CESAR'S GOLD

I could be wrong -- haven't read the book -- but I think most of César's wealth is his land, with a much smaller stash of money. He's rich compared with others in the village, but probably not compared with many in Marseilles (the nearest city IIRC).

So, it isn't a simple matter to just pick up and grow the carnations somewhere else.

Also, most of the farms in the area, at that time, probably grew crops which required little irrigation, or they depended on water from the one spring feeding into the village fountain -- which turned out to be the same spring. And carnations require a lot of water, at least for that climate. Ugolin needed direct access to a spring; if he'd tried to get enough water for his carnations from the village fountain, others would have commented on how much he was using.

Of course he could have done many things differently. Those would be other stories, other films.

Edward

Isn't it obvious? Yes, he's rich. To the exact extent is unclear. But, by the standards of the town, he's one of the wealthier. Viz, his tomb is one of the larger in the town; he's feared/respected to the extent that the entire town keeps his secret; he's on the town council; in its heyday, the soubeyran farms were magnificent. He's just more or less a miser. He has the gold, sure, but what's he going to spend it on.

He's obsessed with Florette's land because it's the best farming land in the area and it would benefit Ugolin his nephew (and the supposed Soubeyran fortunes) if Ugolin were to prosper there. Yes, he could buy land somewhere else. He could also invest it in a business. Or stocks. Or commodities. But that's the whole point of being short-sighted old coot in farm country: he's only going to consider prospering in his little village. The whole grand dream of restoring the Soubeyrans back to their former glory, etc.

I don't think his wealth is all tied up in the land. I think it's not unlikely that he has a goodly hoard. It's just he has nothing to spend it on. After all: he did go out and buy Florette's mortgage AND then buy out the widow, in cash. And I don't imagine that set him back too much.