California 
 
 ^ional 
 
 jility 
 
 
 nlMii/^HA^ 
 
 'mm^ 
 
 
 A-^^ 
 
 iMP
 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 MRS. H. RUSSELL AMORY. 
 
 GIFT OF HER CHI LDREN 
 R. W, AND NINA PARTRIDGE 
 
 .^.-^^^^^-^-^^^^^ 

 
 W^W^^ -^~f 
 
 
 ^nH^4iSt'^* 
 
 w.^^llf* 
 
 m^mrnm 
 
 
 (is 
 
 mmm, 
 
 m^Mi 
 
 ^^^i^mn
 
 INDUSTRY OF THE RHINE 
 
 SERIES I. 
 
 AGRICULTUEE: 
 
 EMBRACING A VIEW OF 
 
 THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE RURAL 
 POPULATION OF THAT DISTRICT. 
 
 BY T. C. BANFIELD. 
 
 LONDON: 
 CHARLES KNIGHT & CO., LUDGATE STREET. 
 
 1846.
 
 London : Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street.
 
 ( iii ) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 I'H^e 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 5 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 27 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 •iO 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 56 
 
 CHAPTER V. . . . . 
 
 76 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 99 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 lis 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 U4 
 
 CHAPTER IX. . 
 
 .• 177 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 . 205 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 . 224
 
 AGEICULTUEE ON THE RHINE, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Amongst the many thousands who yearly flock to the 
 banks of the Rhine there are not a few for whom the 
 social activity, the condition, the wants and wishes, of the 
 })eople they mingle with are as attractive objects as the 
 picturesque scenery and romantic legends of the far- 
 famed river. The figures in the landscape are its pro- 
 minent feature for the deeper observer. For such tra- 
 vellers the following volume is written, for from such 
 its author does not fear to be rebuked because he reads a 
 moral in 
 
 " The noble arch in proud decay," 
 where others choose only to enjoy its scenic effect. Nor 
 does he anticipate from them the supposition that be- 
 cause he points to the effects of shady and sunny sites on 
 the productions of the soil, he has no soul for the glow- 
 ing tints of the sunlit stream, or the majestic gloom with 
 which night invests the precipices that overhang it. 
 Having himself found leisure both to enjoy the beauties 
 with which nature has clothed this enchanting river, and 
 to commune with those who dwell upon its banks, he 
 deems it no superfluous task to invite any who have taste 
 or leisure to study more than scenery as they pass along ; 
 to inquire with him respecting the account to which the 
 
 B
 
 6 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 people turn the advantages of soil and climate with 
 which they are endowed. In this volume we propose to 
 afford the inquiring traveller, or such as are not less 
 inquiringly disposed because they stay at home, a clue to 
 the varied map of agricultural activity which the banks 
 of the Rhine unfold, A greater variety of objects and 
 modes of cultivation is assuredly presented by i>o other 
 region of equal space. In no country has the well-being 
 of the people been more intimately interwoven with its 
 agricultural policy and prosperity than m Germany. 
 Few tours present a larger sphere of observation to the 
 landowner, the farmer, and the statesman, than that 
 which, with the aid of Rhenish steamers and railroads, 
 he can accomplish in the space of a few weeks. With 
 these preliminary observations we enter at once upon our 
 task of tracing the peasant to his cottage, the lord to his 
 castle, and both to the great mart of the world, at which 
 all are buyers and sellers, not alone of produce and ma- 
 nufactures, but of consideration, influence, comfort, and 
 independence. He is but a soiry calculator who does 
 not look beyond the money price at which he buys and 
 sells, as we shall have frequent occasion to show in the 
 course of this tour. We shall often have to test the value 
 of the epithets dear and cheap; and perhaps no other 
 district can so fully illustrate how relative the notions 
 are that attacli to those words. 
 
 The entrance into Germany by the Rhine presents 
 nothing very attractive to the eye. Long before the 
 traveller reaches the Prussian frontier, the neat farm- 
 houses that in Holland line the carefully walled or fas- 
 cined banks of the great stream, gay in their shutters 
 and doors of red or green, and grouped with the coppice
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 7 
 
 or willow so familiar to us from the landscapes of the 
 Dutch masters, give way to continued plantations of 
 osiers and wave-washed banks, that seem to indicate a 
 change of no pleasing kind. The transition is on both 
 banks sudden, from a people whom trade early attracted 
 to the banks of the river and familiarised with its utility, 
 to one almost exclusively agricultural, which long looked 
 wholly to the land for nourishment and power. The 
 face of the country has also changed materially by the 
 time the boat in which you ascend the Rhine reaches 
 the Prussian boundary. The level of the back country 
 has risen considerably above the stream, which may here 
 chafe against the bank without, as in Holland, endan- 
 gering the lives and property of the inhabitants of whole 
 provinces. This change is not perceptible from the 
 river except to the practised eye of the geographer, 
 who recognises, in the circumstance that the stream is 
 confined within a single bed, the existence of rocky 
 strata in the banks, and suspects that it has eaten its way 
 through the lower offsets of some mountain-chain. On 
 the right bank, i. e. on the traveller's left as he ascends 
 the river, the rise is trifling, and a well-cultivated strip 
 of land flanking the river, formerly a portion of the 
 duchy of Cleves, intervenes between the Rhine and the 
 immense heaths which sepai-ate Holland from Germany, 
 to whose extent, untraversed for centuries by roads, the 
 Dutch are indebted for their independent nationality. 
 
 The want of roads in the inland German states gave 
 an early pre-eminence to those districts that commanded 
 water-navigation, and amongst the navigable rivers of 
 Germany the Rhine was prominent. The Lower Rhine, 
 as that portion of the river lying between the Seven 
 
 B 2
 
 8 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Hills and the sea is called, and the Middle Rhine 
 from Mayence to the Drachenfels, formed long the vir- 
 tual northern boundary of the Roman empire, beyond 
 which few or no permanent settlements were made. 
 The Rhine was, however, fully appreciated by the Ro- 
 mans as a grand road for warlike and commercial opera- 
 tions, and its banks teem with relics of that stirring age. 
 The Teutonic tribes that succeeded the Romans as con- 
 querors or immigrants found in the roads, harbours, and 
 other constructions of their predecessors, a foundation of 
 ]")0wer far more valuable than the chivalrous daring to 
 which they usually ascribed their success. The rise of 
 the second line of Frankish kings has been described 
 by M. (luizot as resulting from the conquests over the 
 Xeustrian or Western Franks achieved by the Austrasian 
 or Eastern Frankish tribes. To judge from the acts of 
 Charlemagne and his favourite places of abode, that 
 monarch knew well from what source the Austrasians 
 and his family drew their might. The ruins of his im- 
 perial castle are now scarcely to be traced at Ingelheim 
 on the Middle Rhine, and Aix-la-Chapelle contains but 
 his grave and the cathedral which he founded ; yet are 
 these relics sufficient to attest the importance attributed 
 by that discerning monarch to the great water-road that 
 connects the Alj)s with the German Ocean.* 
 
 The period that marks the rise of the great vassals of 
 the German empire shows us the Earls of Flanders, the 
 Dukes of Brabant, the Lords of Hainault and Cleves, 
 
 * Napoleon is said to have entertained the idea of i-e- 
 building the palace at Ingelheim, and we believe that the 
 Royal Library at Paris contains the plans and elevations of 
 the intended palatium, comprising even the decorations of 
 the interior.
 
 AGKICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 9 
 
 as potentates whose alliance is courted and whose enmity 
 is dreaded by their reigning contemporaries. These 
 districts all belong to the region of the Rhine, or are so 
 contiguous to it as to be influenced by the events of 
 which its basin was the scene. The Counts of Haps- 
 burg, of Nassau, and of Luxemburg successively ascended 
 the Imperial throne. Civic independence reared its 
 banner trium.phantly on the banks of the Rhine, and the 
 Rhenish League is a no less interesting historical event 
 than the more famous Confederacy of the lianse Towns, 
 in which the cities of the Lower Rhine, especially 
 Cologne, played a conspicuous part. That the mechanical 
 and refined arts also flourished at an early period in these 
 cities is well known. 
 
 The portion of Prussia by which the traveller on the 
 Rhine enters Germany from Holland was formerly the 
 Duchy of Cleves. The high road from Nymwegen to 
 Cologne follows the heights that recede from the left 
 bank of the Rhine and leave a narrow strip of low land 
 (originally marsh, and afterwards enclosed), which is 
 occasionally inundated, or what is called Polderland in 
 the language of the country. This narrow strip formed 
 the county of Mors. It has been already observed that a 
 tract of land stretching along the right bank of the river 
 from the frontier of Holland to the mouth of the Lippe 
 also belonged formerly to Cleves. The farmer who fol- 
 lows other than political boundaries still distinguishes be- 
 tween the heights and the lowlands of Cleves. In the 
 former tract, which is traversed by the high road from 
 Cologne to Nymwegen, that owed its original construc- 
 tion in all probability to the Romans, trade has had its 
 usual effect upon the farmer's calculations. Estates are
 
 10 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 not of puny dimensions, because too small a farm would 
 not pay well : they are not large, because there is con- 
 siderable demand for dairy produce, rape-seed, flax, 
 tobacco, and other products that remunerate when cul- 
 tivated on a middling-sized farm. The farms average, for 
 peasants, 30 to 50 acres ; for landed proprietors (who are 
 not numerous of this class), from 200 to 400 Prussian mor- 
 gens, or 125 to 250 acres. A great deal of land in these 
 districts is rented out to farmers, whose houses are well 
 placed in the centre of the grounds belonging to them. 
 
 Some readers will be surprised to hear that these three 
 characteristic features of the highlands of Cleves are 
 rare exceptions in Germany. In the greater part, espe- 
 cially in all the populous districts of Southern Germany, 
 the land is tilled by its owners, scarcely any small hold- 
 ings being farmed out. The possessions of the peasant 
 owners and cultivators are usually very diminutive, and 
 those of the richer lords of the soil, especially in the 
 North, immensely extensive. Lastly, the peasant scarcely 
 anywhere lives upon his land, but in the adjacent vil- 
 lage, whatever may be its distance from his fields. Hence 
 the Duchy of Cleves has a pleasingly varied appearance 
 where there is wood enough. Wood is usually found in 
 sufficient quantities to supply the inhabitants with fuel, 
 although coals are extensively used. But the stately 
 forests of the midland and northern Prussian provinces 
 cannot be sought in a part of the country where, for the 
 reasons already assigned, the land has a high value. The 
 subdivision of property in this district is a natural result 
 of the gain derived from good cultivation and a judi- 
 cious selection of crops. The Code Napoleon, indeed, 
 prescribes the usual division of property amongst the
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 11 
 
 children of a family ; but the facilities for trade which 
 this district enjoys cause the junior members to prefer 
 leaving the land to a brother, who looks to farming-, 
 while they seek their livelihood elsewhere. We thus 
 find that a law expressly intended to promote small 
 holdings has as little eiFect upon the size of farms as the 
 law of entail in England, which might be supposed to 
 farour large holdings. Where activity prevails and is 
 not restrained, the size of estates must be fixed by the 
 kind of cultivation that is found best to answer the far- 
 mer's purpose. Were we to select a good model of the 
 style of farming that prevails in the Duchy of Cleves, 
 we should recommend the traveller to leave the city, 
 which preserves few traces of its former dignity beyond 
 its commanding site, and follow the high road leading 
 along the heights parallel with the Rhine to Goch, an 
 ancient and picturesque town twenty miles to the south of 
 Cleves. In a handsome house about half a mile distant 
 from the town resides Herr von Busch,a gentleman farm- 
 ing his estate of about 200 acres in the fashion of the 
 best school of German agriculture. The house is in the 
 Italian style of architecture, larger than is usual amongst 
 country gentlemen in general, and in the rear, toge- 
 ther with the offices, is a very spacious farm-yard. To 
 the offices of farms of this description there belongs a 
 distillery on a small scale, and occasionally, as at Goch, 
 a brewery. The low price of corn on the Continent 
 makes it worth the grower's while to manufacture from it 
 some article that is more in demand than the grain. 
 Stabling for horses, cows, and oxen, here used for 
 draught, all airy and roomy, with barns that for the ex- 
 tent of the grounds would appear enormous to an English
 
 12 AGRICLLTLKE OS THE KHIXE. 
 
 fei-mer, enclose the side of the yard opposite to the dwell- 
 ing-house, at a distance sufficiently great to form a dis- 
 tinct establishment. The size of the offices is a remark- 
 able feature in all German farm-houses, from the cot of 
 the peasant to the largest castle. All the hay, and usu- 
 ally all the grain, is housed ; and the stacks to be seen 
 in the Duchy of Cleves, sometimes on the field, and oc- 
 casionally near the houses, belong also to the exceptions 
 which distinguish this district, and evince the improved 
 economy of the inhabitants. 
 
 In the stables of such a house there is of course little 
 to distinguish them from the ordinary stables of Fi-ance 
 and England. Stall-feeding is the rule for the horned 
 cattle, but in the autuum the cows are indulged with an 
 occasional day's run on the barley-stubbles near the house. 
 The breed is chiefly Dutch, with one or two Durham 
 heifei-s intermixed. The milk finds a sale in the town 
 of Goch, and neither butter nor cheese are made for 
 market. 
 
 How different the position of a country gentleman 
 livmg upon the revenue derived from an estate of 200 
 or 300 acres is from that of the owner of a similar pro- 
 perty in England will be evident from a few details. In 
 Germany such an estate is looked upon as something con- 
 siderable ; and if the low price of provisions, together 
 with the simple and inexpensive manners of the Germans, 
 be taken into account with the higher return drawn from 
 the land by the judicious selection of the crops, the ad- 
 vantage is certainly on the side of the German. From a 
 farm of 200 acres the revenue drawn in this part of Ger- 
 many is not less than 600/. per annum. Rye-bread at 
 Ad.y wheaten bread at bd. for the 11 -lb, loaf, and meat
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 13 
 
 at 3d. to 34^ per lb., with wine at Is. per bottle, are the 
 chief articles of consumption of indigenous growth. 
 Until recently tea and coftee were much less taxed than 
 in England, and only in manufactured wares could the 
 balance incline in favour of the English consumer. In 
 cloth and dress generally, in harness, furniture, plate, and 
 the ornaments of a gentleman's establishment, a German 
 cannot indulge on a moderate fortune ; and he is wise 
 enough not to pretend to do s-o. His position in society 
 does not depend upon such adventitious circumstances, 
 but is fixed by his birth, and still more by his education. 
 Besides, if any supercilious traveller were to remind a 
 proprietor on the Rhine of deficiencies in the conven- 
 tional arrangements or decorations of his " interieur," his 
 best retort would be to lead the fastidious guest to the 
 nearest window, and desire him to produce elsewhere the 
 clear sky and sunshine that for seven months in the year 
 can be enjoyed upon the Rhine. In the castles of the no- 
 bility there is no want of comfort and of elegance, as may 
 bo seen by a visit to the villas of Prince Salm-Reiferscheid, 
 at Dyk, near Neuss ; or of Ileldorp, the seat of Count 
 Spec, near Diisseldorf. 
 
 In the Prussian Rhenish provinces the trial by juiy, 
 a valuable relic of the French sway, and almost the only 
 one the people care for, offers opportunities to the 
 countiy gentlemen to meet at assizes, as with us. They 
 indeed are shorn of the aristocratic element of the grand 
 jury. Elections have only recently inspired interest, and 
 the exercise of this right is too indirect to be very attrac- 
 tive. The "noblesse," or gentry, called in German 
 " adel " (the reader may think of Sir Walter Scott's 
 " Udaller,"' in the 'Pirate'), have no longer personal 
 
 B 3
 
 14 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHI>'E. 
 
 right to a share in the representation of the people. 
 Estates that in olden times were endowed with the privi- 
 leges of a lordship, still confer the right of a representa- 
 tion upon the owners, whatever may be their birth. The 
 owners of these " Rittergiiter," or knights' estates, form 
 a distinct body between the " hoher adel," or nobility, and 
 the burghers and peasants. The knights of the Rhenish 
 provinces elect a deputation from their number to the 
 provincial diet that sits at Diisseldorf. The inhabitants 
 of the towns, as well as those of the rural districts, who pay 
 a certain amount of taxes, choose electors, to whom the 
 selection of their deputies for the provincial parliament is 
 intrusted. The political rights of the diet, or " Landtag," 
 as this assembly is called in German, are too circumscribed 
 to inspire that stirring sympathy which the publication 
 of the debates of a powerful and concentrated national 
 assembly awakens. The magisterial functions are univer- 
 sally performed in Germany by salaried official person- 
 ages, so that neither the burthen nor the dignity of 
 public life is there attached to the station of a country 
 gentleman, and he is apt to waste his leisure hours in 
 trifling or in slothful occupations, unless, which is often the 
 case, he has cultivated some refined taste. On the othei 
 hand, these very circumstances favour that side of German 
 life which has only lately attracted the attention that it 
 deserves in England, The local and family ties arc sub- 
 ject to less violent shocks than constant separations of 
 relatives occasion with us, and age advances surrounded 
 by the natural play of the affections amongst friends and 
 relatives. The aged totter to the grave amongst the 
 " old familiar faces " with whom the man lived in friend- 
 ship or in strife, and with whom the child shared his
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RUINE. 15 
 
 hours of pleasure or of study. The idea of home in a 
 country where the brilliancy of the summer sky and the 
 clear frosty atmosphere of winter alike invite to the open 
 air, is less attached to the chimney corner and the pecu- 
 liar furniture of certain rooms, than to the periodical 
 assemblies of the members of a family at birthday and 
 other anniversaries, and to the sympathy that is sought 
 amongst friends on the most trifling occasion of sorrow 
 or of joy. Society is indispensable to the German. 
 Even the peasant and the labourer must have their talk, 
 if not with their equals in wealth, with those whose for- 
 tune is more or less brilliant ; and the observer will not 
 fail to remark that a far greater equality of manner pre- 
 vails in the mode of addressing people of all classes in 
 Germany than in England, where the relations of servant 
 and master pass into the very highest grades of society. 
 The simplest conditions are here attached to the indul- 
 gence of the sociable propensities. A country gentleman 
 therefore, of the standing that we have supposed, drawing 
 fully 600/. per annum from an estate of about 200 acres, 
 can assume no magisterial airs, nor is he called upon to 
 give electioneering or fox-hunting dinners. His hours 
 are early, his meals light, and he passes his life more as 
 a spectator than an actor in the busy world of industry or 
 politics. Such a man it will at least be acknowledged is 
 more likely to rejoice at and to aid in the gradual and 
 orderly growth of knowledge and of civilization, than 
 such as speculate upon unexpected changes, and great 
 and dazzling opportunities of success. We suspect, how- 
 ever, that the mode in which a gentleman farmer in Ger- 
 many contrives to draw 600/. per annum from 200 acres 
 of land, will quite as much Interest our readers as the ex-
 
 16 AGRICULTUKE OX THE KHIKE. 
 
 planatory observations into which our desire to point out 
 the position which he occupies in society has seduced us. 
 We return therefore to the farm at Goch as a good 
 illustration of our problem. 
 
 The first study of every good farmer in Germany is the 
 local part of his task, the influence of soil and climate. 
 In the uplands of Cleves the climate is dry, and the sun 
 hot in summer ; the soil is strongly charged with lime- 
 stone ; cow -dung is found to answer better for winter 
 crops, or at least cow-dung mixed with horse-dung, than 
 the latter alone : for this reason oxen are kept as draught 
 cattle all along the Rhine. The dung-heap in the centi'e 
 of the farm-yard is the point on which the greatest care 
 is concentrated for good farming establishments. It 
 usually lies in a deep sloped pit enclosed by stone walls on 
 three sides, the bottom rising gradually to the level of the 
 yard on the fourth side, to allow of the approach of the 
 dung- cart : into this pit the drains from all the offices are 
 led, and waste of all kinds is thrown upon it. The plan 
 of stall-feeding, but especially the care taken to keep the 
 beasts clean (they are rubbed down every day like 
 horses), prevents their being allowed to tread the heap 
 down. Straw is likewise much economised, as it is used 
 to mix with the oats during the winter. The mixture of 
 cow and horse dung, with the flow of cold moistening 
 matter, prevents the fermentation that would otherwise 
 arise in the heap, and cause much of its value to evapo- 
 rate. After the fallow ploughing the manure is only 
 just ploughed in sufficiently deep to cover it ; top-dress- 
 ings are a good deal in use amongst good farmers for 
 grain crops. 
 
 At Goch, as well as in other well-managed farms in
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RUIKE. 17 
 
 this district, compost heaps are to be seen in al*l yards ; 
 the substances used for one resembled a mixture we have 
 seen in some parts of Ireland. A heap of quicklime is 
 covered all over with turf-ashes, or with wood-ashes from 
 the house-stoves. Water is thrown over the heap, and 
 after a few days the lime, in fermenting-, shows itself 
 through the ashes ; the heap is then turned over, again 
 covered with ashes and watered, and this process is 
 repeated until the lime is thoroughly slaked ; the mass 
 is then mixed with sand or eai-th, or other compost heaps, 
 and forms an excellent top-dressing. The use of turf 
 and wood ashes for manure, especially to prepare the 
 land for flax, has spread into this district from Flanders. 
 
 The advantage of keeping horned cattle for draught is 
 increased for the farmer who has his own distillery and 
 brewery, by feeding them on the grains. The number 
 of stock kept is large, even on those uplands where there 
 is little grazing ; one horse for twenty acres is the propor- 
 tion of the best farmers, but then fifteen to twenty-five oxen 
 and cows would be the smallest number of horned cattle 
 on one hundred acres, with one to two hundred sheep. 
 On a peasant's farm of fifty acres, we have found four 
 horses, fifteen head of horned cattle, and seventy to eighty 
 sheep. 
 
 In following the use to which the farmer puts this 
 manure, we come to the distinguishing feature in Rhenish 
 agriculture. No peculiar crop is here prescribed by 
 legislative enactment, and the climate admits of a suffi- 
 cient variety to allow the landowner to draw all the help 
 he can from the nature of his soil. The uplands of 
 Cleves are particularly well suited to grow barley. In 
 the autumn the land of this- description is well ploughed
 
 18 AGRICULTLRE ON THE RHIXE. 
 
 and manured, and in the following spring barley and 
 clover are sown ; the grain obtains the highest price in 
 the Dutch markets. It is not unusual to turn the cows 
 on the stubbles, but each is fastened by the stable chain 
 to an iron stake driven into the ground to prevent stray- 
 ing, as the lots are small in these parts, and no fences 
 are to be found. A number of cows thus staked at 
 grass look at a distance like the regular files of cavalry in 
 skirmish. 
 
 The second year gives a rich clover crop, partly for 
 stall-feeding, in part to be saved as hay, and the third 
 (sometimes the second) cutting gives the seed known in 
 England as Dutch clover-seed, from the circumstance of 
 its passing through Holland on its way to London and 
 Hull. When the seed has ripened and been housed,* 
 the clover is broken up, and after several ploughings 
 wheat is sown, which is followed by rye. Turnips are 
 sown in the rye-stubbles, and the fifth year begins the 
 rotation again with potatoes, followed by barley and 
 clover in the highly manured soil. In soils less pecu- 
 liarly suited to barley (which recommends itself as a pro- 
 fitable article of exportation) wheat and rye follow pota- 
 toes or flax, and are followed by oats. Cabbages and 
 carrots often alternate with potatoes as fallow crops, and 
 are richly manured, and in most large farms the two 
 rotations go on side by side on lands of diifering quali- 
 ties. Perhaps the absence of expensive fencing favours 
 the study of the peculiar nature of the soil, which is evi- 
 dently severely tried by the rotations we have described. 
 Where composts with marl or lime are used as top-dress- 
 
 * The yield of seed is, according to Lobbes, 1000 lbs. to 
 the Dutch bonnier, or about 5 cwt. per English acre.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 19 
 
 ings, the rotation is usually prolonged, and the rye crop 
 is repeated and followed by oats. It is common to top- 
 dress the barley, after it has germinated, with compost 
 or w ith liquids. 
 
 We now take the cost of cultivation and the produce 
 from a writer whose authority we found readily acknow- 
 ledged to be such as might be relied upon. The land is 
 ploughed twice, three times, and even five times on some 
 soils, for the winter crop. After beans, peas, and clover, 
 one ploughing is usually sufficient. Corn-stubbles are first 
 turned over with a scarificator, which is formed by sim- 
 ply adjusting the plough of the country to a higher level, 
 and causing it to cut more flatly under the surface than 
 usual. The object in this process is, of course, by cutting 
 through the roots of the weeds, to cause them to decay 
 the more rapidly. The seed labour is performed by the 
 farm-servants, and goes to the yearly account. The har- 
 vesting requires extra hands. It is usual to mow corn 
 of all kinds with a cradle-scythe. One woman binds as 
 much as two men can mow. The mowers as well as 
 binders contract for their work, the former at about 3s. 
 to 3s, 6d. per English acre ; binders get about 2s. 6d. 
 per acre. Threshing is now commonly performed by 
 horse-machines, on large farms, which finish 100 sheaves 
 in a day of ten hours. The yearly wages are — for men, 
 5/. to 71. ; for women, 47. to 61. 
 
 It is not easy to conceive a simpler farming process 
 than has been described. The land is made to bear the 
 utmost that nature without forcing permits. Horned 
 cattle are used in abundance, but are not forced in fatten- 
 ing, and the average weight of an ox does not exceed 
 forty stone. With the annual yield a farmer differently
 
 20 AGRICULTURE OS THE RHINE. 
 
 circumstanced might not be contented. The following 
 estimate of the crop in the upland is from high authority, 
 and has been confirmed by our inquiries : — 
 
 Wheat, 8 to 12 fold Peas, 20 fold 
 
 Rye, 8 to 20 fold Tares, 16 to 2-1 fold 
 
 Oats, 12 to 20 fold Beans, 12 to 16 fold 
 
 Barley, 12 to 16 fold Clover, 3 tons and 5 cwt. setd 
 Buck-Wheat, 40 to 60 fold per acre. 
 
 The farmer's speculation turns, in this district, not 
 upon forcing corn crops, for which he has but a limited 
 average sale. If he can extract more than usual from 
 the soil, he would in the uplands increase or repeat liis 
 growth of flax. In the lowlands he would gi'ow more 
 rape-seed, clover-seed, and tobacco than he now does. 
 The change recently made in the English import duties 
 on seeds has laid the foundation for a great influx of 
 wealth into the Rhenish district. 
 
 We may venture to assume that the above statement 
 represents the average return of fair soils in the whole of 
 the region of the Rhine for a careful farmer. More than 
 thirty bushels of wheat per acre is nowhere obtained, and 
 with the prevailing meat and corn prices it would evidently 
 not pay to force a greater corn production at the cost of a 
 greater consumption of manure. On the other hand, the 
 repetition of saleable crops is limited by the necessity of 
 changing frequently the products raised. 
 
 A German farm usually supports itself, care being 
 taken to want as little as possible that is not sujjjdied by 
 the ground. The bread is baked at home, and the oven, 
 if possible, heated by faggots from the copse or hedges, 
 where they exist. The meat is also usually slaughtered 
 at home, and provisions of beef and pork sausages, of 
 lard, butter, bacon, hams, and smoked meat, are periodi-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 21 
 
 cally laid in, together with the potatoes, sour cabbage, 
 beans, and beet-root, and the dried apple and pear cut- 
 tings, which form the staple articles of food. 
 
 The land may therefore be imagined as divided into 
 two lots, one of which furnishes the food for household 
 use and fodder for the cattle, while the other yields the 
 market crops that are to be turned into money. In the 
 present style of farming, an estate of 200 acres in the 
 Duchy of Cleves needs ten men, and ten women or boys, 
 as farm servants. We may assume that four horses, six 
 oxen, fifteen cows, ten pigs, and one hundred sheep are 
 kept. This stock will require, on a close calculation, 
 90 acres, together with the stubble-turnips off thirty 
 acres of wheat or rye. Thirty acres of wood will give a 
 scanty supply of firing, which will need to be eked out 
 with coals. Ten acres, yielding 300 bushels of rye, or of 
 equivalents in potatoes and culinary vegetables, are de- 
 voted to grow food for the inmates. We have then 
 ^seventy acres for market crops, with (at Goch) the profit 
 on the sale of milk, fat cattle, wool, clover-seed, linseed, 
 the gain on the brewery and distillery, as the revenue of 
 the landowner ; from which, however, wages, wear and 
 tear of house, offices, and implements, together with 
 building alterations, must be deducted. 
 
 The land producing the market crops may therefore be 
 estimated to yield as follow? : — 
 
 Yield. Price. Amount. 
 
 20 acres of potatoes , 5000 bushels, at Is. 6d £37.5 
 
 20 
 
 
 barley 
 
 650 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 65 
 
 20 
 
 
 wheat 
 
 eoo 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 105 
 
 10 
 
 
 flaxor r.;pe 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 150 
 
 20 
 
 
 clover-seed 
 
 80 cwt. 
 
 at 45 
 
 
 
 180 
 
 10 
 
 
 linseed 
 
 25 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 37 10
 
 22 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Yield. Price. Amount. 
 
 100 sheep, wool, at 5 lbs. 500 lbs. at Is. 8d. £42 13 
 
 £955 3 
 Deduct interest on 2000/. stock . £l00 
 Wages 105 
 
 Eepairs of utensils, &c. ... 50 
 
 Fuel (coals;, veterinary bill, &c. 60 
 
 310 
 
 £645 3 
 
 The profit on milk and cattle sold may be set off 
 against the butcher's bill for extraordinaries, and if 
 45/. be estimated to meet the general and local 
 taxes falling on the ground, we see that 600/. per annum 
 may be cleared by a farmer who would live with his ser- 
 vants off 200 acres in the Duchy of Cleves. If the 
 farmer keeps a gentleman's establishment united with his 
 farm, he must deduct the expense of it from his gross pro- 
 fit ; in doing which it will probably appear that as much 
 comfort and luxury may be jjurchased for that sum in Ger- 
 many as 1200Z. per annum would command in England. 
 
 We shall shortly review the items that w^e hare given 
 for the sake of elucidation. The sale of an equal quan- 
 tity of potatoes to that consumed on the farm is found in 
 the greater part of Germany to be impossible. As every 
 one grows his own crop, it is only by changing the shape 
 in which the superabundance is sold that it can be dis- 
 posed of. Hence the necessity for the distillery and 
 brewery which are found on all large farms. The extra 
 wheat and barley raised w^ould also find no sale at home 
 in ordinary years, without this subsidiary help, the profit 
 on which, however, allows a good price to be reckoned 
 in the farm books. Those who are disposed to be criti- 
 
 J
 
 AGKICULTURE O^'^ THE RHINE. 23 
 
 cal on the score of continental farming, should first care- 
 fully weigh the circumstances of the country and the 
 state of the market, before they venture an opinion as to 
 what the cultivation ought to produce. Mr. Jacobs, 
 and all travellers who have taken pains on this point, have 
 found the production of Germany very small. Our in- 
 quiries confirm this fact. We find it, however, natural, 
 and do not believe that with the present population, and 
 the restrictions on exportation, it could well be otherwise. 
 Barley and seeds are here exportable products, their 
 value is fixed by the Dutch and London prices, as the 
 value of flax, since the successful exertions of Messrs. 
 Marshall, is now fixed at Leeds. In the same manner 
 we find tobacco and wool sold at the rates cui-rent in the 
 general market of Europe. The advantage accruing to 
 the Rhenish farmer from the recent improved means of 
 travelling, consists in the bringing these markets nearer 
 to him. Had no restrictions been anywhere imposed on 
 the sale of grain, the agriculture of the Rhenish provinces 
 which lie contiguous to the sterile part of Champagne in 
 France, to Belgium, and to Holland, all corn-importing 
 countries, would doubtless have early taken a direction 
 that would have afiforded grain for exportation. Even 
 then, however, as competition with the fertile districts of 
 the East of Europe would have remained, grain would in 
 all probability not have been forced at the cost of under- 
 draining, as in England. A greater share of general pro- 
 sperity would have pervaded these districts than now pre- 
 vails under the fasiiion of corn prohibitions ; and butcher's 
 meat being more generally saleable, would have favoured 
 the holding of large stocks of cattle, and would have thus 
 encouraged high manuring.
 
 24 AGEICUJLTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 The commencement made by the French in improving 
 the roads wherever they came as conquerors, has been 
 followed up perseveringly by the Prussian government, 
 which has met with full support, often at fearful sacrifices, 
 on the pai't of the people. Not only good, but luxurious 
 roads now traverse these districts in all directions. A 
 still greater change was effected by the steam-navigation 
 as soon as the comj^etition of the various companies re- 
 duced the freight to their present moderate rates. The 
 connection of the Belgian railroads with the Rhine by 
 the opening of the line from Cologne to Verviers had the 
 double effect of creating a nev/ outlet for Rhenish produce, 
 and of stimulating both the Dutch and the Belgian govern- 
 ments to favour the transit trade to and from Germany by 
 a reduction of duties, and a diminution of the annoyances 
 that have long been considered inseparable from custom- 
 houses. By degrees a mai'itime traffic sprang up between 
 the agricultural provinces of Prussia on the Baltic and 
 the populous districts on the Rhine, which, although 
 advantageous to the consumers in the manufacturing 
 towns and villages, has materially altered the position of 
 the Rhenish farmer. His distillery has long left him but 
 a doubtful result, and the small stills will probably in a 
 few years be altogether given up, and distilling will 
 become a separate occupation, to be carried on by capi- 
 talists, who, on their part, will purchase the materials they 
 require of the farmer. That neither party is ultimately 
 likely to lose by this change of course our readers will 
 premise. That it is at present accompanied by the 
 usual lamentations of those who are obliged to suit their 
 farming operations to the new system is also natural. 
 The complainants, however, overlook the improved state
 
 AGRICUL,TURE ON THE RHINE. 25 
 
 of their general market, which the new means of com- 
 munication have created, the influx of manufacturing 
 prosperity, and the increase of population, which never 
 fail to accompany good means of transport. From oflicial 
 documents it appears that the consumption of meat in the 
 Prussian towns, where a slaughtering tax is levied, rose 
 from 78f lbs. per head of the population in the period 
 1827—1839, to 83|lb3. between 1840—1842. The 
 population of the fifteen towns of the Rhenish province 
 paying the slaughtering tax increased in the last-named 
 three years from 245,635 to 256,274, or 4A per cent., 
 although, from the low rates of English prices, the 
 Rhenish manufacturers were badly off in that inter- 
 val. The period is rapidly approaching when the German 
 farmer will no longer dread that any of the crops raised 
 in the projDortions we have described, will, in good 
 years, be left as a drug upon his hands. Instead of 
 calculating upon his distillery to carry off the super- 
 abundant produce, he will be induced to study the effect 
 of improved utensils and of careful stock-husbandry to 
 supply the demand of his accumulating neighbours. 
 That he has a large field before him, and that the 
 resources of these fine countries are far from being 
 strained, our readers have already perceived. They 
 would unquestionably have long since furnished a large 
 supply for exportation, if the duties imposed by corn- 
 importing countries on foreign grain had not confined the 
 ])roduction of wheat on a large scale to more distant 
 lands with exuberantly rich soils. The Rhenish far- 
 mers, and especially the landowners, may however be 
 congratulated on the circumstance that no unnatural sys- 
 tem of cultivation has been fostered by partial legislation.
 
 26 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 They retain the privilege of following the natural 
 demand that infallibly follows the growth of population, 
 and they turn their position to good account. The high 
 prices paid for land are in some degree to be ascribed to 
 the want of good investments in other occupations. The 
 manufactures that are so sedulously protected by the high 
 import duties, do not furnish enough in quantity to sa- 
 tisfy the consumer, nor do their profits attract capital 
 from the land. On the other hand, the only article of 
 agriculture that is protected b}- a high duty, cheese, does 
 not need this help, which perhaps in many places ope- 
 rates to the disadvantage of whole districts by inducing 
 the farmers to neglect the growth of flax. Foreign 
 cheese pays an import duty of 12s. per cwt. Flax is 
 only taxed at 6d. per cwt., and although perhaps not 
 more profitable for the grower than cheese, yet affords 
 more employment to the labouring class.
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 We now invite our readers to accompany us (in their car- 
 riages or on the map) in an excursion into the lowlands 
 of Cleves. For this purpose we leave the high road on 
 the heights, and cross over to Pfalzdorf, a colony esta- 
 blished in 1741, on a heath, by Protestant emigrants from 
 the Palatinate. Near this settlement, which industry and 
 skill have rendered flourishing, the house and grounds of 
 Herr Lobbes are situated, whose father is known as an 
 esteemed author on agriculture, in the practice of which 
 art he was (as his estate testifies) eminently successful. 
 The grounds were enclosed from the heath, and are now in 
 perfect heart and full cultivation. This farm (Vasenhof ), 
 like that of Herr von Busch, serves still as a model 
 farm for the neighbourhood, and the opinion of the 
 present proprietor on all subjects connected with rural 
 economy is not less respected. The house has less of 
 architectural ornament than that of Herr von Busch, and 
 is laid out more upon the plan of the larger farming esta- 
 blishments of the neighbourhood. The ground floor is 
 occupied by spacious kitchens and washhouscs, and when 
 we visited it the contents of the former apartments were 
 displayed at the windows, and on boards and stools in 
 the yard, where countless pots and stewpans, tin plates 
 and dishes, cullenders and braziers, announced by their 
 brilliancy that the periodical cleansing time for the 
 autumn, " the kirmess," was at hand. This locked-up
 
 28 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 capital, which, when added to the linen in the housewiie's 
 clothes-press, is often worth a large sum, forms a stock 
 as intangible amongst the middle classes and peasantry in 
 Germany as the jewels of noble families. The division 
 of the treasure amongst heirs male and female occasions 
 no less anxiety and bickering than that of the rosettes, 
 necklaces, and bracelets of people of fashion. The yard 
 of this establishment is equally spacious with that before 
 described. The offices run in a long line parallel to the 
 house, which looks into a thriving orchard. The kitchen 
 and flower gardens close the yard, being interposed at 
 the end opposite to the entrance between the offices and 
 the house. Between groups of trees on *each side, the 
 compost-heaps indicate the foresight and skill of the 
 master. There is more planting on this estate than is 
 common in the uplands, the small value of the heath 
 originally having induced the purchaser to plant exten- 
 sively. The houses of Pfalzdorf are neat cottages on a 
 large scale, mostly built in wooden framework filled 
 in with bricks, or with strong wicker-work plastered on 
 the outside and inside, eight inches thick, which makes a 
 warm and durable wall. They all stand in a line facing 
 the road, with small gardens in front, and the land be- 
 longing to it at the back of each cottage. The holdings 
 are from fifteen to twenty acres, and are well tilled, al- 
 though the occupiers have other sources of industry, such 
 as carriers' work, flax, and sometimes, in spite of .the 
 Jews, who monopolize this branch of trade, cattle-deal- 
 ing. A proof of their skill as farmers is afforded by 
 their flax, which is the principal market-crop at Pfalz- 
 dorf, and which is there raised upon the lightest con- 
 ceivable sandy soil.
 
 AGRICULTURE 0>' THE KHrNE. 29 
 
 Flax is sown here after clover, carrots, oats, and buck- 
 wheat. " At Neukirchen, near Geldern," says Schwertz, 
 " the rotation — barley, clover, flax, wheat, is held to be 
 good. Flax must not come on the same land more than 
 once in six years. The clover- stubbles after seeding are 
 ploughed deeply before the winter, and ten one-horse 
 carts of dung are laid upon an acre of land and re- 
 main there. In spring the straw is harrowed off, the 
 ground once more harrowed, sown, harrowed again, and 
 rolled. About five bushels of seed are sown per acre ; 
 Riga seed is found to last good longest, but the seed 
 from the Palatinate, which must be brought fresh for each 
 sowing, gives the best flax." It has been observed that 
 when the dung has been allowed to lie on the land 
 through the winter, the flax yields most, but the rye 
 after it requires manure. Where the dung is ploughed 
 in before winter, the flax is less luxuriant, but the land 
 remains after it in better heart. The flax is steeped for 
 some time in water, and then is spread out on clover-land 
 for six or eight weeks to finish the rotting of the husk. 
 It is broken and hackled by hand in the Belgian manner, 
 and is said to yield 8 cwt. of fine flax per acre (16 cwt. 
 per Dutch morgen). From 8 cwt. of dried flax, about 
 2 cwt. is obtained by the Belgian dressers, and this pro- 
 portion we have adopted in our calculation given above. 
 
 A few miles to the north of Pfalzdorf, the cross road 
 drops into the lowlands, which is raised but little above 
 the valley of the Rhine, and there the more luxuriant 
 vegetation indicates a change both of soil and climate. 
 
 In these lowlands, which extend from near the 
 frontier of Holland up the Rhine for thirty miles 
 along the river's bank, the farms are large and the land 
 
 c
 
 30 AGRICULTURE 0>' THJi RHI>i;. 
 
 usually laid out with regard to abundant and rich pas- 
 tures. Cattle are here fattened on the grass and clover. 
 A farm near Wesel has a stock of seven horses, eight 
 cows, thirty oxen, besides calves, and sixteen to twenty 
 pigs, on about twenty-eight acres. These farms are half 
 pasture land, flooded in the spring by the Rhine, and yet 
 the number of hands employed is from seven to ten men, 
 and three to four women, servants. The wages of the 
 former are from 5/. to 61. per annum, with hearty meals, 
 at which meat appears every day, especially on the low 
 left bank of the river, where the estates mostly belong 
 to rich owners. On the right bank the road we have 
 followed joins the second high road from Cleves to 
 Neuss, that runs parallel with the upland road, at Apj^el- 
 dorn, a flourishing village, the houses of which are 
 widely scattered, to place them as much as possible on the 
 lands belonging to the owners. Adjoining Appeldoru 
 is the hamlet of Marienbaum, which the inquiring tra- 
 veller will find the best station for a halt in this neigh- 
 bourhood. He will be surprised at the accommodation 
 which the inn affords, and will obtain much useful inform- 
 ation from the people of the house. From the inn to 
 the bank of the river is a pleasing walk of about three 
 miles. The small farm-houses have a very neat appear- 
 ance, and have a kitchen and flower-garden as a never- 
 tailing appendage. Here too we have found the la- 
 bourers' cottages on small allotments very neat, con- 
 taining a great deal of room in combination with great 
 economy of construction. The cottage is built of brick, 
 with a high roof which serves as barn and hayloft. The 
 entrance is into the kitchen, adj^iining which is a bedroom, 
 both roomy. Two other roon;< open from these, and the 
 stable, if there be one, is in continuation under the same
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 61 
 
 roof. Small patches of land opposite the houses were, 
 when we saw them, filled with potatoes, cabbages, 
 and other vegetables, between which and the road the 
 people had constructed a temporary fence with sticks, up 
 which was trained the large bean, that ought to be 
 better known in England than it is, and which we shall 
 take the liberty of calling the German bean, in contradis- 
 tinction to the small French bean. These beans are deli- 
 cious when fresh, and are preserved in various ways 
 for winter use. The road from Marienbaum to the 
 Rhine lies through a polder, which is protected from 
 the river, whose level is higher than parts of the land, 
 by a high dam. The keeping up of this embankment 
 is an expensive matter, and its cost is defrayed by a rate 
 levied on the landholders of the polder. A few years 
 ago it gave way, and the water caused great devastation, 
 for the polder is occupied by a numerous body of small 
 farmers and landowners. The banks of the river on 
 both sides are formed of similai' dams, and this part of 
 the broad and mighty stream presents littl-e of the pic- 
 turesque. We may, therefore, return to Marienbaum, 
 noticing a little to the right of the road another ])retty 
 country-house belonging to a retired officer, reputed one 
 of the best farmers in these parts. Several enclosures 
 round his house are devoted to the growth of tobacco, in 
 which he is very successful. 
 
 It has been noticed that rape-seed and tobacco are fre- 
 quently substituted in the rich lowlands as market croj)s, 
 for the flax and potatoes of the uplands. The growth of 
 tobacco is discouraged in Prussia by a tax varying from 
 3 dollars to 6 dollars per morgen, according to the quality 
 
 c2
 
 32 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHIXE. 
 
 of the land. This is equivalent to 14s. and IGs. per acre. 
 Some details respecting this crop, which one of those 
 laws that are intended to puzzle posterity has excluded 
 from English rotations, may be acceptable to our readers. 
 
 The plants are raised in a hotbed and transplanted. 
 The hotbed consists of a pit a foot deep filled with cow- 
 dung, and covered five inches with earth, on which a light 
 frame is placed that is covered with oiled paper instead 
 of glass, and sufficiently sloped to throw off the rain. 
 Horse-dung is found to be too hot for the plants, and it 
 throws up fungi, near which the tobacco does not thrive. 
 A bed of 320 square feet will hold plants enough for two 
 acres of land. The seed is sown in March, and must be 
 strewed equally over the bed, that the plants may be of 
 like size. The measure here used for 300 square feet is 
 fifteen Dutch pipes-full, a measure more amusing to read 
 of than difficult to use. When the seed is sown, the 
 frame is shut up, and the crevices everywhere closed with 
 moist clay or cow-dung. The covers are lifted in dry 
 weather every three days, in rainy periods every six days ; 
 the bed is watered sufficiently to keep it a little moist. 
 
