Of a total area of 2,116,311 acres (this is one of the largest of the French departments) 1,079,395 are arable, 371,866 forest, 292,287 natural meadows and orchards, and 106,111 vineyards. In 1880 the live-stock comprised 26,000 horses, 6000 asses and mules, 75,000 bulls and oxen, 150,000 cows and heifers, 56,000 calves, 216,000 sheep, 175,000 pigs, 50,000 goats, 35,000 beehives (yielding 214 tons of honey and 52 tons of wax). The white Charollais oxen are one of the finest French breeds, equally suitable for labour and fattening. No fewer than 366,252 of the inhabitants of the department out of a total of 625,559 depend on agriculture. In 1883 there was produced 3,678,276 bushels of wheat, 22,890 meslin, 1,022,037 rye; in 1880 210,375 bushels of barley, 754,875 buckwheat, 809,325 maize, 101,970 millet, 2,107,187 oats, 13,359,307 potatoes, 38,500 pulse, 70,936 tons of beetroot, 206 tons hemp, 195 tons hempseed, 135,300 bushels colza-seed, 3177 tons colza oil. In 1883 the vintage yielded 22,636,636 gallons of wine, the average quantity of recent years being 21,809,018 gallons. The red wines of Mâconnais (especially those of Thorins) are those in highest repute; Pouilly produces the best white wines. The industrial classes are represented by 150,983 individuals. The coal-basin of Creusot, the sixth in importance in France, produced in 1882 1,269,783 tons. A pit at Épinac is 3937 feet deep. Iron-ore was extracted in 1882 to the amount of 28,654 tons. Slate, limestone, building-stone, millstones, granite, marble, marl, plaster, bituminous schists, peat, kaolin, manganese (4360 tons per annum), and certain precious stones are also found in the department. The most celebrated mineral waters are those of Bourbon-Laney, six out of the seven springs being thermal. They are strongly saline. Metal-working is principally carried on at Creusot, which, with its 13,000 workmen and its 13 smelting furnaces, 100 puddling ovens, 4 Bessemer apparatuses and 4 Martin’s ovens, &c., produced in 1882 63,989 tons of iron (965 tons of rails, 21,984 tons of sheet-iron) and 99,823 tons of steel (72,085 tons of rails, 7056 tons of sheet-iron). The engine works produce all sorts of machines, including about 100 locomotives. The Châlon branch works turn out ships, boats, bridges, and boilers, other foundries and forges in the department produced in 1882 175,113 tons of cast iron and certain quantities of copper and bronze. The cotton manufacture employs 14,000 spindles and 2000 looms, silk 2900 spindles and 2500 handlooms, wool-spinning 350 spindles, other industrial establishments are potteries, tile-works, glass-works (6,000,000 bottles at Épinac alone), distilleries, oil-works, mineral-oil works, cooperages, tanneries, flour-mills, sugar-works—the total number being 850 with 1372 steam engines of 27,780 horse-power. The commerce of the department, especially as regards its exports, deals mainly with coal, metals, machinery, wine, cattle, bricks, pottery, glass. It is facilitated by five navigable streams (181 miles),—Loire, Arroux, Saône, Doubs, Seille,—the Canal du Centre which unites Chalon-sur-Saône with Digoin on the Loire, and the canal from Roanne to Digoin and the lateral Loire Canal, both following the main river valley. The total length of the canals is 90 miles. There are 365 miles of national road, 7098 of other roads, and 487 miles of railway. Saône-et-Loire forms the diocese of Autun; it is part of the district of the 8th corps d’armée (Bourges), and its university is that of Lyons. It is divided into five arrondissements, —Mâcon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Autun, Charolles (3350 inhabitants in the town), Louhans (4280),—50 cantons, and 539 communes; the most populous commune is Creusot (28,000 inhabitants, 16,000 in the town). Montceau-les-Mines (4560) is also a mining centre. Cluny (3500) is celebrated for its abbey, now occupied by the normal school of secondary instruction, and Paray-le-Monial (300) for its pilgrimage.