Ugh, people. I never said the correlation was perfect; it is partial. There is a partial link, in some places, between small property and leftist tradition. It is not universal, but anybody with half a brain understands that voting patterns and their determinants differ from region to region and that an identical type of makeup in two regions doesn't mean that they vote identically - far from it. And even if I recognize that it is not the only cause, it certainly informs a political tradition.
Of course, there is still a partial link, I agree. My answer to Colbert was just quickly typed between two meetings
You're right for south of Berry, Languedoc, inner Var (though south of Var and Alpes-Maritimes have small farms statistically because they are hugely urbanized and so, the lands left aren't very big).
But Ariège, Hautes Pyrénées, Pyrénées Atlantiques and Pyrénées Orientales, it's about Pyrenees.
Haute-Saône, it's only the part in Vosges, so not exactly the strongest area for the left.
You're right for south of Berry and for Limousin, though the Massif Central is widespread.
Charente-Maritime, the south is orange in your map, while it's rgithist territory; while the north is blue, while it's leftist territory.
There are also counter-examples to what you say: Savoies, Brittany in a way, Manche, Cher, even the "red" Allier, Meurthe-et-Moselle in a way, which are all counter-intuitive base on modern electoral results. The same for Cantal which is really a "blue" departement.
The same for south of Var, Alpes-Maritimes, but also the heart of Champagne (the NW corner of Marne: slight orange while it's UMP-fascist wing of FN territory), just because big wine farms are small ones even if hugely rich ones (see also the ousth of Saône-et-Loire and the north of Rhône).
My comment was really too short: you're
globally right, but what I wanted to say is that the first explanation, the first link is geography, which explains far better in
details this map. And, after that, as a possible corollary in many areas, there are of course political consequences.
Maybe a better (in the meaning of more correlated in each area) link with other maps would be the rural unionism; results of MODEF and then Confédération paysanne in Agriculture Chambers' elections.
Sorry if my "I agree with Colbert" put just after his "there is no political conection" made you collapse...
I can perfectly understand your reaction ! It was unintended and my comment was really
trop rapide, dans les deux sens de l'expression 
.