 The ground which is to be j)lanted with tobacco must 
 be ploughed five or six times. With the last ploughing 
 but two the dung is worked in. The last ploughing but 
 one brings the dung up to the surface, and it is again 
 covered with the last ploughing. The soil is thus 
 thoroughly mixed with the dung. The land, if large 
 enough, is divided into beds, and the plants are dibbled 
 in along a line, the dibble, of two feet and a half in length, 
 serving to measure the space between the planLs. The 
 planting out takes place in April : one hoeing in the sum-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE KHIiS'E. 33 
 
 mer suffices where the land is perfectly clean. The leaves 
 sprout until the stem has twelve to fourteen upon it, when 
 the to}) is plucked off. The lowest leaves are here called 
 the sand-leaves, " Sandgut ;" above these are the earth- 
 leaves, " Erdgut," which are larger and thicker; the 
 uppermost are the best leaves, " Bestgut." The plucking 
 commences with the lowest, or sand leaves, which are 
 bound on the field in bundles by themselves ; the earth- 
 leaves are next picked, and kept apart from the others ; 
 the best leaves are taken off last. When the leaves are 
 carted home, on which occasion care is taken to keep the 
 bundles as clean as possible, a slit is made in the stalk at 
 the thick end of the leaf, and the leaves are piled up 
 until they begin to wither. They are then strung on 
 poles, to be hungup in the drying-shed. This shed has 
 walls of open wicker-work, and there are openings in the 
 roof to facilitate a thorough draught. The peasants hang 
 up their leaves in the haylofts over their stables ; but 
 the moist effluvia from below is found to injure the leaf. 
 When the leaves are partially dried they are piled (the 
 qualities each apart) in square heaps to ferment, and 
 these heaps are broken up and reconstructed occasionally, 
 to allow the bundles that at one time lay outside to be 
 placed in the middle, until all are equally heated. The 
 tobacco is then sold to the manufacturer, and, as ten 
 plants yield one pound weight, the return is considerable, 
 being often 60 dollars for a Prussian morgen, or 15/. 155. 
 per English acre. Of this one-third is estimated to cover 
 the labour, and contracts are frequently made by the 
 richer growers with labourers on a footing of this kind. 
 The labourer, however, frequently contracts to find plants 
 and even dung. If he finds the plants alone, his share is
 
 34 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHLSE. 
 
 one- third ; but if he furnishes the dung, which of course is 
 only usual where small parcels are cultivated, he gets one 
 half of the gross produce. This mode of improving the 
 wages of agricultural labourers would deserve some atten- 
 tion elsewhere. The tax upon tobacco-growing represses 
 its cultivation in Prussia, as has been remarked ; but we 
 shall have frequent opportunities of noticing this crop as 
 we advance up the Rhine. Near the village of Wissen 
 tobacco is cultivated on the uplands of Cleves. The 
 second crop on which the farmer relies as a marketable 
 one is flax, which we noticed as chiefly cultivated on the 
 uplands near Pfalzdorf. The flax-fields of a village in the 
 district of Jiilich sometimes cover two hundred morgens 
 (125 acres). Barley, clover, flax, and wheat, is con- 
 sidered a good rotation, but flax does not tlirive on the 
 same land oftener than once in six years. The clover 
 stubbles are ploughed up deeply, and twenty small one- 
 horse loads of dung carted upon it before the winter, 
 and left upon the land. In spring the ground is well 
 harrowed and sown, then harrowed again and rolled. 
 This surface -dunging is said to have more effect upon the 
 crop that immediately follows it, than when the dung is 
 j)loughed in. The effect of the ploughed-in dung is, 
 however, greater on the crops of the following years. 
 The flax-seed is either from Riga, Belgium, or the upper 
 Rhine. The crop is estimated to average 5 cwt. of 
 cleaned flax per morgen, or 8 cwt. per English acre. This, 
 at 4s. per German stone of 11 lbs., gives about 17/. per 
 English acre as the gross return, besides seed, of which 
 5 bushels are gained to the acre. The crop cannot on 
 the whole be estimated at much less than 20/. per acre, 
 where sufficient care is taken to obtain good quality.
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHI>NE. 35 
 
 The lowland cultivator on small farms looks to his 
 rape-seed crop, with tobacco or flax, according as the soil 
 or his habits induce him to prefer the one to the other. 
 The large farmer is a stock-farmer, whose pastures furnish 
 cheese made in the Dutch or Limburg fashion, and 
 whose fat cattle find a ready sale in the manufacturing 
 district of Elberfeld, or in the cities of Diisseldorf and 
 Cologne. His fallow-crops are therefore mangel wurzel, 
 Swedish turnips, or carrots and cabbages, and the grains 
 from his distillery, with oil-cake, eke out his supply ot 
 fodder in the winter months. Land in the lowlands 
 is high in price. We were told of a small estate of 18 
 morgens, with a peasant's house and offices upon it, that 
 sold in 1845 for 20,000 dollars, or 3000/. It would be 
 a high valuation to estimate the buildings at 500/. ; so 
 that the land sold for 150/, per English acre. 
 
 We endeavoured to give some idea of the position and 
 standing of the country gentleman on the Lower Rhine. 
 Our sketch was indeed a hasty and most imperfect one, 
 but the answer will probably be still less explicit and 
 satisfactory w^hen we are asked to describe what entitles 
 a large class of the population to be called peasants. 
 Peasant is a word that we have borrowed from the 
 French, and means countryman. The corresponding- 
 word in German is '' Bauer," which signifies a builder or 
 workman; and ^^ the bauer " is the man who works up 
 the soil for the general nourishment. A minuter in- 
 quiry shows, therefore, that " boor," a word used by us as 
 a term of reproach, is in reality a distinction expressing 
 the usefulness of agriculture as pre-eminent amongst the 
 industrious occupations. The "Bauern"' of Gei'many 
 have only of late been emancipated from the yoke under
 
 OO AGKICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 which the cultivators of the soil were long held in all 
 the countries of Europe. The transition has been dif- 
 ferently effected in different countries. In England the 
 race of small cultivators was so much diminished in the 
 Wars of the Roses, that the possessions returning into the 
 hands of the feudal lords were of necessity farmed out 
 by them in larger parcels. In France the small cultiva- 
 tors eventually triumphed over the nobility, and in the 
 French revolution the estates were, by the agency of 
 confiscations, transferred to new owners, mostly in small 
 parcels. The German peasant was originally a subfief- 
 holder, who held his land of a feudal lord on the terms 
 of suit and service. In the most ancient times the pea- 
 sant followed his chief into the field. Since the esta- 
 blishment of standing armies his duties have been con- 
 fined to agricultural services. He had to work a number 
 of days in the week for his lord, either with or without 
 his team, as the terms of the holding ran. In Austria, 
 where the labour-rents* (as they have been termed by a 
 leading political economist) still prevail, the most com- 
 mon condition is 108 days, with a waggon and team, for 
 about 36 acres of land. Smaller holdings are saddled 
 proportionately with horse or manual service. The 
 period of the Reformation, or rather, the close of the long 
 struggle in Germany which ended in the erection of a 
 Protestant kingdom in Prussia, marks the epoch of a 
 change in the position of the most numerous class of the 
 inhabitants. It had been usual to leave the holdings in 
 the same family, and about the close of the seventeenth and 
 beginning of the eighteenth centuries the claim to inherit 
 began to be looked upon as unquestionable. The emphy- 
 
 * Rev. R. Jones, ' On the Distribution of Wealth.'
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 37 
 
 teugis, or hereditary lease on fixed terms, was a point 
 easily ceded by lords who had no chance of asserting any 
 other title. The acquisition of such a standing in society 
 as actual indisputable possession of the soil conferred, 
 seems to have reconciled the peasants to the continuance 
 of many of the oppressive forms of feudal ages long after 
 the necessity for them had passed away. Thus the vil- 
 lage bond, with its distinctions of dress, modes of tillage, 
 and other habits, were preserved in Germany beyond the 
 period when the discomfort they occasioned had caused 
 them to be abolished in other countries. To this day every 
 village is distinguished by the colour to which the men 
 and women for the most part scrupulously adhere in dress, 
 by the hat of the males, and the prescribed rather than 
 the favourite hood of the women. To change the accus- 
 tomed attire and adopt the costume of the towns is syno- 
 nymous in Germany with a change of condition. The 
 peasant who does so becomes a " burgher j" or townsman, 
 as he enters on the career of a man of learning, as a 
 pastor, a lawyer, or an official character. No man in 
 office, whether a turnpike-keeper (who is here a servant 
 of the crown) or a bailiff, wears the peasant's dress, nor 
 is any innkeeper or shopman so attired. Even the vil- 
 lage Boniface assumes the frock-coat and short waistcoat 
 of the townsman, and drops the peasant's three-cornered 
 hat where that is customarily worn. His wife assumes 
 the simpler cap and bonnet of Paris or London, unless 
 custom has preserved a relic of the ancient burgher- 
 costume in the towns of the neighbourhood. In the 
 Rhenish district that we have traversed, the influence 
 of trade has undermined all those primitive distinctions, 
 and the peasant dresses as he pleases. In the Duchy of 
 
 c 3
 
 38 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHI>-E. 
 
 Cleves the feudal tie soon gave way to a calculation ol 
 mutual advantage between the owner and cultivator, and 
 the custom of farming out land was here adopted earlier 
 and has been continued on a more extensive scale than in 
 any other part of Germany. 
 
 That the opinion we have ventured, in ascribing the 
 free position of the peasant and landowner in the Duchy 
 of Cleves to the influence of trade, is not a forced one, 
 is proved by the fact cited by Rive in his valuable work 
 on the peasants' holdings in Westphalia. It appears that 
 when, in the fourteenth century, the county of Mark, on 
 the right bank of the Rhine, was united with Cleves, the 
 rulers of the latter district could not understand why the 
 relations between the feudal lords and the peasants should 
 not be allowed to regulate themselves in the natural manner 
 prescribed by mutual interest, as they had seen take 
 place on the left bank, They could not enter into the 
 feelings of the peasants to dej>end u|X)n customary privi- 
 leges, or on the interference of the government to protect 
 them from encroaching superiors. But it is likely too 
 that the statesmen of Cleves calculated too lightly the 
 disadvantageous position of Westphalia, which lay out ot 
 the high road of trade, and possessed no traversable roads. 
 To this county of Mark we now invite our readers to 
 follow us, and for that purpose recommend them to follow 
 the road from Marienbaum to Xanten, an old Roman 
 station, prettily situated about a mile from the river's 
 bank. The antiquarian may there seek the possible site 
 of the wood in which Civilis excited the Batavians to re- 
 volt against the Romans, and the position of the celebrated 
 Castra Vetera. Lovers of art will admire the magnifi- 
 cent church, which is too little visited by strangers, and
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIKE. 39 
 
 where the architect will find the first specimen of that 
 combination of the round with the pointed arch, which 
 is characteristic of the Rhenish architecture of the middle 
 ages. We may take a passing steamer at Xanten and 
 land on the opposite bank at Ruhrrt, at the mouth of 
 the navigable and romantic river Ruhr, whose rocky bed 
 and rapid current at Miihlheim are crossed by a hand- 
 some chain-bridge. 
 
 These two places are the chief seat of the coal-trade, 
 \Ahich has attained a great extent on the Rhine.
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 MuHLHEiM lies in the Duchy of Berg, the title of which, 
 after a long consolidation with Prussia, was revived by 
 Napoleon for a principality conferred upon Murat. The 
 former Duchy of Berg, which extended along the Rhine 
 from the Ruhr to the commencement of the territories of 
 the House of Nassau, has ever been famed for its richness 
 in minerals. Iron of the finest quality produced in Eu- 
 rope, lead, copper, zinc, and the precious metals, furnish 
 employment to the industrious inhabitants as miners and 
 founders still. To these pursuits manufactures of textile 
 wares have with considerable success been superadded. 
 The population is therefore more strictly manufacturing 
 than agricultural, and the agriculture of the Duchy of 
 Berg is too much modified by this mixture of occupations 
 to be of much interest to the farmer on a large scale. 
 We shall therefore continue our journey along the high 
 road to Essen, a town once governed by powerful Lady 
 Abbesses, with the double authority delegated imme- 
 diately from the Imperial crown and from the Church. 
 The convent of Essen dates from the ninth century, and, 
 according to tradition, occupies the site of the first Chris- 
 tian church erected in the district. The founder is named 
 Alfred, which indicates a Saxon origin, and an aqueduct 
 that imperfectly supplies the town with water is still 
 called Alfred's " brunnen." The princely Abbess of 
 Essen had a seat and vote in the old Germanic diet, and
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 41 
 
 more than once have candidates for the vacant seat 
 called out their vassals, and asserted their clerical preten- 
 sions sword in hand. With the exception of the won- 
 derfully curious old church, the most curious in style and 
 form that we have met with, the town has now little that 
 attracts curiosity, but with its neighbourhood we enter 
 upon a different mode of landed tenure from all that pre- 
 vail upon the Lower Rhine. The powerful clerical foun- 
 dations of Westphalia and this neighbourhood were long 
 able to resist the touch of time that was incessantly 
 gnawing and leaving to moulder all the institutions that 
 suiTounded them. Had not the convulsion occasioned by 
 the French invasion at once dispelled their glories, it is 
 impossible to say what antiquated forms of feudal tenure 
 might still exist in this now promising tract of countr}'. 
 That the antiquated forms which the change made by the 
 French at once abolished, had lost all utility, was proved 
 by the fact that the feudal lords on that memorable 
 occasion were utterly unable to lend any vigour to the 
 tottering throne, and equally incapable of affording the 
 slightest protection to those whom they called their 
 subjects. 
 
 The old Minster of Essen bounds an open place ad- 
 joining the town, two other sides of which are surrounded 
 by irregular buildings that bear tokens of modernising 
 in various epochs, and not in the best taste. One of the 
 largest of these is devoted to the residences and bureaux 
 of the government officials, the legitimate heirs of the 
 old proprietors. The change, it is true, was made in the 
 style of that glorious monarch Henry VIII., of pious me- 
 mory, by a vote passed at a European congress, by which
 
 42 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 monastic institutions were declared to be useless, and their 
 lands forfeited to defray the expenses of the state. The 
 Prussian government, however, did not expel the sister- 
 hood and hang them as useless vagabonds, like the 
 said Henry, but allowed the last members of the rich 
 " Stift" decent pensions, and their abbess tlie enjoyment 
 of her princely honom's until her death, which occurred 
 a short time since. Across this square at Essen, therefore, 
 the peasants might for a long time be seen trooping to pay 
 in money what in former times was levied in kind — the 
 first-fruits or rent of the land ; and although many praisers 
 of the good old times lamented the change that an English 
 ai-tist has conunemorated in his picture of the courtyard 
 of Croyland Abbey, still the Germans live too near the 
 reality of that picture, and know too much of its back- 
 ground, to wish to return to its epoch. The lay impro- 
 priators brought with them well-defined contracts, which 
 the spirit of the times and of the Prussian administration 
 were alike willing to adhere to, and to interpret favourably 
 for the peasant. But while the services, as part of the old 
 contract, were thus modified, the suit (a word borrowed 
 by Norman lawyers from the French, to signify the duty 
 oi following the lord to the field) became also more clearly 
 defined, and eventually included every male subject, 
 without regard to property or other distinctions. The 
 gathering of the vassals upoit an emergency to do battle in 
 the cause of the lord of the soil, has given way to the an- 
 nual conscription, and to the spring and autumnal military 
 manoeuvres. The personal bickerings of jealous neighbours 
 have been superseded by the policy which prevents all 
 probability of war except upon the largest scale ; but if
 
 AGRICULTURE Olf THE RHINE. 43 
 
 tne landowner be not altogether freed from the chances of 
 this greater evil, it is a benefit fully recognised on all 
 sides that the smaller calamity is effectually removed. 
 
 Even the chance of a European war is now nearly 
 reduced to the display of the means required to check the 
 periodical ebullitions of one restless power, by whom 
 central Europe is kept in a state of continual alarm. The 
 Prussians have almost solely to thank their French neigh- 
 bours lor the immense military establishment that is 
 supported by the devotion of the people to their king 
 and their national institutions. Every man is enrolled 
 between the age of eighteen and forty, either in the stand- 
 ing army or the militia, the first draft of which, comprising 
 men from twenty-five to thirty-five years of age, forms 
 the military strength of the nation. This arrangement 
 has been sneered at by superficial tourists ; but they have 
 not told us by what other means M. Thiers would have 
 been prevented from invading Germany in 1840. The 
 French minister had then a good opportunity of executing 
 a " coup " at sea, where he was well prepared. He was 
 prevented from attempting it by the imposing attitude 
 maintained by 400,000 Prussians and as many Austrians, 
 well equipped, with horses and artillery in abundance. 
 
 Again a change comes over the spirit of our dream, 
 and the edicts of the ministers Stein and Hardenberg not 
 only recognise the ownership of the soil in the peasant's 
 hands, but allow him to redeem, at a moderate valuation, 
 all dues and services, whether in labour, in kind, or in 
 money. The advantage of this somewhat violent release 
 from dependence must be tested by two standards : first, 
 the tendency to abuse the position of the landlord towards 
 his dependent cultivator; secondly, the advantage at-
 
 44 AGEICrLTUEE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 tending the transformation of so much circulating into 
 fixed capital. The former test was too fresh in the me- 
 mory of the peasants, and was too vividly pictured by the 
 reformers of the time, to allow of much consideration for 
 the latter. Experience proved the best solver of this 
 difficulty. Where trade had created circulating capital 
 and credit, the rents and dues were eagerly redeemed by 
 the landowners ; where those resources could not be 
 commanded, things remained as they were. In the county 
 of Mark, and in the adjacent manufacturing districts, not 
 only were the services early redeemed by money-payments, 
 and the landholders placed in the situation of English 
 copyholders, but the estates offered by the crown for 
 sale, having fallen to the royal demesne as indemnification 
 for ceded territories elsewhere, found purchasers at 
 moderate prices. Whatever sacrifices were made under 
 these circumstances were justified by the prudent use 
 made by the Prussian government of the money. There 
 was but one idea to follow in our financial age : public 
 credit had to be supported. This has been achieved 
 during the reign of King Frederick William III. of 
 Prussia. His success is recorded in the present price of 
 the public funds, and still more intelligibly in the impos- 
 sibility which M. Thiers found of executing his me- 
 naced attack on the left bank of the Rhine. We return 
 to the present condition of the German peasant. 
 
 Wherever holdings were large enough to maintain a 
 family, and the population thin enough to feel no pres- 
 sure from its increase, the old forms of dress and mode of 
 living have been preserved as strictly as if sumptuary laws 
 and feudal control still prevailed. The peasant's position 
 was, however, even more materially affected by an inno-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 45 
 
 vation effected in the middle of the last ceutuiy. Formerly 
 the taxes of the state fell upon the lord ; the heaviest of all, 
 that of personal service in the field, Ijeing regarded as a 
 mark of honour. The custom of standing armies with 
 arbitrarily chosen officers deprived the lord of this badge 
 of distinction, and he was ill prepared to substitute a money- 
 payment lor his personal sacrifice. A standing army 
 demands a regular revenue, and the introduction of a 
 land-tax was found necessary. The imposition of this 
 tax was what occasioned the first formal recognition by 
 the crown of a right enjoyed by the peasant in his hold- 
 ing. The Empress Maria Theresa, in her celebrated 
 " Urbarium," asserts the right of the crown to interfere 
 between the landlord and the peasant, on the ground that 
 if the latter is oppressed by too severe service, he 
 cannot contribute to the exigences of the state. The 
 transfer of the land to the occupier from the feudal lord 
 thus received the sanction of the crown. The Emperor 
 Joseph II. sought to extend this innovation to all the 
 otlier provinces of his empire. In Hungary he met with 
 determined opposition, but the principle was everywhere 
 eventually triumphant. Whetlier the mode adopted of 
 effecting the change was, in all circumstances, a desirable 
 one or not may be questioned, as we have seen. 
 
 We may assume that the pressure felt in any rank of 
 society as the result of increasing population is a wise 
 ordinance intended to spur men to exertion. In Germany 
 (as in Ireland at present) the want of easy internal com- 
 munication and of credit, owing to the repeated agita- 
 tions of warlike neighbours or ambitious leaders, confined 
 the peasant population exclusively to agriculture. The 
 pressure which these felt as their numbers increased
 
 46 AGRICULTURE ON THI-: RHINE. 
 
 would have induced many to turn their attention to other 
 modes of obtaining their living, if the land had not thus 
 been given as a bribe to continue in their comfortless 
 condition, Germany with its diminutive holdings of 
 land is certainly better off than Ireland would be were 
 *' fixity of tenure " to sanctify the holding of a potato- 
 garden. But the principle is the same ; setting aside 
 all questions relative to security of property, it can do no 
 good to devise expedients for bolstering up and preserv- 
 ing antiquated forms whose insufficiency occasions a pres- 
 sure. Relief must be sought, where population presses, 
 in an extension of the field of industry, as has been done 
 in this part of Westphalia. The present state of hold- 
 ings in the county of Mark and the adjoining districts has 
 formed itself under the double influence of a rich pro- 
 prietary and of growing industrial activity. The largest 
 landowners were, as has been said, the clerical founda- 
 tions. Their property was better defined than that of 
 lay lords, for none could be alienated. In a country 
 suited to grain cultivation it was soon discovered that a 
 certain area of ground could be better, that is to say, more 
 economically cultivated, than too small divisions ot 
 the land. The progress from the extensive cultiva- 
 tions (still found in Hungary, Poland, and North Ger- 
 many), where one central farm had several outworks 
 on a large scale attached to it, to the more moderate divi- 
 sion of the surface, by making separate farms of the out- 
 works, can in the history of these clerical foundations be 
 clearly followed. Up to the period of the sale of the 
 domains by the crown, the distinction remained between 
 the head farm, or " Obcrhof," and the dependent farms, 
 although held by different tenants, in testimony of the
 
 AGKICULTOKE OX THE RHINE. 47 
 
 old system. The size of none of these farms was reduced 
 below what a respectable tenant could manage, and in 
 this condition the clerical foundations surrendered their 
 trust to the crown. The rapid sale of all these holdings, 
 which has been noticed, occurred after trade and manu- 
 factures had opened other sources of employment for the 
 people. Iron and steel were in great demand during the 
 French sway, and for some period after its expulsion. 
 Of late years the coal-mines, which are found in the 
 country on the banks of the Ruhr, have given a fresh spur 
 to exertion. These circumstances could not but exert 
 great influence on the size of estates, and accordingly we 
 find holdings averaging a fair size. The usual allotments 
 are from 100 to 200 acres. The face of the country in 
 the neighbourhood of the Abbeys of Essen, its tributary 
 Steele, and of the romantically situated Werden, may be 
 termed poetically agricultural. The holdings can be 
 traced as to size by the mixture of copse and timber, 
 which shelters the farm on the wind side, if the neigh- 
 bour's wood does not enclose it there. The house, roomy 
 and handsomely painted, with its wide-stretched offices, 
 takes up more room than an Englishman w^ould think 
 economical. Haggards and stack-yards are rare, although 
 getting into fashion. 
 
 A drive or walk from Essen to Werden on the Ruhr, 
 or in the opposite direction, will prove a treat to the 
 traveller, and will justify our praise of the appearance of 
 the country. We visited a seat situated about five miles 
 to the east of Essen, where the hospitable proprietor 
 opened for us a rich store of information. It was easy to 
 detect the land he cultivated himself from that which 
 was farmed out to cottiers or labourers, and he declared 
 his intention of resuming, at the first opportunity, what
 
 48 AGKICULTUKE O:^ THE RHIJTE. 
 
 he had let out. The approach to the house was between 
 shelving pieces of land which formed a bottom ; the 
 house stood near a running stream. This land appeared 
 to us sadly to want draining, but we were assured that it 
 only bore this appearance in a wet season like 1845. 
 The remark has undoubtedly but relative tnith. That 
 draining will not pay with the present corn prices in any 
 part of the Continent, we believe. We equally believe 
 that without it such wheat crops as are raised in England 
 cannot be obtained. The query to solve appears to be, 
 therefore, whether such dear wheat crops, as are evi- 
 dently a public grievance, can be a private benefit. In 
 Westphalia, at least, no one is of that opinion, and good 
 farmers would regi'et the necessity of turning their atten- 
 tion exclusively to grain, to the exclusion of crops that 
 pay better. 
 
 In the counties of 3Iark and Berg the corn prices are 
 the highest of all Germany. The official accounts show- 
 that wheat in 1842 averaged 85 gros per scheffel, or 
 42s. 6d. per cjuarter, in Elberfeld and the neighbour- 
 hood, while in Minden and Paderborn adjacent the aver- 
 age was 73s. gros per scheffel, or 57s. 6d. per quarter. 
 This difference throws indeed a strong light on the state 
 of the roads in the more remote parts of Westphalia, but 
 perhaps the passive silence of the landowners of the 
 Bishopric of Paderborn under such an infliction is best 
 explained by the fact, that the district looks especially to 
 flax as the paying crop. In the neighbourhood of the 
 Ruhr corn is therefore most cultivated, but of course 
 divides the field only with fodder for cows and for fat- 
 tening stock, — the characteristic signs of a populous 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 The farm at which we spent the most time while here,
 
 AGKICULTURE O^' THE RHI>'E. 49 
 
 had an extent of 400 morgens, or 250 acres, of which 41 
 morgens, or 22 acres, were underwood. Six horses and 
 twenty cows and heifers, all at grass in meadows skirting- 
 the little stream, formed the chief stock. The number ol 
 human assistants appeared out of all proportion. Thirty- 
 five men and women were in constant employment, and 
 in the harvest-time help was sought from strangers. The 
 owner pointed to an outhouse where both sexes lived pro- 
 miscuously, and declared himself unable to answer for the 
 morals of his labourers, whom we, of course without refei*- 
 ence to their immorality, termed his " Irishmen." The 
 resemblance was indeed too striking not to excite sym- 
 pathy. They w^ere peasants from thelieart of Westphalia, 
 and spoke low German^ a dialect that is neither in use for 
 writing nor for conversation amongst the educated classes. 
 Thus cut off from the means open to others of obtaining 
 information, their land for centuries untraversed by roads, 
 and under strict clerical rule, the appearance of these poor 
 labourers was fully explained in the thriving neighbour- 
 hood that lies so near their impoverished homes.* But 
 a more useful hint may be taken from the labourers of 
 Bielefeld, for from that far-famed linen district they came. 
 Hand-loom weaving is the main occupation of the work- 
 ing people, and hand-spinning prevails throughout all the 
 flax district of Westphalia. No one has had sufficient 
 enterprise to establish a flax-mill in those parts, and the 
 poor workmen are left unaided to contend against the 
 improved machinery that everywhere suiTounds them. 
 The flax district lies too far to the north to be entitled to 
 
 * The wages of these labourers is 8 gros, or \Qd., per day 
 for men ; and 6 gros, or Id., for women.
 
 50 AGRICULTUKE ON THE EHIXE. 
 
 a place in a description of Rhenish agriculture. Yet an ex- 
 cursion to the county of Ravensberg will repay the curiosity 
 of any one desirous of studying flax-cultivation. The soil 
 devoted to it is of the richest description, so that flax 
 forms the third crop from the manured fallow. Beans 
 are sown on the fallow, wheat follows, and then comes 
 flax. The country-people point out the districts where 
 flax flourishes best, and trace the limit of its degenera- 
 tion. Here again we find the system of making the most 
 of the land by the simplest routine. Forcing by a more 
 studied rotation has not been attempted. As however 
 flax equal in quality to much of the Belgian flax is pro- 
 duced in the county of Ravensberg, the effect of ma- 
 chinery and railroads will be to stimulate the cultivation 
 of a crop v.hich the peasants understand well. We re- 
 member to have seen a piece of Bielefeld linen at last 
 year's exhibition at Berlin, which the king had purchased 
 for 112 dollars, or 18/. 16s. 
 
 We shall, however, invite our readers to follow us in 
 ascending the valley of the Ruhr to its junction with 
 the Lenna. The country all the way presents the same 
 pleasing appearance. Nor is the view less gratifying 
 where the road recedes from the romantic banks of the 
 river, on which castles, ruins, and factories rapidly suc- 
 ceed each other. 'J 'he disposition of the agricultural 
 tenements continues the same. The house, with its ad- 
 jacent woods, stands everywhere on the farm in the 
 manner we described near Essen. The frequent tall 
 chimneys indicating the sites of coal-mines, round which 
 labourers' cottages occasionally cluster, point to other 
 sources of industrial earnings for a large portion of tlio 
 dense population.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHI>E. 51 
 
 If we leave the Ruhr at Syburg, the elevated site of 
 Witikind's castle, and the scene of fierce conflict between 
 that Saxon hero and Charlemagne, and take the road 
 leading from the thriving town of Hagen to the valley of 
 the W Upper, we pass the line of the new railroad from 
 Cologne to Minden, which traverses a beautiful valley 
 on a splendid viaduct. As the traveller approaches 
 Elberfeld, the seat of the silk and cotton manufactures, 
 tlie face of the country presents a totally different aspect 
 from the adjacent districts of the county of Mark that 
 we have just traversed. Neat peasants' houses with 
 small plots of land fill the rather narrow valley, the 
 hills enclosing which are covered with wood for the use 
 of the numerous steel-manufacturers. Here is the place 
 to study the allotment system, although not in its best 
 form. The factories are nearly all worked by water- 
 power, and are consequently scattered along the course 
 of the WUpper, according as the fall in its bed allows. 
 Between them the peasants' houses stand, often at a 
 distance of a mile or two from the factory, a portion of 
 whose inmates are the labourers employed. These 
 houses have a garden, fields that produce grain and 
 fodder, and usually a piece of meadow on the river's 
 bank that helps to feed a cow. Whether the manufac- 
 turer gains by this association of agriculture with factory- 
 labour we shall have an opportunity of examining in 
 another volume, where we propose to treat of the state 
 of manufactures in the Rhenish districts. In an agricul- 
 tural point of view, little can be said that distinguishes 
 this from othei- populous neighbourhoods. The small 
 holdings are tilled with care, but produce on an average 
 rather less grain than the large farms. Cabbages, car-
 
 52 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 rots, small patches of flax and rape-seed, point to the 
 wants or prevailing market crops of German peasants. 
 It must be owned that a labouring population, so scat- 
 tered and rurally disposed, forms a pleasing contrast to 
 the dingy rows of cottages that are met with at the 
 entrance to our manufacturing towns. Allowance must, 
 however, be made for the small scale on which the 
 German factories are erected, and for the substitution of 
 water for steam power, which scatters the establishments 
 instead of accumulating them on one spot. Perhaps a 
 taste for gardening might, in England, be usefully nour- 
 ished in the female manufacturing population. But we 
 doubt whether the English workman would change with 
 the German, however idyllic his dwelling may appear to 
 the stranger. John Bull is much to be justified if he 
 prefers fresh bread from the baker's to the homely 
 rye-loaves that are here manufactured once a fortnight, 
 and if he thinks beef and mutton selected at the shambles 
 both better and cheaper than the dry cows and old 
 wethers that form, the greatest part of his time, the meat 
 at a German villager's meal. 
 
 Another source of earning for the peasants of this 
 district is the carriage of goods to and from the Rhine. 
 The ox, the primitive agent of draught, has, in conse- 
 quence of the good roads, been very much superseded by 
 horses. These are now about to make way for the rail- 
 road, which will, besides, introduce cheap com from the 
 inland counties of Germany. Of course, a modification 
 of the present system of cultivation must be anticipated. 
 If manufactures spread with the improved means of trans- 
 port, we may look to see these valleys filled with the 
 cottages of workmen surrounded by gardens only. In
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 53 
 
 this manner small allotments may be useful. For the 
 growth of grain, or of other products that are best culti- 
 vated on a larger scale, a small parcelling of the land is 
 not economical. 
 
 The pride of the German |)easant is to be a small land- 
 owner. The sacrifices made to gratify this longing are 
 incredible, as is the tenacity with which he clings to his 
 land in all changes of fortune. The price paid for small 
 lots of land in the valley of the Wiipper and the adjoin- 
 ing districts would frighten an English farmer. From 
 500 to 700 dollars per morgen, or 117/. to 150/. per acre, 
 is no unusual price for arable and meadow land. What 
 interest he gets for his investment seems never to cross a 
 peasant's mind. The rent of small patches adjoining 
 these houses is not proportionately high, although dear 
 enough"; 10 or 12 dollars per morgen (21. 10s. or 3/. Os. 
 per acre) is constantly paid in situations remote from the 
 influence of towns. Building sites, especit^ly those 
 favourable for trade or manufactures, sell also as high as 
 in England. The sum of 3000 dollars was paid a few 
 years back for about an acre and a half of ground on 
 which some zinc-works now stand at Duisburg. This 
 was equal to 500/. per acre. 
 
 We shall, as we proceed, have frequent opportunities 
 of describing the position and life of the German peasant, 
 tlere we shall only remark that the leading distinction 
 between the industrious classes in England and Germany 
 is mainly the result of a difference in the division of 
 labour. In England, the labourer is early taught to 
 look to his own exertions, concentrated upon some special 
 occupation. He is fully aware of the advantages to be 
 drawn from, and of the risk attendant on, a minute divi- 
 
 i>
 
 54 
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE 
 
 sion of labour, amidst numerous and active competitors. 
 The German is still in that kind of dependence on the 
 soil which apparently secures subsistence, and conse- 
 quently independence, even if accompanied by poverty. 
 In these and other districts, where the population has 
 rapidly, of late, accumulated, the peasants are in a state 
 of transition from the one position to the other. 
 
 The population of the counties of Berg and Mark ap- 
 proaches that of the most densely peopled parts of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 Berg. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Population. 
 Circle of Dusseldorf . . . .67,781 
 
 „ Solingen 57,978 
 
 „ Elberfeld .... 104,532 
 
 Lennep 60,320 
 
 Duisburg 85,627 
 
 Hagen 62,097 
 
 „ Iserlohn 34,469 
 
 Bochun 43,930 
 
 „ Dortmund 42,555 
 
 Per Eng. 
 Sq.Mile. 
 . 457 
 . 594 
 . 940 
 . 542 
 . 350 
 . 404 
 . 272 
 . 294 
 . 250 
 
 On reaching Barmen and Elberfeld the traveller has 
 the choice of following the line of the new railroad to 
 Diisseldorf, or taking the hilly post-road to Cologne 
 by Remscheid, Solingen, and Burtscheid. On the line of 
 the railroad the country presents much the same appear- 
 ance that it does between Hagen and Barmen, but grows 
 more decidedly agricultural, and the holdings increase in 
 size as the railway recedes from the Wiipper. In the 
 hills of Remscheid and Solingen — the contrast between the 
 cheerful cottage cultivation we have described and some of 
 a very different description is striking. These hills present 
 to the eye a mass of round elevations intersected by deep 
 ravines. The small streams tbat run through the glens
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 55 
 
 are carefully shrouded by plantations of alders, and at 
 convenient distances the water is collected into ponds, 
 which furnish power for the working of small steel ham- 
 mers or grinding-stones. The sides of the hills are 
 nearly all under grass, although the water cannot be 
 carried over them ; and, indeed, it is too precious for the 
 manufacturer, who works here on a very diminutive scale. 
 The cottages of these owners of the hammers and the 
 grindstones are usually small and poor in appearance, and 
 stand at some distance from the little mills. It is easy 
 to follow the calculation that seems to prescribe green 
 crops, as demanding less time and attention than others, 
 where the labour thus saved can be usefully applied. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and with the prospect of 
 an early railroad communication with the corn growing 
 counties of central Germany, the prospects of this district 
 must also tend to a diminution of corn crops, and an in- 
 crease of garden and dairy cultivation, to the great gain 
 of the landowners as well as of the consuming population.
 
 ( ^« ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 If we recross the Rhine at Diisseldorf, and regain the 
 high road which we left at Xanten, we come, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Crefeld, into a manufacturing district. The 
 population of the circles of Crefeld and Gladbach is 
 nealy 600 to the English square mile ; that of the circle 
 of Kempen exceeds 350 to the mile. The labourers, or 
 more properly speaking, the weavers, in this district, like 
 those near Elberfeld, occupy very small holdings, which 
 they cultivate in the usual garden-like manner that ac- 
 companies such allotments. The price of produce is 
 here, too, generally high, and the complaints of distress 
 are loud and manifold throughout the district, especially 
 in the present year, when the failure of the potato-crop 
 threatens to press heavily upon the poorer portion of the 
 population. We find ourselves therefore once more in a 
 part of the country which ought to merge from agriculture 
 into gardening in a natural manner, and cannot wonder 
 at the high prices and high rents which these small par- 
 cels obtain. In the adjacent districts of Geldern and 
 JUlich, although the soil 'is better, neither rent nor pur- 
 chase-money rates so high. Flax is cultivated through- 
 out, and linen is one of the chief productions of the loom 
 in these parts. Cotton-factories are creeping into this 
 neighbourhood, but those as yet estabhshed are on a very 
 small scale. Silk gives the most employment, after linen, 
 to the hand-loom weavers.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHI>'E. 57 
 
 Tlie effects of trade and irianufactures upon the agri- 
 cultural interests on the left bank of the Rhine are only 
 strikingly visible as far as Crefeld, with the adjoining 
 circle of Gladbach. As we approach Neuss all assumes 
 an appearance that must be as novel to a Belgian and a 
 Dutchman as to an Englishman. The whole face of the 
 country is altered. Large tracts of arable land, denuded 
 of all planting, and no longer dotted with the houses or 
 cottages of the cultivators, extend on every side, but 
 leave the villages clustered round the distant spires, dis- 
 tinctly visible in testimony of the existence of inhabitants, 
 who are only seen on the fields at sowing and harvest 
 time. What we have hitherto seen, together with much 
 else that we shall have to describe upon the Rhine, is 
 exceptional in German scenery. But from Neuss to the 
 mountains near Bonn, and as far as the distant coast of the 
 Baltic, the habit of living in villages, often at a consider- 
 able distance from the fields they cultivate, is the leading 
 feature of German agricultural life. Nearly all the social 
 and not a few political arrangements are essentially af- 
 fected by this disposition of the dwellings of the inhabit- 
 ants, which has materially contributed to form the na- 
 tional character. In former times it is possible that self- 
 defence was the cause of a custom so generally adopted. 
 The number of inhabitants in a village, although unable 
 to contend with a large armed force, sufficed to ward off 
 the plundering or tyrannical attempts of single knightly 
 freebooters, at a time when it was found necessary to 
 sanctify by clerical injunctions the plough in the field, 
 and to exempt Sundays and holidays from sanguinary 
 contest by the " Treve de Dieu." That the custom still 
 prevailed after those barbarous ages had passed away may be
 
 58 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 accounted for by the almost interminable wars of which 
 Germany down to our own times has been the theatre. 
 The effect has been, as we have said, to lend a deep im- 
 print to the notions of the peasants that their interests 
 have nothing in common with those of the classes who 
 call themselves their superiors. In a German village 
 there is no aping of the dress, manners, or language of 
 the towns. The rich Bauer is proud of his position 
 amongst his fellow-villagers, and retaliates the contempt 
 which his appearance sometimes provokes amongst the 
 townsmen, with a peculiar kind of sneering humility that 
 shows how far he is from considering it necessary to 
 study public opinion beyond the village bounds. This 
 village-public opinion, if we may use the term, is how- 
 ever an invaluable possession for Germany, and mainly 
 distinguishes the German from the French national cha- 
 racter. It is a blessing for Germany that it was pre- 
 served through the tempest of the Revolutionary war. 
 The inhabitant of a '' dorf," even on the French frontier, 
 is religiously disjjosed, and is careless of ridicule in fol- 
 lowing out his notions of right and wrong. It is not 
 easy to imagine a more independent development of 
 character individually than that of the villagers, man 
 towards man, and even of the two sexes towards each 
 other. In the courtships that are carried on for years 
 between young people that grow up together, there is as 
 much form and method, and far more security, for the 
 girl who is left to trust to her wits, than ladies find who 
 have a host of pistolled relations at their elbow. Travel- 
 lers are usually prevented from diving into the secrets of 
 village life in Germany, both by the difficulties of the 
 language and by the reluctance of the villagers to
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 59 
 
 date, or to give information beyond their own class. 
 The best description that we have seen is to be found in 
 the ' Tales of the Black Forest,' by M. Auerbach, which 
 have been translated into English, and to which we refer 
 our readers in confidence that they will find in them both 
 information and amusement. 
 
 An advantage that was early drawn from this village 
 association by the farmer, may be traced through all the 
 land of Jiilich and beyond Cologne to Bonn, in a peculiar 
 uniformity of tillage. The winter, summer, and fallow 
 crops of the villages lie all together, an arrangement that 
 sprang from the custom, still in part maintained, of 
 grazing the stubbles after harvest, and the fallow during 
 its year of rest. In the Rhenish districts this primitive 
 mode of cultivation is generally exploded, A fallow is 
 occasionally left unsown once in six or seven years, but 
 then it is carefully and even scientifically ploughed ac- 
 cording to strict rule, and the village right of grazing has 
 shrunk to nothing. Even the peasant now would grudge 
 the dung that fell upon his neighbour's field, and he seeks 
 by stall-feeding to enrich his heap at home to the utmost. 
 Habit, however, still keeps the rye and wheat, the barley 
 and oats, the potatoes and l)eet-root side by side wnere 
 it is practicable, and in the highlands of Nassau and the 
 plain of Darmstadt the traveller will find the custom in 
 strict observance. One serious disadvantage has how- 
 ever been entailed by it, in the scattered position of the 
 peasants' lands ; as formerly every man had land on the 
 three sides, devoted to winter and summer crops, and 
 fallow. The villages lie usually about a mile to a mile 
 and a half from one another. Hence the landowner who 
 happens to have one portion of his land on the outskirts
 
 60 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 of the district, and another, perhaps, in the middle of 
 the village territory, but in an opposite direction, has all 
 the difficulty to contend with that two fields at three- 
 quarters of a mile from each other present, without the 
 compensation derived from others lying nearer to the 
 homestead. The disadvantage attending distance even 
 on large estates has been pointed out and made matter 
 of scientific calculation by M. de Thiinen, whose name 
 is known to English readers from his valuable contribu- 
 tions to Mr. Jacob's reports. The German governments 
 have of late years taken up the matter, and seek to pro- 
 mote what are called consolidations by means of ex- 
 changes, so as to bring the scattered land as much as 
 possible into estates lying within a ring fence. They 
 meet with great difficulty from the dislike the peasant 
 shows to part with land that he has lor^g held, and the 
 inconvenience attaching to which has been softened by 
 the bonus given to him in the manner described a few 
 pages back. The most effectual pressui-e that can now 
 be administered, will spring from the prosperity of trade 
 and manufactures. 
 
 With the old subdivision of property, the old agricul- 
 tural implements have in a great measure been retained. 
 We have observed why on the highlands the dung of 
 cows and oxen is preferred to horse-dung. The prefer- 
 ence is however carried farther than situation will justify, 
 and in the plain between Jiilich and Cologne cows and 
 oxen may be seen yoked to the plough, where the work 
 as well as the dung of horses would unquestionably be 
 more advantageous to the farm. Ploughing with oxen 
 entails the necessity of wheels, and in a country where 
 iron is not abundant the whole apparatus is likely to be
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 et 
 
 of clumsy form. The plough in use in the countries of 
 Cleves and Jiilich most resembles the Kentish turn- 
 wrest plough, but is heavier in construction. The mould 
 board is fastened at the back by a chain which hangs on 
 at either side, and in front it hooks on to a piece of 
 iron that connects the share with the beam. A wooden 
 support joining the sole to the beam, adds to the clumsi- 
 ness of this plough, near which, however, we have seen 
 a somewhat improved plough in use, to which a paring- 
 share is occasionally affixed. 
 
 A more singularly formed plough is still in use in the 
 neighbourhood of Bonn. This plough is called in Ger- 
 many " Hundspflug," or " dogs'-plough," for what reason 
 we could not learn, although some are desirous of con- 
 necting it with the invasion of Attila's Huns. It is 
 indeed an antiquarian curiosity. This instrument is 
 much lighter than the others ; its long curved beam 
 rests on an elevated cross-bar over the wheels. Its 
 sole is not above a foot in length by one inch in breadth, 
 and runs out from the lower end of the beam. The 
 share is long and light, running from a higher point 
 in the beam to the point of the sole, beyond which it 
 projects sometimes in a straight line, and occasionally 
 of serpentine shape. The mould-board is moveable, and 
 hangs into a socket on each side of the beam and sole. 
 For surface ploughing and drilling, we have heard the 
 working of this plough praised, but it was acknowledged 
 not to be serviceable in deep ploughing or in breaking 
 up clover leys. 
 
 That the use of these heavy or inefficient instruments 
 in a moderately light soil, such as is found in Jiilich and 
 Cleves, is not confined to the peasants who constantly 
 
 d3
 
 62 AGRICULTUEE OS THE RHINE. 
 
 press their milch-cows into the yoke, may perhaps be 
 explained by the combination of distilling with farming, 
 to which we alluded when noticing the gain aiforded by 
 fattening oxen on grain and potato-ma^h. It is however 
 a proof that no pressure towards great economy is felt ; 
 not that the farmers are rich enough to be able to dis- 
 pense with it, but they can get on without it, and no very 
 brilliant success achieved in other spheres of industry 
 spurs them to seek lor more. The harrows used have 
 little to deserve notice ; iron teeth are everywhere in use. 
 But we must particularly notice a remarkably shaped 
 scythe, which is in use on the rich soils on both banks ol 
 the Lower Rhine, and is chiefly used in getting in the 
 oat-crop. The blade is lighter than that of a grass-scythe, 
 but of the same shape, and is fixed at an acute angle to 
 the thick stick about three feet long, from which a wooden 
 handle projects at a right angle to the blade at the other 
 end. This scythe is swung with one hand while the 
 reaper holds his stick in the other, and after a kind of 
 slashing cut gathers the grain on the scythe and lays it 
 over. We were assured that a reaper with this instru- 
 ment could get over half as much land again as with the 
 sickle. To us it appeared a fatiguing tool, and scarcely 
 applicable to barley, which it must cause to shed. 
 The cradle-scythe in use in Belgium and other parts 
 of Germany seems in every way to deserve prefer- 
 ence. Sowing-machines are little used on the Lower 
 Rhine, nor are thrashing-machines in use. Hand-screens 
 are used for winnowing, but the implements of this dis- 
 trict present nothing choice or very interesting. 
 
 We shall have occasion to speak more fully and more 
 favourably of German agricultural implements when we
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 63 
 
 come to the Upper Rhine, where more attention has been 
 paid to the subject. We shall here endeavour to com- 
 plete our general survey of the country on the Lower 
 Rhine, by some remarks on the appearance that portion 
 presents which the traveller crosses who enters Germany 
 from Belgium. 
 
