Lot-et-Garonne

Lot-et-Garonne, a department in the south-west of France, formed out of the old provinces of Guienne and Gascony. It comprises the arrondissements of Agen, Villeneuve, Marmande, and Nérac, and is watered by the Garonne and its tributaries, the Gers and Lot. Area, 2067 sq. m.; pop. (1841) 347,073; (1891) 295,560. The department is a rolling plain and extremely fertile, except in the south-west, where it is invaded by the Landes (q.v.). The principal products are wheat, maize, wine (20 million gallons annually), hemp, fruits (the plums of Agen are particularly celebrated), tobacco, potatoes, flax, and oil-plants. Pine, cork, and chestnut woods are numerous. Poultry are reared in great numbers for exportation. Manufacturing industry is exhibited chiefly in metal-works, paper-mills, woollen and cork factories, distilleries, and tanneries.