Sèvres, DEUX-

Sèvres, DEUX-, a dept. in the west of France, formed chiefly out of the ancient province of Poitou. Area, 2315 sq. m.; pop. (1891) 354,282. It takes its name from two rivers of the same name, the Sèvre-Niortaise, which flows west into the sea, and the Sèvre-Nantaise, an affluent of the Loire. The northern portion is taken up with the woody plateau of Gâtine. In other parts the soil is fertile, yielding large crops of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, beet-root, colza seed, wine (nearly 3 million gallons annually), and vegetables. The mules and cattle are celebrated. Coal is mined, and there are good quarries of freestone. The principal industries are in cloth, leather, linen, spirits, flannel, &c., but not to any very great extent except in the first named. The arrondissements are Niort, Bressuire, Melle, and Parthenay. Niort is the capital.