 For a long time after passing the Prussian frontier be- 
 tween Verviers or Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle, the same 
 scenery continues with which the traveller became ac- 
 quainted on leaving the banks of the Meuse. The steep 
 hills are laid down in beautiful pastures, on which the 
 cattle graze, whose dung-falls are made conspicuous by 
 the sweepings of the broom that twice a day distributes 
 this manure over the adjacent surface. Dairy farming is 
 the inheritance of this district, and the Limburg cheese, 
 at whichever side of the border it is made, can rank with 
 any cream-cheese but those of Stilton and Cottenham. 
 These pastures cannot vie in richness with those we 
 have mentioned as forming the agricultural riches of the 
 lowlands along the Rhine, and which are laid down on 
 such a level that the spring floods of the Rhine wash over 
 them. The peasants have therefore no superabundance 
 of hay, and in winter straw cut and occasionally mixed 
 with potatoes, carrots, or mangel-wurzel, or oil-cake, 
 forms the chief fodder. Yet the daily yield in milk we 
 have found estimated at twelve to sixteen pots, yielding a 
 pound of butter, 'for four to five months after calving, with 
 a falling oif of one-third in the remaining six months of 
 the year. Six or eight weeks is the period during which 
 the cows are dry before calving. As this estimate gives 
 from 230 to 250 lbs. of butter yearly, it equals the pro-
 
 64 AGRICULTUKE ON THE EHliNE. 
 
 ducfi of the richest and best managed dairies, and its 
 correctness has been questioned for the uplands. 
 
 Where the land does not suit clover well, the resource 
 of the farmer is the oil-cake. Hence the light pressure to 
 which the cakes, both of rape and linseed, are exposed, 
 and which has recently been turned to account, I believe, 
 by English millers, who have pressed them over again. 
 Such cakes are here in great demand in dry seasons, and in 
 winter are boiled up with straw, potatoes, and other fodder 
 to keep the covis in milk. The butter, as well as the fat 
 cattle, find a ready sale in the manufacturing districts ot 
 Crefeld, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Belgium ; and grazing land, 
 where at all fertile, sells at a high price, being limited to 
 the banks of brooks and rivulets. On the uplands, 300 to 
 400 dollars ; in the low inundated land, 500 to 600 dol- 
 lars, and even more, are paid for the English acre, while 
 fresh butter sells from ninepence to tenpence per pound. 
 A good cow may be had for thirty-five to fifty dollars. 
 (51. OS. to 71. 10s.) The calf sells at two months for 
 twelve dollars. (1/. 16s.) The cow fattened before 
 winter in the Belgian fashion, to be replaced by 
 another in the spring, sells for sixty to seventy-five 
 dollars (9/. to 11/. 10s.) to retail butchers. There is, 
 however, a great deal of unreclaimed land between 
 Maestricht and Crefeld. In the present year a pur- 
 chase of 700 morgens was made by a small company 
 of capitalists to bring it into cultivation. They paid 
 14,000 dollars for the whole, or at the rate of 1/. 
 18s. per English acre, a price that under the cir- 
 cumstances must be considered as illustrating the high 
 value of land, of which we have spoken. We have
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHIXE. G5 
 
 given the details of checse-niaking in our description 
 of Belgian agriculture, to which we refer. 
 
 On approaching Aix-la-Chapelle, the traveller, emerg- 
 ing from the northern passes of the Ardennes, finds the 
 large monotonous plains on tlie north, which we have de- 
 scribed, interrupted only by a few quaint castellated coun- 
 try-seats. To the south-east, as the railroad to Cologne 
 follows the fall of the hills for some time, he has the 
 forests of the Ardennes, with the singular addition of tall 
 chimneys peeping above the trees, and indicating the site 
 of the rich coal-mines in the earth beneath them. At 
 Diirenthe railway reaches the open country, and the ex- 
 tensive level spreads on either side, seemingly bounded 
 only by distant rows of hills, of which, however, some lie 
 beyond the Rhine. A great deal of the land traversed 
 by the railway is sand of the lightest description, and 
 was a short time back unreclaimed heath. 
 
 At Cologne the traveller reaches a city of 70,000 
 inhabitants, thriving from trade, and fond of the good 
 things of this world. There is also a demand from this 
 neighbourhood to supply the unproductive valleys of 
 the Ardennes, and that part of Limburg which is devoted 
 to pasturage. Grain is therefore the chief object of 
 farming, and the farmer combines, as far as he can, dis- 
 tilling and stock-fattening with his fallow crop ;- the po- 
 tato furnishing the material for both. As we approach 
 Cologne large farm-houses are here and there visible, 
 surrounded by arable land, the furrows of which run up 
 to the city walls. These are farms belonging to the 
 clerical, charitable, and civic corporations of Cologne, 
 and are held by men owning sufficient capital to be able 
 to draw the most advantage from the vicinity of a large
 
 66 AGRICULTURE ON TUB RHIKE. 
 
 town, for the demand of which the cultivation is of course 
 adapted. Some of these farms are upon a very large scale, 
 comprising from 500 to 1000 acres, and indeed through- 
 out this whole district, which is more trading than manu- 
 facturing, large allotments farmed by their owners, or by 
 tenants on lease, are more common than lower down the 
 river. For minute information respecting the state of 
 these holdings, and of the calculations of the cultivators, 
 the best source is accessible in the ready communications 
 of the gentlemen connected with the Agricultural Society 
 and model farm at Popplesdorf, near Bonn. 
 
 Schwerz gives the following as the yield of corn near 
 Diiren : — 
 
 ,, ,. Per Colo''ne ti 
 *^*^'«'- Morgen. P^^ acre. 
 
 Wheat . . . 31 (of 340 lbs.) = 20 bushels (of 60 lbs.) 
 
 Rye . . . . 4 (of 300 lbs.) =24 , , (of 50 lbs.) 
 
 Barley . . . 4^ (of 220 lbs) = 28 ,, (of 36 lbs.) 
 
 Winter ditto . 6 (of 220 lbs.) = 36 ,, (of 36 lbs.) 
 
 Spring Wheat . 3 (of 340 lbs.) - 1 7 ,, (of 60 lbs.) 
 
 Oats after clover 10 (of 190 lbs.) = 57 , , (of 28 lbs.) 
 
 Rape-seed . . 7 of 2 hectolitres = 35 ,, of 36 litres. 
 
 The same authority gives the following rotation and 
 crops as he found them in the circle of Steinbach : — 
 
 Rye or wheat after fallow 4^ Malter = 26 bushels per acre. 
 Rye following ... 3 , , 17 , , , , 
 
 Oats on clover stubbles .9 , , 50 , , , , 
 
 Rye following oats . . 3 , , 17 , , , , 
 
 Oats on rye-stubble . . 5 , , 29 , , , , 
 
 On the large well-managed farms the yield of wheat 
 and rye is somewhat greater. It must also be remarked, 
 that the numbers above given are taken from a course in 
 which rye follows wheat and is followed by clover, M'hich 
 after one year's ley is broken up for oats. Flax is in
 
 AGRICULTUBE ON THE RHINE. 67 
 
 this \^ hole district not grown as a market crop, the soil 
 not offering any peculiar advantages ; and the grain, stock, 
 and dairy-yield finding a ready sale upon the spot with- 
 out demanding any effort of skilled labour. Rape-seed, as 
 is evident from the return given above, is a highly remu- 
 nerating crop, and, as we have observed, will not fail in 
 any judicious rotation for the future, as it can now be 
 easily exported. Clover-seed is also extensively grown 
 between Aix-la-Chapelle and Bonn. 
 
 The plain between Cologne and Euskirchen, where 
 the eastern offsets of the Ardennes run out to the Rhine 
 and form its boundary, offers little differing in aspect 
 for the farmer from the ground we have traversed. The 
 same mode of cultivation prevails, and the village system 
 is predominant, although the effects of rising prosperity 
 in the richer classes begin to show themselves in pretty 
 country-seats well placed upon the fall of the hills, that 
 give life to the landscape. Bonn has recently become a 
 central point of attraction for farmers, as the seat of an 
 agricultural college and experimental farm on a small 
 scale. It is not improbable that some of the taste for 
 farming which is now displayed at Windsor was acquired 
 or at least improved at Popplesdorf. Of these colleges, 
 which are numerous in Germany, we shall speak more at 
 large in a later part of our volume. 
 
 A plague peculiar to the dry districts along the Rhine 
 is found in the mice, which in a fine season swarm in such 
 myriads, that whole fields are devastated where no 
 energetic means are adopted for destroying them. It is 
 true that the winter frosts and spring floods cleanse the 
 fields to all appearance thoroughly of this nuisance ; yet, 
 if the month of May be fine, they appear in August with
 
 68 AGKICULTURE OS THE KIIINE. 
 
 undiminished force. In various villages the remedies 
 attempted are different. Sometimes a reward in money is 
 offered per one hundred skins, and the youthful population 
 is encouraged to exert its skill and passion for the chace 
 on the modern hydra. All such efforts prove, however, 
 ineffectual to keep down the numbers of the general foe, 
 whose paths across a corn-field are nearly as broad as 
 those trodden by single foot-passengers, while the hoard 
 abstracted from his crop is estimated by the farmer from 
 the number of straws nibbled ofi" at a short distance from 
 tlie ground, the ears from which have disappeared within 
 the Subterranean labyrinths, that often repay the labour of 
 digging up. In the neighbourhood of Jiilich a mode of 
 smoking out the mice has been introduced from Belgium. 
 An iron pan, two feet high, has at bottom a grating su{> 
 jjorted by a pin. On the grating some charcoal is laid, 
 and the pan, when filled with rags, leather, and sulphur, 
 is fastened with an air-tight cover which has a small 
 tube, into which a small hose connected with a bel- 
 lows is inserted. The pan is held by an upper and a side 
 handle. The night before it is used the field is sur- 
 veyed, and all open mouse-holes are trodden close. In 
 the morning such as are re-opened indicate those which 
 are tenanted, and one being selected, the lower part of 
 the pan is pressed against it, and the bellows being set at 
 work, the smoke issues from the orifice near the grating, 
 and penetrates into the runs or galleries that connect the 
 holes. A number of assistants are required to tread the 
 crevices close through which the smoke is seen to escape ; 
 and if all due precautions be taken, great numbers of these 
 diminutive enemies may be slaughtered, and at the same 
 time buried in their subterranean holds.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 69 
 
 Much has been humorously said on the subject of the 
 mag-isterial edicts which in Germany periodically pre- 
 scribe the cleansing of fruit-trees, and the extinction of 
 snails, slugs, and caterpillars, which is literally enjoined 
 " de par le roi." It is, however, easier to smile at such 
 attempts than to suggest an eftectual remedy. Experience 
 has shown that if fruit-trees are properly examined, and the 
 crevices in the bark well cleaned, the destruction caused by 
 insects, whose growth, like thatof the plant they live upon, 
 is favoured by the fine climate, may be much diminished. 
 The fruit gathered on the Rhine is everywhere an addi- 
 tion to the comforts, and often a source of enviable revenue 
 to the villagers, ripening well and being wholesome ; and 
 it is one of the evils of a minute subdivision of property 
 that simultaneous exertion is difficult to obtain when 
 needful. The magisterial sanction is therefore sought to 
 force the tardy to similar exertion with the industrious, 
 whose help all can command in the common cause, but 
 whose exertions no one should be allowed to thwart by 
 wilful neglect. If any who ridicule this village legis- 
 lation had seen the whole male population of a district 
 in Hungary, or in Southern Russia, turn out armed to 
 resist an invasion of locusts, they would appreciate the 
 simple efforts to the effectual application of which Western 
 Europe is indebted for its freedom from many of the 
 plagues that still devastate the richer tracts of the East. 
 One of the most necessary, and at the same time one of 
 the most effectual, of the precautions thus taken, and of 
 which we in England are most happily ignorant, is the 
 quarantine and inspection to which horned cattle im- 
 ported from Turkey are subjected all along the eastern 
 frontier of the Austrian empire. It is not uncommon to
 
 /v) AGRICULTL'RK OX THE RHINE. 
 
 have cattle driven from Moldavia to the chief German 
 meat-markets, and without this care diseases would con- 
 stantly be spread amongst us. 
 
 We have already indulged in many general reflections 
 in this early portion of our task, but we cannot leave this 
 district of the Lower Rhine to enter upon the novel and 
 varied scenes that lie in and beyond the mountains 
 to whose base we have wandered, without once more 
 looking back on what we have passed, because we feel 
 that our readers have by this time obtained an insight 
 into agricultural life that must awaken deep and stirring 
 reflection. From Cleves to Cologne in a straight line is 
 about 70 miles ; from Aix-la-Chapelle toHagen in West- 
 phalia, the base of the triangle we have measured, is 
 nearly 100 miles. Our triangle is therefore equivalent 
 to one leaning with its base upon London and Bath, and 
 having its a^jex either at the extremity of the Isle of 
 Wight, or in a northern direction at Coventry. Yet how 
 different an appearance do the two English districts here 
 marked out present fi*om the portion of Germany with 
 which we would compare them ! Good high roads and 
 navigable rivers traverse the German as the English dis- 
 tricts, and afford thera the advantages of trade. The popu- 
 lation is nearly equal in density, and in abundance of iron 
 and cheapness for the general consumer there is no great 
 disparity. To the most unpractised eye, however, it must 
 be evident that in the English districts more wealth is 
 acquired in the year than in the German. The crops are 
 more abundant, the outlay of capital is repaid sooner, the 
 prices of produce are all higher in England than on the 
 Rhine. J<et us go into the details of the comparison. 
 
 It will hardly be disputed that the profit drawn from
 
 AGRICUI.TURE ON THE RHINE. 71 
 
 agriculture, as well as from other branches of industry, 
 is the more conspicuous the fewer the hands are that 
 divide it. Now since farming-, properly so called, is 
 carried on in England upon allotments varying from 100 
 to 1000 acres, whereas the common limits in this part of 
 Germany are from 10 to 300 acres ; the difference in the 
 numbers sharing the profits in both countries is at least 
 as one to eight or perhaps ten. We have no doubt that 
 the number of estates exceeding 1000 acres, managed by 
 one farmer in central England, exceeds the number of 
 those above 300 acres on the Rhine. In the districts 
 more remote from the thoroughfares of trade, the propor- 
 tion of the population employed in agriculture is over- 
 whelming as compared with other occupations. Hence 
 tlie low prices of produce in good years, and the difficulty 
 the Germans find in accumulating capital. Where there 
 is a superfluity of produce, if all produce the same, there 
 can be no market. So it is in Germany. Every man 
 grows his own bread. Who is to buy of those who pro- 
 duce more than they require for their own consumption V 
 It is owing to this circumstance, and not because the cost 
 of tillage is less, that prices are so low. To raise them it 
 will be necessary to open new fields of labour in trade 
 and manufactures, into which many of the present culti- 
 vators of the land must be induced to migrate, and thus 
 to leave to a smaller number the division of the profits in 
 agriculture. The gift to the peasants of the small lots 
 they held, in the manner before described, had quite a 
 contrary tendency, by keeping them on the land which 
 they would by degrees have left. But at that time, and 
 even still, the panacea prescribed in Germany for all 
 widely spread discontent is to subdivide the land. Unless
 
 / 2 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHIJfE. 
 
 such a measure be accompanied by a multiplication of the 
 consumers, that is to say, of the markets, it is not easy to 
 see what agriculturists have to gain by such a step. In 
 Prussia it is estimated that three persons are employed in 
 agriculture for one engaged in trade or manufactures. 
 This will explain why, with such low prices as we 
 usually find quoted in Germany, there is never a super- 
 abundance of corn, while prices rise rapidly on the first 
 symptom of a demand from England. It will also account 
 for the modes of cultivation that prevail, under which 
 only a moderate yield is extracted from the land. That 
 with the soil and climate of the Lower Rhine a far greater 
 return might be obtained, is shown by the example of 
 Belgium and England. But why should it be raised it 
 there is no one to buy it ? The exportation of wheat to 
 France and Belgium assumes every year a more constant 
 form. It will not be long before England appears 
 as a regular customer at the Continental markets. 
 It will then remain to be seen whether the more 
 distant but more fertile districts of Poland will be able to 
 furnish grain on better terms than the nearer plains ot 
 Germany, with their intelligent population. The irre- 
 gularity of our demand has obliged countries that cannot 
 produce without cost to leave us out of their calculations. 
 The next weighty consideration that press-es itself upon 
 us is the fact that, in the trading and manufacturing dis- 
 tricts, and on the Rhine generally, both the rent of land 
 and its capital value are higher than that of similarly cir- 
 cumstanced land in England. We have endeavoured to 
 explain this fact from the circumstance that there are 
 crops that all times assert their full value in the market 
 of the world, such as seeds, flax, tobacco, dairy produce,
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 73 
 
 &c. On these the German farmer who works on a suf- 
 ficiently large scale relies for his profit. It so happens 
 that the demand for all those articles must increase when 
 tlie price of corn falls, for more of them is consumed when 
 bread is cheap than when it is dear. Thus the landlord 
 holds the disease and its remedy in his own hands ; if he 
 wishes market crops, as they are here called, to rise iu 
 value, he must lower the price of grain. If corn became 
 so cheap that it was not worth growing, he would find 
 an immense demand for all other produce to indemnify 
 him. Upon this calculation have those countries relied 
 who have imposed no restrictions upon the price of grain ; 
 and we see from the experience of the Rhenish farmer 
 on a larger scale, that it is a just one where trade and 
 manufactures furnish wherewith to pay for superfluities. 
 This remuneration, however, cannot be expected in any 
 country where political or fiscal regulations favour an ac- 
 cumulation of cultivators on a small scale ; and the rule is 
 consequently as little vitiated by the experience of other 
 parts of Germany as it is by that of Bengal, where similar 
 poverty prevails amidst still richer natural advantages. 
 
 We have before remarked that farming out land to 
 tenants is a practice that is only common on the Lower 
 Rhine. In other parts of Germany the large demesnes 
 of the crown , and of the nobility, as well as the estates of 
 corporations and foundations, are let on lease to a class of 
 tenants possessing capital, and generally specially edu- 
 cated for the cc( upation. Rents are in these instances 
 mostly rated according to the vicinity or distance of the 
 large towns. On the Lower Rhine land of all kinds is 
 to be had on lease and in allotments of all sizes. A
 
 74 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 short calculation shows the owner whether he does better 
 to retain a farm in his own hands or to let it to a tenant, 
 and trade and manufactures open to ail persons other 
 sources of industry and gain besides agriculture. Before 
 the French invasion the term of a lease used to vary be- 
 tween twelve and twenty-four years, with a surrender 
 clause at the end of half the term. The French lawyers 
 (ixjrhaps rather the diminished credit which their invasion 
 caused) introduced shorter terms, that have since been 
 adhered to. Three, six, and nine years, with a surrwider 
 clause for every third year, are now common terms. 
 That farming originally here obtained on the Metayer 
 system, or for rents of half tlie produce of the land, is 
 evinced by one of the names still used to designate a 
 small farmer, viz., " Halbwinner," or one who gains half 
 the produce. Such contracts are still to be found here 
 and there on a small scale, but money-rents are now pre- 
 valent in the whole of this district. The sums agreed 
 for vary both according to the size of the holding and its 
 situation. We were told of a large estate of nearly 1000 
 acres that was let for 2800 francs, while small lots in the 
 immediate vicinity brought as much as 50 francs per 
 acre. In such cases it is difficult to learn w ithout minute 
 inquiry what burdens devolve upon the tenant besides 
 the rent, for he frequently undertakes all the responsi- 
 bility for roads, schools, churches, &c., to which the land- 
 lord is liable. In the neighbourhood of the estate men- 
 tioned lies another, 300 morgens in extent, which pays 
 six francs per acre. But these sums give no correct idea 
 of the value of land at present, it being impossible to 
 procure small well-situated lots under 10 dollars, and
 
 AGRICULTURE OS THE RHIXE. 75 
 
 larger farms, with suitable buildings, at less than 5 to G 
 dollars per Prussian morgen, or English acre, where the 
 situation offers no remarkable advantages. 
 
 The period of entering here is usually the 1st of May ; 
 occasionally, however, the 9th of November. The going- 
 out tenant leaves dung and straw behind him, and claims 
 the winter corn sown, which must not cover more than 
 one-third of the arable land. There are no other valua- 
 tions, and the outlay for fencing is confined to the clearing 
 a few ditches, quickset hedges having disappeared on the 
 traveller's leaving the Belgian frontier.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 All travellers that had a day or two to spare in ascend- 
 ing the Rhine used formerly to make an excursion from 
 Godesberg into the valley of the Ahr. Sin(.*e the esta- 
 blishment of the steam-boats, many of these side ex- 
 cursions are neglected, as being too tedious. The agricul- 
 turist does not measure the interest attaching to his tour 
 by its length, and in studying the remarkable contrast 
 offered by the Rhenish highlands to the plains we have 
 traversed, he will find a stay in the Ardennes well 
 worth his while. 
 
 The hills that a little below Godesberg run out to the 
 Rhine, and with the chain of the Seven Hills opposite 
 form the boundary of what is so properly designated " the 
 Low Countries," are the eastern ramifications of the Ar- 
 dennes, the true and irremovable boundary between 
 France and Germany. Leaving Godesberg, the tourist 
 passes, at Vilip, on to the elevated plateau, whose vol- 
 canic origin is evident to the most superficial glance. 
 The rocky ground covered with a thin layer of earth, and — 
 where cultivation has fostered and increased its accumu- 
 lation — crops whose precarious appearance but too well 
 accounts for the poverty of the cultivators, present a 
 chilling foreground, behind which naked crags rise in 
 various elevations, darkly and cheerlessly crowned in the 
 distance by the summit of the Michelsberg. The middle- 
 ground of the picture is filled up by forests that seem
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 77 
 
 boundless to the view, covering the bases of the craggy 
 ranges, especially to the right, where their dark shadow- 
 ing from an elevated point can be followed until all 
 merges into indistinct grey. Through one of these fo- 
 rests, "the Wood of Flamersheim," so called from a 
 neighbouring hall with knightly privileges, the road to 
 Miinstereifel, or the Minster of the Ardennes (in Ger- 
 man JEifel), conducts the traveller. A walk or drive of 
 about fifteen miles has transported him from a sunny 
 corn-growing plain, into a wild' mountainous region, 
 whose ancient evil repute is still curiously attested by 
 the pains every one in the towns and villages through 
 which he passes takes to assure him that they do not be- 
 long to the Eifel. And yet in times when the lowlands 
 where the object of knightly ravage, these barren heights 
 were tenanted by noble families ; and to judge by the 
 respectable appearance of the Jesuits' Convent at 
 Miinstereifel, as well as by the name of the place itself, 
 they were not so poor as to be despised by the Church. 
 Miinstereifel is situated on the little mountain brook 
 called the Erft, which, from the damage its waters occa- 
 sion, is called the '^ wilde Erft," and its story gives occa- 
 sion to notice one of the remarkable phenomena which 
 are almost peculiar to Germany, or at least to Central 
 Europe, and some of the causes of which have latterly 
 been systematically calculated by agricullurists. The 
 sudden rise of craggy summits amidst extensive plateaux 
 and wide spreading plains, probably occasions a resistance 
 to the clecti'ical streams circulating in the atmosphere, 
 which collect around them until an explosion takes place, 
 such as is rarely known in Western Europe. The " Cloud- 
 break " (Wolkenbruch) is the name given in Germany to
 
 78 AGRICULTUHE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 SO great a discharge of water from the atmosphere that 
 its weight entails sudden destruction on all that it may 
 strike. Trees are rooted up, and hurled down the tor- 
 rents momentarily formed. Cattle grazing are carried off, 
 and houses, if struck by the full force of the deluge, arc 
 thrown down and washed from their sites. The infliction 
 is one to which mountainous districts are most subject. 
 That we have not exaggerated the mischief thus done, 
 will be best attested by the description of a doudbreak 
 which occun-ed in 1818, at Mlinstereifel, and destroyed 
 nearly the whole town. We extract it from Professor 
 E. M. Arndt's recently published ' Wanderings round 
 Godesberg,' feeling, as every one must who knows the 
 author or his story, that where he takes up the pen, others 
 may well lay it down. 
 
 " It is nearly twenty-six years since the lovely spring 
 weather (I think on the fourth of May), induced me and 
 my friend Hiillmann to take a drive along the hills to 
 Briihl. Towards evening we were warned homewards 
 from a ramble under the oaks and beech trees of the park, 
 by an accumulation of thick dark clouds, out of which 
 irregular vivid flashes broke. It soon grew pitch dark, 
 and a hail-shower was followed by a violent thunder- 
 storm, and such heavy rain, that the road we drove home 
 by was broken up in different places. This storm was 
 destined to renovate Mlinstereifel. The tempest had 
 discharged a * cloudbreak ' over the town, which tore up 
 the banks and weirs of the rivulet, carrj'ing with it 
 bridges, mills, houses, in its wild track, and destroying 
 whole streets in the town, which have since been rebuilt. 
 Situated in a glen between lofty hills down which the 
 brook winds its serpentine course, the traveller cannot
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. /9 
 
 recognise in the shallow waters of its summer bed the 
 ravaging violence of the torrents that pour down it when 
 snow melts suddenly, or thunder-storms discharge their 
 waters into it." 
 
 The summits, whose flattened surface, although inter- 
 sected by deep ravines, form what may be called the pla- 
 teau of the Eifel, are, as has been said, of volcanic form- 
 ation. Not the tufa that around Naples spreads fertility 
 and abundance, but rather the lava that surrounds Rome 
 in the bleak and naked Carapagna, is the chief formation 
 in this district, which the tourist crosses on his way to 
 the Mere of Laach. The Lake of Laach (an evident 
 tautological appellation) fills the crater of an extinct 
 volcano of the largest size, and similar lakes or meres, 
 called " Maare " in the neighbourhood, to the number of 
 twenty-seven, have been discovered. This portion of the 
 Rhenish province of Prussia is the poorest in arable land 
 of the whole kingdom. The irregular elevated surface 
 is covered with bog, and the thin coating of soil does not 
 afford nourishment for the roots of trees. Every vallej^, 
 however, is inhabited, and on the rapid slopes along the 
 banks of the Ahr and towards the Rhine vines and fruit- 
 trees produce valuable crops. The wildest part of these 
 highlands is called the Snow Eifel, and rises in the circle 
 of Priim to the height of 2100 feet. 
 
 In the valleys falling into the Rhine, and in the valley 
 of the Rhine itself, the cultivation of fruit is the great 
 resource of the peasant landowners. Every piece of cul- 
 tivated land, or of land fit for cultivation, is covered with 
 walnut, apple, pear, or cherry trees. The commune of 
 Riibenach can show that the village revenues draw 
 annually 10,000 francs from Coblenz for cherries alone, 
 
 E 2
 
 80 AGKICULTUEE ON THE EHESE. 
 
 The trade in fruit is described as taking place in the fol- 
 lowing manner: — The boatmen from the Rhine come 
 some time previously to the village to treat for the fruit. 
 When the period agreed upon arrives, the bell of the 
 village gives the signal, and every villager, whether rich 
 or poor, begins to strip the cherry-trees, and carry the 
 filled baskets down to the river's side. One of the vil- 
 lage headboroughs stands at the ship's side and weighs 
 the fruit delivered. To him the money is paid by the 
 boatmen, and he divides it on the following Sunday, after 
 Vespers, amongst the peasants. 
 
 Walnuts are a favourite crop in the hilly parts, but not 
 in the valleys, as it is said that the leaves damage the 
 ground where they fall. The nuts yield delicious oil, 
 and to obtain this they are chiefly pressed. Apples and 
 pears are cut into pieces and strung on packthread. 
 They are then hung up to dry, and serve as vegetables 
 to eat with roast meat or with pancakes through the 
 winter. Sometimes they are boiled up with plums and 
 beet-root, the latter addition being intended in lieu oi 
 sugar. The fruit of the Eifel is good, but the really de- 
 licious fruit on the Rhine begins with the Moselle or 
 with the fall of the Eifel towards that river. From Cob- 
 lenz onwards the apples and pears attain a ripeness that 
 makes them not only a pleasing but a nourishing article 
 of food, and we have often thought of the difference be- 
 tween the apple-pies on the banks of the Thames, and 
 those which, when well imitated on the Rhine, require no 
 sugar to correct acidity in the fruit. Plums of a poor 
 flavour, but excellent bearers, are indigenous in Germany, 
 and form a part of the luxuries of every village from the 
 Baltic to the Alps. In the Rhenish districts they are
 
 AGRICULTUKE ON THE RHINE. 81 
 
 skinned and put with a little water into jars, m hich are 
 placed in the baking-ovens after the bread is taken out. 
 They there simmer to a pulp or syrup, which is spread, 
 instead of butter, on the bread. The consumption of this 
 simple preserve is so great, that a good or bad season for 
 plums materially affects the price of butter. 
 
 The inhabitants of Rhenish Prussia still speak with 
 gratitude of a French prefet in Napoleon's time, who 
 actively promoted the introduction of good kinds of fruit, 
 and the establishment of village nursery-grounds. But 
 that the Germans did not require to be schoolmastered 
 on this score originally by the French, is shown by the 
 current statement that the village of Metternich lost 
 14,000 fruit-trees during the invasion of 1790. 
 
 In this part of his journey the traveller, indeed, loses 
 sight of the large calculations of capitalists, and of 
 the general economical plan that runs through the indus- 
 trious exertions of nations. He finds the local relations 
 of every village and townlet scattered along the pre- 
 cipitous banks of the Rhine influence him, and after a 
 time he begins to follow the inclinations and even to 
 account for many apparent prejudices on the part of the 
 inhabitants. In the great occupation of turning to 
 the best account the soil and climate given to them 
 by Providence, the peasant of the Rhine stands un- 
 tutored except by experience. And could the tourist 
 hear these men in their blouses and thick gaiters converse 
 on the subject, he would be surprised at the mass of 
 practical knowledge they possess, and at the caution and 
 yet the keenness with which they study these advantages. 
 Of this all may rest assured, that frons the commence- 
 ment of the offsets of the Eifel, where the village culti-
 
 82 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 vation assumes an individual and strictly local character, 
 good reason can be given for the manner in which every 
 inch of land is laid out, as for every halm, root, or tree 
 that covers it. 
 
 Before reaching Coblenz, the fields are covered with 
 fruit-trees, planted in rows like the mulberry-trees in the 
 north of Italy. These plantations are spread as far as 
 Mayence, that is to say, as far as the fields lie at a cer- 
 tain elevation above the river, and which in dry seasons 
 are benefited by the shade of the trees. Many belong 
 not to individuals, but to the parish. These are usually 
 contracted for annually by dealers, or speculative pea- 
 sants, who make their beds in a temporary straw hut under 
 the trees, if the number makes it worth their while, to 
 guard against depredators. 
 
 We are soiry not to be able to confirm the good 
 opinion that has sometimes been expressed by tourists, 
 who are not in the secret, of the good behaviour of little 
 boys and girls, and of travellers of all kinds, in Germany. 
 In fact, fruit is everywhere a tempting thing, and the 
 Pvhenish villagers repose no more faith in the abstinence 
 of their neighbours than experience justifies. The field- 
 police is both well organized and strictly exercised, and 
 yet the complaints of depredations increase from year to 
 year. At the period of the ripening of the fruit extra 
 watchmen are appointed, and the owners tfike this 
 burthen often on themselves, when they are allowed to 
 tirm themselves with an old fowling-piece loaded with 
 shot. It is to such precautions that the loaded state of 
 the trees is mainly to be ascribed, that has excited so 
 much wonder. According to the village laws, moreover, 
 a delinquent caught in the act of field-stealing becomes
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. StS 
 
 responsible for all the depreciations that have beea 
 committed in the same year previous to his apprehen- 
 sion. In default of any person thus detected and made 
 responsible, the party robbed can proceed against the 
 village for redress, on the ground of insufficient protec- 
 tion from the field-police. A curious attempt is some- 
 times made to identify stolen fruit or vegetables in the 
 public market-places of the large towns. The hubbub 
 occasioned by such a proceeding, and the indiscriminate 
 kind of evidence produced by the parties interested, our 
 readers will easily picture to themselves. 
 
 Chestnuts furnish the inhabitants of the Rhenish dis- 
 tricts throughout with an article of food. They are 
 either eaten plain after roasting, or are boiled with 
 various vegetables ; and are occasionally served as stuffing 
 with fowls. The largest plantation we have heard of 
 belongs to the town of Wiesbaden, and consists of several 
 thousand trees, which yield a considerable annual re- 
 venue. Along the Bergstrasse, between Darmstadt and 
 Heidelberg, as along the eastern fall of the Black Forest, 
 and the offsets of the Vosges on the opposite side of the 
 Rhine, the chestnut is a favourite tree in the village fruit- 
 plantations. 
 
 In any of the sequestered villages along the romantic 
 part of the Rhine, which present little that is interesting 
 on the subject of corn-growing or dairy-farming, the 
 traveller will find a good opportunity of studying what 
 may be called the foundation of German nationalit}-. 
 The feeling of nationality has its deepest roots in the 
 village economy, which we before described in general 
 terms. The villages hold the people together, and in 
 them the first attempts at association on a large scale
 
 84 AGRICLLTUEE OX TKE KHIXE. 
 
 have been made, and, perhaps, contain the germ of a 
 healthy and useful development. At all events it be- 
 hoves all in this age of change and reformation not to 
 pass over the picture presented to us by the Germans, 
 of what a people can preserve through difficulties, if 
 we do not find in it how far judicious enterprise might 
 be carried. 
 
 In the German village, to begin with the higher 
 elements, the church is neither the property of the 
 patron nor of the incumbent, nor is it vested in trustees 
 for the benefit of the inhabitants. It belongs to the 
 parish, or " Gemeinde," as the associated householders 
 are called in German. The school, in the same man- 
 ner, and all public institutions or buildings, roads, or 
 water-courses, often mills and industrial establishments, 
 that have been constructed at the expense of, or pre- 
 sented by patrons to, the village, are the property of the 
 little community. But it will be said that persons 
 must represent all corporations, to sue and to be sued. 
 The German village is represented by one or more head- 
 boroughs according to its size, who have the honourable 
 charge of protecting the public property, both against 
 official and private aggression. The consequence of this 
 retention of the management of their affairs in the 
 villagers' own hands, has been a remarkable conservation 
 of village property, and every member of a Gemeinde 
 has the satisfaction of thinking that he is not alone 
 herded with others in a county division for the purpose 
 of facilitating taxation or militia returns, but that he is 
 a member of an active association, which has life im- 
 parted to it by a sense of its holding property which 
 must be managed and turned to account. It is most
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 85 
 
 interesting to hear the men to whom the direction of 
 these village affairs is intrusted (and the office was long 
 elective, being given only to such as deserved public 
 confidence) on the manifold questions arising from the 
 management of this property. Their circumspection, 
 blended with the quiet manner of expressing themselves 
 which is peculiar to respectable men of all classes in 
 Germany, has often the appearance of slowness ; and to 
 those not better acquainted with them, would seem to 
 indicate a good-natured easiness that would lead them to 
 be duped. This notion is soon dispelled when business 
 has to be ti-ansacted, and it then becomes evident that 
 the peasant has often best considered his opinion before 
 he pronounced it, and others are often glad to come round 
 to it. Within a short period the privilege of electing 
 their headborough has been taken from the villagers of 
 Prussia. The central point of meeting in every village is 
 some favourite inn. At nightfall the men of any stand- 
 ing usually resort to it as a lounge. They meet there 
 the officials of the magistracy, if there be any, the tax- 
 gatherer, and those who either, having no establishment, are 
 boarders with the host, or who seek the spot to exchange 
 opinions with their neighbours. In the early part of the 
 evening, the pastor may be seen amongst them, and his 
 presence indicates that propriety is not supposed to be 
 violated by such meetings so long as order is maintained. 
 Whoever is sufficiently master of the language to follow 
 the peculiar tone of the conversation, which is anything 
 but wordy — if he be indurated to tobacco fumes, will carry 
 away with him from a few sittings, the ideaof a people ma- 
 naging their own little interests with full consciousness — 
 with an attention to economy that is most praiseworthy — 
 
 e3
 
 So AGRICULTURE OX THE RHISE. 
 
 and with a regard to propi-iety that must call for admiration. 
 Although a newspaper is to be found in every village, 
 and transatlantic proceedings now interest nearly every 
 German family, yet politics are not much discussed until 
 they assume the tangible form of interfering with village 
 property. The disputed points respecting general or 
 provincial parliaments, freedom of the press, and consti- 
 tutions granted or subverted, do not, in the present state 
 of things, sufficiently excite the peasant, who is more on 
 his guard against innovators, and against other prepon- 
 derating influences in the state, than against the growth 
 of the prerogative. We have already attributed to this 
 village sj'stem the feeling of a separation of interests 
 which we have observed between the peasants and what 
 are called the higher classes. The tie arising from large 
 landed properties, for the privilege of using which the tenant 
 in England was long considered as indebted to the favour 
 of the landlord, is here not to be found. Every man usually 
 occupies his own land and lives in his own house — not so 
 comfortably as an Englishman often does in a house 
 that is rented— but, certainly, independently. On the 
 other hand, the ill-will that threatens from a pressing 
 demand for land for manufacturing purposes in England, 
 need not here be feared, for the minute division of the 
 land, united with the security conferred by the officially 
 registered titles, facilitates the necessary transfers. In the 
 small villages the police is left to the management of the 
 headborough, who receives his instructions from tiie 
 chief town of the circle, and the popular element in this 
 system reconciles the people to the strict registration of 
 the inhabitants, with their occupations, and property in 
 land and cattle, which is insisted upon. This registra-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 87 
 
 tion is again a source of credit, as mortgages must also be 
 registered to be effective, and titles to land are clear and 
 inexpensive to make out. Transfers of real property are 
 often made in Germany under these official titles ; the 
 expense of conveying which in England would more 
 than absorb the purchase-money. The village registers 
 are of ancient date in Germany, and since the military 
 surveys have been completed for the repartition of 
 the land-tax, are accompanied by maps that afford a 
 minute view of the country, such as leaves the most 
 ardent statician nothing to desire. We are only be- 
 ginning to use the detailed information that can in this 
 way be collected, and the Prussian government has con- 
 tributed liberally to our stock of knowledge respecting 
 Central Europe. From the constitution of the village 
 government, that we have endeavoured to describe, it is 
 -evident that the most detailed and authentic information 
 must be at the minister's command. Out of this state 
 of publicity regarding private affiiirs a peculiar tone of 
 moral feeling necessarily arises. Every man's proceed- 
 ings in the village being known, and the state of his pro- 
 perty being no secret, there is little room for an affecta- 
 tion of prosperity that does not exist. • On the other 
 hand, the poor know and keep each other in counte- 
 nance by their number. Nor do feelings of false pride in 
 these villages prevent young men and women from going 
 into service in the place where perhaps their parents oc- 
 cupied an independent position. There is a kindly tone 
 prevalent, ver\' different from that which separates the 
 -servant from the master in England. One table gene- 
 j-ally unites the whole family at meals, and the small land- 
 owner, as well as his wife, shares the field labour
 
 88 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 with the " knecht," cr servant, and with the '• magd, " 
 or servant girl. 
 
 "We are here far from wishing- to represent the " dorf " 
 as a pattern of rustic institutions, but we would recom- 
 mend the study of these village corporations to inquiring 
 travellers, as containing many elements of good, and, above 
 all, as fostering independence of feeling and openness of 
 character, both invaluable qualities in a people. 
 
 The village or common property comprises woodland 
 as well as grazing-land, and, as has been said, frequently 
 includes watercourses, public places and buildings, as well 
 as money invested in the public funds. The revenue de- 
 rived from all these sources is applied, as far as it goes, in 
 alleviation of parochial and county taxation. From this 
 fund the few poor persons that become chargeable are 
 supported. We have been told of parishes where the 
 members of the village corporation receive a dividend out 
 of the common property. To obtain admittance to the 
 rights of a villager a stranger must pay a certain sum, 
 which is large or small according to the wealth of the 
 corporation. He then enjoys the grazing and fuel rights, 
 and the modification in taxation which the annual revenue 
 procures. In the Rhenish districts the fee on admittance 
 is high when compared with Central Germany. It is, 
 we believe, highest in Rhenish Bavaria, where, in some 
 villages, it amounts to 1500 florins, or 120/. 
 
 The various official personages of the village, such as 
 the field-police, the cow, swine, and goose herd, the 
 schoolmaster, the headborough and his officer or bailiff, 
 receive their salaries from this fund, out of which, too, 
 all public expenses, where it suffices, are defrayed. The 
 church has generally its own foundation.
 
 AGKICULTURE ON THE EHIXE 99 
 
 We cannot omit a very important service renderea Dy 
 the government in the appointment of district physicians, 
 who are bound to go wherever they may be required, and 
 to report on the general state of the public health. The 
 poorest person can demand their assistance without fee- 
 ing them, but the richer peasants never fail to give some 
 compensation. This excellent institution is completed 
 by the appointment of official druggists in all district 
 capitals, who are bound to keep only the best drugs, and 
 to sell them at a fixed tariff. In no country is medicai 
 relief less expensive and more easily accessible than in 
 Germany. 
 
 We propose treating in separate chapters the special 
 interference assumed by the state in one of the most 
 important branches of village economy — the management 
 of the forests. The taxes that are raised directly fron) 
 agriculture we also propose to explain and illustrate in a 
 special chapter. But some of these village arrangements, 
 although savouring of antiquity, are calculated to rouse 
 the inquiry whether the spirit which called them into 
 existence, and the calculation upon which they are 
 founded, might not be acted upon still to the great ad- 
 vantage of society. 
 
 In the first place, to the mill of the lord of the manor, 
 to which the peasants, while serfs, were bound to bring 
 their grain to be ground, a village mill has succeeded, 
 occasionally forming part of the corporation property, 
 sometimes owned by shareholders who have purchased the 
 mill of some once privileged owner. As it is still usual 
 all over Germany for peasants to grind their own corn, 
 there may be seen a table in all these mills in which the 
 miller's fee, usually a portion of the meal, is expressed for
 
 90 AGKICULTURE OX THE KH1>E. 
 
 all the quantities commonly brought. The feeling of 
 security conveyed by the power of doing without ex- 
 traneous help, a relic perhaps of the times when commu- 
 nications were liable to constant interruption, and bad 
 roads made carriage difficult or impossible, still gives 
 value to these mills. We have known instances of large 
 sums being refused for mills that were sought for manu- 
 facturing purposes ; the ground assigned being that the 
 village could not do without its mill. 
 
 A public baking-oven is another appendage to a Ger- 
 man village, although every rich peasant has his own. 
 The oven is heated in succession by. those who use it. 
 -each person bringing his own wood. In autumn the flax, 
 after steeping or dew-rotting, is dried in tiiis oven. The 
 tendency of modern times is to dispense with these efforts 
 to attain, by association, what was difficult or expensive 
 for individuals to establish. We cannot help thinking 
 that more may be said in defence of these common insti- 
 .tutions than in praise of much that has superseded them. 
 The great article of consumption, bread, is, for instance, 
 enjoyed at least in purity by the aid of the village mill. 
 Cheapness of course is at present not attained by the 
 ])easant, who never calculates the value of the time he 
 spends in procuring food, and who certainly does not rank 
 the exemption of the females of his family from drudgery 
 amongst his luxuries. They are allotted their full shai*e of 
 outdoor vi'ork, as well as all the care of the household. 
 
 The expense incurred by labour lost, or inefficiently 
 applied, is, however, no result of the institutions which 
 demand the sacririce under their present management. 
 It would only be necessary to place the mill, for 
 instance, on the footing of a private trading concern,
 
 AGEICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 91 
 
 tind to value the corn delivered and the ineal re- 
 ceived in money, to make all waste apparent, and to 
 suggest the requisite means of economy. Were the 
 forests and grazing commons treated in the same manner 
 a like result would take place. The invaluable con- 
 trol retained by the villagers over their miller, of dis- 
 placing him for misconduct, would secure their meal from 
 the adulteration of which the inhabitants of towns so 
 justly complain. We cannot help thinking that a ju- 
 dicious development of this German village system would 
 secure to the people many of the advantages which they 
 hope, by what are galled socialist or communist unions, 
 to attain, without exposing them to the dangers which 
 these innovations threaten. Food of all kinds and cloth- 
 ing cheap and good might be secured by village shops,, 
 or by the establishment of district magazines, on a plan 
 like that of the A[)othecaries' halls that are now found 
 in all German towns under the inspection of the govern- 
 ment. The adulteration of colonial wares, that is noto- 
 rious, forms as heavy a drain on the health as the over- 
 charge for retailing in small portions does upon the purses 
 of the great mass of the people in all countries. Their 
 resources might everywhere be made to go much further 
 than they now can. To secure these advantages no. 
 revolution in political or religious institutions is requi- 
 site. A far more searching change in public opinion is,, 
 however, indispensable — the recognition of the fact that 
 the cheapness of necessaries is a private as well as a 
 public benefit. 
 
 Like the moral side of the village system, the material 
 aspect and arrangements of the village itself, its houses,, 
 its roads, its public and corporation edifices, have twQ/
 
 92 AGRICULTURE O.N THE RHIXE. 
 
 points of view from which the stranger must judge of 
 them. The position of nearly every old village was usually 
 determined by flo\ving water, and the care bestowed 
 upon the stream that runs apparently disregarded in its 
 irreonlar meanderings through the mass of houses, whose 
 position has, by its course, been no less irregularly 
 fixed, is greater than a superficial glance would lead one 
 to su])pose. Endless are the difficulties which the pre- 
 servation of this running water in its full purity opposes 
 to changes, and often to improvements. Prosaic as it may 
 seem, we are inclined to ascribe the early use of liquid 
 manure amongst the German peasanti-jt to the obligation 
 enforced upon all neighbours to the stream to prevent the 
 issue of drains into it. This restriction does not apply 
 to rivers, which in Germany, as elsewhere, are made the 
 means of impoverishing the people by ministering to their 
 wasteful convenience. But the brook, which is the centre 
 round which village arrangements revolve in their daily 
 homely course, is consecrated to cleanliness, being, we 
 are sorry to say, almost the only sacrifice on the altar of 
 that deity that is conspicuous. The details of the best 
 managed farm -yard suppose some portions of ground 
 devoted to what in its place is prized as highly valuable, 
 but out of its place is mere filth. A German village is 
 an assemblage of diminutive farm-yards, where the dung- 
 heaps, with all their accompanying odours and unsavoury 
 streams, subdivided like the land they are destined to 
 fertilise, are reproduced at every house ; and, as the neat 
 and ingenious contrivances to keep these matters out of 
 sight, which are practicable on a large scale, are out of 
 the question when they require to be repeated in innu- 
 merable varieties around every man's tenement, they are
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE, 93 
 
 of course dropped altogether. The multiplicity of small 
 dung-heaps, exposed to the heat of a Rhenish sun, un- 
 questionably taints the air and affects the health of the 
 villagers ; but it would be as hard to suppress the pleasure 
 with which every member of the family regards the heap 
 that is to supply their yearly food, as it is to drive the 
 Irishman's pig out of the cabin of which Ac pays the rent. 
 
