ALLIER  , a

department of central France, formed in 1790 from the old province of Bourbonnais . Pop . (1go6) 417,961 . Area, 2849 sq. m . It is bounded N. by the department of Nievre, E. by Saone-et-Loire,from which it is divided by the river Loire, S.E. by Loire, S. by Puy-de-Dome, S.W. by Creuse and N.W. by Cher . Situated on the northern border of the Central Plateau, the department slopes from south to north . Its highest altitudes are found in the south-east, in the Bois-Noirs, where one point reaches 4239 ft., and in the Monts de la Madeleine . Plains alternating with forests occupy the northern zone of the department, while the central and western regions form an undulating and well-watered plateau . Entering the department in the south, and, like the other chief rivers, flowing almost due north, the Allier drains the central district, receiving on its left the Sioule . East of the Allier is the Bebre, which joins the Loire within the limits of the department; and on the west the Cher, with its tributary the Aumance . Rigorous and rainy in the south-east, the climate elsewhere is milder though subject to sudden variations . Agriculturally the department is flourishing, the valleys of the Allier and the Sioule known as the Limagne Bourbonnaise comprising its most fertile portion .

Wheat, oats, barley and other cereals are grown and exported, and owing to the abundance of pasture and forage, sheep and cattle-rearing are actively carried on . Potatoes and mangels yield good crops . Wines of fair quality are grown in the valley of the Sioule; walnuts, chestnuts, plums, apples and pears are principal fruits . Goats, from the milk of which choice cheese is made, and pigs are plentiful . A large area is under forests, the oak, beech, fir, birch and hornbeam being the principal trees . The mineral waters at Vichy (q.v.), Neris, Theneuille, Cusset and Bourbon l'Archambault are in much repute . The mineral wealth of the department is considerable, including coal as well as manganese and bituminous schist; plaster, building stone and hydraulic lime are also produced . Manufactories of porcelain, glass and earthen-ware are numerous . Montlugon and Commentry are iron-working centres . There are flour mills, breweries and saw-mills; and paper, chemicals, wooden shoes, wool and woollen goods are produced . Besides the products of the soil Allier exports coal, mineral waters and cattle for the Paris market . Building materials, brandy and coal are among the imports .

The

railways belong chiefly to the Orleans and Paris-Lyons-Mediterranean companies . The lateral canal of the Loire, the Berry Canal and the canal from Roanne to Digoin together traverse about 57 M. in the department . Allier is divided into the arrondissements of Moulins, Gannat, Lapalisse and Montlugon (29 cantons, 321 communes) . It forms the diocese of Moulins and part of the ecclesiastical province of Bourges, and falls within the academie (educational division) of Clermont-Ferrand and the region of the XIII. army-corps . Its court of appeal is at Riom . Moulins, the capital, Montlugon and Vichy, are the principal towns . Souvigny possesses the church of a famous Cluniac priory dating from the xlth-12th and 15th centuries, and containing the splendid tombs (15th century) of Louis II. and Charles I. of Bourbon . At St Menoux, Ebreuil and Gannat there are fine Romanesque churches . Huriel has a church of the 11th century and a well-preserved keep, the chief survival of a medieval castle . St Pourgain-sur-Sioule has a large church, dating from the rrth to the 18th centuries . The castle of Bourbon 1'Archambault, which belonged to the dukes of Bourbon, dates from the 13th and 15th centuries . The Romanesque churches of Veauce and Ygrande, and the chateaus of Veauce and Lapalisse, are also of interest, the latter belonging to the family of Chabannes .