Marne lias the climate of the region of the Seine; the annual mean temperature is 50° Fahr., the rainfall about 24 inches. Of the total area about three-fourths consists of arable land, and a sixth is under forest, whilst a twenty-fifth is meadow land. Vineyards cover 63’7 square miles. The department is largely stocked with sheep (536,000, of which 133,000 are a mixed merino breed, whose wool is used in the manufacture of merinoes, flannels, and cashmeres). Cattle are estimated to number 95,260; horses, 53,000; pigs, 62,000; goats, 6000; and asses, 6000; these last are used in the narrow pathways which intersect the vineyards. About 600,000 ft> of honey and 240,000 lb of wax are produced. The vineyards, though not of great extent, are of high value from the quality of their products. The manufacture of the sparkling wines of Champagne is an important industry, of which Épernay, Rheims, and Chalons are the chief centres. The yearly exportation is about 20,000,000 bottles, at the average value of half a crown a bottle. Cereals are grown in excess of the local consumption. Corn, hay, rye, barley, potatoes, and beetroot are the chief crops. Several communes supply the more valuable vegetables. In 1881 the produce of wine was more than 14⅜ million .gallons. The principal orchard fruits are the apple, plum, and cherry. Pine woods are largely planted in Champagne-Pouilleuse. The department produces iron ore, phosphate of lime, quantities of turf, and excellent millstones and stone for building.

The chief industry is that in wool, which has brought together, in the neighbourhood of Rheims, establishments for spinning, carding, dyeing, and weaving. The materials wrought are flannels, merinoes, tartans, shawls, rugs, and fancy articles. In 1879 the aggregate length of the various stuffs measured at Rheims was 12,198 miles. This business alone occupies 30,000 operatives in the department, and produces annually nearly 800,000 pieces, valued at £18,000,000. Hosiery in woollen employs 420 looms, and in cotton 1800. Marne contains blast-furnaces, iron, copper, and bell foundries, and manufactories of agricultural implements. Besides these there are tanyards, currying and leather-dressing establishments, and glassworks, which, with sugar-works and breweries, complete the list of the most important industries. Biscuits and gingerbread are a specialty of Rheims. The chief imports are wool, coal, and colonial wares; the exports are wine, grain, live stock, stone, whiting, pit-props, and woollen stuffs. Transport is supplied by the river Marne and the canal connecting it with the Rhine and with the Aisne, and by 300 miles of railway. The population in 1881 was 421,027, an increase of 116,371 since 1801. There are five arrondissements—those of Chalons (the chef-lieu), Épernay, Rheims, Ste Menehould, and Vitry-le-François. The department belongs partly to the archbishopric of Rheims and partly to the see of Chalons. Chalons is the headquarters of the 6th army corps; to the north of the town is the great camp devoted to military exercises.

MARNE, Haute-, a department of eastern France, made up for the most part of districts belonging to the former province of Champagne (Bassigny, Perthois, Vallage), with smaller portions of Lorraine and Burgundy, and some fragments of Franche-Comté. It lies between 47° 35' and 48° 40' N. lat., and between 4° 40' and 5° 55" E. long., the capital, Chaumont, being 133 miles east-south-east from Paris in a direct line, and it is bounded on the N.E. by Meuse, on the E. by Vosges, on the S.E. by Haute-Saône, on the S. and S.W. by Cote d’Or, on the W. by Aube, and on the N.W. by Marne. The extreme length from north-north-west to south-south-east is 81 miles, and the area 2402 square miles. Its greatest elevation (1693 feet) is in the plateau of Langres, between the sources of the Marne and those of the Aube; the watershed between the basin of the Rhone on the south and those of the Seine and Meuse on the north, which is formed by the plateau of Langres and the Monts Faucilles, has an average height of 1500 or 1600 feet. The country descends rapidly towards the south, but in very gentle slopes northwards. To the north is Bassigny (“paybas, as distinguished from the highlands), a district of country characterized by monotonous flats of small fertility, and generally under wood. The lowest level of the department is 360 feet. Hydrographically Haute-Marne belongs for the most part to the basin of the Seine, the remainder to those of the Rhone and the Meuse. The principal stream is the Marne, which rises here, and has a course of 75 miles within the department. Among the more important affluents of the Marne are on the right the Rognon, and on the left the Blaise, one of the rivers of France most fully utilized for the supply of water-power. The Saulx, another tributary of the Marne on the right, also rises in Haute-Marne. Westward the department is watered by the Aube and its tributary the Aujon, both of which have their sources on the plateau of Langres. The Μ euse also rises in the Monts Faucilles, and has a course of 31 miles within Haute-Marne. On the Mediterranean side the department sends to the Saône the Apance, the Amance, the Salon, and the Vingeanne. The climate is partly that of the Seine region, partly that of the Vosges, and partly that of the Rhone; the mean temperature is 51° F., nearly that of Paris; the rainfall is slightly below the average for F rance.

Of the total area rather more than one half is arable, about a third is under wood, a twentieth under meadow, and a fortieth is occupied by vineyards. There are 39,000 horses (extensively bred in Bassigny), 86,000 head of cattle, 170,000 sheep, 58,000 pigs, 6000 goats, 25,000 beehives, and a large quantity of all kinds of poultry. Though not very fertile, the soil is well cultivated, and in 1878 yielded 1,271,363 hectolitres of wheat, 144,348 of barley, 1,446,421 of oats, 1,177,187 of potatoes, besides meslin, rye, buckwheat, dried legumes, colza, beetroot, and hemp. Upwards of 8 million gallons of wine of ordinary quality were produced in 1881. The timber consists chiefly of oak, beech, elm, ash, maple, birch, and aspen; the orchards produce cherries, apples, pears, and prunes. The department is very rich in iron; the annual output of 300,000 tons is exceeded only by that of Meurthe-et-Moselle. Building and paving stones are quarried. The warm springs cf Bourbonne-les-Bains are among the longest-known and most frequented in France. The leading industry is the metallurgical; in 1881 76,000 tons of pig iron and 85,000 of wrought iron were produced. The establishments include blast furnaces, foundries, forges, plate-rolling works, and shops for nailmaking and smith work of various descriptions. St Dizier, the place of largest population, is the chief centre of manufacture and distribution. The cutlery trade alone occupies 6000 persons in the neighbourhood of Langres. The department employs 1800 spindles in the woollen manufacture; glove-making, basket-making, brewing, tanning, and other industries are also carried on. The principal import is coal, while iron, stone, wood, and cereals are exported. The population in 1876 was 253,943, making an increase of 27,288 since 1801. There are three arrondissements (Chaumont, Langres, and Vassy), the capital being Chaumont.