation on the estate and propose some remedies as well as offer some technical advice
___________________________
10 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , p. 237.
11 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , pp. 374-75.
12 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , p. 375.
13 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , p. 375.
240
nes.”
10 The long-term deleterious effects of this lack of investment
would soon be widespread. And when market prices began to fall, the
relationship between owners and the tenant- farmers who worked the
land for them became extremely fraught. As Désert explains,
whenever leases came up for renewal, tough negotiations were the
order of the day: “La lutte […] aboutit dans quelques régions à de
véritables grèves organisées au moment du renouvellement des baux,
aspect original de la lutte des classes dans un monde qui la connaît
peu.”
11 The flight from the land having reduced the number of
prospective farmers, those remaining could increasingly impose
whatever conditions they liked: “Les propriétaires sont dans
l’obligation, pour trouver des fermiers, de consentir des réductions sur
les baux ou même, afin de conserver ceux qui sont en place, de leur
accorder des remises.” Some were forced to agree to substitute “le
fermage en argent au fermage en nature” and: “Certains, faute de
trouver des candidats, sont obligés de reprendre en main l’exploitation
de leurs terres.”
12 So Gide found himself on the uncomfortable side of
the “grande déroute du rentier du sol”:
13 he had an estate which had
suffered from under-investment, and a population of farmers intent on
extracting maximum advantage from the sellers’ market in which they
found themselves.
Now at this very moment Rouart was impatient to become actively involved in a real agricultural concern. He had already come
close, in January 1895, to throwing up his studies, and taking on an
actual farm (GR, I, p. 248). So that clearly, when Gide turned to him
for advice, he was eager to lend a hand. To begin with, he recommended to Gide a fellow student from Grignon, Lecomte, who did indeed come and do some work for him at La Roque in the summer of
1895. Rouart congratulated Gide on having taken the young man on
and for giving him a chance to show off his skills (GR, I, p. 293, 19
August 1895). However the following year it had became clear to
Gide that La Roque could well ruin him and he asked Rouart to come
and spend a few days with him there, to study the situation on the estate and propose some remedies as well as offer some technical advice
___________________________
10 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , p. 237.
11 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , pp. 374-75.
12 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , p. 375.
13 Histoire de la France rurale. Vol. III , p. 375.