SOMME

SOMME, a department of the north of France. It has been formed out of those parts of the ancient Picardy known as Amiens, Ponthieu, Vimieux, and Santerre, and extends over 1,460,932 acres, or 2284 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Pas de Calais; on the east by the departments of the North and of the Aisne; on the south by the Oise and the Lower Seine; and on the west by the British channel. It contains five arrondissements, with forty-one cantons, and 835 communes, and its population in 1836 amounted to 552,706. The surface is flat and level, but gradually slopes towards the sea on the western side. There are no mountains, but some hills of inconsiderable height rise on the eastern frontier. The Somme, which has its source in the department of the Aisne, is the chief river. The others are the Avre, the Noye, the Celle, and the Brisle. The soil is chalky, and naturally fruitful. The inhabitants cultivate to a great extent corn and hemp, and considerable quantities of corn are exported. Cattle and sheep are reared in large flocks. The country is almost destitute of wood, but the valleys abound in peat. The wine produced is small in quantity, and inferior in quality. Oleaginous seeds are extensively cultivated for the manufacture of oil. In this district are numerous and extensive establishments for the manufacture of woollen cloths and fine linen goods, such as cambrics, lenos, and lawns, carpets, hats, hosiery, leather, soap, cutlery, and other hardware. It is, on the whole, one of the most prosperous divisions of the kingdom, and contains, besides many towns and villages densely inhabited, the large cities Amiens (population, 46,129) and Abbeville (population, 18,247), in which most of the commerce of the department is concentrated.