Out of the total area of 1,656,531 acres arable land occupies 1,023,275 acres, grass 290,503, vines 37,467, wood 65,853, and moor, pasture, and uncultivated land 136,432. In 1881 the live stock included 29,790 horses, 4500 mules, 1950 asses, 471,775 cattle, 379,950 sheep (10,000 being of superior breed; total wool-clip 395 tons), 55,000 pigs, and 1625 goats. There were 10,000 beehives (49 tons of honey and 10 tons of wax). The agricultural products in 1884 were returned as follows :—wheat 7,312,316 bushels, meslin 65,736, rye 218,720, barley 1,218,855, buckwheat 358,985, maize 33,000, millet 129,973, oats 2,815,436, potatoes 3,938,214, beetroot 324,601 tons, wine 15,569,312 gallons, colza seed 7790 tons, hemp seed 551 tons, linseed 991 tons, flax 1786 tons, and fodder 745,792 tons. The forests (oak, chestnut, pine, poplar, hornbeam, maple, ash, beech, and elm) yielded 3,180,000 cubic feet of wood, a third of which was applied to various industrial uses. Apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and walnuts are the principal fruits grown. The salt marshes, 4572 acres in extent and employing 3500 workmen, yielded 2436 tons of salt in 1882. In 1884 18,409 tons of coal were mined. Iron, antimony, lead, “the Vendée diamond” (a kind of quartz), china clay, and slate are obtained; and granite, gneiss, slate schist, limestone, cement, millstones, and clay are objects of industry. The celebrated beds of sea-shells near St Michel-en-l'Herm—2300 feet long, 985 broad, and from 30 to 50 feet in depth—show to what an extent the coast has risen. The wool spinning and weaving industry occupies 12,570 spindles and 520 hand-looms; cotton, 3100 spindles and 5 looms; linen, 388 spindles and 478 looms (80 being power looms). There are potteries, paper-mills, tan-yards, dye-works, a glass-work, manufactories of hats, boots and shoes, and lampblack, flour-mills, distilleries, tile-works, and shipbuilding-yards, and sardines and tinned foods are prepared,—in all 575 industrial establishments. The sardine fishery occupies 800 boats and 2000 men, and there are extensive oyster-beds near Sables-d’Olonne. Corn, cattle, mules, fish, salt, wine, honey, wood, glass, and manure are exported; wine, wood, building material, and coal are among the imports. The shipping places are Bouin and Beauvoir in the Breton marsh, and Noirmoutier, the island of Yeu, St Gilles-sur-Vie, Sables-d’Olonne, L’Aiguillon, and Luçon in the Poitevin marsh. In 1882 a total of 391 vessels (130,688 tons) entered and cleared from all these ports. Vendee has 212 miles of railway, 335 of national and 2966 of other roads, and 82 of navigable rivers and canals. In 1881 the population was 421,642, and in 1886 434,808,—an increase of 191,382 since 1801. The department forms the diocese of Luçon, has its court of appeal and academy at Poitiers, and is included in the district of the Nantes army corps. There are three arrondissements (La Roche-sur-Yon, the chef-lieu of the department, with 10,991 inhabitants in 1886; Fontenay-le-Comte, 9282; and Sables-d’Olonne, 10,114), 30 cantons, and 300 communes. Luçon (6285 inhabitants) is connected with the sea by a canal, and has a cathedral of the 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th, and 18th centuries, with an elegant Gothic spire, a cloister of the 15th and 16th centuries, an episcopal palace, and a hospital, with portraits of the bishops of Luçon.