 As long as the peasant's food in the one country de- 
 pends upon the dung lie can accumulate, and the rent in 
 the other is only to be raised by his sharing his house- 
 room with his valuable four-footed companion, we fear 
 that dung-heaps wtll stand under the M'indows of Ger- 
 man cottages, and pigs run in and out of Irish cabins, 
 whatever philanthropic taste may preach to the contrary. 
 
 We know several books, well penned and full of good 
 advice, that are circulated at a cheap rate for the benefit 
 of Irish cottiers. In one we remember a tirade against 
 horses, the inclination to indulge in which is deeply im- 
 planted in Paddy's nature. The author has calculated, 
 perhaps too moderately, the expense of the keep of a 
 horse, and shows that a horse to five acres of land, as he 
 finds is kept in part of the county of Wexford, is a pal- 
 pable absurdity. But besides making no allowance for 
 the fact that five acres of land leave a man time enough 
 to earn money in other ways, and the trade of a carrier is 
 everywhere a profitable one, the account is summarily 
 balanced against the peasant without allowing anything 
 for the manure of his stable. How friend Martin 
 Doyle could overlook this point, as well as the fact that 
 horse-dung in the wet soil of Ireland is likely to be more 
 suitable manure than the dung of the cow, which he would 
 substitute for the horse, we cannot explain. In Gqv-
 
 94 AGRICULTURE OX THE BHIXE. 
 
 many no one recommends the peasant to diminish the 
 number of his herd, nor do any pretend to prescribe the 
 keeping- of one animal for another, experience having 
 long- since made the peasant wiser on this point than his 
 adviser, who cannot follow all his minute calculations. 
 Directions for building pits, and treating the heaps so as 
 to promote or check fermentation, as it may be necessary, 
 are circulated by the agricultural societies, but the time 
 has not yet arrived for observing whether the heap be 
 exposed to the public gaze or not. As long as the exist- 
 ence of the nia^s of the people is only secured by the 
 subdivision of the nourishing soil, that is to say, as long 
 as manufactures do not at home afford means of exchange 
 for agricultural objects, and trade is not allowed to seek 
 them abroad, so long must the villager be a small land- 
 owner ; and one of the responsibilities he lies under is, 
 that of contributing his share, however diminutive, towards 
 keeping the land in heart. 
 
 If the stream destined to furnish the indispensable be- 
 verage for man and beast is kept as pure as possible, this, 
 under the circumstances, is done at the expense of nearly 
 every other channel or conduit into which the impurities 
 can drain, or are conducted to be kept until wanted. It 
 is matter of difficulty to traverse the ups and downs 
 of village roads and paths with dry shoes in any part of 
 Germany. Taking the small stream as a point of de- 
 parture, it is easy to see how the houses have agglomerated 
 successively in various rows and angles, which their iso- 
 lated position does not show at a cursory glance. But 
 could we read the annals of these German parishes we 
 should find much comparative value created by the 
 vicinity of the stream, as allowing of an easier carriage of
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 95 
 
 water to the stable, or a shorter drive for cattle to water, to 
 say nothing of the convenience to ducks and geese, who can 
 waddle and sleek their feathers in the brook almost under 
 the eyes of their owner, and of its utility to the washing 
 part of the family, whose bare legs and much-used linen 
 are unanimously allowed in no way to contaminate the 
 living stream, which indeed they rarely tincture with 
 soap. 
 
 The houses themselves offer a contrast to the dimi- 
 nutive holdings of which they are representatives. As 
 we have already observed, they are out of all proportion 
 large. In the Duchy of Cleves, they are moderate for 
 the most part, owing to the gradually obtaining distinction 
 between the agricultural and the other industrious classes, 
 which tends to take land away from the one, and to 
 augment the holdings of the others. In Westphalia we 
 have noticed the extent of ground occupied by farming 
 otfices, which abstract considerably from the cultivated 
 land, and entail great expense by outlay for repairs. 
 
 In the villages the houses are usually built of wooden 
 frames, whose beams and standards are mortised into 
 each other and bound and supported by sloping stays, the 
 mortises being fastened by pegs throughout. Where 
 that timber abounds the wood most in use is oak. Near 
 the Rhine fir and pine wood are used. The wood is 
 usually seven inches square, which conveniently holds 
 a layer of bricks laid breadthwise in each compartment. 
 The bricks are not always burnt, and the compartments 
 are sometimes filled up with strong wicker-work which is 
 plastered over. When the house is coated with lime or 
 clay and whitewashed, the wooden frame is left con- 
 6]jicuous all over, and is often painted in fanciful colours.
 
 96 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 The value of the building is indicated by the thickness 
 of the timber shown to be employed in this framework. 
 Formerly, while timber was abundant and cheap, this style 
 of building was recommended by economy ; now stone, 
 which is almost always to be had, and bricks, are less 
 expensive, excepting to the owners of forests. The 
 house usually contains one or two sleeping-rooms, besides 
 a sitting-room and kitchen ; sometimes the same number 
 of rooms is found in an upper story. The roof is in- 
 variably lofty, and serves the purpose of storehouse and 
 barn. In its spacious cavity the thrashed corn, the hay, 
 and often the vegetable store for winter use are kept. The 
 housewife dries her clothes in winter on the cross-beams. 
 A cellar is invariably found in better houses, and in 
 general when a stranger is told that these are the abodes 
 of people little above the station of cottiers, he finds them 
 splendid. When he hears that these cottiers are the 
 landow^ners and masters of the soil, he scarcely knows 
 how to estimate their position. 
 
 The expense of a small peasant's house varies on the 
 Rhine from 500 to 2000 dollars. 
 
 If of one story, with high roof, 3 rooms 
 Ditto, with roof an(f cellar, 3 rooms,! 
 
 stable and baiii, under the same roof I 
 Two stories, with roof and cellar . . . 
 Two stories, with stables and loft, and^ 
 
 thrashing-barn between the cow-house > 
 
 and stable, under one roof ... 3 
 
 The barn serves as a passage from which the cows 
 are fed during the greater part of the year. At the side 
 of the cowhouse the wall is open. 
 
 With the best will it is scarcely possible for a family 
 
 500 dollars 
 
 900 ,, 
 
 1200 „ 
 
 2000 to 2500
 
 AGRICULTUSE OX THE RHIJfE. 97 
 
 employed in manual labour to keep a spacious house 
 clean. Dirt accumulates in its passages, in its neglected 
 or too much thronged rooms. The extensive front 
 outside precludes all hope of constant neatness, and the 
 expensive luxury is ultimately abandoned in despair. 
 The distance at \vhich these village houses lie from the 
 land their owners have to till, absorbs the spare moments 
 that might be employed with the broom, and the want 
 of plan in laying out building-plots, where every man 
 applies his own land to the purpose, constantly allows a 
 neighbour to foil the best-directed efforts. 
 
 These drawbacks to cleanliness and external neat- 
 ness are in part an effect of the German village system. 
 In Holland the small farm-houses, with the road neatly 
 clinkered in front, and unincumbered with useless build- 
 ings, offer a pleasanter picture to the English eye. But 
 in Holland, as in England, trade has promoted that 
 division of labour which is favourable to individual 
 comfort, and in Germany this powerful lever has hitherto 
 had little influence. What is most pleasing in the 
 German village is that the school is an indispensable 
 requisite, and often a conspicuous ornament of the place. 
 The village school is not intrusted to any bed-ridden 
 dame or superannuated person of the male sex who 
 volunteers his services. The schoolmaster has been 
 regularly educated to fill his post at seminaries destined 
 to train teachers. He must have obtained his 
 certificates of qualification and good conduct before any 
 patronage can help him to his post ; and usually he spends 
 some years as assistant or usher in some school of larger 
 resort before he is intrusted with the management of even 
 the smallest village institution.
 
 S8 AGBICULTUKE ON THE RHIKE. 
 
 Amongst the injunctions he receives upon assuming 
 office, the duty of encouraging improved processes of 
 agriculture is enforced, in which, however, his influence 
 goes no further than making trials of what is recommended 
 by authors or occasionally by the government. Thus 
 the schoolmasters in many parts have made trials in the 
 breeding of silk-worms, which the German governments 
 have very much recommended, and which has been 
 sufficiently shown to be practicable. It will be long 
 before a country struggling with the difficulty of raising 
 food will show a general disposition to produce an article 
 of luxury, like silk, on an extensive scale. In this as in 
 many other points experience is a more influential teacher 
 than the schoolmaster. Yet the time may come when his 
 task may be extended to the inculcation of simple and 
 convincing views of industry, and of sounder and more 
 sociable doctrines than our narrow-minded age has 
 hitherto professed. Then will it be evident how much 
 a nation gains by having a ready sower to distribute the 
 good seed, and by the previous pains taken to prepare the 
 ground that is to receive it.
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Ix the Ardennes, at both extremities of which chain 
 nature has deposited fossil coal in great abundance, our 
 attention is first invited to the forest cultivation of 
 Southern Germany. No better proof need be required ot 
 the fund available for agriculture, on which the rising 
 population has yet to draw, than the extent of the forest 
 land in Germany, and the comparatively small remune- 
 ration which it yields to the owner. The rapid rise in 
 the value of fire- wood and timber within a quarter of a 
 century has attracted the attention of the government, 
 and scientific observations on the state and prospects of 
 the forests have been communicated from so many sides, 
 that we may be said to possess a clearer and more satis- 
 factory survey of the forest cultivation of Germany than 
 of the field tillage. As the methodical way of treating 
 forests that is practised in Germany will probably be a 
 novelty for many of our readers, we propose dwelling 
 upon the subject sufficiently to gratify their curiosity. 
 In a country where the winter is long and severe, the 
 thermometer averaging in January 30° Fahr. at Breslau, 
 and 36° at Coblenz, a supply of fuel at a moderate price 
 is as essential to the common welfare as the sufficient 
 supply of food. It was probably the desire of preserving 
 and methodically following the pleasures of the chace, 
 that originally occasioned in all German states the ap- 
 pointment of a numerous body of foresters, under some-
 
 100 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 thing like a military rule, at the head of which stands the 
 grand huntsman (Oberjagermeister), usually a nobleman 
 of high connexions, but who has by no means a sinecure 
 in any part of Germany. The whole country is divided 
 into districts that usually correspond with the civil and 
 judicial divisions, and according to the extent of forest 
 land in each district is the number of forestei-s appointed 
 to inspect and watch over the district large or small. 
 Whatever be the size of the woods, every tree is known, 
 and destined either to long or short growth, according to 
 its promise of sturdy vitality, or its liability to decay. 
 Although the more responsible duties of the forester now- 
 a-days relate to the number and condition of the trees in 
 his woods, yet the sporting department is kept up with 
 the old routine, although it may have lost some of its 
 chivalrous character. The wild boar is now seldom met 
 with in German forests, excepting where walled enclosures 
 debar his predatory incursions into the neighbouring fields. 
 The wolf is occasionally seen in the Ardennes, where his 
 character is said to be unusually savage. But the red- 
 deer and the roebuck are sufficiently numerous not only 
 to afford good sport, but to furnish an item to the forest 
 budget of most districts. The birds are also in great 
 variety, from the cock of the woods down to a small 
 throstle that comes in vast flocks from the north, in the 
 autumn, and is prized as a great delicacy : pheasants 
 are only found in strict preserves ; the vermin that abounds 
 is their greatest enemy : partridges and hares are tole- 
 rably abundant in the open country. 
 
 It is undeniably a curious fact, that while the propor- 
 tion of forest to arable land in all Prussia is that of one 
 half (arable, 32,800,000 morg. ; forest,15,798,000 morg.),
 
 AGRICULTUKE ON THE KUIXE. 101 
 
 in the Rhenish province, the most populous and tlic 
 most industrious part of the kingdom, the proportion is 
 as three to four, there being- 3,148,713 morg. forest, and 
 4,037,690 morg. arable land. Nearly the whole of the 
 surface covered with forests, it is true, is mountain-land 
 and in part very elevated. Of the summits of the 
 Ardennes the Michaelsberg is 1 860 feet, the Ei-nstberg 
 2080 feet over the level of the Rhine. In the Hunds- 
 riick, which adjoins it on the south, with its ramifications, 
 the Hochwald and the Idar, there are many summits 
 between 2000 and 2500 feet above the Rhine level. 
 Opposite Remagen, where the Ardennes run out to the 
 Rhine, a chain of similar volcanic hills rises abruj)tly in 
 tiie Drachenfels, and stretches inwardr, far into the back 
 country. Near the Rhine are the well known Seven Hills, 
 and, following the course of the little river Sieg, a moun- 
 tainous tract of considerable extent runs through the district 
 of Sicgen into the heart of Westphalia. This district we 
 shall find worthy of a special visit, as the forest system 
 followed in it differs from that which obtains in the rest 
 of Germany, 
 
 On the left bank of the Rhine, in the Ardennes and 
 adjacent forests, the production of timber is the object 
 kept in view. The trunk of the tree forms the object 
 of the forester's care, and the regular quantity that 
 can be felled, with the mode of keeping up the supply, is 
 what he has to calculate. Beech, oak, and fir are the 
 chief descriptions of timber met with ; beech is almosw 
 exclusively used for fire-wood ; oak gives materials for 
 building and for machinery ; fir is used both for firewood 
 and for building. With all the attention that has been 
 devoted to the subject, it has been found impossible to lay
 
 102 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHI^^:. 
 
 down very exact general calculations as to the return ob- 
 tained from plantations of these kinds of timber, so great 
 is the influence of soil, climate, and position upon the 
 growth and longevity of the trees. Different authorities 
 that have made the same estimate from experience of a 
 forest to be exterminated and renewed in the course of 
 one hundred years, have arrived at the differing conclu- 
 sions noted in the figin-es of the following table. It sup- 
 poses the term of one hundred years divided into five 
 periods for felling, at each of which the number of cubic 
 feet noted in the table shows the growth of the trees 
 and the planter's gain. The calculations differ as much 
 as thirty-three per cent. 
 
 1st 
 
 2nd 
 
 3rd 
 
 4th 
 
 5tli 
 
 
 Authorities. felling. 
 
 fellin:?. 
 
 felling. 
 
 felling. 
 
 felling 
 
 
 Cotta . . . 15!)9 
 
 1208 
 
 907 
 
 606 
 
 425 
 
 cubic ft. 
 
 Brunhard . . 2058 
 
 lG(il 
 
 1307 
 
 951 
 
 607 
 
 » 
 
 Hundeshagen . 1716 
 
 1400 
 
 1077 
 
 820 
 
 566 
 
 >j 
 
 Klampreclit . 1G93 
 
 1445 
 
 1130 
 
 817 
 
 566 
 
 » 
 
 Pfeil . . . 1810 
 
 1509 
 
 1209 
 
 908 
 
 608 
 
 j> 
 
 Bavarian forest 1 1 53, 
 admimstrationj 
 
 1240 
 
 937 
 
 668 
 
 372 
 
 » 
 
 According to the calculation of the first-named writer 
 a morgen of land ought to produce 4655 cubic feet of 
 timber in a hundred years, while the second estimates 
 a growth of 6584 cubic feet in the same inter- 
 val ; this will show the difficulty of treating the subject 
 briefly and satisfactorily. These figures are taken from 
 tables calculated on observations made in different parts of 
 Germany ; it would be as dangerous, however, to assume 
 an average of these results as a practical guide in forest 
 estimates, as it is to attempt to form a general table of 
 mortality from a combination of scattered materials. The 
 calculation will in both cases be a safer one if it be con-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 103 
 
 fined to the localities from which sure information has 
 been obtained. When the forester has ascertained the 
 slow or rapid growth of his timber, and the kind of tim- 
 ber predominating in his district, he may th-en apply some 
 such table as the following to calculate his stock and its 
 prospects : — 
 
 Produce of a Fulda morgen equal to half an acre of 
 beech- wood, in a course of 120 years : — 
 
 
 
 
 Disposable 
 
 
 Age of trees 
 
 
 
 quantity of 
 
 
 and periods 
 
 Cubic contents 
 
 Growth 
 
 timber and 
 
 Total dispos- 
 
 of felling. 
 
 of stock. 
 
 annual. 
 
 brushwood 
 
 able quantity- 
 
 Years. 
 
 Cubic feet. 
 
 Cubic ft. 
 
 per annum. 
 Cubic feet. 
 
 accumulated. 
 
 5 
 
 70 
 
 — 
 
 42 
 
 210 
 
 10 
 
 160 
 
 18 
 
 83 
 
 830 
 
 15 
 
 260 
 
 20 
 
 128 
 
 1,930 
 
 20 
 
 365 
 
 21 
 
 177 
 
 3,545 
 
 25 
 
 480 
 
 23 
 
 228 
 
 5,715 
 
 30 
 
 605 
 
 25 
 
 283 
 
 8,490 
 
 35 
 
 755 
 
 30 
 
 342 
 
 11,965 
 
 40 
 
 930 
 
 35 
 
 407 
 
 16,265 
 
 45 
 
 1130 
 
 40 
 
 478 
 
 21,515 
 
 50 
 
 1355 
 
 45 
 
 557 
 
 27,840 
 
 55 
 
 1605 
 
 50 
 
 643 
 
 35,365 
 
 60 
 
 1870 
 
 53 
 
 736 
 
 44,185 
 
 65 
 
 2155 
 
 56 
 
 837 
 
 54,390 
 
 70 
 
 2455 
 
 60 
 
 944 
 
 66,065 
 
 75 
 
 2770 
 
 63 
 
 1057 
 
 79,285 
 
 80 
 
 3100 
 
 66 
 
 1176 
 
 94,125 
 
 85 
 
 3430 
 
 66 
 
 1301 
 
 110,615 
 
 90 
 
 3750 
 
 64 
 
 1430 
 
 128,725 
 
 95 
 
 4050 
 
 60 
 
 1562 
 
 148,375 
 
 100 
 
 4330 
 
 56 
 
 1694 
 
 169,465 
 
 105 
 
 4600 
 
 54 
 
 1827 
 
 191,925 
 
 110 
 
 4870 
 
 54 
 
 1960 
 
 215,735 
 
 115 
 
 5140 
 
 54 
 
 2094 
 
 240,895 
 
 120 
 
 5410 
 
 54 
 
 2228 
 
 267,405 
 
 From column three we see that the annual growth 
 increases in the beech, under favourable circumstances of 
 
 r2
 
 i04 AGEICLLTURE OX THE RHINE, 
 
 soil and climate, such as the author of this table assumes, 
 to about the ninetieth year ; the increment is less after that 
 period, but the value of timber of so large a size as a ti'ee 
 attains in 100 or 120 years is proportionately g'reater than 
 at an earlier period ; hence, up to 120, it is more profit- 
 able to leave the aged trees, if sound, than it would be to 
 supplant them by a younger stock. This is still more 
 applicable as a rule for oaks, the size of which is so 
 important for machinery, that a thickness of a few inches 
 with sufficient length of trunk often makes a difference in 
 the value of the tree of thirty to fifty per cent. 
 
 The fourth column shows the d:sjx)sable quantity of 
 timber, brushwood, and branches that the forester, under 
 usual circumstances, can draw at the several periods in- 
 dicated in the first column from a morgen of land. As 
 however the seasons, the destructive effects of insects, 
 and incidental circumstances make the precise period of 
 felling a matter of local calculation, while the state of 
 the market occasionally hastens or retards the operation, 
 the profit or lass is materially affected by the forester's 
 judgment in availing himself of all advantages. In se- 
 lecting the trees to be felled, he must know the qualities 
 of each individually, as a farmer studies the peculiarities 
 of his beasts. Some trees are of more rapid growth than 
 others ; these are of course left as long as this quality 
 shows itself, and such as haye increased but little in 
 bulk between two periods of foiling are selected as the 
 first disposable. A forester who loves his task is thus in 
 constant converse with nature, and it is common to find 
 men in the forest department more enthusiastically at- 
 tached to their profession than in almost any other branch 
 of the public service. The feeling thus awakened is
 
 AGRICLLTURE OX THE RHINE. 105 
 
 ak.in to, but still very different from, that love of trees 
 ^vhich is common in England, but which attaches only 
 to the appearance and picturesque grouping of iso- 
 lated trees or plantations. It is at the same time more 
 matter of fact, and is based upon more correct views of 
 natural history ; in a word, it is much more practical, 
 while the English taste is more sentimental. This love 
 of trees is confined in Germany to those whose studies 
 and occupations give them the means of being constantly 
 in contact with the verdant ornaments of the mountain 
 and the valley. The fine specimens of planting must in 
 Germany be sought in remote districts ; they are not se- 
 lected and thrown into full relief by the disposition of a 
 park or the shape of a lawn, and are consequently not 
 universally accessible. We would, however, recommend 
 to such of our travellers as may be interested in forest 
 cultivation, whether at home or in the Colonies, to follow 
 the methods now in general practice in Germany ; and 
 although we shall give as much information as can be 
 condensed into a general view like that which is the 
 object of this volum.e, yet it will not render the know- 
 ledge that can be more agreeably acquired in conversa- 
 tion from practical men, and confirmed by observations 
 taken on the spot, the less necessary. 
 
 The forests of Rhenish Prussia, although covering so 
 vast an area as we have descj-ibed, afford on neither 
 bank of the Rhine such splendid specimens of woodland 
 vegetation as the Odenwald near Darmstadt or the 
 Black Forest in the Grand Duchy of Baden. The rat)id 
 accumulation of the population in the manufacturing dis- 
 tricts on the Lower Rhine, and the careless or wasteful 
 forest management during the period of the French occu-
 
 106 AGRICULTURE OS THE RHLS'E. 
 
 pation, have destroyed the uninterrupted succession in 
 the growth of timber in the parts we have travelled 
 through, and it will take a long period of fostering to 
 retrieve what has been lost. If we take any of the roads 
 leading into the Odenwald between Darmstadt and 
 Heidelberg, we find wild and magnificent forest scenery 
 that sufficiently repays the traveller who has a taste for 
 nature's rougher scenes, and here, or in the Black Forest 
 near Baden Baden, or the valley of Hell near Freiburg, 
 he can best study the management and observe in all 
 stages the growth and the yield of forest cultivation. 
 From these two forest-tracts and the Spessart Forest on 
 the north bank of the Maine near Aschaffenburg, the 
 supply of timber for exportation is drawn, which is, 
 however, so much diminished in its passage down the 
 Rhine by the demands of the populous districts, that the 
 yearly mass no longer suffices for the consumption of the 
 Dutch shipbuilders. The management of these forests, 
 which is now the object of our attention, is the same in 
 its leading characteristics in all the different states. We 
 avail ourselves therefore of the information communi- 
 cated in detail by a forester of the Grand Duchy of 
 Baden, to show how the people and the forest-owners 
 are situated with regard to this branch of production. 
 
 Our table (page 103) shows the quantity of timber that 
 can be produced upon a given area of land in 120 years. 
 The table is calculated for a measure which is about one- 
 third less than the morgen of Prussia or Baden, so that 
 the reader is here made to feel one difficulty that accom- 
 panies all these investigations in Germany, viz., the 
 endless changes in the weights and measures that the 
 various states adhere to. Another calculation of the
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 107 
 
 forester is the ground or area that his trees cover with 
 their branches. This area, when ascertained, shows the 
 number of trees that he can allow to stand upon any 
 given measure. The ground covered by all kinds of 
 trees at the various periods of felling has been carefully 
 ascertained, and a picture of an oak wood divided into 
 five portions, each portion, except the first or seedling 
 period, being covered with an equal extent of shadow, 
 may be presented by a table like the following. The 
 number of trees to be felled at each period is here seen 
 to be prescribed by the growth of the crown or upper 
 branches. 
 
 No. of Trees. 
 
 
 , — 
 
 ' 
 
 
 i . 
 
 Total in Sq. Feet. 
 
 
 30 
 
 60 
 
 90 
 
 120 
 
 
 
 yrs. 
 
 yrs. 
 
 yrs. 
 
 yrs. 
 
 Trunks. Crown. 
 
 First Period (Seedlings) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Second Period . . 
 
 391 
 
 
 . . 
 
 . , 
 
 391 7820 
 
 Third Period . . . 
 
 295 
 
 30 
 
 . , 
 
 
 325 7820 
 
 Fourth Period . . . 
 
 1C3 
 
 30 
 
 2» 
 
 
 213 7820 
 
 Fifth Period . . . 
 
 50 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 110 7820 
 
 It is, however, not usual to cover the whole surface, 
 and at the felling period seldom more than one-half is 
 covered by beech and oaks, in order to leave light and 
 air for the succession that is to replace what is taken 
 away. Firs are differently managed, and are kept as 
 much as possible at the same age. When a portion of a 
 fir-forest is felled, the ground is therefore left perfectly 
 clear for the seedlings. 
 
 The description of oak that most abounds in Germany 
 is a very beautiful tree that grows straighter than the elm 
 or the beech, and when judiciously pruned, runs up to 
 the height of 65 or 70 feet from the ground to the crown 
 or top branches. The table we have given above sup- 
 poses an oak of 1 50 years' standing and 70 feet in height
 
 1G8 AGRICULTUEE OX TUE RHINE. 
 
 io cover with its branches an area of 346 square feet. 
 A tree of 120 years' growth 65 feet in height covers 226 
 square feet ; one 90 years old spreads over 132 square 
 feet. The beauty of a tree of this kind consists in its 
 perfect soundness and vigour, and the finest specimens 
 are found in forests in Germany, where the trees afibrd 
 each other protection against the cold winds. Hardy as 
 the oak and fir appear when their growth is flourishing, 
 yet the dangers they encounter are various. A severe 
 winter often destroys whole acres of seedlings or of young 
 plants. The wind in an exposed situation may tear off a 
 branch, whose stump remaining jagged catches the rain, 
 and beginning to rot, the decay penetrates into the core. 
 Lastly, an orifice made in the bark by a small puncture 
 when the tree is young, lets in moisture at an advanced 
 ago, and when the thaw sets in after the winter frost 
 the splitting of trees that have suffered in this manner 
 causes a report like that of a musket. 
 
 The effect of the sun upon trees that have grown in 
 the outskirts of a wood is described as very curious. 
 They are said to twist in the direction of the sun's course, 
 and to be less compact and hard in grain than the rest. 
 Trees growing in a northern aspect are always preferred 
 for building uses. 
 
 Respecting the yield ])er acre of forest-land in Ger- 
 many, our readers are already aware that it is difficult to 
 obtain precise information. Not only do the estimates 
 of growth and of the periods at which trees can be felled 
 with the greatest advantage differ, but the prices are so 
 various as to bid defiance to all attempts to find an 
 average value. In some parts scarcity of fuel raises the 
 value of small wood and clearings; in others, the de
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 109 
 
 mand for charcoal has a similar effect, people having- of 
 late years discovered that underwood and branches yield 
 the best charcoal. The Black Forest and the Spcssart 
 being well situated with respect to water communication, 
 the larger trees are bought for exportation, and the 
 largest fir and pine trunks are called " Hollander" when 
 felled, from their destination to be jfloated down the Rhine 
 to Holland. In the manufacturing districts of the Lower 
 Pthine, on the other hand, the demand for oak timber for 
 the construction of machinery is very great, and high 
 prices are paid for it. 
 
 An undefined notion of the cheapness of timber in 
 Germany has long prevailed in England. We shall sec 
 that the Rhenish districts do not participate in this ad- 
 vantage. A rapid rise has everywhere been experienced 
 in the price of wood, that is acknowledged to operate 
 unfavourably on the general prosperity of the Rhenish 
 states. Details that can be relied upon have only been 
 published for the Grand Duchy of Baden ; but these will 
 suffice to show the relative increase in the price of timber 
 and fire-wood when compared with other agricultural 
 products. Within the last ten years the price, according 
 to recent statements, has advanced from 30 to 40 per 
 cent. The average price for one cubic foot in the forests 
 of Baden was in 
 
 Timber {OA ; 
 
 j Oak . 
 Fire-wood < Beech 
 iFir . 
 
 Three kreutzers make exactly ore English penny : the 
 
 present price of choice oak timber, in stems of 65 to 70 
 
 r3 
 
 lR-3 
 
 isns 
 
 18-13 
 
 Kr. 
 
 Kr. 
 
 Kr. 
 
 17 
 
 23-6 
 
 21-6 
 
 10 
 
 13-5 
 
 12-5 
 
 12-G 
 
 16-7 
 
 lG-7 
 
 9-G 
 
 13-1 
 
 12-7 
 
 7-4 
 
 10-7 
 
 10
 
 110 AGRICULTURE OX THE BHI>E. 
 
 feet in length, with 3 to 4 feet circumference at 30 feet 
 from the root, is now 7^d. per cubic foot in the forest, 
 or 9d. to lOd. delivered at any spot on the Rhine. Fire- 
 wood (beech) has risen from S^d. to 4^d. per cubic foot, 
 an advance that renders the whole fuel consumed 30 per 
 cent, dearer than in 1833. That this is oppressively felt 
 is evident from the large proportion of wood consumed 
 as fuel, which in Baden is 70 per cent, of the wood an- 
 nually felled, but which in Hesse, that is less favourably 
 situated for exportation, amounts to 94 per cent, of the 
 whole. 
 
 The rise in the price of wood is the more remarkable 
 that it stands alone amongst the products of agriculture, 
 as is shown by the following comparison of the values of 
 timber and grain for long periods in Baden and \yirtem- 
 berg : — 
 
 
 Price of wood. 
 
 Price of corn. 
 
 
 Years 
 between. 
 
 
 
 
 Average. Beech. Fir. 
 
 ^Mieat. Barlev. 
 
 Wine. 
 
 1640-1680 
 
 . 1 11 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 
 
 1690-1730 
 
 . 1-32 1-54 1-10 
 
 1-49 1-46 
 
 •8 
 
 1740-1780 
 
 . 3-77 3-62 3-93 
 
 1-54 1-25 
 
 1-6 
 
 1790-1830 
 
 . 10-73 919 14-27 
 
 2 1-72 
 
 4 
 
 This highly interesting table, which we borrow from 
 a recent publication, shows that a moderate price of corn 
 in no way reduces the value of other agricultural pro- 
 ducts. As we have already said, cheap food contributes 
 to raise the demand for other things. This is evinced as 
 well by the price of wine, in the last column, as by that 
 of fire-wood ; and it is further proved, if not by in- 
 creasing prices, at least by the increasing consumption of 
 all articles of clothing. But a rise in the price of fuel is 
 in itself a national evil where the climate demands arti- 
 ficial heat, as is the case in Central Europe. The bad
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. Ill 
 
 effects of the rise in this indispensable article are ex- 
 hibited by a table published officially in Baden, and 
 which deserves to be placed by the side of the table 
 drawn up by M. Quetelet, and published in a recent 
 volume of the Belgian Statistical Society's Transactions. 
 The number of convictions for wood-stealing in the Grand 
 Duchy of Baden was, in proportion to the population, 
 
 In 1836 as 1 to G'l inhabitants. 
 
 „ 1837 „ 1 „ 5-2 
 
 „ 1838 „ 1 „ 4-7 „ 
 
 „ 1839 „ 1 „ 4-7 „ 
 
 „ 1840 „ 1 „ 4-5 
 
 „ 1841 „ 1 „ 4-6 
 
 „ 1842 „ 1 „ 4-0 „ 
 
 „ 1843 „ 1 „ 4-7 
 With the rise in price noted in the former table but 
 one, the number of offences increased, and this number 
 in 1843 showed a tendency to diminish, although slightly. 
 In Bavaria, where wood is but about half the price, the 
 number of convictions for stealing in forests amounts but 
 to 1 in 22 inhabitants. 
 
 The periods for clearing and thinning timber-forests 
 are shown by the tables to be in the 30th, 60th, 90th, 
 120th, and 150th years. The wood gained upon a 
 Prussian morgen (1^ English acres) at these various 
 periods, reduced to the measure usual on the Rhine — the 
 "klafter" of 108 cubic feet — is, according to our au- 
 thority, 
 
 vyu iiic lOL v;icaiJ 
 
 „ 2nd „ 
 
 "^r 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 111 tUC OULll 
 
 „ 60th 
 
 „ 3rd „ 
 
 2 
 
 » 
 
 j> 
 
 50 
 
 5) 
 
 „ 70th 
 
 „ 4th „ 
 
 3 
 
 
 )5 
 
 50 
 
 5> 
 
 „ 90th 
 
 „ 5th ,, 
 
 5 
 
 » 
 
 » 
 
 50 
 
 J5 
 
 „ 110th 
 
 „ Gth „ 
 
 6 
 
 
 » 
 
 100 
 
 M 
 
 „ 130th 
 
 „ 7th „ 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 450 
 
 M "1 
 
 
 The felling 40 trees containing 
 
 75 cubic ft. ] 
 
 . „ 150th 
 
 40 
 
 „ 
 
 >' 
 
 
 37i 
 
 „ J 

 
 1 J 2 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Assuming the wood to be half beech and half oak, and 
 that 100 fag-gots are equivalent to one klafter of 108 feet, 
 the morgen would produce 36| klafters of fire-wood and 
 4500 cubic feet of timber. The value, estimated at 12 
 florins per klaiter for the former, and at 12 krcutzeis per 
 cubic foot for the latter, amounts to about 112/., or di- 
 vided through a period of 150 years, about 155. sterling 
 per morgen, or II. 4s. per acre per annum. About 1/. 
 ]jcr acre may be taken as the cost of sowing. The 
 charge for clearing, setting up in measures of a klafter 
 each, must be defrayed by the seller. The Mhole is 
 covered by a few pounds ; so that at these prices, with a 
 yield equal to what is above stated, forest-land would be 
 a good investment. Unfortunately only a small number 
 of forests are now able to yield so much — the table sup- 
 posing a regular well-supported cultivation of oak and 
 beech on the most recent and approved principles, and 
 that this cultivation has been regularly followed for the 
 last 150 years. This has of course nowhere been the 
 case ; and the consequences of neglect in former years, of 
 the cupidity of tlioughtless owners, and of the ravages of 
 war, are bitterly lamented in every part of the continent. 
 The usual production cannot be estimated at perhaps 
 more than half the quantity stated above ; and as a 
 change to other branches of cultivation is not easy, a vase 
 extent of land is locked up in wood, that is neither pro- 
 fitable for the owner, nor, from the dem-ness of wootl, 
 useful to the consumer. 
 
 If we look to the past as a guide for the future, those 
 who plant forests for the benefit of their posterity seem 
 indeed to have a rich field before them. The rise in the 
 "alue of timber since 1801 we have already noticed. We
 
 AGRICULTURE ox THE RHIXE. 113 
 
 take from the same source the following survey of tlie 
 prices in Wirtemberg and in the Odenwald near Dai m- 
 stadt, for a longer series of years. The standard is taken 
 from the oldest recorded price of each description of 
 wood : — 
 
 
 Odenwald. 
 
 WiRTEjIBERG. 
 
 
 Proportional price of 
 
 Proportion 
 
 al price o 
 
 Year. 
 
 iicech. ¥\T. 
 
 licadu 
 
 Fir. 
 
 1730 
 
 1 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 
 1740 
 
 4-4 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1750 
 
 8- 1-82 
 
 1-2 
 
 1-8 
 
 17C0 
 
 10-8 2-45 
 
 1-82 
 
 1-G 
 
 1770 
 
 9-6 2-18 
 
 1-85 
 
 l'G3 
 
 1780 
 
 S-8 2 
 
 1-G3 
 
 1-CS 
 
 1790 
 
 l.)-4 3-57 
 
 2-12 
 
 2-13 
 
 1800 
 
 22-0 5-0 
 
 2-41 
 
 3' 95 
 
 1810 
 
 2S-8 G-5 
 
 4-01 
 
 5-18 
 
 1820 
 
 — — 
 
 4-93 
 
 6-09 
 
 1830 
 
 34-0 7-7 
 
 .5-53 
 
 6-95 
 
 1841 
 
 59-2 13-4 
 
 9 
 
 ? 
 
 If the ])rice of the beech-wood in Wirtemberg be 
 multiplied by 4*4 on the increase in the Odenwald be- 
 tween 1730 and 1740, the two tables will be found to 
 coincide tolerably. Still both the effects of trade and 
 of war may be more easily traced in the Hessian table 
 than in that of the country more remote from the Rhine. 
 Notwithstanding this last-named drawback it is clear that 
 the Rhenish forests promise the best return, and that this 
 return is sure to augment with the growth of trade and of 
 population. 
 
 To what price it w ill be possible to raise fire-wood in 
 future times it is not easy to say. That its value will in 
 the next 100 years be raised 15-fold may reasonably be 
 doubted, both on account of the rapid and cheap means 
 of communication that are yearly opened, and because 
 the dearness of fuel would operate as a check to popula—
 
 114 AGRICULTL'EE ox THE KHISE. 
 
 tion. Coals are now in general use all along the Rhine 
 in towns. In villages, where the supply of fire-wood is 
 not subject to such rapid fluctuations, wood is still used for 
 firing. But manufactures of all kinds requiring either 
 furnaces or steam-engines have long been established only 
 in places well supplied with coals, such as on the banks of 
 the Ruter, or of the Upper Moselle, and the neighbour- 
 hood of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
 
 Were we, however, to calculate the return of any capi- 
 tal sum laid out in the purchase or in the planting of 
 forests, from the experience of the last 100 years, 1000 
 cubic feet of timber, instead of being worth 4000 pence, 
 would a century hence be worth 60,000 pence ; and 
 the present value estimated at compound interest, payable 
 at periods of 30, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 years, would 
 i>e 32/. 175. Qd. instead of 21. \s. 6d. In a country 
 where land abounds, — that is to say, where the popula- 
 tion has not accumulated so much as to make the provi- 
 sion of food matter of difficulty, there is no necessity for 
 reckoning with compound interest, and the land devoted 
 to forests being required for no other species of cultiva- 
 tion, it forms a capital that, at simple interest, yields its 
 fair return. The present investment, in purchase-money 
 and cost of planting necessary to secure a return of 4500 
 feet of timber, which we have seen is a fair yield for an 
 acre of forest-land, when well managed, after 150 years, 
 may, without anticipating a rise of prices, be estimated at 
 4/. to 8/. lOs. In order therefore to bring such a portion 
 of the forest-land as is suited for arable uses or for mea- 
 dowing to the value that we have quoted for such land 
 on the Lower Rhine, a great increase of population and 
 •corresponding growth of prosperity will be required.
 
 AGBICULTUEE ON THE KHIXE. 115 
 
 But this improved value cannot, for evident reasons, 
 be anticipated from a corresponding rise in the price 
 of fuel, as we have seen the value of arable land is not 
 raised by high prices of food, so little is the landlord 
 anywhere dependent upon any fixed crop for the best re- 
 turn, and so sure are ail to share in the growth of general 
 prosperity. In that part of Bavaria which lies remote 
 from the Rhine the price of wood is not above half that 
 which is paid in the Black Forest. In many of the 
 manufacturing districts on the Lower Bhine higher 
 prices are obtained, both for fire-wood and timber, than 
 are obtained in Baden. 
 
 Amongst the most valuable property of the villages in 
 Germany must be reckoned the forests which are com- 
 mon property. Their management has latterly been 
 taken under the guardianship of the state, and the dis- 
 trict forester has to be consulted both as to the plan of 
 cultivation and the quantity to be felled. Every village 
 has its supply of wood for fining and for building ; what 
 remains, after the village wants are covered, is sent to 
 the nearest market. The price of wood, like the price 
 of corn, thus depends upon the size of the towns where 
 purchasers are to be sought. In the country, every man 
 having enough for his own consumption, there are 
 scarcely any buyers. Hence the great variations in the 
 price of wood in different states, whereas it may every- 
 where be assumed that the inhabitants of towns pay 
 nearly double the price that it costs the villagers. 
 Where towns or corporate bodies have forests as com- 
 mon property, the produce is generally sold at market 
 and the proceeds divided amongst the parties interested, 
 unless the situation and size of the town be such as to
 
 116 AGRICULTURE OX THE EHIXE. 
 
 present no market. Here wc find the same state of 
 things that prevails respecting farming produce. The 
 actual value of what rs consumed for fuel, that is to say, 
 what it costs in labour, in carriage, and rent, is never 
 ascertained for the greater part of the consumption of 
 Gennany. A market-price bearing any proportion to 
 the cost of these items is only to be found on the banks 
 of the navigable rivers. 
 
 From the necessity every village and town lies under 
 of having fuel and timber at command, the forests are not 
 exclusively confined to the mountainous and uncultivable 
 tracts of land. In Rhenish Prussia, .the forests of 
 •which we have spoken lie between the Belgian frontier 
 and the circle of Cleves, in the Ardennes, on the 
 heights enclosing the valley of the Upper Moselle, and on 
 the right bank in the counties of Berg and Mark. 
 More than one-half of the forests belonging strictly to 
 the region of the Rhine are Prussian. The forests of 
 the Duchy of Nasjau comprise the Westerwald and 
 Taunus mountain-chains, and cover a large tract of 
 country extending in^ ards between Ncu\a icd and Bie- 
 berich. 
 
 In the Grand Duchy of Hesse the chain of the Odeu- 
 wald, stretching in a line parallel with the Rhine be- 
 tween the Maine and the Neckar, contains the chief 
 supply of timber. On the left bank of the river, be- 
 tween Bingen and Worms, the woods scantily supply tlie 
 villages of the densely-peopled province of Rheinhessen 
 with fuel, and they are obliged to bring wood across the 
 Pvhine, from the Odenwald and the Black Forest. 
 
 The Black Forest stre-tches the whole length of the 
 Grand Duchy of Baden, from the Neckar to the Lake of
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RUIXE. I 17 
 
 Constance and Basel, although the hilly portions attain 
 no considerable elevation before the traveller readies 
 Pforzheim. In the Palatinate, belonging to Bavaria, ou 
 the left bank of the Rhine, the hilly districts are ex- 
 tensively wooded, and the forest-land, as in Rhenish 
 Prussia, nearly equals the arable land in area. 
 
 Berghaus gives the following as the extent of forest- 
 land in the countries bordering on the Rhine : — 
 
 Arable, &c. Forests. 
 
 Rhenish Prussia 4,130,369 3,148,713 Pruss. Morgen 
 
 Nassau . . 1,076,104 736,377 Nassau do 
 
 Gd. Duchy of Hesse . 2,047,176 1,081,410 Hess. do. 
 
 Baden . . 851,398 1,296,070 Bad. do. 
 
 Rhenish Bavaria . . 926,220 704,706 Ba v. do. 
 
 The whole making a total of about 4,815.600 English 
 acres.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 We suppose the traveller to have fixed his head-quarters 
 at Remagen or Sinzig as convenient spots for excursions 
 into the valley of the Ahr and the volcanic region of the 
 Eifel. If he crosses the Rhine with a descending steamer 
 to Konigswinter at the foot of the Drachenfels, he finds 
 himself in a volcanic region, apparently a continuation of 
 the chain on the opposite side, and known by the name 
 of the Seven Hills. The summit of one of these is 
 crowned by a former convent, now a substantial farm- 
 house, with a considerable establishment. But we do 
 not know anything very remarkable to attract the in- 
 quiring agriculturist up the steep ascent to the Peters- 
 berg, unless he have plenty of time to devote to the 
 gratification of his curiosity. 
 
 If he will follow us in an excursion into the back 
 country, taking the road from Bonn to Siegburg and 
 Altcnkirchen, there is not a little to be seen and learnt 
 that he will find well worthy of attention. At Siegburg 
 we reach the hills that bound the level valley of the 
 Lower Rhine, and which grow steeper and more tortuous 
 in proportion as we follow the road leading northwards. 
 All the hills are covered with wood, but for the most 
 part present a very different aspect from the stately plan- 
 tations of the Upper Ardennes. From Altcnkirchen to 
 Wissen-on-the-Sieg the country becomes more romantic 
 as we proceed, and at Wissen a wild valley, shut in by
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 119 
 
 wooded heights, offering a great variety of mountain 
 scenery, at the bottom of which the river Sieg rolls its 
 rapid waters, forms a striking contrast both to the broad 
 valley of the Rhine and the narrow glens of the Ardennes 
 in its immediate vicinity. Hero the elevation of the 
 ground and the circumstance of our being on the north 
 side of the Westerwald, and consequently in a district 
 exposed to cold winds, with the slope of the hills quite 
 unfavourable for radiation of heat, forbid the cultiva- 
 tion of the vine, and render corn-crops precarious and 
 scanty. The stranger is however at no loss to explain the 
 number and good appearance of the villages through 
 which he passes, for the heaps of earth on the mountain 
 side and the open entrances to galleries carried from low 
 points into the hill-side, remind him at every turn that 
 he is traversing a mining district. In the districts of 
 Sayn and Siegen, that long were cut off from all easy 
 traffic with the Rhine for want of good roads, a remark- 
 able spirit of industry and an ingenuity worthy of admi- 
 ration has been displayed by the inhabitants that must 
 surprise all to whom the circumstances of these districts 
 are not known. There is perhaps no district in Europe 
 of which a minute history for the last three centuries 
 would be more useful and more entertaining. But the 
 people have been acting and not reasoning, and although 
 the age has in many respects run away from them, yet 
 they have a right to claim for past times an interesting 
 position very much in advance of their contemporaries. 
 Both in agriculture and in many branches of manufacture 
 the people of Siegen presented, until very recently, a 
 model for their neighbours. Their agriculture was of 
 course modified by the circumstances of the country, and
 
 1-0 ACr.iCULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 their woods have for centuries been managed in a peculiar 
 manner, very well suited to the wants of miners, founders, 
 and steel-manufacturers. The chief source of wealth for 
 the country lies in the sparry iron ore which abounds 
 about Siegen. The system of foresting practised at 
 Sicgen is founded upon the principle of obtaining the 
 greatest possible yield of wood suited for charcoal-burn- 
 ing, combined with the best crop of bark, an article 
 that latterly has very much improved in price. It is 
 well known that of late years the greatest production 
 both of charcoal and of bark for tanning has been as- 
 certained to be derived from young trees and branches, 
 and the forest system of Siegen turns both to the best 
 account. 
 
 The woods lie everywhere on the hills, which are 
 steep and often rise to the height of 1000 feet above the 
 Sieg, being intersected with narrow valleys and glens, 
 to which the Sieg serves as a drain. A large portion of 
 the wood-land between Altenkirchen and Wissen belongs 
 to the crown, and on these tracts timber is more fre- 
 quently found than in the woods situated between Wissen 
 and Siegen, and which are the property of parishes, or of 
 companies formed by individuals. The system of culti- 
 vation adopted is a roiation of sixteen, eighteen, or twenty 
 years, the brushwood having at that age attained its best 
 size and strength for charcoal, and, when the stock is 
 oak, the bark yielding at those periods its greatest profit. 
 The woods of this last-named description form a curious 
 illustration of the spirit of association, which is a charac- 
 teristic trait in the German character, united with all the 
 peculiarities that spring from the kind of education which 
 the peasant works out for himself in the spirit of mistrust
 
 AGRICULXrRE OX THE RHINE. 121 
 
 that we have before noticed. The origin of many of 
 these corporations, or rather joint-stock companies, that 
 own woods in the neighbourhood of Siegen, goes back 
 to remote periods. Money was furnished by the fore- 
 fathers of the present holders, or of those from whom 
 the present owners acquired the property, for the pur- 
 chase and planting of the land, and the shares are still 
 calculated in the name of the coin current at that early 
 period, but which is now represented by a much higher 
 value. An albus of the sixteenth century is the usual 
 share, which then was worth one-eightieth of a dollar, 
 and is now represented by fifty to eighty dollars. In 
 every wood thus belonging to shareholders in common 
 there are good and bad situations. When the period 
 for felling arrives the wood is mathematically divided by 
 lines drawn, if possible, evenly thr.ough good and bad 
 sites. Sometimes, where there is a projecting angle, all 
 the lines run out to a point. The portions are numbered, 
 and lots decide the parties to which they respectively fall. 
 The felling then takes place, but not by contract or by 
 persons employed for the purpose. Every peasant takes 
 his lot and cuts, barks, binds, and carries home what it 
 yields at his convenience. He is, however, bound to 
 take his share away before the peculiar cultivation re- 
 sorted to on the bared ground commences. The roots 
 of the trees are left standing in the ground to throw out 
 shoots, which, in twenty years, are to replace the under- 
 wood of which it has been cleared. Between these the 
 surface of the soil is pared off a few inches deep, and the 
 F.ols arc collected into heaps and burnt. The ashes are 
 strewed upon the ground and lightly ploughed with a
 
 122 AGRICULTUKE OX THE BHI>'E. 
 
 remarkably-shaped plough, light enough to be managed 
 upon steeps often presenting an angle of 50° to 60°. 
 Oxen are generally used for this work, and rye is the 
 grain that experience shows to thrive best in these 
 cleared thickets. The paring, buniing, ploughing, and 
 sowing are again performed by each owner on his own 
 lot. Nothing is common amongst the proprietors but the 
 resolution to follow a peculiar system of cultivation, and 
 the general property in the soil, which is periodically 
 divided in the manner we have described. The year 
 after the rye is harvested the ground is left in repose, 
 and in the following or fourth year the whole ground is 
 covered with broom {genista). This curious crop is cut 
 close to the ground in the autumn, and does not re- 
 appear until the fourth year after the cutting of the 
 wood — that is to say, until twenty or eighteen years after 
 it has been gathered in, according to the term of years 
 which the wood is allowed to stand. The peasants 
 use the broom for thatching roofs and the weather-side 
 of their houses. The poorer people make it serve in 
 their stables for litter for cows and horses— the thick 
 stems serving for fuel. After the broom, grass appears in 
 some abundance ; and the cattle of the proprietors, where 
 the wood is private property, or of the village, where 
 the wood belongs to one, are driven to graze among the 
 young trees. Many foresters are of opinion that this 
 practice is injurious to the young shoots : the peasants 
 maintain that their gain from the grazing exceeds their 
 loss in the wood-crop. It is probable that the broom is 
 kept down by the cows nibbling at the young shrub. 
 The yield from a morgen of " hauberg," as these woods
 
 AGKICUIiTURE ON THE RHINE. 123 
 
 are termed, has been stated to us on good authority * to 
 
 be as follows : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 A crop of rye, 12 bushels to the acre .226 
 
 Ditto broom 10 
 
 Grazing, 10 years 
 
 Wood for charcoal, 60S cub. ft. per morgen 
 
 (in charcoal) , . . .2126 
 
 Bark, at 1 ton per morgen . . .2126 
 
 £7 17 6 
 It is probable that the grazing in the " hauberg" brings 
 in no gain to the peasants, who lose their dung that would 
 otherwise accumulate in their yards, besides the loss of 
 milk that ensues from driving the cows up the hill to 
 these indifferent pastures. The whole sum divided by 
 seventeen, the number of years in the rotation, gives 
 9s. 3d. per annum, as the return drawn from mountain 
 land too steep for the plough, and situated under a very 
 inclement climate. 
 
 The manner in which charcoal is burnt in the woods of 
 Siegen is the following : — A plot of ground of a circular 
 form is prepared by removing all stones from the surface, 
 and making it perfectly level. The bottom is stamped 
 hard, and if not raised by the accumulation of charcoal 
 dust from former burnings, must have a ditch drawn 
 round it to carry off water. In the centre is fixed an 
 upright stake, round which the wood, split into pieces of 
 three inches or little more in diameter, is piled on end. 
 The wood is chosen as equal in sizes as possible, and is 
 placed piece by piece in the round, the longer pieces 
 10 to 12 feet high in the centre, and the shorter gradually 
 
 * Vorlander, quoted by Schenk in his * Statistics of 
 Siegen.'
 
 124 AGRICULTLHi: OX THE KHIXE. 
 
 diminishing towards the outside until the mass assumes 
 the shape of a flat cone. 
 
 An inner covering of moss and turf is laid over the heap, 
 and is again covered with clay sifted to free it from stones. 
 In this outer covering 12 to 14 holes are made after it 
 has been stamped till it hardens. The stake in the 
 centre is then drawn out and fire laid upon the top, the 
 gradual progress of which is anxiously watched by the 
 coal-burner, who opens or stops up the air-holes accord- 
 ing to the direction and strength of the wind, that the 
 whole may burn evenly and thoroughly. When all is 
 burnt out. the earthy covering is loosened at bottom, and 
 peels off the heap easily. The coals are spread out, and 
 tliosc not thoroughly burnt separated from the i-est, \\ hich 
 are carried as soon as they cool to the place where they 
 are to be used. 
 
 From 2 J klafters, or 221 Prussian cubic feet of beech 
 v.ood, or from 10 one-horse loads of underwood, a 
 " wagen"' of charcoal of 2500 lbs. weight or 194^ cubic 
 feet of charcoal is obtained, the price of which is now 
 about 25 dollars, or 3/. 1 5s, The royal forests of Siegcn 
 furnish 3000 wagens yearly. The village and private 
 woods yield somethmg more than 2000 wjigens. On 
 130,000 morgens of forestdand, this shews 2^ morgens to 
 the wagen of charcoal annually, or a return of 13 dollars, 
 including labour. 
 
 Although the good effects of the German village-system 
 in fostering a spirit of association, and of accustoming 
 men of small means to an independent management of 
 their shares in the common property, may be traced in 
 every German village, yet they are nowhere so con- 
 spicuous as in Siegen and some of the adjacent districts.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 125 
 
 The peasants, besides the large village properties, are 
 almost all share-holders in the forest companies that we 
 have described. They are besides nearly all miners, and 
 hold shares frequently in one or two iron foundries. In 
 winter the mines are worked and charcoal is burnt for the 
 following " campaign " at the blast-furnace. In conse- 
 quence of this arrangement, which leaves them time in the 
 spring and autumn to attend to their meadows, while the 
 short summer is devoted to field tillage, the year is filled 
 up in a manner suited to the habits, and which formerly 
 was equally subservient to the interests, of the villagers. 
 They were long in possession of a monopoly of great 
 value — the production of steel, for which their iron is 
 particularly well suited. The temptation that greater 
 countries and more highly educated men have not been 
 able to resist of shaping the market to their pleasure 
 was too strong to be resisted by the villagers, the artisans, 
 and even the Princes of Siegen (then a branch of the 
 House of Nassau) ; and an apparently well calculated 
 plan was laid, by which the foundries and steel-works 
 bound themselves not to work more than a certain num- 
 ber of days in the year. The valuable product they 
 furnished was thus not allowed to overstock the market, 
 and charcoal and ore were kept at a moderate price, and 
 were mostly worked up by the owners of the mines and 
 woods. 
 
 The result has been that which infallibly results from 
 all such attempts to restrict the flow of industry for the 
 benefit of a few. The scarcity of iron in Germany 
 obliged the neighbouring states to look elsewhere for 
 supplies. Sweden was found to abound in ores of the 
 best quality, and to be especially rich in the peculiar 
 
 o
 
 126 AGRICULTUBE Oif THE RHINE. 
 
 kind of ore that was required for making steel. Trade 
 had scarcely taken this turn in the direction of the Baltic 
 from France and England, when the French invasion and 
 subsequent Continental blockade cut off all remains of 
 direct communication between England, the greatest 
 market, and the interior of Germany. After the war not 
 only was the very name of this once celebrated and still 
 rich district lost to the great trading stream in the West 
 of Europe ; but the improvements effected by English 
 steel-manufacturers enabled them, in spite of enormous 
 duties, to send steel of superior quality to Siegen itself, 
 where it is now sold at every dealer's shop, and of course 
 is preferred by cutlers and other artisans. 
 
 On the cession of this district to Prussia after the war, 
 the productions of the mines and foundries, instead of in- 
 creasing in value, were every year less and less sought. 
 It was suggested by some thinking heads, that as all the 
 modes of restriction devisable had been tried without 
 success, it would be well to try the effect of setting the 
 trade in metals and charcoal free. The export of ore, 
 which had long been prohibited even in the neighbouring 
 circles, was allowed without much opposition on the part 
 of the founders who could not work up their ores. Still, 
 although large establishments immediately sprang up or^ 
 the borders, which were worked by coke brought from the 
 river Ruhr, the founders and steel-workers have not yet 
 given up the restrictions on production, which they still 
 look upon as a kind of privilege. The government does not 
 urge them, as they alone are mterested in the matter, and 
 experience has shown that the present system brings no 
 gain. The wood-owners of Siegen have thus, by a plan 
 adopted as a specimen of perfect wisdom while all lay in
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 127 
 
 their power that could give them a command of the 
 market, voluntarily placed themselves in the position 
 which we have seen the German farmers for the most part 
 occupy. Each has his own supply of wood, which seems 
 to be of little value, because if he does not work it up 
 himself, his neighbours being also supplied, would not 
 take it off his hands. No third party can interfere, for 
 by the charter of restriction (if such an absurd, although 
 true, title may be allowed), no new foundries may be 
 established within the district, nor may the old ones extend 
 their period of working. It is singular that the obvious 
 fact should escape their notice, that the competition of 
 other countries makes it impossible that iron should per- 
 manently rise in price, whereas competition amongst iron- 
 masters and steel-workers would infallibly raise the price 
 of charcoal. Who, however, that has once strayed into 
 the delusive labyrinth of restrictions ever found a simple 
 path out of its toils ? 
 
 The village system, therefore, much as it favours po- 
 pular discussion, and consequently offers the surest means 
 of protecting individual interest, is no infallible safeguard 
 against error. The diffusion of knowledge through the 
 means of newspapers and periodicals, is not so rapid as to 
 pervade the widely extended class that in Germany is 
 directly interested in the solution of difficult economical 
 questions. In the present state of things the individuals 
 who follow the fluctuations of the market prices possess 
 an advantage over their simpler neighbours which gives 
 them opportunities of gain, their address in using which 
 is still looked upon with an invidious feeling by those 
 who are less successful, and who not unfrequently find 
 themselves outwitted. The cleverness of the more in- 
 
 g2
 
 128 AGKICL'LTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 telligent is however limited to speculation on a very 
 small scale, and nowhere is the true trading principle 
 of drawing a small, but sure, profit from undertakings 
 on an extended scale acknowledged as the golden rule 
 in Germany. 
 
 The remedy for the present state of things in Siegen 
 is now thought to be in the construction of a railroad, 
 connecting this mining country with the coal district on 
 the Ruhr. The notion of any gain resulting from regu- 
 lating the price of fuel by artificial means will be dis- 
 pelled when this is effected, and all may return to a 
 wholesome state of active production. 
 
 A singular contrast is presented in another branch of 
 industry, for which Siegen has long been justly cele- 
 brated, and which, although it is impossible to protect it 
 by restrictions, yet forms a pursuit that the people of 
 Siegen are passionately fond of. It is not improbable 
 that the art of laying down and managing irrigated mea- 
 dows was introduced by some of the artisans who taught 
 the people the mode of making steel. The origin of both 
 arts points to Italy, and it is likely that some prince of 
 Nassau, who was more than a mere Condottiere, brought 
 them with him as the best trophy of some successful cam- 
 paign in the fertile plains of Lombardy. Brescia was as 
 probably the parent-seat of one of these arts, as Como or 
 Lodi may have been the school in which the other was 
 learnt. History is silent as to the original introduction 
 of irrigation, which until lately was peculiar in Ger- 
 many to the district of Siegen. The climate there is any- 
 thing but a sunny one. From the sixteenth century, 
 however, there exist laws and regulations respecting the 
 rights of the owners of water-courses intended to fertilize
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 129 
 
 meadows, which evince that the care of the government 
 at that early period embraced this great agricultural im- 
 provement. 
 
 At present not only the whole of the valley of the 
 Upper Sieg, but all the side vales and glens that issue into 
 it, have their bottoms carpeted with beautiful verdure, 
 affording the owners a rich crop, and (after the outlay for 
 laying down has been made) with an inexpensive mode of 
 cultivation. To drain these glens for the purpose of ex- 
 tracting any other crop from their chilled soils would be 
 attended with enormous expense. By simply adopting 
 the oriental plan of letting the water run over the sur- 
 face, the most productive crops of grass are obtained. 
 The same principle applied in Holland has furnished 
 that country with a rich and never-failing revenue de- 
 rived from dairy produce, which no art could extract 
 from the rich but humid soil in any other shape. Nor 
 is the traveller left in doubt as to the natural or artificial 
 origin of these meadows on the banks of the Sieg. The 
 greensward is everywhere intersected by innumerable 
 canals, the broadest of which forming the water-courses 
 vary from three to five feet. These catch the water of 
 the river or of its tributary brooks at the highest possible 
 level, and carry it along the hill-side, or over an elevated 
 bed through the centre of the meadow. Out of this are 
 led the small cuts, nine inches deep, and nine to twelve 
 inches broad, which carry the portion allotted to each 
 bed in the required direction. Bed is the proper term 
 here, and not field ; for although the absence of fences 
 gives to a whole valley the appearance of belonging to 
 one proprietor, yet it is not easy to imagine a more 
 minute division of the soil, and more exclusive proprie-
 
 130 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHIXE. 
 
 tory rights and obligations than such a valley contains. 
 A similar spirit of association on the one side, combined 
 with tenacious adherence to private property on the 
 other, which the " Hauberg" showed us, is presented in 
 these water-meadows. A similar want of economy in 
 labour may also be traced in their management ; but as 
 the return from the meadow is a better one, the loss is 
 not of much consequence. 
 
 The meadow regulations, whose origin is lost in the 
 obscurity of time, are stringent as far as they go, al- 
 though doubtful in their nature, that is to say, partaking 
 of both a judicial and voluntary character. Every pa- 
 rish or commune, called in German " Gemeinde," has its 
 meadow-overseer ! like its wood-ranger : both being pea- 
 sants chosen by their fellow villagers for their experience 
 and tact in these vai'ious occupations, and receiving a mo- 
 derate salary for their trouble. Their duty is to see that 
 every one performs his due share of the common obliga- 
 tion, and that the water-rights are not infringed by the 
 rival interests of the hammers and mills that are driven 
 by the same streams. In the autumn, generally in No- 
 vember, the canals are laid dry to be cleaned out. Every 
 proprietor must clean the portion passing through or skirt- 
 ing his meadow, and dispose of the refuse extracted as 
 well as he can. If he neglects to perform his part he is 
 subject to a fine, which is levied daily until the work is 
 done. The whole valley may then be seen filled with 
 small mounds of clay, running in straight lines in every 
 direction. A few days afterwards these disappear, being 
 carried in diiferent directions to improve the level or to 
 regulate the slope of the surface. This is the period 
 when changes are made in the watering and in the drain-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 131 
 
 ing canals, and an amateur seldom lets the year go round 
 without making some such change as the result of ob- 
 servation "or of restless fancy. 
 
 Whoever has watched this annually repeated cultiva- 
 tion, and followed the care with which the owners study 
 their little properties to find out the nature of the soil, 
 and choose the disposition best suited to the position 
 with regard to the sun and the wind, will be convinced 
 that a perfect system of water-meadowing must be a 
 work of time and of great care and observation. He 
 will, however, be persuaded, by observing the value of 
 the crops obtained without the aid of manure from a 
 large extent of poor land under a severe climate, that no 
 time should be lost in adopting this mode of treating 
 meadows wherever circumstances make it practicable. 
 The Duke of Portland and the Duke of Marlborough 
 have, we believe, recently adopted irrigation on a 
 large scale in England, where at least as much land may 
 easily be watered as has of late years been drained, and 
 unquestionably with a no less profitable result. Although 
 the manure obtained from towns is of the greatest value 
 in increasing the yield of meadows, yet it is import- 
 ant to make the fact known, that simple water, unac- 
 companied by the wash of floods, or by any extraneous 
 matter, promotes the growth of grass on meadows in 
 a remarkable manner. The meadows of Siegen allow 
 the peasants to give all their dung to the arable land, 
 which, in its cold bleak situation on the sides of the hills, 
 would, on other terms, not be worth cultivating. The 
 whole agricultural plan of this district thus combines 
 whatever can be of use to a half-manufacturing popula- 
 tion, by demanding little labour and producing chiefly
 
 ] 32 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 what assists the miner, or serves as fodder for beasts of 
 burthen. 
 
 The water-meadows are now systematically laid down 
 in three diiferent manners according to the slope the 
 ground commands, and the abundance or scarcity of 
 water. The engineers are usually the peasants of the 
 neighbourhood, who by practice have acquired great skill. 
 The surveying instruments may be seen in their houses 
 in all the villages, and the precision with which their 
 levels are taken and the flow of water promoted is not 
 a little surprising. The three modes consist in ter- 
 raced beds, and in broad and narrow beds with an ele- 
 vated ridge in the middle. The following are the direc- 
 tions given by the Oberforster Vorlander. The chief 
 canal should be carried as high above the level of the 
 meadow to be irrigated as possible. Where circumstances 
 do not favour the laying down of the canal at a sufficient 
 elevation, and the soil is too soft to allow of the construc- 
 tion of a high dam without great expense, the level of the 
 meadow may be lowered sufficiently to answer the purpose. 
 It must be kept in mind, that by constant watering the 
 level of the meadow is raised in time, for the soil swells in 
 consequence of the accumulation of roots and the addition 
 of particles of humus, as well as from the depth to which 
 vegetation is promoted. When the surface reaches the 
 level of the water-course from which it is irrigated, it 
 becomes necessary to break up the meadow and to lower 
 its surface. 
 
 The mode adopted either to alter the level or to regu- 
 late the unequal surface of a meadow, is not to plough 
 up the ground and crop it with corn or potatoes, although 
 one would expect to obtain rich returns, especially of
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 133 
 
 oats, from a lay of 16 or 20 years' standing. The sods on 
 the surface are pared off with a peculiar kind of narrow 
 spade (Fig. 6, p. 139) 2 feet 2^ inches deep. Strips are 
 previously cut in the surface with the axe, and the strips 
 when rolled up are carried on a stick passed through the 
 middle of the roll. One man usually marks the strips, 
 two pare them from the surface, and a fourth rolls them 
 up. These rolls are recommended in the place of square 
 or oblong cuttings ; amongst other advantages they insure 
 a sufficient quantity of sod to cover the field when it is 
 levelled. If the turf be cut off in small pieces, the quan- 
 tit}^ often proves somewhat deficient. The beginning is 
 generally made with those parts of the meadow which 
 being highest have the greatest quantity of ground to 
 spare, and with those which are hollow and require 
 filling up. The turf being removed the ground below is 
 dug up and carried from the one to the other. Care is, 
 however, taken by good meadowers not to carry away the 
 soil that lies immediately under the turf-paring. Of this 
 a portion is reserved to form the bed on which the turf 
 is to be relaid. The ground transferred from one place 
 to another is taken from the subsoil, unless the good 
 ground be very deep. When the level of the whole 
 meadow has to be lowered, the stuff taken from the sub- 
 soil that becomes useless must be carted and thrown away. 
 
 Where the surface, at a sufficient depth under the 
 chief water-course, still offers a fall of g'gth of the length of 
 the meadow, and there is plenty of water, the meadow 
 is laid down in what at Siegen is called the terrace-mode 
 of irrigation (Hangbau). 
 
 If the slope is less and there are marshy spots the 
 meadow is laid down with narrow ridges. 
 
 G 3
 
 134 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 Broad ridges are used M-here water is not abundant at 
 all times, and the ground free from marshy spots, but 
 commanding little fall. Where these peculiarities of site 
 and command of water are observed, the yield of a water- 
 meadow on an average is the same in all three systems of 
 laying down. The first cut is made about Midsummer, 
 and on good soils gives 3 tons of excellent hay to the 
 morgen, or 4^ tons to the acre. The after-grass yields 
 about half as much. On average soils the yield may be 
 estimated for the neighbourhood of Siegen at 3 tons to 
 3^ tons per acre. With retentive subsoils the meadows 
 yield below the average. It is customary in autumn to 
 drive the cows on the meadows, their weight being sup- 
 posed useful in treading down the surface, which has a 
 constant tendency to swell and grow over the level of 
 the irrigating canals. These meadows furnish in autumn 
 pasturage, and in summer the cows are driven into the 
 " Hauberg." In the morning and evening some green 
 fodder is given them in the stables. In winter hay, 
 straw, and chaff, mixed up and boiled with potatoes, car- 
 rots, or beatroot, form the usual fodder. 
 
 Terraced Meadows. 
 
 In the meadow that is destined to be laid down on the 
 terrace plan, the water-course being carried over the 
 highest part, the level of the distributing canal must be 
 marked by a stake driven near the centre. Another stake 
 driven at the lowest extremity of the field must mark 
 the level of the draining conduit — the terraced meadow 
 being supposed to have a breadth of 6 Prussian roods of 
 10 feet, and is divided into 4 beds each ]i rood in 
 breadth. The channels, laid parallel to the distributing
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THB RHINE. 135 
 
 channel, are supplied with water from the distributing 
 canal by means of transversal cuttings. It may seem 
 simpler to let the water at once run over the whole 
 surface from the distributing canal ; but experience has 
 shown that the richest grass springs nearest to the 
 canals, although the reason why there should be a dif- 
 ference where there is water enough to flood the whole 
 surface ia not very apparent. By increasing the number 
 of canals the fertilising principle is more equally distri- 
 buted, and terraces of 6 roods in length by 1^ in breadth 
 are found to be the most advantageous size for ensuring 
 the best yield of grass. If the level of the beds be found 
 after a few years' watering to be raised too much, the 
 canals can each be carried a foot or two higher up the 
 slope, the old cuttings being closed and covered with the 
 turf taken out of the new ones. 
 
 The sluice cuttings in the dam of the upper water- 
 course are 5 inches wide, and their bottom is sloped, 
 being at the upper end 6 inches higher than the level 
 of the chief water-course. The irrigating canals are 
 5 inches broad and 4 inches deep. The transversal cut- 
 tings are of the same dimensions. 
 
 Irrigation hy means of narrow Ridges. 
 
 In a meadow irrigated on the system of narrow ridges, 
 the water-course, with the sluice-cuttings through its dam, 
 are the same as in the terraced meadows. The distri- 
 buting canal is kept horizontal, and is 1^ foot broad and 
 5 inches deep. The meadow is measured and divided 
 into equal portions, the best size for which is between 
 1 5 and 25 feet. Lach bed or ridge is supposed to have a
 
 136 AGRICULTURE 0:N^ THE RHINE. 
 
 breadth of 20 feet, so that each slope has a breadth of 
 10 feet. The ridges are 60 feet in length. Stakes are 
 driven at the openings of the transversal cuts, which are 
 levelled, and the draining conduit must then be marked 
 out and stakes fixed at the points. The fall does not 
 exceed 1 foot in a length of 63 feet. With the aid of 
 the last stakes parallel cuttings are made in a transversal 
 direction from the draining conduit in the direction of 
 the distributing channel, but stopping at some distance 
 short of the latter. The bottom of these cuttings is 
 sloped, being 5 inches higher than the level of the 
 draining conduit. The cuttings divide the ridges and 
 serve as drains. Between them the ground is raised in 
 the middle so as to slope towards each draining canal, 
 the upper part of the ridge being kept high enough to 
 carry an irrigating canal which takes the water at the 
 level of the distributing canal, and carries it with a slope 
 of 5 inches to the draining canal. When this canal is 
 full and overflows, the water runs into the lower cutting, 
 and thence into the lower drain, in the bottom of which 
 there is also a slope of 6 inches. 
 
 At the lower end of every ridge the surface presents 
 the appearance of a triangle. 
 
 Irrigation icith broad Ridges. 
 
 In a meadow laid down near Keppel with broad 
 ridges, the water in the brook that supplies the main 
 canal is scanty in summer, and is applied to turning the 
 wheels of some steel-works. The main canal is 4 feet 
 broad, 1^ foot deep, and has a fall at bottom of ^ inch in 
 soft.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 137 
 
 through it are each 1 foot broad. The liorizontal distri- 
 buting canal is 2 feet broad and ^ foot deep. The ridge- 
 cuttings that issue from it are 90 feet long ; at the 
 mouth they are 1^ foot, and 1 foot broad, with a depth of 
 5 inches. The width of each ridge is 60 feet, conse^ 
 quently each bed or slope is 30 feet broad. 
 
 In order to diminish the size of the intervals between 
 the cuttings transversal canals arc carried across the 
 beds. 
 
 The drain-cuttings have a i'all at the surface of only 
 3 inches, but at bottom of 5 inches, being 4 inches deep 
 and 8 inches broad, and 6 inches deep and I loot 
 broad. In this meadow the chief drain serves as a dis- 
 tributing canal for a meadow situated below and adjacent 
 to it. 
 
 In a meadow laid out by M. Vorlander in such a 
 manner as to combine the terrace plan applied to the 
 more elevated part with the narrow ridge system, the 
 drain canals serve as distributing canals for the meadows 
 situated below them. In a large meadow near Keppel, 
 by a skilful adoption of the various modes of laying down 
 the surface, the same water is carried over eight different 
 plots of land in succession. 
 
 The instruments principally used at Siegen by the 
 meadow-owners are — 
 
 Fig. 1, A, an axe of peculiar construction for making 
 a sharp perpendicular cut in the turf either for raising 
 sods or for cutting canals. The point at the back of the 
 blade is intended to balance it and to give weight and 
 precision to the cut. The edge is of steel and is ground 
 sharp. The price of the axe is one dollar, or three 
 shillings.
 
 ] 38 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 Fig. 2 is a narrow spade bent at the angle, shown in 
 Fig. 2, B, to the handle. With this the grass is cut 
 under tlie roots when sods are to be raised, and it serves 
 to transport the soil or rubbish, as may be required, from 
 one spot to another. The bottoms of the canals are 
 levelled with this instrument. 
 
 Fig. 3 is a board nailed at right angles to a pole, and 
 is used in levelling the surface and the bottoms of the 
 canals. Three of these sight-boards are requisite. 
 
 Fig. 5 is a tube of tin, the ends of which are raised at 
 right angles. At the top of these raised ends continua- 
 tion tubes of glass are affixed, that allow the play of the 
 water, with which the tube is filled, to be seen. The 
 contrivance is intended to save expense in the glass, of 
 which material the whole tube may be made. When 
 fixed upon a pole by means of the socket this instrument 
 shows the level of the surface. 
 
 Fig. 4 is a common plumb on a long board. It is 
 used for ascertaining the level at short distances. 
 
 The proper time for cleaning out the ditches and canals 
 is late in the autumn, when the cattle are no longer driven 
 to the meadows. A day is fixed by the overseer of the 
 meadows by which all the canals have to be cleaned out 
 under a certain penalty. Then it is that the principal 
 watering for the year takes place. If there has been 
 heavy rain and the irrigating brooks are muddy, the water 
 is not let on to the meadows until it begins to get clear. 
 Too great a sediment fills up the canals and leaves un- 
 equal deposits on the surface that mar the labours of the 
 meadow-owner. In the autumn no fear is entertained of the 
 meadows being overwatered. The great point sought to
 
 AGRICULTUEE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 139
 
 140 AGRICULTIJHE Oy THE RHIXE. 
 
 he accomplished is that the flow of the water shall everj'- 
 where be perceptible, and that none remains stagnant in 
 any part. In the beginning of winter, when the frost sets 
 in; the water is kept off the land. If the weather is open 
 and rain falls, the water may be turned on again. 
 
 Spring is the season that demands the farmer's care. In 
 mild rainy weather the irrigation may be continued ; but 
 after floods, as in the autumn, the water must be allowed 
 to settle. When the sun grows powerful the irrigation 
 must cease altogether. In March and April a little 
 moistening is allowable ; but in these and the following 
 months the water may only be spread during the night. 
 In the middle of June occasional night-watering does 
 good, but none is let on for four weeks previous to the 
 hay harvest. 
 
 The practice of cutting late in order that the grass may 
 sow itself is common in the district of Siegen, and differs 
 very much from the Italian plan, according to which the 
 grass is cut when it attains its full length without its be- 
 ing allowed to ripen. The colour of the hay at Siegen 
 is not good, and it is not greedily eaten by horses. The 
 ripening of the seed must also exhaust the land. 
 
 As the water-meadows are not manured, all the dung 
 of the stables is appropriated to the arable and garden 
 land, which is usually small in extent ; but of a cold 
 meagre nature, and very unproductive. The fields lie on 
 slopes suflflciently level to retain the soil in heavy rains, 
 but too high to be watered. The decomposed clay slate, 
 of which the hills are mostly composed and which forms 
 the upper soil, is void of all mixture of limestone, and 
 none is to be had at any convenient distance for manuring. 
 Crops are consequently poor, and corn has to be pur-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 141 
 
 chased to eke out the year's consumption. The humid cli- 
 mate and severe winters operating on so weak a soil, 
 make it necessary to cover the winter seed with dung- in 
 order to quicken and protect it. But the only dung in 
 this district is that of oxen, or at best horse-dung mixed 
 with that of horned cattle, and there is little warmth in 
 it to impart to the soil. 
 
 The general use of oxen or of cows for draught cattle 
 upon the banks of the Rhine is recommended, as we have 
 seen, by the necessity for dung not likely to overheat the 
 ground under a scorching summer sun. In these colder 
 parts the ox is still an indispensable inmate of the stable, 
 but for another reason. 
 
 Mining and forest work are fully as much the business 
 of the peasants as agriculture in the level land. They are, 
 however, carried on upon the hills, which are on all sides 
 pierced by countless mines. Many of these lie on heights 
 of considerable elevation, or in back valleys from the Sieg, 
 the access to which is steep and difficult. As the ascent 
 is commonly effected with an empty car on two wheels, 
 the draught is not oppressive for oxen. To descend the 
 worn-out roads towards the villages or the high road is 
 not so easy a task, and here the ox is invaluable as a ser- 
 vant. They may be seen guiding with their foreheads 
 under their yokes, the weight of ore intrusted to them, 
 and while the deep ruts in the road act as a drag to the 
 car, the animal's own weight adds resistance to its pres- 
 sure ; and loads varying from 12 cwt. to 20 cwt. are thus 
 secui'ely brought down with a speed, not equal to horse 
 draught on roads well laid down, but which is all that can 
 be accomplished with the present ones.
 
 142 AGRICULTUKB OK THE RHINE. 
 
 A macadamized road has opened the romantic valley of 
 the Sieg since 1840, and along this line cartage is gradually 
 being transferred from oxen to horses. The habits of 
 the agriculturists, however, do not change so rapidly as 
 mechanical improvements advance at the present day ; 
 and the roads to the mines being in their ancient con- 
 dition, oxen are likely for some to predominate. The 
 small miners occasionally use their milch cows for draught, 
 as is the case all over Germany. 
 
 In the year 1837, the official returns showed for the 
 circle of Siegen, a stock of cattle on the German square 
 mile (203 English square miles), amounting to 30 horses; 
 1276 horned cattle ; 624 sheep : 113 goats; 325 pigs. 
 
 The population in the same year having numbered 
 3440 on the German square mile, the number of homed 
 cattle was nearly one for every tvi o inhabitants, which will 
 serve to show how great the proportion of draught oxen 
 must have been. The circumstances of the country j)revent 
 it having any thing remarkable in arable agriculture to 
 interest the practical farmer. Every slope in the wind- 
 ing valleys yields a different return, and rye, oats, and 
 potatoes of poor quality, and scanty in quantity, repay 
 the peasant badly for the time he abstracts from other 
 occupations to apply to their cultivation More than 
 10 to 12 bushels of rye per acre cannot be calculated 
 u}X)n as return from the " Hauberg," and 3 sheffes of 
 potatoes from the Prussian " ruthe," or 150 bushels to 
 the acre is considered a good crop of this root. Turnips 
 are constantly sown in the oat stubbles, although the damp 
 of the autumn and the early frost at night prevent their 
 attaining even a moderate size. Flax is cultivated to
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHTNE. 143 
 
 8ome extent in some of the valleys near Siegen, where 
 hand-loom weaving- is the employment of many of the 
 peasants. The poor earnings obtained for this work 
 have recently induced those who could do so to seek 
 other occupations.
 
 ( 144 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Leavixg the valley of the Sieg, let us follow the new 
 road that leads by way of Altenkirchen and Driedorf to 
 Neuwied. We follow the foot of a chain of heights that 
 constitute a remarkable boundary, as dividing two valleys 
 of very different climate from each other, both opening 
 at no great distance from each other upon the Hhine. 
 The valleys are those of the Wied and the Lahn. The 
 former unites with the valley of the Sayn at Neuwied. 
 The Lahn falls into the Rhine a little below Coblenz. 
 The hills that divide them are called the Westerwald, 
 and although the highest summits scarcely attain 2000 
 feet in elevation, yet the extent of rocky soil and moun- 
 tainous declivities which the range contains, makes the 
 whole region bleak and unfruitful. On these heights the 
 winter is very severe, yet their elevation is not sufficient 
 to conserve a supply of moisture to promote vegetation in 
 a dry summer. The higher region is thinly peopled, 
 and little appearance of cultivation is evinced by the soil 
 in the spaces that intervene between the forests. Exten- 
 sive pastures, that early in the year show a tolerable 
 covering of grass, but which in summer are soon fed bare, 
 are frequent, and on these large herds of cattle may be 
 seen feeding. Cattle-breeding is the chief productive 
 occupation of the farmer in the Westerwald. A race of 
 small cows very much resembling the Devon breed, like 
 these, too, good milkers and easily fattened, is indige-
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 145 
 
 nous in these hills, and cows are drawn from the Wester- 
 wald to distant parts of Germany. On the mountain- 
 roads that we have described in the neighbourhood of 
 Siegen, as on those of the Odenwald, Black Forest and 
 great part of the Taunus range, the light compact ox of 
 the Westerwald breed does excellent service. The pas- 
 tures on the hills are mostly village property, and being 
 seldom more than six months in the year productive, 
 neither butter nor cheese can be made for distant sale. 
 The neighbourhood of the larger towns on the Rhine, 
 however, where there is a considerable demand for 
 butcher's meat, causes stock -feeding to be a profitable 
 branch of farming. The meadows along the banks of 
 the Wied, after it leaves the mountains, furnish the rich 
 peasants and farmers of the low lands with summer 
 grass and the necessary supply of hay for the winter. 
 Of the latter article the German farmer is chary, and he 
 depends fully as much upon the produce of his distillery 
 mash-tub, as upon that of his meadows. Distilling is in 
 this district only carried on to assist the fattening of the 
 cattle. 
 
 The consumption of meat is both too limited, even in 
 towns, and too little attention is paid by the consumer to 
 quality, to make it worth the farmer's while to use the 
 exertions that English and Scotch graziers resort to in 
 order to produce gigantic specimens of cattle in the 
 shortest possible time. The ox (and often the cow) re- 
 pay their keep by labour in the field or on the road 
 until the period for slaughtering arrives. Two and 
 sometimes three years' run are given to the calf, if he be 
 destined for draught: from three to seven, he is supposed to 
 be in his prime for work, and the sooner he finds his way
 
 146 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 to the slaughter-house after that age the better for the 
 farmer. The luxurious calculations of our markets, in 
 which fat and quality of meat are distinguished by highly 
 remunerating prices, are unknown in Germany. And 
 here it will be well to say something about the butcher's 
 shop and his trade, as a matter of essential interest to the 
 agriculturist. 
 
 Like the grain-farmer the stock-feeder finds his market 
 especially in the large towns. In the villages the pig, 
 slaughtered at home, and made up into hams, bacon, and 
 sausages of all flavours and sizes, meets him in every 
 house, and keeps down his price. What the pig may 
 have cost in milk, potatoes, and refuse, is often as little 
 calculated, as the price of the rye-bread that we have 
 shown is purchased at a great expense of labour. This 
 waste of labour in growing corn is, however, a still more 
 formidable diminisher of the butcher's gains than the 
 pig ; for it prevents the husbandman from earning in any 
 other manner, and he has consequently little to spend in 
 meat. The slaughtering of horned cattle in a village is 
 therefore a rare occurrence, and seldom takes place until 
 the larders of the better kind are ascertained to be 
 sufficiently emptied to ensure a ready demand for 
 meat. We must not, however, suppose the German 
 peasant to be ill-fed : his dish of potatoes is usually 
 savoured wnth a piece of bacon, and the same condiment 
 is introduced into the pancake— a favourite dish, and, 
 when so flavoured, digestible for those who work much 
 abroad, as peasants, male and female, often do. Sunday 
 brings meat, soup, and the grand family-dish, the un- 
 salted boiled beef, or '' rindfleisch;"' of which, as the 
 staple article of the slaughter-house, we must first speak.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 147 
 
 The price of meat is reckoned from that of '* rind- 
 fleisch," as the price of corn of all kinds is calculated from 
 that of rye, as the standard. Little as the butcher has 
 to do in the village, and easily as he can evade all pre- 
 scriptive price by substituting inferior quality where good 
 beasts are not vrell paid for, the black board, with its 
 lines for the price of enumerated articles sold by him, 
 still mai'ks the butcher's shop, and affords a kind of 
 assurance to the credulous peasant that he shall not be 
 worse treated than his neighbour. The excise of meat 
 is continued in the Prussian towns by the authorities, 
 because it affords a means of estimating the slaugh- 
 tering-tax, which is still levied in place of the pro- 
 perty-tax in many places. It is as popular, however, 
 amongst the citizens as the famed excise of bread used to 
 be amongst the housewives of London during the war, 
 when no other resource was supposed practicable against 
 the enormities of bakers and mealmen. 
 
 The fixing a price for articles of food deprives the poor 
 of the possibility of selecting a less costly joint when cir- 
 cumstances are adverse. On the other hand, as the 
 poor have no means of bribing the butcher to begin a 
 new cut when they come, and to cause him to leave any 
 stump that may lie upon his block for the smart cookmaid 
 or housekeeper of a richer neighbour, it operates as an 
 excuse for oppression in many ways. Not only must the 
 butcher's customers take the cut as they find it, if he 
 chooses to make them follow in their turn, but he claims 
 the exclusive command of a certain market, without inter- 
 ference, as a recompense for the supposed curtailment of 
 his profits by the excise. The licence to open a butcher's 
 shop is therefore not easily obtained. The price of meat
 
 148 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIXE. 
 
 being an average price, the whole beast must be sold at 
 the same rate, and those who obtain a portion of the 
 more fleshy parts are obliged to take a certain quantity 
 of bone cut off from any part where it may be to spare to 
 eke out the lot. In many parts of Germany the form of 
 publishing weekly the prices at which the different 
 butchers of a town sell, according to their own report, is 
 considered sufficient control on the part of the magis- 
 tracy, and competition is allowed to do its part towards 
 reducing prices. In all districts, however, the district 
 medical officer has the charge of watching that no un- 
 sound meat be exposed for sale. 
 
 From what has been said the reader must have ga- 
 thered that no great luxury is indulged in, as far as the 
 consumption of meat is concerned, by the German pea- 
 sants and burghers. Meat is sought as a necessary 
 article of food, and no more is expended upon it than 
 can be avoided. The farmer therefore has but little help 
 from the butcher, especially in the country ; and the 
 price he gets does not induce him to make the same 
 exertions to fatten stock that are made in England. The 
 main inducement to keep stock is in the dung obtained 
 from the beasts and the sale of milk, for the use of the 
 animals for draught seldom more than pays the cost of their 
 keep. By selling the carcase to the butcher the investea 
 capital is preserved undiminished. 
 
 We subjoin some of the calculations on which the 
 foregoing remarks are founded, and shall trace the stock- 
 farmer's outlay from the commencement. We have 
 pointed out the high lands of the Westerwald as the seat 
 of cattle-breeding. A cow with her calf in that district 
 may be purchased for 60 to 80 florins, or from bl. to ll.
 
 AGRICULTURE OS THE RII1>^E. 140 
 
 The calf alone sells for 5 florin?, or about 95. Until 
 they are four weeks old, the calves get nothing but milk : 
 in the fifth week they get hay, and, in good farms, oat- 
 meal mixed with the milk. Calves intended for the 
 shambles are universally slaughtered within a week after 
 their being dropped. The price of veal, instead of 
 rating higher than that of beef, is consequently much 
 lower. Veal may constantly be bought at 3d. per lb. 
 when beef rates at 4d. per lb. 
 
 The cost of rearing the Dutch and short-horned breeds 
 to the third year is calculated as follows, on good farms : — 
 
 
 Milk. 
 
 Ilav. 
 
 Straw. 
 
 ^leal 
 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 ll)S. 
 
 1st year . 
 
 . 320 
 
 2164 
 
 1643 
 
 147 
 
 2nd ditto . 
 
 
 3832 
 
 2554 
 
 
 3rd ditto . 
 
 . 
 
 5840 
 
 3285 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 If we turn this amount of forage into money, at the 
 following prices— 
 
 320 lbs. milk, at hd. per lb. . 
 192 cwts. hay, at Is. 8d. per cwt. 
 147 lbs. meal , . • 
 
 £17 1 7 
 It is here apparent that the small breed that has the run of 
 the mountain-pastures, and which does not cost its owner 
 more than 5/, at three years old, is a more marketable 
 article than the heavier beasts reared in stables at the 
 cost here stated. The drovers from the manufacturing 
 districts bring down about 1000 fat beasts annually from 
 theWesterwald, averaging 48 to 50 stone, which cost them 
 61. Gs. to 71. 7s. a-head. The fat cattle on good farms 
 average 12 to 15 cwt. The feeding has become matter 
 
 H
 
 150 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 of scientific calculation, as will be seen from the follow- 
 ing details. 
 
 Besides the cost of driving the mountain cattle to a 
 distant market, which is saved on the farms that lie near 
 the large towns, the German farmer calculates the gain 
 from the dung of his stall-fed oxen at 3 waggon loads or 
 9 tons annually per beast, with a strictly economical use 
 of straw. In money this quantity of dung may be va- 
 lued at U. 10.9. to 3/., according to the vicinity of the 
 farm to a town, or the nature of the crop to which the 
 manure is applied. 
 
 A draught ox is estimated to consume in 120 d.nys, from 
 the 1st of June to the 30th of September, green clover 
 and meadow hay equivalent to 23 lbs. of hay, with 1 lb. 
 of meal, daily. The winter fodder, 14 lbs. hay, 14 lbs. 
 potatoes, and 8 lbs. cut straw yiCY diem — added to the 
 former is equal to — 
 
 £ s, (I. 
 Annually, 4 tons 11 cwt. hay, at 15.5. per ton 3 7 10 
 Salt, 54 lbs., at M- per lb. '. . . .023 
 
 Cost of cutting straw, clover, &c. . . 5 10 
 
 Straw for litter, 4 lbs. daily, at 6(1. per cwt. .068 
 Wages of 1 man to 24 head of cattle, at 1 2/. 12s. 
 per annum . . . . . . 10 6 
 
 Shoeiug 5 
 
 Wear and tear of buildings, harness, &c. .18 
 "\''eterinary charges . . . . .000 
 
 £G 6 1 
 
 The set-off against this outlay, besides the manure 
 valued as above at 1/. lOs., is, where full work can be 
 had, 250 days' draught, at Is., or 12/. 10s. per annum. In 
 the valley of the Sieg the earaings of an ox may amount 
 to more than this sum ; but the average price of hay in 
 
 i
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIKE. 151 
 
 that district is at least 50 per cent, higher than in the 
 above estimate. 
 
 The weight of meadow-hay, or of equivalents requisite 
 to sustain a cow, is g'g of the animal's weight daily. Until 
 this allowance is exceeded no milk can be expected. A 
 cow is fully fed if she gets double this quantity. At the 
 college of Hohenheim, a cow weighing between 1100 and 
 1200 lbs., gave, with a daily allowance of 36 lbs. of hay 
 or equivalents, 39 lbs. of milk. The yield of milk is in 
 the following proportions : If the animal weighs 500 lbs. 
 it will yield 2500 lbs. of milk; 800 lbs. weight in the 
 carcase is expected to yield 4000 lbs. : and an animal 
 weighing 1200 lbs. to give 6000 lbs. weight of milk ia 
 the year. 
 
 The following table has been calculated of the in- 
 crease in weight of horned cattle, in proportion to the 
 quantity of fodder given daily of the quantity of good 
 hay. 
 
 uaiiv loaaer lo 
 
 100 ibo. weight 
 
 of carcase. 
 
 24 lbs. 
 
 In proportion for 
 12 cwt. of carcase. 
 
 30 lbs. 
 
 Increase per diem 
 in wei^'ht. 
 
 0-7 lbs. 
 
 3 „ 
 3^ „ 
 
 ^ '.' 
 An ox weighing. 
 
 36 „ 
 
 42 „ 
 
 48 „ 
 
 alive, 1520 lbs... 
 
 has 
 
 2 „ 
 3-2 „ 
 4-5 ,, 
 been found to 
 
 yield in 
 
 The two fore quarters 388 lbs, 
 
 „ hind quarters 326 „ 
 
 714 
 
 Tallow , . .138 
 Hide with the hair . 80 
 
 Offal . . .160 
 
 Loss . . .428 
 
 1520 lbs. 
 If four months be taken as the time required for fat- 
 
 h2
 
 152 AGRICCiTLKE OX TUE RHIKE. 
 
 tening, and the ox be supposed to sell for 12/. 12s., 
 if of large size for slaughtering, the account between the 
 cost of stock holding and the return stands as follov.s : — 
 Cost of the calf . . £ 10 
 Three years' rearing .17 17 
 Three years at -nork . IS 19 6 
 Three months' fatteninff 3 
 
 £39 11 1 
 From M-hich deduct — 
 
 Three years' work 37/. 10s. 
 
 Butcher's price 12 49 10 
 
 Profit . 10 
 
 Besides six years' dung at 1/. 10s. 7 10 
 
 To realise this profit the price of fodder must be as low 
 as has been stated, and the ox must have full work, two 
 conditions that are not always realized, and for that rea- 
 son wc have stated the main inducement to hold stock is 
 now in the dung gained. 
 
 In mountainous districts a Westerwald ox that may be 
 bought for 5/, at three years old, and which sells to 
 the butcher three years later for the same sum, will do 
 as much work as the heavier kind of cattle. An ox of 
 that breed requires but two-thirds of the fodder con- 
 sumed by the other, but gives only two-thirds of the 
 weight of dung. The balance is ultimately very much in 
 favour of the smaller animals under those circumstances. 
 A Westerwald cow weighing 500 lbs. may give in 
 three years 
 
 6400 lbs., or 1600 Prussian quarts of milk 
 that sells in Siegeu at 2d. per quart 
 
 Five years' dung at 1/. 
 
 Three calves .... 
 
 Butcher's price .... 
 
 Carried forward £ 24 10 8 
 
 £. 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 13 
 
 G 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 t> 
 
 
 

 
 AGRICULTURK ON THE RIIIXK. 153 
 
 Brought forward £ 24 IG 8 
 From which deduct — 
 
 Cost of calf . 10s. 
 
 Price at two years !jL 
 
 Three years' feeding 12/. £l7 10 
 
 £ 7 6 8 
 The quantity of milk is reckoned low because the cow 
 may do light work 150 days in the year. The dung 
 valued at Sd. per week adds 5/. to the above sum, which 
 yields 50 per cent, on the total outlay ; whereas the large 
 draught-ox returns but 44 per cent, to the stock farmer. 
 The latter is the common peasants' calculation. 
 
 On regaining the Rhine at Neuwied, the traveller 
 greets with pleasure a milder climate and more genial 
 soil than his mountain excursion showed him. The large 
 basin presented by the valleys of the Wied and the 
 Moselle, with the depth of alluvial soil and the mild 
 climate of South Germany, which may there be said to 
 commence, do not, however, efface from his recollection 
 the skill and industry with which the meadows and 
 mountain sides of the vale of the Sieg are rendered pro- 
 ductive. Where nature does much for the i'armer he is 
 apt to relax in his efforts, unless spurred by the demands 
 of a numerous population, and in the neighbourhood of 
 Neuwied and Coblentz no such pressure exists. The 
 fruit-trees covering the fields, and the vines scaling the 
 slopes of the hills, tell of other enjoyments than those at 
 the command of the Westphalian miners. There is, 
 however, no greater appearance of well-being, either iu 
 the persons or in the dwellings of the inhabitants of the 
 Rhenish villages than we left behind us in the less fa- 
 voured districts. In dress, the people, especially on the 
 left bank, are less neat, and their manners indicate less
 
 154 AGRICULTURE ON THE EHINK. 
 
 promptness and persevering activity than we were accus- 
 tomed to amongst the mountaineers. 
 
 The large towns here draw off some hands from the 
 land, but the eifects of trade, although we are again on 
 the high road of Europe, are not so perceptibly bene- 
 ficial as we found them on the lower Rhine. The 
 territories of the old Electorate of Treves still betray 
 the effects of church-government and of the good old 
 times, when the object was to make people suit themselves 
 and their wants to certain forms and customs, instead of 
 proclaiming the subserviency of all forms and modes of 
 cultivation to the well-being of man himself. 
 
 One natural result of this circumstance is that estates 
 are here met with in larger allotments than are com- 
 mon on the middle Rhine. Here, as in Westphalia, 
 a number of estates belonging to clerical foundations, 
 and which were kept of moderate size by those corpora- 
 tions, passed in this form at the period of the confiscations 
 into the hands of private owners. Farms of 250 to 300 
 morgens (155 to 187 acres) are here frequent, still more 
 numerous are those of 120 to 180 morgens, although 
 small possessions are frequent of 20 morgens (12 acres) 
 and less amongst the villagers. The larger farms are 
 compact, and mostly surround or are adjacent to the 
 dwelling-house. The small holdings are scattered in all 
 directions, the natural consequence of the village system 
 that has been described. 
 
 The soil between Andernach and Coblentz is com- 
 posed of the sand of volcanic origin carried down from 
 the heights by the moimtain streams, but mixed with the 
 deposits of frequent floods that cover the lower part?, 
 leaving good stuff on the poor soils, but covering tho
 
 AGKICUI/TUKE ON THE KHINE. 165 
 
 fields where the soil has been made by cultivation, ^Yith 
 matter that gives the farmer a great deal of his work to 
 do over again. As we leave the Rhine the volcanic sand 
 predominates, especially in the strip at the foot of the 
 hills, called the '' Mayfield," between Mayen and Miin* 
 stermayen. In the hilly region, to which we must re- 
 turn when speaking of the vineyards, the prevalence of 
 lava and basalt makes the soil difficult to plough, and 
 condemns large tracts to the condition of poor pastures. 
 On these large flocks of sheep are kept, numbering 600, 
 600, and sometimes 900 head. Some time back it was 
 the fashion to cultivate the Merino cross ; but the loss 
 that ensued when the rot and other diseases ran through 
 an expensive flock, discouraged the small farmers, and 
 made them leave things as they were. The sheep 
 the traveller finds here present, therefore, the strangest 
 mixture, from high-bred Merinos to the common moun- 
 tain breed yielding small weight of carcase, and short 
 although coarse wool, of which the fleece runs from 
 2 lbs. to 3.^ lbs. in weight. On the larger farms good 
 management of manures is frequently to be found. The 
 volcanic soil is well limed by diligent farmers. Com- 
 post heaps, on which especially the liquid manure is 
 poured, are also common. For green manures, soiling of 
 rye, lupins and buckwheat are used, the last named plant 
 being allowed to flower before it is ploughed in. It is 
 probable that this good system of manuring partly owes 
 its origin to the care of the former government of the 
 last Elector Palatine, who freed lime, marl, and manure 
 of all kinds from tolls upon the high-roads, of which he 
 was likewise an active promoter. The outlay in ready 
 money fur turnpike toll is often a greater sacrifice for a
 
 156 AGRICULTURE OX THE RIII>'£. 
 
 poor man than the day's v.'ork with his horse and cart. 
 Wood ashes that have been drenched for washing are 
 considered good manure for rape-seed. Gypsum is Ibund 
 to act most beneficially on clover, lucern, peas, tares, 
 and turnips. The gypsum is strewn is moist weather, 
 about the middle of April. 
 
 A common rotation on these farms on the left bank is 
 the following ; — 
 
 1 Fallow with dung 12 to 16 loads to the morgen. 
 
 2 Rape-seed. 
 
 3 Winter barley. 
 
 4 Wheat. 
 
 5 Clover with gypsum, 2 cwt. to the morgen. 
 
 6 Oats. 
 
 The second rotation is sometimes varied j 
 
 1 Buckwheat. 
 
 2 Wheat with dung. 
 
 3 Rye. 
 
 4 Oats. 
 
 On the sandy soil further from the river ; 
 
 1 Fallow with dung. 
 
 2 Rye. 
 
 3 Clover limed and soiled with ditch cloarlngc. 
 
 4 Wheat with dung, 
 o Buckwheat. 
 
 6 Rye with dung. 
 
 7 Oats. 
 
 In this last rotation, poverty of soil, and distance from 
 markets for dairy produce, are easily traced. It likewise 
 points to small holdings and the poor economy of pea- 
 sants ; all of which may again furnish the inquisitive with 
 a correct clue to former political subdivisions and the
 
 AGRICULTIRE 0>' THE RI1I>E. 157 
 
 chequered mass of religious and educational systems which 
 this land presented in the olden time. So surely are the 
 sins of the fathers visited on the children. 
 
 It is certainly strange that the village peasantry', the 
 holders and owners of the smallest allotments that we 
 have described, should, in the immediate vicinity of the 
 larger farms, where so much intelligence is displayed in the 
 management of the soil, present the following curious pic- 
 ture. We extract it the more willingly from a v.ell-known 
 author rather than describe what we have often witnessed, 
 that we may not incur the reproach of being supercilious 
 strangers lowering the character of the peasantry of a 
 foreign land. In reading the following description of 
 the district of the Lower Moselle, by Schwerz, it must 
 be remembered that hedges for inclosure arc unknown : — 
 
 •' Stall-feeding is general in the Moselle district. In 
 the autumn alone is there some pasturage on the stubbles, 
 and when the aftei'grass is cut the meadows are grazed 
 for a cou])le of hours daily. It is curious to see how the 
 quantity of cattle are fed which are kept on the numerous 
 little parcels of land. 
 
 " In the spring the women and children range the 
 fields, cut the young thistles and nettles, dig up the roots 
 of the couch-grass, collect weeds of all kinds, and strive 
 to turn them to account. ^Yhat is thus scraped together 
 is well washed, mixed with cut straw and chaff, and, after 
 boiling water has been poured over the whole, it is given 
 to the cattle. A little later, when the weeds grow stronger, 
 they are given unmixed as fodder. The lucern comes 
 at length to help, and then the clover, which lasts until 
 the autumn, when "cabbage-leaves and turnips are to be 
 had. When these are scarce potato-haulm is taken to help 
 
 h3
 
 158 AGRICULTURi: OX THE RIIIXE. 
 
 until the stubble-turnips are fit. In winter cut straw is 
 mixed with the turnips, and warm feeding begins. In 
 the morning a mash of chaff, rape leaves, pea-pods, or 
 cat straw, with bruised turnips, potatoes, or oilcake, 
 boiled up together. Then barley or wheat straw follows 
 this meal, which is repeated at noon and in the evening. 
 In the middle of the day clover or meadow hay is occa- 
 sionally given to the cattle. 
 
 " In larger farms where 10 or 15 cows arc kept this 
 kind of mash is given only twice a day. The poor 
 farmer is obliged to be more economical, and must occa- 
 sionally try, by the choice of his ingredients, to make 
 good the quantity that he cannot bring together. Even 
 in summer he prepares a soup of this kind for his beasts, 
 but then adds clover, thistles, convolvulus bind, and other 
 weeds, to the mixture. A portion of oilcake is added 
 while it is hot. 
 
 " Turnips carefully preserved, mangel wurzel, turnip- 
 cabbage, potatoes, and Swedes play their part in the spring 
 and winter fodder. But this i)rovision is not at the com- 
 mand of all that keep cows, and the industrious skill of 
 many often degenerates into actual robbery. In summer 
 many a cow is kept sleek on purloined goods, but in 
 winter, when such are not accessible, the animal pays the 
 penalty ; as its master has nothing but straw to give, and 
 that in such wretched portions that half the next summer 
 is spent before it recovers its strength. 
 
 '' This brings me to a subject that I never lose an op- 
 portunity of noticing, for when evil habits accompany a 
 bad system it becomes a sin to keep silence. The fol- 
 lowing is the opinion of a man of weight in the Moselle 
 district : ' The pasturage of cattle is not common with
 
 AGSICULTtRE OX THE RHIITE. 159 
 
 US, but in autumn the stubbles are grazed down. The 
 disorderly habits that have such influence in after life, 
 it may safely be asserted have their root in the practice 
 of sending children to watch the cattle on the (un- 
 inclosed) stubbles. Big and little meet here together. 
 The cattle are allowed to graze for the most part on other 
 people's lands ; little bands are formed, where the older 
 children teach the younger their bad habits. Thefts are 
 discussed and planned, fighting follows, then come other 
 vices. First, fruit and potatoes are stolen, and every 
 evening at parting the wish is entertained that they may 
 be able to meet again the next. Neither fields, gardens, 
 nor houses are eventually spared, and with the excuse 
 of this employment it is scarcely possible to bring the 
 children together to frequent a summer day-school, or 
 to attend on Sundays to the weekly explanation of the 
 Christian doctrines.' " 
 
 It appears, from this picture of village habits, that the 
 circumstance of every family living in its own house and on 
 its own small property is not a panacea for all social evils. 
 The colours of the sketch we have quoted might easily 
 be heightened, and the loose notions of honesty that pre- 
 vail in the business transactions of the largest class of the 
 people might be traced to a wider school than the vil- 
 lage pasture fields, were ve inclined to dwell upon the 
 dark side of the picture. 
 
 In the sandy Mayfield, where grass is scanty and arti- 
 ficial grasses not sufficiently common, leaves are con- 
 stantly used for fodder. The poplar is the favourite tree 
 for this use, and the crown is cut off to allow the young 
 shoots to spring/ like osiers. These shoots are cut every 
 fourth year at Michaelmas, and tied up into bundles,
 
 160 AGRICLLTLRE OX THE RHIXE. 
 
 vfhich are packed with the leaves in some dry place, and 
 in spring they are thrown to the cows and sheep (some 
 readers may remember Laban"s adventure) ; but for 
 horses the leaves are stripped off the stalks, and are said 
 to be as nourishing as good hay. 
 
 With the exception of a little butter sent to the markets 
 of Neuwied and Coblenz, the peasants of this district 
 have nothing to sell off their lands but fruit. The market 
 crop of the larger farmers is rape-seed ; and a similar style 
 of farming prevails throughout the mountainous tract that 
 intervenes between Coblenz and Bingen. 
 
 On the right bank, the valley of the Lahn, narrow at its 
 mouth and shut in by rocky precipitous heights, presents 
 in the neighbourhood of Lahnstein, Ems, and Xassau, pic- 
 turesque sites that offer little that is interesting to the tra- 
 veller. Higher up the valley lie various ruins and country 
 seats, the estates surrounding which are good specimens 
 of careful German farming. Baron Stein of Altenstein 
 has long been a resident proprietor. Count Waltersdorf 
 of Moltke has a splendid seat in a commanding position, 
 overlooking the valley. The Archduke Stephen, son to the 
 Palatine of Hungary, has inherited from his mother large 
 estates, with the castle of Schaumburg, that are under 
 excellent management. The managers of estates of this 
 description are all scholars that have received a system- 
 atic education at one or other of the numerous agri- 
 cultural colleges that abound in Germany. They remain 
 in correspondence with these establishments, and con- 
 stantly communicate their practical experiments or ob- 
 servations to one or other of the popular agricultural 
 periodicals which these colleges publish. Any improve- 
 ment suggested is sure to meet with somebody willing to
 
 AGKICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 161 
 
 make a trial of it, and the knowledge and talent that now 
 iinds a field in agricultural improvements is likely hereafter 
 to confer great benefit on the country. We say here- 
 after, as pointing- to two indispensable changes that must 
 precede an improvement in the prospects of the Rhenish 
 agriculturist. The one, the abolition of those impediments 
 to exportation which still exist in France, the Low Coun- 
 tries, and England, and which has made some jn-ogress 
 since our volume went to press. The other, a change in 
 the industrial arrangements at home which will favour 
 the division of labour between agriculturists and manu- 
 facturers to the great advantage of each, may be slower in 
 progress. In England, where this division has long been 
 effected, the calculations of farmers turn chiefly on com- 
 binations resembling manufacturing operations. For the 
 Scotch farmer the land ;s a machine, and when its ma- 
 nagement is familiar to him he conducts the farming ope- 
 rations of 10,000 acres as easily as he does those of 
 1000. Sure markets, with high prices for corn and 
 cattle, allow him fearlessly to risk the chances which a 
 very bad climate for grain renders inevitable. In south- 
 ern Germany the climate is highly favourable for grain 
 crops, and large tracts of land in the valleys of the Rhine, 
 the Lahn, and the Maine, are highly fertile. The bounds 
 to speculation lie in the limited market, which at home is 
 confined by the number of agriculturists that stand in 
 each other's way and prevent the increase of the con- 
 suming population. With every addition to the popula- 
 tion in England the profits of the farmers increase ; and 
 should the corn laws be continued the consumers would 
 eventually come into such dependence on the producers 
 that the latter would find little necessity for extraordinary
 
 1C2 AGRICUJLTLRE ON TilK RHINE. 
 
 exertion of intelligence. Their countrymen would be gla<l 
 to take what they had to give, and they might fix their 
 own conditions. In Germany, on the contrary, every 
 addition to the population increases the poverty of the 
 mass of the people, and diminishes the prospect of gain 
 for those who depend on market for remuneration. Hence 
 every year renders the farmer's task more and more dif- 
 ficult, and he is spurred to otudy his soil and his manures 
 that he may keep his ground under such difficult circum- 
 stances. In good farms, therefore, such as the estates of 
 the noblemen we have named, as well as on others that 
 might be added, and some of whom we shall notice in 
 going along, the management and economy observed 
 surpasses that found on the generality of farms in England. 
 The manager has no point given to start from in a pre- 
 scribed crop. lie must himself at the same time choose 
 his system of cultivation and hunt out his market. But 
 for every facility afforded him in his task he is well pre- 
 pared, and will turn it to advantage. He courts competi- 
 tion. Would that English farmers were not afraid of it ! 
 In passing Bonn we noticed shortly the agricultural 
 college of Popplesdorf, that has recently been established 
 there. Near Wiesbaden the traveller will find another, 
 which has, perhaps, had a more direct influence on the 
 country surrounding it. The manager, M. Albrecht, is 
 a gentlcm.an highly respected for his scientific acquire- 
 ments, and indefatigable in discharging the duties he has 
 undertaken. A walk up to the Geisberg will -well repay 
 the visitor to that fashionable watering-place, especially 
 in the summer and autumn, when he will find in the ex- 
 perimental farm the most interesting varieties of cultiva- 
 tion collected together from numerous districts. The
 
 AGKICULTUKE OK THE KIIIXE. 163 
 
 origin of the farm is no less interesting than the results 
 obtained by the comparatively small means at its command. 
 The chief fund consists in the subscriptions of the mem- 
 bers of the Agricultural Society of the Duchy of Nassau, 
 the contributions to which are rated so low as not to debar 
 almost the poorest from joining. Five shillings per 
 annum, collected from about 1500 members, with some 
 other sources of revenue, suffice to pay the interest on 
 the purchase-money of the farm, to keep it at work, and to 
 publish a weekly journal containing useful agricultural 
 intelligence. The other sources of revenue consist in the 
 sale of the produce of the farm, which is not of much 
 moment, as the experiments are of course not all suited 
 to the wants of the neighbourhood. Attached to the 
 farm is a seminary in which lectures are held that have a 
 bearing on agriculture. Natural history, mineralogy, 
 botany, zoology, the theory of agriculture, and tech- 
 nology ; besides veterinary surgery and agricultural book- 
 kieeping ; form a course that is completed by students 
 easily in three winter half years. The summer they are 
 recommended to spend on some farms where they can 
 learn the practice of husbandry. Natives of the Duchy 
 have free instruction at this college, in consideration of a 
 yearly addition to its revenues, granted by the state. 
 Strangers pay 44 florins (about 4/.) for the half-year's 
 instruction, which is conducted by highly qualified pro- 
 fessors. The grounds are divided into portions on which 
 the agricultural systems of England and Flanders, Meck- 
 lenburg, Holstein, and the improved ordinary village 
 course are followed, and the results thus made intelligible 
 to the scholars. Irrigated meadows form one part, and 
 a garden and nursery another part, of the grounds. A
 
 164 AGKICULTUKE OS THE EIIIXE. 
 
 third, adjoining a public walk, is devoted to expe- 
 riments on various seeds and plants, hops, vines, &c. 
 The buildings join a spacious farm-yard, although, 
 only milch cows are kept, the labour being all done by 
 contract. 
 
 The slender iund of the agricultural society still suffices 
 to afford a distribution of prizes to agricultural servants 
 for good conduct, and to keep up a small collection of 
 models and a library. A veterinary hospital is kept in 
 one part of the buildings, to which the farmers of the 
 ..neighbourhood and the people of the town resort. The 
 influence of the establishment has been great; chiefly 
 Jjecause the government has made it the direct organ for 
 >cncouraging improvements. The Director M. Albrecht 
 is not only encouraged to suggest improvements, but has 
 been employed as commissary for years together in the 
 carrying out a grand plan formed for improving the state 
 of the heights of the Westerwald, the name of which is 
 already familiar to the reader. The brooks and little 
 streams of a large district in those mountains have been 
 united where practicable, and led into situations that 
 allow them to overflow and irrigate a large extent of 
 jneadow land in the fashion of the meadows of Siegen. 
 JJesides the meadows attached to the farm, there are 
 others near Wiesbaden which bear testimony to the gain 
 resulting from the small exertion required to let the water 
 run over the land occasionally. 
 
 , Wiesbaden js a good station to observe the two sides 
 that liave been pointed out in the present condition of 
 agriculture in Germany. The little town, which is not 
 much more than a considerable village, has also its two 
 sides. What may be called the aboriginal inhabitants
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 165 
 
 are all villagers living on the produce of their own lands 
 which they for the most part till in person. Some ex- 
 ceptions arc found in landowners who have made money 
 by the sudden rise in the value of land for building, occa- 
 sioned by the removal of the court from Biberich, and 
 the rapid increase of the annual visitors to the waters. 
 Both these changes have occurred within a few years, 
 and have unhinged the steady revolving activity of the 
 husbandman, without having as yet introduced the more 
 refined and larger sphere of action that belongs to towns. 
 The small landowners possess their grounds invariably 
 on three sides of the town ; and the nearest arable land 
 is at least a quarter of a mile distant from the owner's 
 house, while the " gemarkung" or parish extends five 
 miles in breadth, without having outlying farms to them 
 with the few exceptions that we shall notice. The ob- 
 server who notices the march of dung-carts, ploughs, 
 harrows, and other implements at five o'clock in 
 the morning often to perform a distance of two miles of 
 road, and to return after work to a twelve o'clock dinner, 
 will not be at a loss to calculate the amount of labour that 
 is annually wasted by this arrangement. The visitor has 
 constant occasion to wonder at the village appearance of 
 great part of a town in which 20,000 fashionable strangers 
 congregate from all parts of Europe during three months 
 of the summer. Were any one, strangers or domestic spe- 
 culators, or even the authorities of the country, to project 
 a change that would make farming a valuable occupation, 
 while the town would answer the purpose for which 
 towns were intended, in consequence of the alteration it 
 would be found altogether impracticable. It may be 
 assumed to be matter of utter impossibility to purchase at 
 any price one hundred acres of contiguous land, even in
 
 166 AGRICUIiTUKE 0>' THE KIIINE. 
 
 situations where a moment's reflection shows that the 
 ground is not only utterly valueless to its present owners, 
 but that its cultivation must entail a loss. It is, however, 
 not very long since people began to reason any where on 
 these matters ; and it is but justice to say, that the govern- 
 ment has spared no pains in recommending the consolida- 
 tion at least of the present scattered properties, in which 
 task M. Albrecht, the director of the agricultural college, 
 has been very serviceable. It is, however, charac- 
 teristic of the little capital, and of its present burgesses, 
 that in Wiesbaden we could not discover that a single 
 consolidation had taken place. 
 
 Of the nature of the contributions that are made to 
 the weekly publication, an opinion may be formed from 
 the following notices. Among other things a map 
 of the Duchy of Nassau has been given. From this 
 we learn the prevalence of another elementary scourge 
 scarcely less destructive for the moment than the cloud- 
 breaks that we described some chapters back. The 
 hailstorms of Germany are often fearfully destructive. 
 We have seen corn-fields in ear so completely extermi- 
 nated, that the very haulm has been beaten into the earth, 
 and a few hours have sufficed to make it diflicult to say 
 what crop had stood on the ground. These hailstorms 
 are local plagues, seldom extending in breadth beyond 
 a mile ; but the length of the strip they ravage is very 
 various. Calculations of the chances they present have 
 been made, and insurance societies have been established 
 against loss by hail in many parts of Germany. The 
 map shows the loss that has accrued to the Duchy of 
 Nassau within the last fifty years from hailstorms, and 
 by means of various colours the number of times diiterent 
 places have suffered are distinctly shown.
 
 AGBICULTUBE ON THE RHINE. 167 
 
 The Duchy of Nassau has also an insurance society 
 against the mortality of cattle at Hofheim, with an 
 agency at Frankfort. This institution has been of great 
 benefit to the poor farmers since its establishment. 
 
 In another contribution to the weekly journal, we 
 found a description of an improved management of under- 
 w^ood plantations on the plan of the " hauberge," that we 
 described as peculiar to Siegen. In some parts of Nassau, 
 after the wood is cut the ground is subjected to a three 
 years' rotation of crops. Rye is sown in the first year on 
 the soil manured by burning the sods ; oats follow in 
 the second ; and potatoes in the third year. Woods have, 
 according to this statement, been farmed out for three 
 years after cutting, at 5 florins the morgen, or 125. 6d. 
 the acre, per annum. The crop of broom that grows 
 spontaneously in the woods of Siegen seems to be lost 
 under this system. 
 
 We extract from the eleventh volume of the Transac- 
 tions of this useful little society, the state of its funds in 
 1838, for the purpose of showing how easily such associa- 
 tions are established. 
 
 Vr. Income. 
 
 
 
 Expenditure. 
 
 Cr. 
 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. 
 
 d. 
 
 Balance from 1837. 40 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rates and taxes 8 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 Interest of sundry 
 
 
 
 Salary of clerks, 
 
 
 
 sums ... 4 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 gardener, post- 
 
 
 
 Money borrowed 1 1 5 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 age, lighting, &c. 97 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 Contribution from 
 
 
 
 Interest of money 44 
 
 19 
 
 
 
 Government . 361 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Borrowed money 
 
 
 
 Subscription to 
 
 
 
 repaid . . .111 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 weekly and an- 
 
 
 
 Prizes distributed 167 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 nual publica- 
 
 
 
 Cost of veterinary 
 
 
 
 tions . . . 309 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 hospital . . 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contributions for 
 
 
 
 Students' founda- 
 
 
 
 journals . . 6 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 tions . .10 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 For foals and marcs 
 
 
 
 Cost of publishing 152 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 at grass . . o 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 Cost of journals 17 
 
 1 
 
 4
 
 168 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Dr. Income. Expenditure. Cr. 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 For brood ewes Kent of nx^adow 2I 11 6 
 
 and Iambs . . 1 5 G Breeding cattle 13 
 Profit on model Kent and expenses 
 
 farms. . . . 176 16 1 on the model 
 Sundry credits . 10 farms . 127 15 
 
 Sundry purchases 
 
 as below . . 142 6 
 Sundry debits . 14 6 
 Balance in hand . 82 4 3 
 
 £1027 5 3 £1027 5 3 
 
 1837. Stock of the Soclcii/. 1838. 
 
 £ s. d. £ s. d. 
 
 10 8 4 CaplUil advanced . . 10 8 4 
 
 12 15 Shares in Merino breeders 12 15 
 
 2176 10 Value of land at Idstein and 
 
 Wiesbaden . . 22GS 8 
 
 G18 7 2 Improvements in lar.d and 
 
 buildings 
 259 1 Cattle and implements 
 55 Furniture 
 44 5 Matrices for medals . 
 258 10 Stock of annuals and weekly 
 publications . 
 21 16 6 Stock of prize medals 
 37 10 6 Cai^h iu hand . 
 
 £3494 2 7 Total of stock . 
 
 1179 3 1 Money borrowed 
 
 651 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 275 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 55 
 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 285 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 82 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 — . 
 
 £3GS4 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 11 S3 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 £2314 19 6 Property of the society £'2501 7 11 
 
 Many of the items in this account are well worthy of 
 <:!onsideration. The liberality of the governincnt, the 
 excellent economy by means of which two farms are 
 managed, and a journal with a circulation of 15C0 copies 
 published, prizes liberally distributed, and information of 
 the most valuable description circulated at a cost of GOO/. 
 ])er annum, are equally deserving of admiration. 
 
 While stranger guests are devouring sum])tuous meals 
 in palace-like dining-saloons, and the four quarters ol" the
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 169 
 
 world arc taxed to furnish a bill of fare for ten tables 
 d'iiote, that may be safely called the best furnished, and 
 the cheapest dinners in Europe, the said peasant burgesses 
 are sitting down to their homely meal, at which tlie rye- 
 bread figures that has grown upon their land, been carted 
 by their horses, and ground at one of the eleven privileged 
 mills of the district, little supposing that his outlay for 
 food is not much less than that of his more travelled guest 
 at the Rose, or the Four Seasons. Yet this is un- 
 doubtedly the case, and not only at Wiesbaden, but over 
 the greater part of Germany, as a result of the distance 
 at which the lands lie from the houses of the peasantry. 
 There happens in most parts to be land enough; and 
 where the population is most dense, the climate multiplies 
 its powers. Thus the pressure of actual want is rarely 
 felt by the present number of inhabitants ; but how much 
 capital that ought to accumulate is wasted, how much 
 labour that might be advantageously employed in other 
 ways is lost in this most expensive system of agriculture ! 
 The face of the country round Wiesbaden presents a 
 fair picture of the vast extent of level land that stretches 
 from the Taunus eastward, to the Spessart, Oden, and 
 Blackforest mountains ; and to the south as far as Breisach, 
 comprising the valleys of the Lower Maine, and one-half 
 of the vale of the Upper Rhine. The soil is alluvial 
 throughout, and of varying but nowhere of less than 
 average fertility. Between Wiesbaden and the rise of 
 the Spessart beyond Hanau, the soil is especially suited 
 for wheat, and the dryness of the ground that is un- 
 favourable for meadowing on the heights, admits of the 
 cultivation of artificial gri>.sses. This last branch of farm- 
 ing is here well understood by every peasant, even by
 
 170 AGRICULTURE OS THE BHIKE. 
 
 those who cannot comprehend the loss that ensues from 
 carting the' green clover two miles every day to the stall- 
 fed cows. We are afraid that their mode of indemnifying 
 themselves by reducing the quality of the milk, will be 
 found to savour more of urban than of rural habits. 
 Latterly too an attempt has been made to protect the 
 bakers by taxing the bread of the outlying bakers, a fact 
 that is symptomatic of civic or at least of corporation 
 progress ; but which, with so nomadic a population as 
 Wiesbaden can boast, is rather a dangerous experiment. 
 These remarks are not intended as local gossip. The 
 same calculations have been made and acted upon at 
 Vienna and Berlin, that we find only in imitation amongst 
 the more recent civic authorities of Wiesbaden ; and every 
 Prussian and Austrian village presents the same agricul- 
 tural features that we have traced at the foot of the 
 Taunus. 
 
 Although no prescribed rotation of crops is now 
 followed by the Wiesbaden farmers, yet the recent ex- 
 istence of the village system is testified by the absence of 
 enclosures, and the regular appearance of the parish 
 shepherd, who may be seen guiding his scanty flock as 
 close as he can to the greenest fallow plots. His dog, 
 who seems to share his cares, jumps about and barks as if 
 loath to grudge the poor animals the stolen nibble at 
 the beet-root leaves, or the clover-ley, that indicate the 
 improvements which are rendering the services of both 
 superfluous. But although shorn of the dignity of an 
 official personage, and only the servant of the man who 
 farms the much diminished right of grazing, he is ame- 
 nable to the town council for all depredations committed 
 by his flock. The peasant burgess may therefore smoke
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RIII>E. 171 
 
 Jiis pipe and drink his ''schoppen" at home, compara- 
 tively sure that the wisp of straw which he has set up on 
 a stick to denote that he means to use his fallow himself 
 will be respected, and that no more of the border of 
 his quarter-of-an-acre field will be nibbled than custom 
 has prescribed to be " law." The owner of fruit-trees is 
 differently circumstanced, and the limit to which these 
 pretty ornaments of a Rhenish farm can be extended are 
 fixed by the walking powers of a few gardes champetres, 
 very inefficient protection, as the reader will suppose, 
 against the youth or the loose population of the surrounding- 
 country. The abundance and good quality of tlie fruit 
 in this neighbourhood have already been noticed. In 
 Frankfort-on-the-Main cider is a favourite beverage, 
 although the drink sold under that name w^ould surprise 
 the most homely drinker of the valleys of the Severn or 
 the Blackwater. It is strange that such excellent mate- 
 rials should be used so perversely. But the fact is that 
 fruit in these parts is used at meals like vegetables, and 
 the apples, pears., and plums, dressed, fresh, or after 
 drying, are a never- failing accompaniment of the roast 
 joint at table. Of their use as a substitute for butter we 
 have already spoken. The malter of apples or pears at 
 harvest time (nearly equal to four bushels) sells for 
 3 or 4 florins (5s. to 6s. Sd.). The peasant-like calcula- 
 tions of the small landowners about Wiesbaden arc most 
 strikingly illustrated by the absence of all cultivation of 
 early vegetables and table fruit, for both of which the 
 climate is favourable, and the visitors would gladly pur- 
 chase. The vegetables are daily brought to market from 
 the other side of the Rhine. 
 
 In this respect the inhabitants of Mayence and Frank-
 
 172 AGRICULTLKK OX THE RUIKE. 
 
 fort, as townsmen of older standing, arc much more in- 
 dustrious, A walk through the "garden-field" of 
 Mayence, as a portion of the land enclosed between the 
 walls of the town and the outer range of works is called, 
 is an interesting lounge in summer. Not only has every 
 citizen his little plot, to which he or his family with male 
 or female servants adjourn to drink coffee, smoke, and 
 delve the soil every afternoon ; but nursery gardens on a 
 small scale may be found which disseminate the new 
 plants and flowers as they come into use or into fashion. 
 A flower show is held twice a-year at Mayence, at which 
 prizes are distributed. In Frankfort the love of flowers 
 is a pleasing characteristic of tiie richer inhabitants, 
 especially as they lend their aid to extend this desirable 
 taste amongst their poorer neighbours. The flower show 
 takes place several times in the year, and it is combined 
 with a lottery for the purchase and distribution of th 
 plants. Thus the poorer gardeners are sure to be in- 
 demnified for any extra cost to which they go in rearing 
 }>lants. 
 
 The ca<e with which money is earned by studying the 
 wants and whims of the numerous strangers during the 
 season at Wiesbaden, takes the people oil' their regular 
 employm.cnts. Building speculation has however done 
 more to disturb the regular progress in agriculture, for 
 which the neighbourhood is well adapted. » The character 
 of the whole country between the mountain limits that 
 V, e have traced is decidedly agricultural ; but there is. a 
 mixture and uncertainty that puzzles the observer unless 
 he is prepared to allow for some disturl)ing element 
 such as we have described, or to regard the agriculture 
 of the country as in a state of transition.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 173 
 
 Wiesbaden is a good place to study the various tenures 
 of land and the mode of occupying it common in Central 
 Germany. In the immediate neighbourhood there are a 
 number of small farms, agreeable excursions to which 
 may be made by strangers, and the more easily as the 
 sale of milk and wine is generally combined with agri- 
 cultural operations by the owners, so that a stranger 
 need not fear that his visit will be looked upon as an 
 intrusion : the valleys of the Taunus present shady 
 paths in summer to the nearest of these farms. Im- 
 mediately adjoining the town lies the secularized con- 
 vent of Clarenthal, part of whose lands have been 
 sold, while part is still a domain of the state. The 
 latter portion, comprising about 400 morgen, or 250 
 acres, is let on lease to a farmer at the rent of 9 florins 
 per morgen, or about 1/. 55. per acre. Were the circum- 
 stances other than we have described in the town, and 
 its market open for supplies at fair prices, there can be 
 no doubt but that the rent of land so situated would be 
 much higher, A nice farm near Clarenthal is managed 
 by its owner, and consists of rather more land in one lot. 
 About two miles farther on in the hills lies the small 
 farm of Adamsthal, which presents a very good picture 
 of the improved farming of Germany on a limited scale — 
 water-meadows in the hollow, grain and artificial grasses 
 on the height, and a tolerable quantity of fruit-trees, 
 although the elevated situation is not very favourable for 
 them. Similar farms, in more or less picturesque situa- 
 tions, are the Nuremberg Hof, the Armada Hof, and 
 others. The islands in the Rhine opposite to Bieberich 
 contain farms also. The Petersau, which is the largest, 
 had three farms upon it, until lately, when the govern- 
 
 I
 
 174 AGRICULTURE 0>r THE RHINE. 
 
 ment of Hesse Darmstadt bought the largest, and has 
 laid it all down under lucem. Adjacent is the Ingel- 
 heirnau, which is let on the condition of the farmer's 
 furnishing four hundred loads of dung annually for Count 
 Ingelheims vineyards at Ingelhcim and in the Rhinegau. 
 On a third island, immediately opposite Bieberich, there 
 is a considerable farm, at present untenanted, belonging 
 to the Duke of Nassau. 
 
 In the course of a few rides and drives along the foot 
 of the Taunus range, it is easy for a visitor to make him- 
 self fully acquainted with the farming processes and 
 division of property. Fruit is a part of the crop on all 
 estates near the mountains, and individuals as well as 
 whole parishes make it a profitable source of revenue. 
 Every village has a peculiar fruit for which it is famous. 
 Frauenstcin furnishes cherries; Schierstcin, ajjplcs and 
 grapes. We have already noticed the large chestnut- 
 plantation belonging to Wiesbaden. The village of 
 Brennthal, about four miles east of Wiesbaden, draws a 
 revenue of GOOO florins from its fruit, mostly apples. 
 Eppstein and Hof heim furnish gpocj cider. Kronberg 
 serves as a nursei'y, fruits and fruit-trees of the kinds 
 most in use being produced there in abundance for the 
 adjacent country. If we leave the Taunus and cross the 
 Maine to the territory of Hesse Darmstadt, we find similar 
 arrangements. The large plain between the mountains 
 and the Rhine is devoted to grain-crops, but little of this 
 space can vie in quality with the wheat-lands between 
 Ilochheim and Hanau. The railroad traverses this latter 
 plain between Mayence and Frankfort ; and the traveller 
 can there, too, observe the effect of the village system in 
 taking llie cultivators off the land, and ycry much in-
 
 AGRICULTURS ON THE RHINE. 175 
 
 creasing the labour of tillage. Near Frankfort there are 
 several large farms, the property of foundations, clerical, 
 charitable, or civic ; and the approach to the city is 
 through a little forest of apple- trees, which seem to pro- 
 claim the love of the Frankfort people for cider. Of the 
 various farms, one belonging to M. Bcthmann will best 
 repay the trouble of visiting. 
 
 From Darmstadt to Heidelberg the road runs along the 
 foot of the Oden mountains, and has the plain on one 
 side. The mixture of picturesque mountain scenery with 
 the rich cultivation and plantations of fruit-trees in the 
 plain have given celebrity to this Bergstrasse, which will 
 soon be rendered accessible to tourists by the railroad 
 from Frankfort to Heidelberg that will be opened in the 
 summer of 1846. Between this road and the Rhine large 
 villages intervene, which, lying out of the high road, 
 preserve much that is antiquated in the dress and man- 
 ners of the inhabitants. There is, however, also, a great 
 deal of poverty in these villages, the lands of which are 
 sandy, and exposed to frequent floods from the BJiinc. 
 The whole space of country between the hills and the 
 river presented, in the spring of 1845, the appearance of 
 one enormous lake, involving great destruction of pro- 
 perty. The Grand Duchy of Darmstadt is altogether an 
 agricultural state, possessing no manufactures of any im- 
 portance. The revenue is also principally drawn from 
 the cultivators of the soil, and the land-tax and parish- 
 rates are both heavy, and press severely on the poor land- 
 holders, whose energies are lamed by the dispersed situa- 
 tions of the lands they till. The village sj'stem, in this 
 respect, presents its most disadvantageous side in this 
 portion of Hesse Darmstadt. 
 
 i2
 
 176 AGRICULTURE OS THE EHI^E. 
 
 The city of Mayence is one of the largest corn-markets 
 in Germany. Not only are large supplies of grain and 
 seeds collected by the merchants there to be distributed 
 amongst the numerous small markets, and to be sent down 
 the Rhine to the manufacturing districts, but a consider- 
 able exportation takes place by the Rhine to Holland 
 and to the adjoining districts of France. JSIayence is 
 the capital of the province of " Rheinhessen," belonging 
 to the Grand Duchy of Hesse. This province is one of 
 the most populous districts of Germany, and the sole oc- 
 cupation of the inhabitants is agriculture. The soil is 
 for the most part of fair quality, and, under the cultiva- 
 tion of a great number of small proprietors, is made to 
 ])roduce a great deal ; but, as usual, at the cost of all to 
 the peasant owners but the means of subsistence on the 
 footing of labourers. The high roads most frequently 
 travelled do not run through this part of the Grand 
 Duchy of Hesse. We prefer, therefore, enlarging on 
 the agricultural ])rocesses and prospects of the districts on 
 the Upper Rhine when we come to the Duchy of Baden
 
 ( ^'7 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VVs must now call our readers back to the rise of the 
 mountain-tract that separates the Lower from the Middle 
 Rhine near Bonn. Here the cultivation of the vine has 
 its proper commencement, and even the little gardens of 
 Bonn are diversified by small patches of vines cut low or 
 trained over arbours, not merely to afford shade, but to 
 furnish grapes for the table. The abrupt steeps pre- 
 sented by the hills enclosing the vales of the volcanic 
 district on both banks of the Rhine are good sites for 
 ripening grapes, but the want of sufficient depth of soil is 
 shown by the less generous nature of the fruit the vines 
 produce as compared with those of the alluvial soils of 
 the Middle Rhine. The sides of the Drachenfels are 
 covered with vineyards that stretch from the river's 
 bank up the base of the mountain to a considerable 
 height, where the aspect is south or south-east ; and 
 nearly every such site is henceforward occupied as we 
 proceed up the stream. The produce of these vineyards is 
 however very indifferent, and it is not until we reach the 
 valley of the Ahr that we find names familiar to lovers of 
 Rhenish wine. The course of the Ahr being generally 
 east and west, the north bank presents a number of fa- 
 vourable exposures to the south, which have of late years 
 been turned to good account by skilful growers. With 
 the exception of the " Rhinegau" vineyards, perhaps the 
 greatest care is bestowed upon the growth of these Ahr
 
 178 AGRrCUI.TrRE ox THE RHINE. 
 
 vines ; and this is illustrative of the truth of the remark, that 
 where Nature does the most, man is often tem})ted to do 
 the least to improve her gifts. The most recent im- 
 provements of late years have been made in the regula- 
 tion of the fermenting process. By care bestowed in 
 this stage of wine-making, valuable crops that formerly 
 were wasted are now turned to account. Not that good 
 treatment will make sour grapes yield sweet must, or 
 bestow flavour where Nature has withheld it : but for- 
 merly much fruit that was both well ripened and well fla- 
 voured, produced, in bad hands, a most unsavoury drink. 
 The fine wines of this district are all red, and are 
 treated in the French fashion. The chief reason for 
 this is that the small red Burgundy grape ripens earlier 
 and requires less depth of soil than the fine grapes used 
 in the Rhinegau. A supplementary reason may be, that 
 red wine allows of additions to heighten the flavour, 
 such as are well understood in France ; whereas the 
 pure "hock" spurns all artificial adjuncts. 
 
 The Ahrbleichart wines, as they are commonly called, 
 are fully equal to the French " vin du pays," in the 
 northern departments, and at Walportsheim and the 
 Ahrdale, a wine of generous quality is produced that 
 may rank with some of the Macon and Rhone growths, 
 which it resembles more than the Bordeaux clarets. 
 
 The cultivation of the vine ought nowhere to be un- 
 dertaken by peasants, for it supposes the possession of 
 no inconsiderable capital where it is to prove remu- 
 nerating. When a vineyard is laid down, three years 
 are lost before even gi-apes can be gathered, and wine 
 cannot be expected before the fifth year. The field se- 
 lected ought, moreover, to lie fallow for two or three years
 
 AGBICULTUBE OK THE RHINE. 179 
 
 ])revious to the planting', and it is then turned over with 
 the spade and pickaxe and trenched, so that the surface 
 is buried several feet (where the soil is deep enough) 
 and the subsoil brought up. Trenches are then opened, 
 and, in March or April, the cuttings that have beer, 
 buried in bundles from the previous autumn, and are be- 
 ginning to sprout, are planted two together at intervals of 
 four, five, or six feet from one another in rows five feet 
 asunder. Opinions differ as to M'hether it is better to 
 plant the cuttings when they begin to sprout in the 
 spring, or to wait till the autumn and plant them after 
 another year's fallow. The first manure employed is 
 the grass sod that has formed on the surface during the 
 preceding year, and it is deemed good to allow this full) 
 to decay before the plants are set. 
 
 A more difficult matter is the choice of the direction 
 in which the rows are to run, for in a country where 
 sunshine is scanty (for the vine), too much care cannot 
 be bestowed upon the position of the plants so that one 
 may not shade the other. It is especially necessary that 
 the sunbeams should sufficiently warm the ground between 
 the rows, as the grower depends at least as much in the 
 ripening season upon this reflected heat as upon the direct 
 solar influence. Where the hills present rapidly changing 
 aspect, as in the tortuous side-valleys of the llhine, and 
 even in the Rhine vale itself, contiguous vineyards may 
 be seen with the line of their ascending rows varying in 
 direction v/itli every curve, but always opening to that 
 point of the heavens where the sun stands in the middle 
 of his course with regard to that individual slope of the 
 hill. 
 
 7'he problem of obtaining good wine depends in a
 
 180 AGRICL'LTUKE OX THE RHI>;B. 
 
 northern latitude upon these two requisites — reflected 
 heat and richness of soil. The vine has a tap-root that 
 shoots perpendicularly into the ground to so great a 
 depth, where the soil admits, that it finds moisture in 
 the hottest summer. A stony surface is useful for 
 two reasons, in causing the rain water which the plant 
 does not need for nourishment to roll off, while stones 
 and slates often retain the heat of the summer sun long 
 after it has gone down. It is, however, a mistake to sup- 
 pose that a rocky district is more favourable to the 
 growth of the plant than alluvial deposits, as we shall 
 abundantly prove as we go along. Many travellers are, 
 at first sight of the Rhenish vineyards, disappointed. 
 Being accustomed only to vines trained on walls or on 
 trelliswork, they cannot fancy the plant otherwise tlian 
 as a creeper gracefully festooning poles or the trunks of 
 trees or other lofty supporters. It must, however, be 
 remembered, that the hill-side on which the vine is in- 
 variably planted is intended to serve as a wall by reflect- 
 ing the sun's heat. The numerous plants in a vineyard 
 (4850 are planted on an acre of land) represent the spread 
 of a vine upon a wall, with this ditlerence, that the 
 sources of nourishment are so many more as there are 
 roots within an equal space. The luxuriant growth 
 which can thus be attained is, however, checked by pe- 
 riodical prunings of the young shoots and large lower 
 leaves that would keep oft the rays of the sun. Not- 
 withstanding the bare appearance of the vine-planted 
 hills in the early part of the summer, when all around is 
 clothed in green, we have never been able to look at 
 them without associating ideas of cheerfulness and joy 
 with their view, and fancying that they were an index of
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 181 
 
 wealth and comfort for the district. This is far from 
 being everywhere the case, for the reason before assigned, 
 that considerable capital is requisite to make the cultiva- 
 tion of the vine a profitable occupation. A vineyard is, 
 however, an undoubted token for an Englishman that 
 sunshine is common where it is found, and sunshine 
 alone is a precious gift. The wanderer in the vale of 
 the Ahr will soon feel the satisfaction which all must 
 experience on finding that its inhabitants have a compen- 
 sation allotted to them for the general rudeness of the 
 soil and the severe climate of the valley in winter. 
 
 As we progress up the Rhine it is interesting to watch 
 the vineyards that seem to spring from bank to bank and 
 from precipice to precipice, according as a southern 
 aspect can be obtained. The wildest thickets alternate 
 with these vineyards, which bear appearance of the most 
 careful cultivation all along. Endless is the labour with 
 which the steep hill-side is carefully terraced, from the 
 top to the base, wherever the slope is so rapid as to 
 cause the soil to be washed down by heavy rains. Al- 
 though the manure of which the vine is greedy has to be 
 carried up in baskets to the vineyards on these heights, 
 and the labour they demand is constant, yet the winzer 
 is indefatigable, and as little inclined to scrutinize closely 
 the true cost of cultivation as his neighbour the peasant 
 corn-grower in the lowland village. The years of dis- 
 appointment are also numerous. To one good vintage 
 there are estimated two of ordinary yield, two of poor 
 crops, and one total failure ; so that the hard labour in the 
 vineyard is accompanied by never-ceasing anxiety of the 
 owner for the result of his toil. This is best evinced by' 
 the following official statement of the crops : — 
 
 i3
 
 182 
 
 AGRICUI/rURE ON THE RIIIXE. 
 
 Wine Productiou in the Rhenish Province in the folloAA ing 
 Years. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Quant, in Eiraers. 
 
 Year. Quant, in Eimers. 
 
 1819 
 
 . . 605,050 
 
 1831 . 
 
 189,924 
 
 1820 
 
 . . 99,122 
 
 1832 . 
 
 294,752 
 
 1821 
 
 . . 24,8G9 
 
 1833 . 
 
 591,201 
 
 1822 
 
 . . 469,211 
 
 1834 . 
 
 854,000 
 
 1823 
 
 . . 235,799 
 
 1835 . 
 
 692,005 
 
 1S24 
 
 . . 206,969 
 
 1836 . 
 
 342,619 
 
 1825 
 
 . . 363,260 
 
 1837 . 
 
 257,567 
 
 182»i 
 
 . . 711,113 
 
 1838 . 
 
 173.835 
 
 1827 
 
 . . 140,820 
 
 1839 . 
 
 412,830 
 
 1828 
 
 . . 816,229 
 
 1 S40 . 
 
 236,722 
 
 1829 
 
 . . 228,759 
 
 1841 . 
 
 189,070 
 
 1830 
 
 . . 14,674 
 
 1842 . 
 
 466,993 
 
 The average oi" these 24 years is 359,058 eimers, or 
 
 5,385,000 imp. gallons as the production of 48,968 
 
 morgens, or 31,195 acres, being nearly 185 gallons per 
 
 acre. In the years quoted in the table, 2 were average 
 
 years, 12 were below, and 10 above the average. The 
 
 years 1821 and 1830 may be considered as total failures ; 
 
 whereas 1826, 1828, 1834, and 1835 were extraordinarily 
 
 favourable seasons. The ground under wine-cultivation 
 
 in the Prussian part of the Rhine and jNIoselle valleys, 
 
 and the adjacent vales, was classified as follows for the 
 
 land-tax : — 
 
 In the first class were 9,021 morgens. 
 second class „ 12,199 „ 
 
 third class 
 fourth class 
 fifth class 
 sixth class 
 
 14.598 
 
 10.529 
 
 2,336 
 
 283 
 
 Little more than one-fifth of the whole was, therefore, 
 classed as first-rate soil. This arises from the circum- 
 stance that the climate not being very favourable in the 
 
 portion 
 
 of the Middle Rhine that belongs to Prussia, it
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE KKiXE. 1S3 
 
 is only possible to grow vines upon the steep slopes of 
 the mountains. Even in the valley of the Moselle it is 
 scarcely possible to use the ground which presents the 
 depth of soil that the vine requires, without losing too 
 much in reflected heat. The traveller finds some vine- 
 yards on the alluvial offsets of the hills soon after leaving 
 Coblenz, on a gentle slope near the village of Winnin- 
 gen; but their produce, notwithstanding the good qua- 
 lity of the soil, is not to be compared to those on the 
 steep a little farther on, where the hill-side forms an 
 angle of 45°, and was only made accessible a few years 
 back by an extensive blasting-operation conducted by 
 the engineers of Coblenz. The vineyards of Picsport, 
 Brauneberg, and Zclting vary in the angle thej^ present 
 to the surface of the river from 20° to 40°. In so moun- 
 tainous a district any site less steep than these would 
 assuredly prove unfit for the vine. 
 
 Two peculiarities may be observed in the vinej^ards of 
 the Moselle that distinguish them from those of Nassau 
 and Rhenish Hesse, but which we shall again meet with 
 in the Palatinate. The first is the apj)arent neglect with 
 which the growers seem to treat the preparation of the 
 soil for planting. The young vines are planted in trenches 
 with some dung, but with far less care than is observed 
 on the Rhine. The land is not allowed to lie unused 
 for years previous to the planting, nor is a layer of turf 
 deemed necessary to receive the roots of the young plants. 
 This is explained by the rapid decomposition of the soft 
 clay-slate of which the hills are composed, and which 
 keeps up a constant supply of fresh soil, thar by turning 
 over is brought into contact with the plant. What this 
 regeneration of the soil imparts in the shape of nourish-
 
 184 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 ment is, however, not precisely ascertained. The second 
 peculiarly consists in its being possible to train the vines 
 on the good sites much higher than can be done in the 
 valley of the Rhine ; the angle of the slope being sharp 
 enough to reflect heat to the plant at a greater elevation. 
 
 The grapes usually cultivated are such as ripen earliest, 
 the climate not favouring a late vintage, except on the 
 best sites and soils. The Kleinberg grape is the most 
 common on the Moselle. This species gives abundance 
 of fruit, sweet but without fine flavour, and ripens in the 
 beginnhig of October. The Riesling, of which the finest 
 hock wines are made, is only found in the choicest vine- 
 }'ards at Brauneberg, Piesport, and Zeltingen. The 
 Riesling ripens towards the close of October, but can 
 only be used in warm seasons. In unfavourable summers 
 it gives no return. Hence the quantity of the fine Mo- 
 selle wines that is grown is very limited. Scharzberg, 
 Brauneberg, Piesport, and Zeltingen must not be judged 
 of by the light wines sold under those names at tables 
 d'hote, or by the still lighter that are daily recommended 
 by travelling agents. The choice Moselle growths are 
 rich but delicate wines, and are very expensive on the 
 spot where they are produced. The Kleinberg wines are 
 usually those which are distinguished by mildness and 
 absence of acidity when young. They do not keep so 
 well, nor can they be in any way ranked with the juice 
 of the riesling grape. At Piesport and Zeltingen a good 
 deal of red wine is made. 
 
 The wine made by the peasants is treated nearly in the 
 same manner on the Moselle as on the Rhine. The grapes 
 are not allowed to hang so long as in the choice vine- 
 yards, and after they are trodden or stamped with a
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 185 
 
 wooden mallet in smaH vats, are abandoned to nature for 
 the process of fermentation. As soon as all fermentation 
 subsides, the wine is drawn off into casks, and is again 
 racked off into other casks in the spring and autumn of 
 the following- year, or allowed to remain undisturbed ac- 
 cording to the circumstances and diligence of the grower. 
 The wine-merchant generally makes his purchases after 
 the spring racking, when the quality can be ascertained, 
 and undertakes the further management. The light 
 wines may be drunk in the second year ; the heavier sorts 
 require from three to five years to ripen. During this time 
 the wine is kept in casks holding one or two pipes, as the 
 quantity best suited to the convenience of the cellarman, 
 and to bring the liquor to maturity. The immense tuns 
 that were formerly in use have gone quite out of fashion . 
 Once in every year, at least, the wine must be racked off 
 as long as it shows signs of fermentation at the close of 
 the spring, and before these symptoms cease it is not fit 
 to bottle. There is great similarity in all the light wines 
 made on the Moselle and en the Rhine below Bingen. 
 The wines of Caub and Lorch are distinguished amongst 
 them by a very delicate aroma, but possess too little body 
 to bear exportation. In the hot summer of that part of 
 the Rhine they afford a very pleasing beverage when they 
 can be had pure. At Bingen the direction of the bed of 
 the Rhine is suddenly changed from a course lying x^T. 
 and S. to one bearing E. and W. In consequence of 
 this change the whole of the right bank, stretching as far 
 as the Maine, has a southern aspect. This bank is lined 
 by the Taunus range, which at Riidesheim advances with 
 a rocky mass to the rivers bank, but whose heights gra- 
 dually recede, forming an acute angle with the river to
 
 186 AGRICUJ.TUKE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Walluf, where they suddenly leave it and stretch 
 at a right angle towards Wiesbaden and Homburg. 
 At Walluf a projecting ridge runs out from the main 
 range, and thus the gentle slopes that, \yith various 
 undulations, lie on the base of the Taunus between 
 Iliidesheim and Walluf, are sheltered from the east 
 wind as well as from the violence of storms from the 
 S.W. When to these favourable circumstances we add 
 that these slopes are formed of alluvial soil, frequently 
 attaining a depth of twenty feet or more of an ex- 
 ceedingly fertile nature, the reader will easily conceive 
 on what the claims of the " llhinegau" to be pre-emi- 
 nently adapted to the production of wine are founded. 
 The ])roduce of the llhinegau vineyards will unhesitatingly 
 be pronounced by all who have had an opportunity of 
 tasting it in its purity, and with due selection, to be the 
 choicest wine that is made. But, in addition to the draw- 
 back of its being the dearest wine that is sold, its rarity 
 prevents so many from having the opportunity of judging 
 of it, that many of our readers, travelled as well as un- 
 travelled, must, we fear, content themselves with the 
 proofs which we shall adduce of the correctness of our 
 asseveration. The whole length of this favoured tract of 
 country is from 10 to 12 English miles. The summits of 
 the Taunus that shelter it on the north rise 1500 feet above 
 the Pthine, and recede to a distance of a mile and a half 
 from its bank. The upper part of the mountains is 
 wooded, the lower part presents undulations of varying size 
 and slope. As the boat winds round what is emphatically 
 called the hill of Riidesheim, the traveller glances with 
 no little surprise at the close and compact patches of 
 vines with which its precipitous side is literally clothed.
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RIIINf;. 187 
 
 With the exception of a few narrow paths, wall succeeds 
 wall, and terrace overhangs terrace, to an elevation of 
 500 feet above the level of the river. The hill is an ini- 
 mcnso mass of clay-slate, which is the predominant forma- 
 tion of the Taunus, and the steepness here alike supplies 
 the place of deep soil and allows every aspect to be used. 
 In approaching this round projection we pass Assmans- 
 hausen, which stands also shrouded in vineyards, with a 
 south-westerly exposure. Here red wine is chiefly made, 
 but choice white wine has lately been produced there. An 
 angle in the hill intervenes, but the same aspect soon recurs, 
 and the Riitlesheim vineyards commence. The full round 
 of the hill gives breadth to the south-western, southern, 
 and south-eastern sites, on each of which a wine of first- 
 rate quality is produced. The whole front contains 400 
 morgens (250 acres). The description of grape chiefly 
 planted on the "Berg" is called the Orleans grape, 
 bearing a large oval green berry that in warm years is a 
 luscious fruit, but in damp seasons is more inclined to 
 liiil than even the riesling. The Orleans grape was for- 
 merly more prevalent in the Rhinegau than it now is, as 
 this disadvantage has banished it to the hill of Rudes- 
 heim. Adjacent to the "Berg" comes the site called 
 " Rottland," then follows the " Hinterhaus," the fa- 
 vourite growths of the riesling grape. For the initiated 
 there are two distinct Riidesheim wines, independently 
 of the flavour belonging to the actual vineyard. In the 
 Rhenish vineyards such generic terms as Hock, Port, 
 Sherry, and oSIadeira are unknown. Where pure grape- 
 juice can be had, the shades of flavour are countless, but 
 each possesses its peculiar charm. 
 
 The appearance of the vineyards from Riidesheim on-
 
 188 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 wards presents little variety in the style of cultivation. 
 The vines are kept low, and all rank shoots are pinched 
 off at various periods, that all the strength of the plant 
 may be left for the formation of the fruit. The vines, 
 planted with the care described some pages back, have 
 three stakes set, one near the stock, and two at two 
 feet distance on each side in the line of the meridian, that 
 is to say, in the line running from the top to the bottom of 
 the slope. The space between the rows is thus left free 
 for the rays of the sun to penetrate and to shine on three 
 sides of the bunch. Between the rows in well kept 
 grounds not a weed is to be seen, and the soil is turned 
 over with a two-pronged pickaxe, two feet deep at least, 
 three times, but often four or five times, in the course of 
 the summer. Cow-dung is exclusively applied in con- 
 siderable quantities every three years. 
 
 At Rudesheim is a cellar, belonging to the Duke of 
 Nassau, at which the curious traveller late in the autumn 
 can see the pains that are taken in making the choicest 
 wines. Both red wine from the Ducal vineyard at Ass- 
 nianshausen and white Riidesheimer are made in this 
 cellar, the arrangements in which may serve as a model. 
 The grapes are allowed to hang at Assmanshausen until 
 they begin to shrink ; but not until they moulder, as is the 
 case with the white grapes. It is necessary to preserve 
 the colouring matter under the skin in order to dye the 
 wine red. In other respects the treatment is nearly the 
 same in both cases. The grapes after gathering are 
 trodden into a mash by men with great leathern boots, 
 and the vats are removed to Riidesheim, when the red 
 grapes are thrown on a wire grating laid upon the butts 
 into which they are to fall, and are separated from the
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 189 
 
 stalks by rubbing them to and fro with a broom. In 
 these butts the grapes are again bruised with wooden 
 clubs until no berry remains unbroken, when they are 
 removed to another compartment of the building. Here 
 the bruised grapes ai-e thrown into large casks placed on 
 end, each of which has a double top. The inner covering 
 is pierced with holes, and is fitted in about one-third 
 lower than the outer top, which is made air-tight. 
 During the fermentation nothing but juice and gas can 
 pass through the holes in the inner covering, which sinks 
 in proportion as the juice rises. A curved tin pipe two 
 inches in diameter is introduced into the air-tight cover, 
 the lower end of which rests in a pan filled with water, 
 which is changed every day. By this simple apparatus 
 the escape of the alcohol with the carbonic acid gas that 
 devclopes itself in the fermenting process is prevented, 
 and the too rapid fermentation being checked, the mixture 
 remains sweeter than it would if fermented 'in open ves- 
 sels. The transition of the sugar in the grape to alcohol 
 is prevented in Italy by closing the cask entirely, and not 
 allowing even the carbonic gas to escape. In this manner 
 the Aleatico and other sweet red wines that do not keep 
 are prepared. On the Rhine the grower strives to pro- 
 duce a rich beverage, and at the same time wine that 
 will stand the test of time. 
 
 Red wines are fermented before the grapes are pressed 
 that the colouring matter may be extracted from the skin. 
 White wines are pressed first and the juice only is usually 
 set to ferment. At Rudesheim the juice is drawn out of 
 the fermenting casks by means of a pipe communicating 
 with the cellar below. The residue is then pressed, and 
 the juice is added to that previously obtained, or kept
 
 190 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 separate according to the taste of the grower. After 
 fermentation the red wine is kept till March when it is 
 drawn off into fresh casks. White wine is drawn off 
 somewhat later. 
 
 The white wine made of the Orleans grape at Riides- 
 heim is more fiery in its nature than the riesling wine, 
 which is mild. Both are equally well flavoured when 
 the grapes have attained perfection, and then the grapes 
 are also a delicious table fruit. Riidesheim is one of the 
 places to which patients resort who are recommended by 
 physicians to take a course of grapes. This pleasant 
 medicine is somewhat expensive, the grapes being valued 
 at Sd. or 9<i. per pound in the vineyard, while the pre- 
 scription runs for several pounds in the day. Weak 
 stomachs are soon regenerated by this course. The fine 
 Orleans and riesling gra}>cs ripen too late to be used in 
 this manner ; and earlier kinds, all of which are of inferior 
 flavour, are substituted for tliem, such as the Kleinberg, 
 and a delicate kind of green grape termed " gutedel." 
 The muscatel grape, called on the Rhine " traminer," 
 notwithstanding its luscious flavour, docs not equal the 
 riesling when the latter is fully ripe ; and, although the 
 small wine growers are fond of introducing the traminer 
 into their vineyards, yet it is not used anywhere in the 
 Rhinegau for the fine wines. The Riidesheim is one of 
 the high-priced growths, and is sold of fine quality at 90/. 
 to 100/. per pipe by the growers. A choice wine is now 
 constantly made in all the best sites by the larger growers, 
 who cause the grapes that first attain perfection to be 
 gathered separately. The winzers go for this task armed 
 w ith a thin sharp iron resembling a packing-needle and 
 pick the ripest grapes off the sunny side of the branches.
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RUlMi. 191 
 
 A pipe of wine so made is called " Auslesc," and sells 
 sometimes for 400/, and 500/. 
 
 Adjoining Rudesheim lies Geisenheim, which is con- 
 spicuous from far by the neat Gothic towers that have been 
 recently added to its old church, which is well worth 
 visiting. The Taunus summits recede here from the 
 river s bank, and the alluvial intervening soil at their foot 
 obtains some breadth. The choice site at Geisenheim is 
 the " llothenberg," on the fall of one of the undidating 
 projections which slopes somewhat steeply towards the 
 village, forming an angle of 2jO degrees with great depth 
 of soil. The Duke of Nassau, Count Ingelheim, Baron 
 Zemierlcin, M. Dresel, a wine-merchant, and M.Gergens, 
 are the principal proprietors of the southern aspect of the 
 slo})e, where the rood of land (^|g of a morgen) formerly 
 sold for 80 and 90 florins (1600/. and 1800/. per acre). 
 The value of these sites has considerably declined of late 
 years ; and a few years back some land in a favourite site 
 at Rudesheim was purchased by the Duke of Nassau at the 
 rate of 6000 florins per morgen, or 800/. per acre. In Gei- 
 senheim the traveller can see at M. Gergens', or at Dresel 
 and Co.'s, the arrangement of a private cellar, and form 
 some idea of the capital required to grow and manage 
 these line wines. The houses seldom afford any idea of 
 the extent of subterraneous space devoted to the wine. 
 Several vaults from 80 to 200 feet in length, and broad 
 enough to admit of two rows of double pipe casks to lie 
 on each side and leave a convenient passage in the middle, 
 are a common appendage to a very unpretending domicile. 
 So much money is made by keeping the wine to the 
 proper moment for selling it, that the grower becomes 
 naturally a wholesale wine-merchant. He, however, is
 
 192 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 charged with a responsibility which does not attach to 
 the retailer ; for his growth must preserve its character, 
 whereas the retailer shifts the burden of his sins upon 
 the grower. Wine bought in these cellars is therefore 
 unadulterated, and is a delicious and most wholesome 
 beverage in that state ; but it is rendered difficult for 
 private consumers by the immense size of the casks ; 
 since few private consumers can make use of 100 dozen 
 of a wine that costs four pounds per dozen in the grovrer's 
 cellar. 
 
 After passing Geisenheim, the traveller turns up a road 
 that leads to the left directly from the river, in the 
 direction of the mountains, and after winding up a steep 
 ascent about three quarters of a mile, finds himself upon 
 a small plateau that stretches like a neck from the Tau- 
 nus towards the river, and drops with a sudden slope, 
 presenting a rounded front to the level of the villages on 
 the river's bank. This is the celebrated Johannisberg, 
 the pearl of the Rhinegau, and one of the most delight- 
 fully situated mansions in Europe. The full advantage 
 of the situation can be supposed from a distant view of 
 the commanding site, retiring, as it were, from the brunt of 
 the storm between the projecting eminences on the east 
 and the v.est, and presenting its full breadth to the sun 
 which sliines upon it from its rise to its setting. The 
 attention that is paid to the direction of the rows in the 
 Rhenish vineyards is perceptible even to the traveller as 
 he passes before it in the steam-boat. The rows open 
 one after another as the boat advances like the meridians 
 on a map, and the want of picturesque effect which their 
 regularity supposes, is not regretted where art has so 
 evidently sought to court the co-operation of Nature in a
 
 AGRICULTURE 0> THE KHIXE. 193 
 
 useful task. To return to the summit of the eminence — 
 all these advantages are imperceptible on first reaching 
 it, because the castle, with its spacious court-yard, covers 
 the whole breadth of the brow of the hill. It is not 
 until we arrive at the balcony of the first floor that the 
 beauty of its position bursts upon us. Whoever chooses 
 a bright day for the excursion will be repaid with a view 
 that is scarcely to be surpassed. The vale of the Rhine, 
 from Bingen to Mayence, lies under the spectator like 
 an unrolled map. Clear and bright the Rhine presents 
 its broadest mass to the view, but studded with islands of 
 various sizes, on which the luxuriant foliage of forest- 
 trees refreshes the eye, and contrasts softly with the 
 extent of lands, " rich in corn and wine," that cover both 
 banks as far as the eye can reach. To the right, Riides- 
 heim, with its hill, and opposite to it Bingen with its 
 *' Scharlachberg," both places crowned with ruins of 
 ancient date ; at the base of the hill Geisenheira, the 
 village of Johannisberg, and Winkel, whose name is said 
 to indicate the spot where Charlemagne had fixed his 
 cellar; on the opposite bank Ingelheim, embosomed in 
 a hollow covered with vineyards, the favourite summer 
 abode of that great man and mighty potentate ; on the 
 left, the long vista of undulating heights, varying with 
 vineyards and forests skirting the bright broad stream 
 until the banks seem to close upon its course, with num- 
 berless additions which the observer can note at his 
 leisure, compose a view of inexpressible beauty — grand 
 from the extent of the scattered signs of richness that it 
 developes, but soothing rather than startling in its general 
 effect. The interest attaching to the vines which run up 
 to the walls of the houses, of course, is rather of an
 
 194 AGRICULTUKE OS THE EHIXE. 
 
 economical nature than derived fi-om anything ornamental 
 they present. Their value is best appreciated in the cellar, 
 ■which, like tlie whole estate, is managed with almost 
 military precision. Prince Metternich's cellar at Johan- 
 nisberg, and that of the Duke of Nassau at Eberbach, of 
 which we shall presently speak, are most useful establish- 
 ments, serving as models for the country, with the es- 
 pecial advantage of being most economically and profitably 
 conducted. Every experiment that promises to be an 
 improvement is sure to be tried, and the result is made 
 known with the greatest liberality. Both establishments 
 have long been under the direction of excellent adminis- 
 trators, whose services are proved by the fact that none 
 of all the competitors in the same line have been able to 
 produce wine at all equal to the choice vintages of Johan- 
 nisberg and of the ducal estates. That the excellence of 
 the wine where soil and situation are nearly equal is de- 
 cided by the treatment in the cellar, is proved by the 
 care taken to preserve unvarying method and unrelaxing 
 diligence in all the processes. The cellar at Johannis- 
 berg occupies the basement story of the whole building, 
 and consequently consists of a front equal to that of the 
 castle and two exter.sive wings. The entrance is on the 
 western side, by a spacious staircase into the wing that 
 forms the bottling department. A considerable store of 
 bottles and packing-cases in all stages, filling, applying 
 the etiquettes, winding paper and straw round each, and 
 packing in the cases, first attracts attention ; especially as 
 the packers, to show their skill, make no scruple of jump- 
 ing on the open cases and pressing the bottles down with 
 all their weight. The cellar itself is a more imposing 
 object, presenting a long vista of double pipes, ranged
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 195 
 
 in three rows sufficiently wide apart to allow a double pipe 
 to be rolled between them ; each is marked with a num- 
 ber stamped on a tin plate corresponding with the entry m 
 the cellar-book. The stranger who enjoj^s the patronage 
 of the cellar steward, can here form an acquaintance 
 with the genuine hock wine that he can only extend in 
 the Duke of Nassau's cellar at Ebcrbach, which is, how- 
 ever, on a much larger scale. The value of the wine 
 contained in upwards of 100 double pipes may be esti- 
 mated from the price of the general run of the wine, which 
 varies from 400/. to 600/. A double pipe of 1822 was 
 sold to the Court of Berlin for 12,500 florins, or 1440/. 
 The vintages of 1811 are said to have produced 48 of 
 these double pipes: 1818 yielded 47; 1819, 52; and 
 1833, 57 double pipes, or nearly one to the morgen, 
 being equivalent to three pipes per acre. These were 
 extraordinary vintages, and there is reason to believe 
 that the average of the Steinberg vineyard obtains 
 here, being about a pipe per morgen. The vineyards now 
 contain 62 morgens, or about 40 acres. Connected with 
 the castle is a farm comprising 450 morgens of arable 
 and 70 morgens of meadow land, together 300 acres. 
 A large stock of cattle is kept to furnish cow-dung for 
 the vineyards. 
 
 The Johannisberg was founded as a Benedictine abbey 
 in 1106, by Ruthard, Archbishop of Mayence. In the 
 last century it was bought by the Abbot of Fulda, 
 Prince Walderdorf, who, in 1717, built the castle as it 
 now stands. It fell during the confiscations of tho 
 clerical lands to the house of Orange Nassau, and was 
 taken fi-om that house by Napoleon, after the battle of 
 Jena, ajid conferred upon Marshal Kellermann, the
 
 196 AGRICULTUKE OX THE KHIKE. 
 
 present perhaps involving a pun upon the name, which 
 in German signifies Butler. In 1813 the castle was 
 taken possession of by Austrian soldiers, and was pre- 
 sented to its present owner, Prince Metternich, by the 
 late Emperor Francis. 
 
 Adjacent to the castle stands the seat of M. Mumm, 
 an extensive wine-merchant of Mayence, who owns an 
 excellent vineyard on a rise behind the hill we have de- 
 scribed, and all around the slopes are covered with vines 
 that arrogate the name of the celebrated site, and the 
 product of M'hich, if treated with the same care, might 
 easily be raised to a high value. That this care is not 
 bestowed may furnish matter for a few observations in 
 passing rapidly by excellent sites at Winkel, Orstrich, 
 and, farther back in the bosom of the hills, Kiderich and 
 Grafenberg. The produce of all these vineyards sel- 
 dom meets the public under the real name, but is chris- 
 tened after the more select growths by wine-merchants 
 who are bound to follow their customers' whims, and 
 to furnish them with an excuse for decorating their 
 tables with the names at least of wines that never find 
 their way there. Why sufficient outlay is not bestowed 
 upon the adjacent growths to raise the whole value of 
 the Rhinegau to the value of which it is capable, seems 
 easily accounted for. The prices we have quoted show 
 that on the most favourite sites the choice \^ ine that can 
 be made is very dear. The market is consequently very 
 limited ; and by the increasing difficult}' annually ex- 
 perienced in all European lands of providing subsistence 
 for an increasing population, bids fair, without exchange 
 in our present systems, daily to diminish. Such wine is 
 a luxury that, until necessaries are superabundantly ap-
 
 AGKICULTURE ON THE RHIKE. 197 
 
 plied, cannot be indulged in ; and until bread and cheese 
 cheapen and become more accessible than at present, the 
 fine sites of the Rhinegau, that cannot meet the treatment 
 they deserve, must lie neglected. 
 
 At Erbach, where also choice wine is grown, the road 
 once more branches off to the left, and continues as- 
 cending for more than a mile and a half until the traveller 
 reaches the border of the forest-covering that tops the 
 Taunus, here at its greatest distance from the Rhine. 
 A narrow glen, like a cleft in the hill, leads him to the 
 ancient Abbey of Eberbach, in former times one of the 
 most important clerical foundations of Germany. Since 
 its confiscation the building has been made to serve as a 
 house of correction. But a very large edifice is now 
 erecting in the vicinity to supply its place. The Abbots 
 of Eberbach were prouder of nothing amongst their ex- 
 tensive possessions than of the " Steinberg" vineyard, 
 which may be called the diamond of the Rhinegau, if the 
 Johannisberg be entitled its pearl. This vineyard lies 
 at the greatest elevation of all in the district, being up- 
 wards of 200 feet above the level of the Rhine, whereas 
 the Johannisberg castle stands 150 feet above the river. 
 The whole vineyard comprises 100 morgens, of which 
 80 are under cultivation, and is surrounded with a stone 
 wall 12 feet high, which renders it conspicuous from the 
 Rhine, although at a distance of two miles from the 
 river. The vineyard has varioue slopes, however, that 
 are only perceptible on entering it. That which has 
 the most southern aspect is named the " golden cup," 
 another is called the " Rosegarden ;" then come the 
 *' Friedrichshohe " and the " Pflanzer." The last-named 
 slope furnished, in 1819, the celebrated pipe of wine
 
 198 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 which sold some years back for 11,000 florins (916/. 12,s.), 
 The management of this vineyard, with which, as at 
 Johannisberg, a farm is connected, is a perfect pattern 
 of rural economy ; leaving nothing to desire that science, 
 experience, and diligence can dictate. It is managed as 
 a private domain of his Highness the Duke of Nassau, 
 and under the direction of the present manager, Mr. 
 Kopp, serves as a model for the winzers of the Rhine. 
 As at Johannisberg, everything proceeds in military 
 order. The men who work in the vineyard are enlisted 
 rather than hired, and are furnished with instructions 
 which, as they are well paid, they fear to disobey. The 
 predominant grape in the vineyard is the Riesling ; but 
 the immense extent of wall furnishes a large quantity of 
 nearly every description of grape, and its produce would 
 soon undeceive such as suppose that grapes can be raised 
 under glass to vie in flavour with those grown in a fa- 
 vourable climate in the open air. The view from this 
 vineyard is more extensive than that from the Johannis- 
 berg, but is different, inasmuch as the Rhine is more 
 distant from the spectator. 
 
 If the Steinberg vineyard is on a larger scale, the 
 cellar at Eberbach surpasses that of Johannisberg still 
 more. The visitor is admitted from the court-yard into 
 a vaulted basement story which has an extensive anti- 
 vault ; and if he has any claim on the hospitality of the 
 place, he there sees the cellar in its whole extent, 
 lighted up by numerous lamps flickering on the butts like 
 spirits, in a manner that recalls the well-known bacchana- 
 lian scene in ' Vivian Grey.' But this cellar contains not 
 the choice of a single growth alone. The ducal vineyards 
 run through the Rhinegau from Hochheim to Assmanns-
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 199 
 
 hausen, and of all the growths the best and choicest are 
 to be found at Eberbach. In going through the whole 
 for the course of the last forty years it is interesting to 
 see how the palm was successively borne away by each. 
 Thus, in 1822 it was Johannisberg, in 1819 Steinberg, 
 in 1825 Hochheim, in 1829 Riidesheim, in 1834 Stein- 
 berg again, that excelled. We were fortunate enough 
 to taste the delicious cask of Hochheim, 1825, which 
 from its smoothness, with surpassing bouquet, was 
 christened " the Bride." It was sold in the present 
 year for 12,500 florins, having, in the opinion of judges, 
 reached its acme of perfection. We ventured on that 
 occasion to name the Riidesheim, 1829, in which the 
 fire of the Orleans grape was perceptible, with little 
 inferior bouquet to the former, *' the Bridegroom." But 
 we fear we have dwelt too long upon the details re- 
 specting wines ; all correct descriptions of which can- 
 not but appear exaggerated to those who have no oppor- 
 tunity of convincing themselves of the truth of what we 
 asserted some pages back — that if the Rhenish is the 
 dearest, it is beyond all dispute the finest wine that is 
 made. 
 
 From Eberbach the road joins the high road again 
 near Hattenheim, adjoining which lie the Marcosbrunn 
 vineyards, much nearer to the Rhine than the Steinberg, 
 and with southern exposure. The Duke of Nassau, 
 Count Schonborn, and a few private owners, possess all 
 the upper, that is to say, the best sites. In the cellars 
 of M. Heymes at Hattenheim, and of Dr. Griife at 
 Eltville, a few miles farther on, strangers may again see 
 the extensive arrangements and cellarage which private 
 
 k2
 
 200 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 wine-growers who enjoy celebrity find it necessary to 
 keep up. 
 
 At Walluf the mountains take a direction nearly at 
 right angles to the Rhine, and leave the bank unpro- 
 tected against the north and east winds. The soil 
 grows lighter, and although vineyards still follow the 
 course of the stream to Schierstein, yet no wine of note 
 is produced until we reach the river Maine. At 
 Mayence the Rhine again turns southward, and the 
 Maine runs into it with a westerly course. Near its 
 mouth an offset from the higher Taunus range slopes 
 to the river with a full southern aspect, and on its brow 
 stands the Cathedral of Hochheim, whose " close," in 
 German the " Dom Dechanei," furnishes the wine that 
 has supplied us with a general appellation for all 
 Rhenish wines. That the name of " Hock," from 
 Hochheim, has been so long used in this sense in 
 England, may be perhaps explained by the circumstance 
 that the Rhinegau being no thoroughfare for travellers, 
 and anciently shut in by a wall strictly guarded, strangers 
 had only access to Hochheim, and that this lies on the 
 road between Mayence and Frankfort. Next to the 
 Cathedral close, the best vineyards at Hochheim are at 
 the bottom of the hill near the river. Through one of 
 these the railroad between Wiesbaden and Frankfort 
 was carried, and the enormous sum demanded for com- 
 pensation formed the subject of a law-suit, that was last 
 ■year decided against the Company, We believe the 
 award was not much below 1250/. per acre. 
 
 With Hochheim we take leave of the choice growths 
 that give merited celebrity to the Rhenish vineyards.
 
 AGRICULTURE O^ THE RHINE. 201 
 
 The famous sites all beloncr to one principality, the 
 Duchy of Nassau. Nor should it be omitted here that 
 the Government has had no small share in improving 
 the cultivation of this valuable part of its territory. 
 Not only have the greatest improvements been made in 
 the ducal vineyards and cellars ; the means of improv- 
 ing were here early afforded to all by an easy and 
 moderate plan for commutation of the tithe. Very few 
 vineyards are now saddled with tithe, and the Govern- 
 ment encourages as much as it can the commutation of 
 what remains. The land-tax is, moreover, in Nassau 
 exceedingly light, and wine is free from excise duty. Ab- 
 sence of restrictions in the vineyards and in the cellar is 
 the great promoter of improvement, and every day 
 shows that this truth is here fully appreciated. The 
 following statistical details may be interesting as regards 
 the land-tax levied in the Rhinegau : — 
 
 Districts. 
 
 Hochheim 
 Eltville . , 
 Kiidesheim , 
 
 Total number of 
 all kinds. 
 
 . . . 48,372 
 . . . 41,313 
 . . , 57,435 
 
 Morgens of 
 vineyards. 
 
 2477 
 4466 
 4500 
 
 Simple rate 
 of land-tax. 
 
 8298 florins. 
 
 6222 
 
 6732 
 
 147,120 11,443 21,252 
 
 The whole Rhinegau, consisting of 90,000 acres, pays 
 in a year, when five rates are levied, the sum of 106,260 
 florins, or about two shillings per English acre, which, 
 considering the enormous value of great part of the 
 land, must be considered very moderate. 
 
 The left bank of the Rhine, from Bingen upwards, 
 forms the boundary of the Rhenish province of the Grand 
 Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt. Immediately opposite the 
 Rhinearau there are two sites favourable for wine : the
 
 202 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Scharlachberg near Bingen and the hills near Ingelheim. 
 On the former a lighter wine than the fine Rhinegau 
 growths is produced, but of delicate flavour. At Ingel- 
 heim very pleasant red wine is grown, that is treated in a 
 similar manner to the Assmannshausen. The heights in 
 both these places are considerable and sufficiently steep, 
 but it would appear that the want of radiation from the 
 surface of the Rhine is perceptible on the Hessian side. 
 The vineyards are also more exposed to the north and 
 east winds than those of the Rhinegau. Above Mayenee, 
 near Oppenheim, the traveller again finds good sites and 
 names that he frequently meets with in his way. Nierstein 
 and Laubenheim both lie near Oppenheim. Near Worms 
 he finds the celebrated " Liebfrauenmilch " in the church 
 close of " Our Lady." The vineyard is small, but its 
 produce very delicious. The principal inn at Worms is, 
 however, the worst place at which the Liebfrauenmilch 
 can be asked for. 
 
 Rhenish Hesse (Rhein Hessen) has a greater extent 
 of surface under vines than Nassau, but the value of the 
 produce is very different in the two countries. The 
 total area is 27,842 morgens, of which 2773 morgens 
 fall to Bingen and 4741 to Oberingelheim. Oppenheim 
 has 6247 morgens. In the Rhenish province of Bavaria, 
 or the " Palatinate," the area is still greater. The vines 
 cover in that province 33,048 morgens, or 20,000 acres. 
 These vineyards are not visible from the Rhine, the banks 
 above Oppenheim being flat, and varied only by undu- 
 lating hills like those near Worms. From Oppenheim 
 the heights stretch westward from the river to the Mont 
 Tonnere, or Donnersberg, the chief mountain-chain that 
 stretches onward and seems to join the Vosges. The
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 203 
 
 eastern declivities of these hills, where the vineyards of 
 Forst, Wachenheim, Deidesheim, and other good growths 
 are found, lie at distances varying from 10 to 20 miles 
 from the river's bank. These wines are mild and with- 
 out acid, but possess little flavour. 
 
 The banks of the Rhine on our left, when ascending 
 from Mayence, are also flat ; but the beautiful Oden 
 chain of mountains accompanies this part of the river 
 at a considerable distance from its winding course. The 
 base of this chain, which is skirted by the well known 
 " Bergstrasse," is clothed with vineyards of no celebrity, 
 which only help to garnish the tables or to furnish the 
 evening cups of the richer peasants of the neat villages 
 that lie along the road. The farming of this district is 
 managed with considerable dexterity in choosing crops 
 and rotations suited both to the soil and to the local 
 demand. But the scattered grounds, the small size of 
 the parcels tilled, and other economical faults, are here 
 still perceptible, and thwart the efforts made by the 
 government to spread theoretical knowledge by the 
 means of an admirable agricultural college established 
 near Darmstadt. Several of the Grand Duke's private 
 estates are managed as model farms ; not that any display 
 of expensive instruments can be found in them, but 
 experiments in rotations, in the quality of seeds, and in 
 the manures best suited to various soils, are made on 
 them for the benefit of the adjacent country, where the 
 value of such practical aid is well understood. The dis- 
 inclination to generalise, and to lay down rules for culti- 
 vating whole provinces upon one system, is perceptible 
 along the whole course of the Rhine, and lends to its 
 agriculture a peculiar character that heightens the inte-
 
 204 AGRICULTUBB ON THE RHINE. 
 
 est with which the observer studies it. The disposition 
 to treat every farm and even every field individually as 
 regards rotation, crops, and manure, is nowhere more 
 strikingly evident than in the two Grand Duchies of 
 Hesse and Baden. If clearer views of the advantage 
 that might be drawn from this disposition on the part of 
 the small landowners could be formed and spread abroad , 
 the agricultural wealth of these districts would be great. 
 But here, as elsewhere, too much labour, capital, and 
 time are spent in procuring the necessaries of life ; and 
 both the government and the governed turn their atten- 
 tion too little to the fact that soil and climate here are 
 adapted to luxurious cultivation of the soil. To secure 
 the means of prosecuting the luxurious agriculture suited 
 to small allotments and a dense agricultural population, 
 in which the vineyard would find its place as a pro- 
 minent feature, means must be devised for cheapening 
 the cost of the food, the fuel, and the forage indispens- 
 able for the daily consumption of the people.
 
 ( 205 ) 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The commencement of the beautiful part of the valley of 
 the Neckar is a common resting-place in a tour through 
 the Rhenish districts. Few travellers have time to 
 inquire into the causes of the celebrity of the University 
 of Heidelberg ; but all can feel the majestic beauty of its 
 ruined castle leaning against its green background of 
 forest-clad hill, and reflected in the bright waves of the 
 rushing Neckar, We choose, therefore, this charming 
 spot for a survey of the agriculture of the Upper Rhine, 
 which, from Bingen onward, has maintained a constant 
 character that will be found to continue to the foot of the 
 Alps. The leading feature of the system of tillage 
 found throughout is, as we before observed, a minute 
 study of the position, soil, and other capabilities of every 
 separate field, as well as of the markets, near and distant, 
 where the produce has to be sold. Where these primary 
 conditions are found to be similar on several farms, a 
 like treatment of crops will be found to prevail. The 
 mode of tillage is generally such as is recommended by 
 agricultural authorities, and (under the limitations that 
 we have all along noted of minutely divided and scat- 
 tered lands, as well as low prices arising from over 
 competition) will be found satisfactory. If the crops are 
 not so abundant as fine soils and a propitious climate 
 would induce us to expect, it must not be forgotten that 
 
 K 3
 
 206 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 the state of the home as well as of foreign markets, 
 clogged with duties, does not remunerate any extra- 
 ordinary outlay in artificial means, excepting where the 
 density of the population ensures a sale for the increased 
 production. The plain at the mouth of the Neckar, be- 
 tween Weinheim, Heidelberg, Leimen, and the Rhine, 
 is even more populous than Rhinehessen on the left 
 Rhine-bank. On a space equal to 90 square English 
 miles, Professor Ran in 1830 estimated there were 73,000 
 inhabitants. At present there are not fewer than 80,000, 
 or 900 to the English square mile. It will, therefore, 
 excite no surprise that the subdivision of the soil is very 
 great. The same author, in his interesting treatise on 
 the agriculture of this district, gives the following as the 
 division of landed property : — 
 
 Size of estates. In TTamlschuhsheim. In Xeuenheim. 
 
 I\o. of landowners. No. of landowners. 
 
 More than 20 morjrcns 12 5 
 
 From . 1.5 to 20 7 1 
 
 10 to 12 13 1 
 
 „ 5 13 10 41 3 
 
 „ 3 to .5 34 1 
 
 1 to 3 108 37 
 
 Less than 1 1G3 73 
 
 The 378 landowners in Handschuhsheim held estates 
 of the following dimensions : — 
 
 12 large estates, making together 504 morgens. 
 7 estates from 15 to 20 morgens 121 „ 
 
 10 
 
 J. 
 
 j> 
 
 10 to 15 
 
 140 
 
 
 41 
 
 J, 
 
 
 5 to 10 ,, 
 
 250 
 
 
 34 
 
 J) 
 
 ,j 
 
 3 to 5 „ 
 
 120 
 
 
 108 
 
 
 ., 
 
 1 to 3 „ 
 
 180 
 
 
 163 
 
 ,^ 
 
 under 
 
 1 
 
 65 
 
 
 Inhal 
 
 3itar 
 
 Its of other parishes 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1400 morgens.
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 207 
 
 The Heidelberg morgen corresponds precisely with the 
 English acre. 
 
 With this dense population the small number of draught 
 cattle is strongly contrasted, and points to the hand-labour 
 employed in cultivating the soil. It is here calculated 
 that 21 acres require a pair of horses ; 14 to 17 acres 
 give work for 2 oxen ; and 7 to 10 acres to a pair of 
 milch cows. Dossenheim, with 300 families, has but 
 30 horses and 14 draught oxen ; the other lands were 
 ploughed with cows, Handschuhsheim possessed 56 
 horses and 10 draught oxen on its 937 acres of land. 
 As a result of the study of the nature of the soil 
 combined with the influence of trade, a great deal of 
 land in the immediate neighbourhood of Heidelberg, 
 Mannheim, and Schwetzingen is under vegetables. On 
 the sandy heights between Schwetzingen and the Neckar 
 tobacco is largely grown, while ordinary green and grain 
 crops cover the land of better quality that surrounds the 
 town on all sides. A similar calculation might almost be 
 supposed to have dictated the size of farms, which are small 
 near the heights, where a rich soil is found, and the cultiva- 
 tion of small plots yields a subsistence ; whereas they grow 
 larger in the plains that have a sandy soil, as well as at a 
 distance from the towns. Both this division of property 
 and the cultivation of market crops in great variety, in- 
 cluding madder, woad, and tobacco, existed here in 
 the beginning of the last century, in spite of the constant 
 wars with France and the notorious devastations which 
 accompanied them. History has preserved, as a contrast 
 to the generals who burnt the villages of the Palatinate, 
 the name of a peasant, David Mollinger, of Mausheim, 
 near Worms, as the man who first used liquid manure,
 
 '208 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 and this novelty was early adopted in the Palatinate, of 
 which the district we are now in formed a part. If the 
 traveller will stroll out to the villages of llandshuhsheim 
 and Weinheim, or along the river's bank to Wiblingen, 
 he will find that green crops, as manures, are perfectly 
 well understood, and in constant practice amongst the in- 
 telligent peasantry. On entering the small inns of the 
 villages, he will be treated with very fair wine of the 
 growth of the adjacent hills, which, with little flavour, has 
 less acid than the Rhinegau wines. He will on this 
 excursion observe with pleasure an absence of total desti- 
 tution in any class of the inhabitants ; but that a large 
 portion of the population stands on the verge of great 
 poverty, while a still greater number is involved in pri- 
 vations inseparable from the incrcase of mouths without 
 a corresponding augmentation of the field of labour, will 
 not escape him. Agriculture alone cannot confer wealth ; 
 and if the agricultural population anywhere exceeds a 
 fair proportion of the whole, there will arise distress. In 
 another volume we shall inquire why it has been found 
 so difficult to introduce manufactures amongst these in- 
 telligent and industrious peasants. Here we shall only 
 remark, that, for want of other occupations, the wages of 
 labourers are exceedingly low, averaging from lOd. to Is. 
 per diem for men, and 7d. to 8d. for women. If food be 
 given, 10 kreutzers, or 3^d.,\s all that is added in money. 
 On the larger farms 41. per annum is the pay of the 
 farm servants, whose board is valued at 5/. From this 
 and the adjacent districts the greatest number of emi- 
 grants proceed annually to America. The pleasing part 
 of the prospect afforded by these villages, is the evident 
 economy and exertion on the part of individuals to build
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE, 209 
 
 or preserve houses of good size for their families, in which 
 sufficient and substantial furniture is also found. The 
 description of a village on the Lower Rhine will perhaps 
 in many details be recalled here to the memory, by the 
 extent and irregular plan of the farm-offices, the strag- 
 gling position of the houses, the neglected state of the 
 streets, roads, and other passages, with the never-failing 
 accompanimentof countless dunghills, which meet the gaze 
 in their unvarnished impurity here as there. The houses 
 are, however, usually larger than on the Lower Rhine, 
 and both soil and climate remunerate the cultivator's toil 
 with a richer return. A few years back the estimate of 
 the rental of the families of Handschuhsheim, according 
 to which they were taxed, averaged 180 florins, or 15/., 
 for each household, as revenue drawn from the laud and 
 the occupations that it furnished. We have seen that in 
 this village 378 landowners possessed 1400 Heidelberg 
 morgens ; the average was, therefore, to each nearly 4 
 morgens, or something less than four English acres. If 
 anybody should wonder, therefore, that a family can exist 
 without distress upon 16/. per annum, they "must find it 
 still more wonderful that where this is practicable any- 
 body can earn 41. per acre, and, still more, make this an 
 average return for 378 families in one village, even with 
 the assistance of the little trades and occupations which a 
 village commands. The agricultural system must be 
 worth studying that can boast such a result. 
 
 In the instruments used the peasants of this neigh- 
 bourhood show their willingness to adopt improvements 
 where they are practically useful. Their own plough, 
 although in appearance much lighter than that we 
 have described as common on the Lower Rhine, is well
 
 210 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 suited to the soil, which is generally light, and demands 
 a wheel-plough. But even the plough is suited to the 
 soil for which it is made, and on stifFer soils has a deep 
 mould-board well curved ; while on the sand near 
 Friedrichsfeld the mould-board is narrow and almost 
 straight. On some of the larger farms, the Strassen- 
 heim Hof for instance, a heavy subsoil-plough is used 
 when tobacco is to be planted. This plough is only the 
 common plough of the country on a larger scale, that 
 opens a furrow 1^ to 2 feet deep. The subsoil is of 
 such quality on that farm, that turning it up is equivalent 
 to manuring the surface. On other farms the land is 
 carefully ploughed for tobacco twice in autumn, and 
 three times or oftener in the following spring. The 
 winter corn is usually ploughed in. Summer corn is 
 harrowed under ; clover is often sown after the barley 
 has been harrowed and the ground is rotted. Dung is 
 copiously distributed, and is required for the exhausting 
 crops taken off the soil. Although the number of 
 draught cattle is not great, yet cows are very numerous, 
 and it has been calculated by M. Rau that one head of 
 cattle was kept for 
 
 2-r''g morgans at Dossenheim and Handschuhsheim. 
 
 5^ „ at Kirchheim and Wiblingen. 
 
 6^ „ on 8 small farms from 30 to 75 morgans. 
 
 9^ „ ou 2 farms of 162 and 180 morgans. 
 
 As the calves are not included in this estimate, and 
 the dung of the pig-sties, that are very numerous, as 
 well as that from the sheep-folds, have also to be added, 
 it is suptK)sed that one head of cattle may be assumed 
 for every 2^ English acres. Liquid manures are in 
 great use in this neighbourhood, and the dung-heap.
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 211 
 
 which is raised in an enclosure of mason-work on good 
 farms, has a wooden pump attached to it to raise the 
 liquor into the carts with barrels affixed for its convey- 
 ance. An ohm is considered equal to If cwt. of cow- 
 dung, and 32 barrels of 5 ohms are used to the morgen, 
 or 48 barrels to the acre, when no other manure is 
 applied. The eftect of the liquid manure is, however, 
 limited to the one crop, and is not felt in those succeed- 
 ing. A cow is reckoned to give 21 ohms or 4^ barrels 
 in the year. Sheep-folding for manure is common, and 
 the money paid for the benefit is a great inducement to 
 those who keep sheep. A calculation has been made 
 for the soil of Wiblingen, according to which 400 sheep 
 must be folded for tobacco ten nights, for spelt six nights, 
 for barley four nights on the acre. In Schwetzingen 150 
 sheep are folded eight successive nights upon an acre of 
 land for barley. 
 
 In the course of the stroll that we have suggested 
 the stranger may make himself acquainted with many 
 plants that are not common objects of farming in Eng- 
 land. Instead of wheat, spelt (Triticum Spelta) is 
 the common bread corn. It suits a dry climate, and, 
 like the hard Odessa wheat, contains more nourishing 
 particles than the ordinary wheat. It is, however, en- 
 cumbered with a husk which makes the cleaning and 
 grinding expensive. Rye is common on the sands. 
 Maize or Indian corn is very frequent as a fallow crop, 
 and is daily increasing in use. Ingenious machines 
 have been invented to shed the grains, but it still remains 
 a difficult process. The fallows are here covered 
 with cabbages, carrots, and beet-root that attains an 
 extraordinary magnitude. In good seasons the potatoes
 
 2)2 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 grown are also very fine. For cattle-feeding the tur- 
 nip-cabbage is much in use. Of this plant there are 
 two sorts : one in which the turnip is formed over the 
 surface of the ground, and this is the most tender, and 
 serves for table use as a vegetable. The other kind is 
 eoarser ; its turnip is formed under ground. Stubble 
 turnips and Swedes are in general use. Amongst the 
 novelties for an Englishman the poppy must be ranked, 
 which may here be seen to cover whole acres. The 
 seed is not only crushed to give salad oil, but is often 
 strewed over cakes, to which it imparts very little flavour, 
 and it seems to have no effect as an opiate. Tobacco 
 is a favourite fallow^ plant. M. Rau gives the following 
 rotations on three farms as specimens for the district : — 
 
 A. 180 morgens iu stiff lowland soil. 
 
 1. Fallow . .18 morgens tobacco 
 „ 5 „ rape 
 
 »» ' 
 
 j> 
 
 beet-root 
 
 20 
 
 
 clover 
 
 2. Winter corn 50 
 
 j» 
 
 spelt 
 
 „ 6 
 
 ,, 
 
 rye 
 
 3. Summer corn 20 
 
 ,, 
 
 barley 
 
 16 
 
 „ 
 
 oats 
 
 4 
 
 » 
 
 tares for seed 
 
 >» 1 ' 
 
 
 potatoes 
 
 17 
 
 yf 
 
 lucem 
 
 180 morgens. 
 B. 54 acres on the Bergstrasse. 
 1. Fallow . . 8 morgens poppies 
 
 7 
 1 
 
 2. Winter corn 16 
 
 3. Summer corn 10 
 
 6 
 6 
 
 clover 
 
 Indian com 
 
 spelt and rye followed by turnips 
 
 barley and oats 
 
 beet-root and potatoes , 
 
 lucem 
 
 54 morgens.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 213 
 
 C. 162 acres on the Bei'gstrasse. 
 
 1. 
 
 Fallow 
 
 . . 10 
 
 morgens poppies 
 
 
 „ 
 
 15 
 
 ,, 
 
 rape 
 
 
 >» 
 
 4 
 
 ., 
 
 hemp 
 
 
 5J 
 
 6 
 
 >5 
 
 mangel-wurzel 
 
 
 J> 
 
 10 
 
 )) 
 
 clover 
 
 2. 
 
 Winter 
 
 corn 50 
 
 
 spelt and rye ; partly followed 
 by turnips 
 
 3. 
 
 Summer 
 
 corn 1 5 
 
 J> 
 
 barley 
 
 
 >5 
 
 20 
 8 
 
 >' 
 
 oats 
 potatoes 
 
 
 » 
 
 24 
 
 162 
 
 morgens 
 
 lucern 
 
 On these three farms, therefore, the proportion between 
 the crops was — 
 
 A. B. C. 
 
 Grain. ... 53 48 52 parts. 
 
 Fodder ... 34 37 30 „ 
 
 Market crops .13 15 18 „ 
 
 100 100 100 
 
 On well-managed soils where two bushels of seed are 
 sown permorgen, or per English acre, spelt will yield 15 
 to 16 malters of 115 lbs., or 28 to 30 bushels, as an ave- 
 rage crop. On the light soils near Seckenheim and 
 Kirchheim the return is but 11 malters to the morgen. 
 The yield of rye on good soils is 10 malters of 115 lbs., 
 or about 36 bushels, to the acre : oats yield 9 to 10 malters. 
 Maize is chiefly used for the pigs and poultry. It is 
 found to exhaust the soil very much, and sells for the 
 price of rye. Beet-root, estimated at 10,000 plants to 
 the morgen, is calculated to give 200 cwts. return : the 
 leaves picked off for the cattle in autumn are esti- 
 mated at -^ of the weight of the roots. Potatoes give 
 80, sometimes 100, malters per morgen ; turnips, 60 to 
 75 cwts.
 
 214 AGRICULTURE OS THE RHFNE. 
 
 Tobacco is more extensively grown in the Palatinate, 
 on both banks of the Rhine, than in any part of Ger- 
 many. Here, as on the Lower Rhine, it is an expensive 
 crop, and remunerates less on the rich soils than on the 
 sandy grounds. M. Rau estimates the labour at 17^ florins, 
 or about 1/. 10s. ; the dung at 10 florins, or I6s. 8d. ; 
 and the plants at 2i florins, or 4s. id., per morgen. The 
 yield is about 7 cwts. of leaves, which sell for 6 dollars 
 per cwt., leaving a return of 42 dollars, or 71. 15s., for an 
 outlay of 30 florins, or 21. 12?. The price is higher if the- 
 ferraenting process described at page 33 is undergone, 
 which is not always the case, as the leaves are marketable 
 after being merely dried. 
 
 As the land on which tobacco is grown in the Grand 
 Duchy of Baden pays no extra land-tax, its area is not 
 exactly ascertained. Official estimates state it to be 
 13,500 morgens of ^^ acre, the yield of which averages 
 110,000 cwts., being 8 cwts. per Prussian morgen, or 
 14 cwts. per acre. 
 
 The following is the Ofiicial Return of the area of 
 land under tobacco in the Zollverein : — 
 
 Morgens. 
 
 
 
 Cwts. 
 
 Bavaria . . . .19,455 
 
 Produce 
 
 101,171 
 
 Saxony .... 186 
 
 ^j 
 
 1,116 
 
 Wirtemburg . . 10,000 
 
 
 J 
 
 60,000 
 
 Baden .... 13,447 
 
 
 J 
 
 110,000 
 
 Electorate of Hesse . 1,540 
 
 
 
 8,001 
 
 Grand Duchy ditto 2,268 
 
 
 > 
 
 13,608 
 
 Thuringia . . . 1,082 
 
 
 
 4,513 
 
 Enclosures in Prussia 555 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 , , 
 
 Kingdom of Prussia 37,809 
 
 
 »' 
 
 242,985 
 
 
 
 541,394 cwts. 
 morgens, or 
 
 86,342 
 
 Prussian 
 
 53,900 acre 
 
 s. 
 
 
 The total average of the Zollverein is thus little more
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 215 
 
 than 10 cwts. per acre, according to the estimate of M. 
 Dieterici. In good years it is undoubtedly higher. 
 Of this quantity a large proportion is exported from 
 South Germany to Prussia and other northern states, on 
 which, although within the Zollverein, a duty is levied 
 of two shillings per cwt., to meet the higher land-tax 
 levied on tobacco-lands in Prussia. In 1842 the import- 
 ation into the northern states amounted to 97,000 cwts. 
 on which 64,774 dollars were paid as duty. 
 
 Between Carlsruhe and Baden-Baden the traveller 
 passes one of the richest agricultural tracts of country in 
 Europe. The valley, or rather plain, that lies stretched at 
 the foot of the Black Forest chain, is well watered by the 
 streams that fall from this chain of hills, and its soil is an 
 alluvial deposit of a very fertile nature. Farms are some- 
 thing larger in this part of the Rhine than lower down 
 the river, and the marks of ease and even of wealth are 
 easily distinguished in the houses of the greater landed 
 proprietors, although their peasant-like appearance and 
 manner rather belong to a poorer class. Respecting the 
 management of the peasants' estates little remains to be 
 added to what has been said. The crops grown here are 
 the same with those of the Palatinate ; poppies for oil, 
 rape, Swedish turnips, tobacco, cabbages, and carrots, 
 divide the fallow with the potato. The nature of the 
 soil is here also minutely studied. The village system, 
 however, is in full force in the whole of Baden, and it is 
 rare for a peasant proprietor to live upon his land. On 
 the other hand, there are many large estates in this 
 neighbourhood, belonging to the members of the reigning 
 family, and to some noble families, which are excellently 
 managed by men who have been brought up in some of
 
 216 AGEICULTUEE OX THE RHIKE. 
 
 the agricultm-al colleges that we have mentioned. One 
 of these colleges is at Darmstadt. A useful poly- 
 technic school has recently been founded at Carlsruhe. 
 The fruit of these excellent establishments has been 
 chiefly to lay a foundation in the minds of a large class of 
 the people that disposes them to industrious activity, 
 and has prepared highly useful agents both for the 
 management of farms and of manufacturing establish- 
 ments. Few young men would now think of offering 
 themselves for the place of bailiff or farming agent, 
 without possessing testimonials of their fitness from 
 some of these colleges. The scientific exjjJanations 
 which any inquiring traveller can receive at the hands 
 of almost any young men so occupied on large estates, re- 
 specting the soil, climate, manners, &c. of the locality, 
 will often perhaps excite surprise, and no less so the 
 calculations by which they judge whether improved pro- 
 cesses ought to be adopted, and where additional outlay 
 or increased economy is the more judicious plan to 
 follow. 
 
 Besides the large estates in the Grand Duchy of 
 Darmstadt that we have already noticed as under scien- 
 tific management, we may name the estate of Baron von 
 Babo, near Weinheim, as very accessible from Heidel- 
 berg. From Baden-Baden excursions may be made to 
 Rothenfels and Augustenburg, country-seats belonging to 
 the Margrave William of Baden, which have*long served 
 as pattern farms. Baron von Babo is an author on agri- 
 cultural subjects, and the result of a few out of numerous 
 experiments that he has caused to be made with ploughs, 
 will both show the interest with which intelligent 
 farmers follow improvements in Germany, and will throw
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 217 
 
 a useful light on the plough of the Palatinate, w hich we 
 before praised as well adapted to the soil. One of these, 
 with a plough in use on the Bergstrasse, a Flemish wheel, 
 and a Flemish swing-plough, being tried against each 
 other in a dry stony soil, the result was: — 
 
 Ploujrh used. 
 
 Palatinate. 
 
 (Ladenburg) 
 
 (Strassenheim) 
 
 Bergstrasse. 
 
 (Wiesloch) . 
 
 Flemish with 
 
 Wheels . . 
 Flemish Swmg 
 
 Depth 
 
 of 
 Furrow. 
 
 Breadth 
 
 of 
 Furrow. 
 
 Power 
 used in 
 draught. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Cwts. 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 4-9 
 
 6 
 
 ^ 
 
 3-3 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 7 
 
 3-5 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 3-0 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 '-\ 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Furrow clean, and 
 clod well turned. 
 
 Furrow not clean or 
 well turned. 
 
 Furrow shallow, 
 well turned. 
 
 Not so well cut or 
 turned as in the fol- 
 lowing, which was 
 the best. 
 
 Sowing-machines are only in use for rape, and occa- 
 sionally for turnips. Where seed is abundant and labour 
 cheap, the outlay for expensive machines is not repaid, as 
 is the case where labour is dearer. This principle is 
 further confirmed by experiments that have been made 
 with the Scotch threshing-machine as Modified by M. 
 Dombasle, in Alsace. For small quantities the advantage 
 of machinery is scarcely apparent ; but machinery ap- 
 plied to large quantities produces a great saving. Expe- 
 riments made in Germany have shown that where — 
 
 Tlie produce in Wlieat costs to thresh : — 
 With the Machine. By Hand. 
 
 If the production is .5000 sheaves 
 
 93 florins. 
 
 135 florins 
 
 , , 10,000 , , 
 
 116 ,, 
 
 270 ,, 
 
 , , 20,000 , , 
 
 163 ,, 
 
 541 ,, 
 
 40,000 ,, 
 
 205 ,, 
 
 1082 ,,
 
 218 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHIXE. 
 
 Supposing the outlay for a threshing-machine, of 4-horse 
 power, to be 70^., it is reimbursed in one year in a 
 farm producing 40,000 sheaves. A farm producing only 
 5000 sheaves would not admit of sufficient saving to pay 
 the interest on the investment. 
 
 Flax-mills are unknown in Germany for a similar jeason. 
 Every peasant grows a small portion of flax, which he can 
 heckle himself, or his servants can do it, in winter, when 
 also it is spun by the females of the family. The saving that 
 might be effected by the agency of machinery would, in 
 a country where the cultivation and treatment of flax are 
 so well understood, be an object of first-rate magnitude, 
 if the division of labour that must follow on the introduc- 
 tion of machines were not prevented by the feeling of 
 insecurity that has so long induced the people to regard 
 land as the only secure investment of their savings. A 
 machine, of simple construction, and demanding little 
 outlay, has been invented by M. Kuthe, of Lippe 
 Detmold. Its utility in heckling and scutching flax has 
 been carefully tested, and may be estimated from the 
 accompanying table. 
 
 The improved instrument affords a gain of 50 per cent., 
 which, as in the case of the threshing-machine, is of no im- 
 portance on a single morgen, and would not even be realized 
 on so small a scale ; but on 500 morgens the saving amounts 
 to no less a sum than 1000/. This mode of arguing, 
 according to which the cultivation of crops that can be 
 aided by machinery ought to be carried on upon a certain 
 scale to admit of a large return, is not common in Ger- 
 many. The only mode of securing an independent 
 position to the mass of the people, is there supposed to 
 lie in the subdivision of the soil. To far-sighted 
 observers this subdivision is already carried on the llhine
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIN] 
 
 219 
 
 EXPERIMENTS MADE IN DRESSING THE FLAX OF ONE 
 MORGEN. 
 
 Steeped in Water 
 
 Flax 
 Scutched . I 284 
 Heckled .148 
 
 Dressed lbs. , 14s; 
 
 row 
 
 140 
 13? 
 
 £ s. 
 Market \ 
 
 Value . 1 ^ ^° 
 Cost of I 
 
 Dressing j 
 
 Profit . 
 
 5 14 
 
 n Land 
 ike. 
 
 Flemish Brake. 
 
 Dew. 
 
 Water. 
 
 Dew. 
 
 Flax 
 
 Tovvi 
 
 Flax 
 
 Tow 
 
 Flax 
 
 Tow 
 
 2S5 
 
 144; 
 
 293 
 
 80 
 
 31( 
 
 57 
 
 140 
 
 I42I 
 
 157 
 
 132 
 
 14!J 
 
 158 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 140| 2861 
 
 157 
 
 212 
 
 119 
 
 215 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 7 4 6 
 
 9 2 2 
 
 8 17 4 
 
 1 n 7j 
 
 2 7 10 
 
 2 9 8 
 
 \ 
 
 5 1 
 
 211' 
 
 i 
 
 6 14 4 
 
 6 
 
 7 8 
 
 1 
 
 Kuthe's Brake 
 Machine. 
 
 Flax|To-.v Flax Tow 
 
 320 72, ^98, 4'^ 
 154 154: 141 
 
 226i 154 183 
 
 £ s. rf £ S. d 
 10 9 4 9 16 1 
 
 2 7 10 2 4 8 
 
 1 6 
 
 11 
 
 as far as it is practicable, and some have suggested that it 
 should be authoritatively, limited. But even these have 
 brought forward no resource for those who, by such a 
 measure, are deprived of their share of the land. It has 
 not been pointed out that the land is only one part of the 
 capital of a nation, and that as much folly lies in devoting 
 all energies to its cultivation as would be shown by at- 
 tempting to carry on trade or manufactures in a large 
 state to the exclusion of agriculture. 
 
 The notion that the capitalist puts the whole profit on 
 a large estate into his pocket without sharing it with his 
 neighbours, is at the bottom of this wish to encourage 
 small properties in land and small manufacturing esta- 
 blishments. Those who advocate this system point to 
 large estates where a number of labourers are poorly fed 
 and live in dependence, while the owners live in power
 
 220 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 and splendour. They forget that the desideratum is not 
 to take away from any one what he can gain, but to dis- 
 cover new resources that raise his poorer neighbours to an 
 equality with the rich. In agriculture it is not desirable, 
 per se, that the profits should be divided only amongst 
 one-third of the inhabitants of a country ; but it is not 
 only desirable, but necessary, if the profits arising from 
 manufactures and from trade are to be gained in addi- 
 tion, and if the country is to retain hands wherewith to 
 gain them. 
 
 On the large estates it is common to hire a traiteur to 
 supply the farm-servants with their meals, which are 
 contracted for at so much a head. The following bill of 
 fare forms the basis of the contract made at Roshenfels, 
 the seat of the Margrave of Baden. The traiteur has a 
 lodging, with garden and pig-sty, wood for warm- 
 ing the dining-room in which the work-people are allowed 
 to remain during the hours of rest ; oil to light the same 
 until nine o'clock p. m He is also allowed to graze 
 some cows with those of the landlord, but must milk 
 them himself. For a fixed tariff he furnishes the meals 
 as in following page. 
 
 A condition is imposed on the traiteur that, in addition 
 to the fluids here named, potatoes are to be served every 
 evening as long as they can be had. We must also sup- 
 pose that black or rye bread, ad libitum, is served, al- 
 though it is professedly limited at supper to half a pound 
 of bread for three men. The portion of meat at dinner 
 every second day is half a pound per man. The traiteur 
 receives 
 
 For breakflist, dinner, and supper, per man 2%d. 
 For hired labourers 3^^
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 221 
 
 Meals furnished by the Traiteur. 
 
 Sunday . 
 
 Monday . 
 Tuesday . 
 Wednesday 
 Thursday . 
 
 Friday . . 
 Saturday . 
 
 Mornin;^. 
 
 Alternately 
 dry bread, 
 and bread 
 and milk, 
 or boiled 
 potatoes, 
 each day. 
 
 Noon. 
 
 Meal porridge, 
 pork and po- 
 tatoes, and 
 sour cabbage. 
 
 Rumford soup, 
 and hasty 
 pudding. 
 
 Soup, meat, po- 
 tatoes or peas, 
 lentils, &c. 
 
 Hasty pudding 
 and meal por- 
 ridge. 
 
 Barley broth, 
 meat, and po- 
 tatoes. 
 
 Rumford soup 
 and meal por- 
 ridge. 
 
 Broth, with 
 bread and 
 meat. 
 
 Evening. 
 
 Bread or sour 
 milk or po- 
 tatoes. 
 
 Sour milk with 
 bread. 
 
 Potato por- 
 ridge and sour 
 milk. 
 
 Meal porridge, 
 and sour milk. 
 
 Sour milk, and 
 meat bi'owned 
 with fat and 
 boiling water. 
 
 Bread and milk 
 or sour milk. 
 
 Meat porridge 
 or sour milk. 
 
 Although these meals will bear as little comparison 
 with those of the Margrave's table as the meals of agri- 
 cultural labourers in any country with those of the land- 
 lords, yet they stand very near the general food of the 
 peasant landowners on the Rhine. There are many ex- 
 ceptions no doubt ; and the peasant's coat and hat is often 
 worn by people who live very much at their ease. This is
 
 222 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 especially the case in Baden, where there is a verj 
 wealthy peasantry. As, however, the population in- 
 creases faster than the profits in agriculture can follow, 
 there is no j)rospect for any country that depends solely 
 on agriculture but that of increasing poverty ; and it is 
 clearly to be wished for our Rhenish neighbours that 
 other sources of employment could spring up with the 
 growth of their active youths and maidens. They will 
 certainly be gainers when they cease to measure the 
 respect to which a man is entitled exclusively by the 
 broad acres that he happens to possess, and begin to cal- 
 culate the various other sources of wealth that are placed 
 by a benignant Providence at their command. We 
 mentioned in a former chapter, that various contracts on 
 joint account for the keep of cattle occur in the Rhenish 
 districts. Occasionally a cow is kept by the owner of a 
 stable for the milk and one of the first two calves that 
 fall. The following is a contract made between Count 
 Gorlitz, of Schlitz, in the grand Duchy of Hesse, and his 
 head shepherd. The entire management of the flocks 
 is left to him, and three men are given to him as assist- 
 ants, who have the right of grazing — the first 25 sheep, 
 the second 20 sheep, the third 15 sheep, with their lambs. 
 The head shepherd receives wheat, rye, barley, peas, len- 
 tils, and fire- wood, delivered at his house, and spirits occa- 
 sionally. He has, besides, five beds for potatoes, one for 
 cabbages, two for flax, a small garden, and a cow. From the 
 flocks he receives three-fourths of the profits as his share ; 
 and if this share does not bring him the sum of ISOflorins 
 or 15/., he is guaranteed a money payment of 2/. to make 
 good the deficiency. By this arrangement, his attention 
 to the improvement of the flock is secured. The shepherd
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 223 
 
 is, moreover, intrusted with the care of folding in such a 
 manner as to manure thoroughly the lands appointed by 
 the land steward, who is bound to designate daily a spot 
 for the fold. 
 
 Similar calculations of the quantity of fodder consumed 
 by sheep in proportion to their size have been made to 
 those for oxen already noticed. According to these 
 the daily weight of hay or equivalents for sheep is — 
 
 Weight of 
 
 Bare nou- 
 
 Ewes suck- 
 
 Sheep fat- 
 
 Carcase. 
 
 rishment. 
 
 ling. 
 
 tening. 
 
 50 lbs. 
 
 1-25 lbs. 
 
 1-875 lbs. 
 
 2-375 lbs. 
 
 75 „ 
 
 1-87 „ 
 
 2-875 „ 
 
 3-562 „ 
 
 100 „ 
 
 2-50 „ 
 
 3-760 „ 
 
 4-750 „ 
 
 120 „ 
 
 3'- „ 
 
 4-5 „ 
 
 5-7 
 
 150 „ 
 
 3-75 „ 
 
 5-5 „ 
 
 7-125 „ 
 
 The yield in washed wool is estimated as follows : — 
 Fine and half Meriuos 1^ lbs. to 3^ lbs. 
 Country Sheep . . 2 „ 4 „ 
 Long- woolled ditto .5 ,, 7 „ 
 Late Winter Lambs .... J „ 
 
 Early ditto ditto f „ 
 
 Summer ditto 1^ „ 
 
 The change in the value of long wool in consequence 
 of the improved method of combing, has not much served 
 Germany, where the common sheep have very coarse 
 wool. It has, however, created a great change, inasmuch 
 as the Germans who long supplied us with fine wools, 
 have become dependent on us for long wool, of which a 
 great deal is now shipped from England to the Continent. 
 
 If our space allowed, we could add largely to the few 
 calculations of German scientific agriculturists that we 
 have given. The inquiring traveller will soon be led 
 from contemplating their results to consult the publica- 
 tions of these authorities, and will find them replete with 
 instruction. 
 
 1-2
 
 ( 224 ) 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Our observations hitherto have been confined to the 
 position in which the Rhenish landlord and farmer stand 
 with respect to that open field of exertion in which suc- 
 cess depends upon a skilful use of natural advantages. 
 That all soils and situations have either peculiar advan- 
 tages, which may be turned to good account by clever 
 farmers, or are saddled with drawbacks that demand no 
 less exertion of skill to compensate, is a fact to which 
 we have seen the Rhenish farmer is keenly alive. He 
 suits his mode of cultivation where he can to his re- 
 sources, and where he cannot choose he follows the 
 demand to his best ability. The chief obstacle to his 
 success we have also seen consists in the imperfect di- 
 vision of labour that prevails in Germany, and which 
 makes nearly every man a producer of the objects of 
 general consumption : by which means the home-market 
 is almost annihilated in times of abundance, while in 
 periods of scarcity there is no surplus of produce to 
 look to. 
 
 We have now to consider the burthens that press upon 
 the land from a quarter that is beyond the cultivators' 
 reach — the taxes levied for general State purposes, as 
 well as for local expenditure. The two heads must be 
 taken together, because many things that in England are 
 left to private management form in Germany objects of 
 solicitude for the government.
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 225 
 
 In the administration of justice, although the forms are 
 occasionally dilatory and demand a sacrifice of time, yet 
 the public functionaries diminish very much the ouilay 
 that attorneys' and counsels' fees occasion in England, 
 We have already noticed the inexpensive and satisfactory 
 mode of transferring land and real property by entries 
 made in the parish books under the control of chosen 
 assessors. In criminal cases an advocate is appointed 
 amongst the members of the board that takes cognizance 
 of offences for any party vt-ho is unable to pay the mo- 
 derate remuneration demanded by advocates for drawing 
 up papers. All police enquiries and pursuit of offenders 
 are carried on at the charge of the State. The sanatory 
 and other preventive police enquiries are discharged by 
 officers paid by government. The provision for the 
 clergy, for the poor, and for schools, where they are not 
 drawn from funds set especially apart for the purpose, 
 form items of local taxation, while a considerable sacri- 
 fice of time is demanded in the personal attendance on 
 the military exercises required of every individual during 
 a portion of his life ; and no small share of trouble 
 devolves upon the respectable inhabitants of both towns 
 and villages, who are called to fill the office of assessors 
 at local courts. 
 
 Direct taxation is a prominent feature in the budgets 
 of all the German States. According to the last pub- 
 lished budget of supplies and ways and means for Prussia, 
 the land-tax yielded 10,497,944 dollars, or one-seventh of 
 the whole revenue ; being about half as much again as the 
 interest of the national debt, which amounted to 
 7,253,000 dollars. The trading and manufacturing por- 
 tion of the population contributed 2,435,460 dollars, and
 
 226 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 the class-tax, levied on adult males of all ranks, in rates 
 fixed by their wealth, yielded 7,188,107 dollars. As 
 this last may be considered a general property-tax, the 
 direct taxes in Prussia amounted in 1844 to 19,000,000 
 dollars, or 3,000,000/. sterling; being more than one- 
 fourth of the whole revenue of 70,000,000 dollars. The 
 Royal forests and domains contribute 9,000,000 dollars 
 to the revenue of the state, on which there is a perpetual 
 rent-charge of 2,573,000 dollars (400,000/.) for the 
 civil list. This sum is no other than an absorption of 
 rents that are drawn from the land for the benefit of the 
 revenue — a payment in kind which it might be difficult 
 to obtain in another shape. 
 
 We happen to be well informed concerning both the 
 amount of the land-tax in the Rhenish province of 
 Prussia, and the basis upon which it is levied, from a 
 critical inquiry into the mode of levying, published some 
 years back by the late Burgomaster of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 M. Hansemann. The actual measurement of the land 
 for the purpose of taxation was begun while the Rhenish 
 province on the left bank of the river was under French 
 sway. It has since been completed, and the rate divided 
 according to the statistical survey, or as it is called in 
 Germany, the cadaster (from Kara and arepfo) oddly com- 
 bined), in which the supposed quality of the soil is regis- 
 tered, together with the divisions of property. The land 
 is classed according to this supposed quality at the time 
 the cadaster was formed, about 20 to 15 years ago. Of 
 course no other standard could be taken than the value of 
 the produce which the average skill of the farmer at that 
 time could raise from each field assessed at an average 
 market price. Where parties were dissatisfied with the
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 227 
 
 award of the government commissions of arbitration were 
 deputed to inspect the land, and occasionally to repeat 
 the experiments on which the valuation was founded. 
 The result is thus stated by M. Hansemann. " The 
 estimates made by the Prussian commissions raised the 
 land and house tax 20 per cent, above the valuation 
 assessed by the French authorities during the occupa- 
 tion. This resulted from the commissioners' taking the 
 price of corn at too high a figure, while they under- 
 valued the cost of cultivation. The deduction of 25 per 
 cent, from the rental of a house lor repairs is said to be 
 also too low an estimate. The rates now levied may be 
 seen in the table on the following page, which will serve 
 the traveller as a guide in his inquiries in Rhenish Prussia. 
 The district of Aix contains soils and situations of the 
 most varied and contrasting kinds, from the moun- 
 tainous declivities of Montjoie to the alluvial deposits 
 in some of the valleys. As the average of every parish in 
 the following table shows a different figure, it will testily 
 to the care bestowed on the valuations. The value of all 
 kinds of produce has, however, varied and considerably 
 augmented since the present rates were fixed, and the 
 farming processes have improved no less. The profits 
 accruing to the cultivator in 1828 are expressed by the 
 number of groschen (30 gros. = 1 shilling) and varies 
 from 24 or 27 groschen (2s. 2d. to 2s. bd.) per morgen, 
 or 35. Qd. per English acre, to 119 groschen per morgen, 
 or 16s. Ad. per English acre, for arable land. This esti- 
 mate, besides assuming a very indifferent style of farm- 
 ing, deducts all the value of the peasant landowner's 
 labour from the profit as a charge included in the cost 
 of cultivation. It may therefore be assumed as repre-
 
 228 
 
 AGRICULTUEE OX THE EHINE. 
 
 tcEi 
 
 00 
 
 o 
 
 OO-^-^t^OOOSSOlM 
 
 CO 
 
 ^£-§s> 
 
 '"' 
 
 '^ 
 
 ^ ^ r-. r-t ^ (N r-l 
 
 *"■ 
 
 / 2 
 
 -* 
 
 CO 
 
 00iXiC<N00t^OiOC0 
 
 --, 
 
 
 GO 
 
 
 C-l O t- c c -o -sC •* X 
 
 
 C S" 
 
 
 00 
 
 <M -^ o crj 00 -^ -o -o -o 
 
 •o 
 
 5 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^s- 
 
 -t 
 
 o 
 
 C5ococia>coecir:t-- 
 
 '^1 
 
 
 n 
 
 CO --^ I-" c^ c; (?i -o 
 
 ? 
 
 « 2 -' S 
 
 He 
 
 MH 
 
 -4?' He' --1^ 
 
 CI 
 
 ^£^^i 
 
 
 
 (MCOCOp-.CO^(M.-i<>J 
 
 >— ' 
 
 X 
 
 c^ 
 
 CO 
 
 t^O»n0500iCOOO 
 
 -+ 
 
 
 t^ 
 
 
 ^ Oi -O *- -.C -* ■* O CO 
 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 ^^'^(M-^-ot^t::!- 
 
 00 
 
 S >> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 oocoo^ occ^ 
 
 -o 
 
 
 
 r-c -H OJ CO CO 
 
 
 2ili 
 
 t>. 
 
 *» 
 
 05TtVO<N^»ftT*<Tj<f^ 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 — cot^^ocoocot^ 
 
 
 >-« "B fc£) 
 
 "— ' 
 
 
 1— C 1— < r— 1 1— 1 r— F— 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Tj< 
 
 o 
 
 COOOOCO'M'OCOOO 
 
 ^ 
 
 = ?i 
 
 o 
 
 <N 
 
 cOO'NO-^OfNOl-' 
 
 ^ 
 
 1^-^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 cn^oooo '^'=^^"^°^'^ 
 
 CI 
 
 
 
 
 
 S J 
 
 ,_l 
 
 ,_l 
 
 oeo^»D'<t!Oi-«'-<(N 
 
 ^' 
 
 
 
 '-' 
 
 
 '^ 
 
 00 
 
 •* 
 
 Tt<Ot^OOOO»ftOO^^ 
 
 c^ 
 
 X -'' s 2 
 
 
 o 
 
 »nt^ot^-*0(>jcoco 
 
 o 
 
 « » 
 
 00 
 
 'i' 
 
 c^^i--»ni^-*cocovr^ 
 
 <M 
 
 i? c 
 
 (M 
 
 G^l 
 
 (M:o — cooJ^'—'^ias 
 
 o 
 
 o o 
 
 "^1 
 
 <N 
 
 °l 
 
 COCOfflC^-^^Or-C^ 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 <N 
 
 P^ 
 
 o CO « irT co" oT co' cT ^r 
 
 t^ 
 
 ss 
 
 
 Oi 
 
 (Tl <N ^ CO ^ -t 
 
 » 
 
 lili 
 
 Ci 
 
 00 
 
 t^oooJOfNin-^r^t- 
 
 -1 
 
 
 OJ 
 
 »>-C50000t^O(M(N5^ 
 
 r^ 
 
 ,.. 
 
 C5 
 
 00 
 
 »naicoc(Moot^05 
 
 ,^ 
 
 i c 
 
 •-0 
 
 
 Tj< -^ cr. CO c>i oi o 1- — 
 
 00 
 
 2 J; 
 
 • CO 
 
 (M 
 
 irjoco— o-o?^(N^ 
 
 Ci 
 
 2 cf 
 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 CO 
 
 of 
 
 (NOTjroreo»rr»f5 ^ s 
 
 05 
 
 
 ir. 
 
 (Nt^ -*»f5ao»oeooo 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 ^"s 
 
 :^l 
 
 • § 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 li 
 
 2 "^ 
 
 . . . o .... 
 
 
 "o 
 
 0- 
 
 O 5 
 
 SI N> tT >. 5^ F 
 
 
 
 1 r-> 
 
 -7 ^ 
 
 il 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 <5 
 
 «- ^ c.— •= -^ -5 S ~ 

 
 AGRTCrLTl'RE OX THE EHINE. 229 
 
 senting what, under other circumstances, a tenant could 
 afford at the time of the valuation to pay as rent to a 
 landlord, nor has there been such a change since 1828 
 as to justify our considering tliis too low a valuation. 
 The peasants have increased in number, and in all pro- 
 bability their holdings are smaller now than ever. As 
 the peasants hold the bulk of the land, all legislation 
 must look chiefly to their necessities, and on their small 
 patches they assuredly do not grow corn more economi- 
 cally than they used. In 1828 the cultivated land in 
 the district of Aix-la-Chapelle counted 1,230,276 estates 
 on an area of 1,624,252 morgens, each allotment con- 
 sequently averaging about two-thirds of an English acre. 
 The estimated returns from these 1,624,252 morgens 
 was 2,198,086 dollars, averaging, consequently, l^g dol- 
 lars per morgen, or 6s. 4d. per English acre. The net 
 return from houses is stated at 503,844 dollars, to add 
 to the above. On these the land-tax charged was 
 445,393 dollars, or 16 percent. The land-tax charged 
 on the agricultural returns is stated on good authority to 
 amount to 12 per cent on the peasant's crops. Of the 
 produce of large well-managed estates, of course, the 
 land-tax consumes but a slender proportion ; but of these 
 a great many enjoy an immunity from taxation that is 
 regarded with sore feelings by their poorer neighbours, 
 and allusions are frequently made to the promise of the 
 late king to abolish privileges and concede rights as their 
 substitute. The sum levied for land-tax, although 
 small, is felt to be oppressive, as it must be paid in hard 
 money ; and although practically redeemed by transfer 
 and inheritance, yet the tax-gatherer's call haunts the 
 
 L 3
 
 230 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIKE. 
 
 peasant's mind throughout the year, and checks improve- 
 ment, which, it is feared, would only create a higher 
 rate. 
 
 A fixed land-tax is, in a prosperous country, absorbed 
 in the profits realized, and is virtually redeemed by pur- 
 chase and inheritance. The Prussian government has 
 not raised the actual land-tax since 3 838, when M. 
 Hansemann gives the amount at 10,163,000 dollars. 
 The published budget for 1844 states the land-tax re- 
 ceipts to be 10,427,944 dollars, so that at least no aug- 
 mentation has taken place. The people have, however, 
 no guarantee that it will not be raised, as the crown 
 exercises an undisputed right of taxation, and in times of 
 State emergency it is only on this field that the govern- 
 ment can fall back. 
 
 In the land-tax here stated, the county and parish 
 rates are included, on the plan of the "centimes ad- 
 ditionels " in France. The contribution raised in this 
 manner from the land is small in proportion to the great 
 objects obtained through its agency. But the circum- 
 stance of its being levied from the small landowners 
 makes it oppressive, and the government early found 
 that it could only be raised in this manner. There is 
 little doubt, therefore, that the land-tax in Prussia has 
 the same effect that it has in Bengal ; and in both 
 countries the individual energies of the people are 
 paralyzed by the encouragement of small holdings to the 
 detriment of all accumulation of capital. 
 
 In the Duchy of Nassau a similar state of things pre- 
 vails. The land-tax is rather below the rate in Prussia, 
 but the principle of periodical revisions has been spoken
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 231 
 
 out by the Chambers. In 1848 the land-tax rate is to 
 be reconsidered. The cultivated area of the country 
 is 1,812,541 Nassau morgens, and is held by 42,676 
 landed proprietors cultivating their own land. This area 
 is equivalent to 1,103,000 English acres. Considerable 
 improvement has no doubt taken place in the mode of 
 farming, and both the fields and the vineyards yield a 
 much higher return than was formerly obtained. But 
 that the great evil of the subdivision of the soil is in- 
 creasing in the duchy, as elsewhere, is shown by the 
 annexed little historical sketch of the division of pro- 
 perty in the Rhinegau, which we owe to the kindness of 
 an observing friend in office : — 
 
 Number of Landed Properties in the Rhinegau District of 
 Rudesheim. 
 
 Parish. 
 
 Size. 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 Land under 
 Vines. 
 
 
 
 
 1833. 
 
 1844. 
 
 Mor 
 
 gen. 
 
 1. Rudesheim . 
 
 less than 2 morg. 
 
 441 
 
 472 
 
 720 
 
 720 
 
 ' 
 
 2 „ 5 
 
 
 89 
 
 96 
 
 
 
 
 6 „ 10 
 
 
 46 
 
 44 
 
 
 
 
 11 „ 20 
 
 
 17 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 21 „ 35 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 more than 100 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 597 
 
 631 
 
 720 
 
 720 
 
 2 Assmannshau- 
 
 
 
 
 sen . . . 
 
 less than 2 
 
 
 108 
 
 108 
 
 236 
 
 238 
 
 
 2 „ 5 
 
 ,, 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 6 „ 10 
 
 
 9 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 11 „ 20 
 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 21 „ 35 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 134 
 
 137 
 
 236 
 
 238
 
 232 
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Number of Landed Properties in the Hhinegau District of 
 Rudesheim — continued. 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 Land under 
 
 Parish. | 
 
 Size. 
 
 ^e^^- 1 Vines. 
 
 
 
 1833. 
 
 1844 
 
 Morgen. 
 
 3. Aulhausen . 
 
 less than 2 morg. 
 
 182 
 
 239 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 
 2 „ 5 „ 
 
 70 
 
 49 
 
 
 
 
 5 „ 10 „ 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 10 „ 20 „ 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 21 „ 35 „ 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 51 „ 70 „ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 above 100 „ 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 269 
 
 301 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 4. Eibingen . 
 
 less than 2 „ 
 
 304 
 
 338 
 
 255 
 
 245 
 
 
 2 „ 5 „ 
 
 19 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 6 „ 10 „ 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 11 ,, 20 „ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 328 
 
 370 
 
 255 
 
 245 
 
 5. Geisenheim 
 
 less than 2 „ 
 
 225 
 
 234 
 
 612 
 
 580 
 
 
 2 „ 5 „ 
 
 123 
 
 107 
 
 
 
 
 5 „ 10 „ 
 
 46 
 
 52 
 
 
 
 
 10 „ 20 „ 
 
 29 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 
 21 „ 35 „ 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 36 „ 50 „ 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 51 „ 70 „ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 71 „ 100 „ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 above 100 „ 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 433 
 
 433 
 
 612 
 
 580 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 • 
 
 6. Johaniiisberg 
 
 less than 2 „ 
 
 94 
 
 123 
 
 214 
 
 218 
 
 
 2 „ 5 „ 
 
 55 
 
 47 
 
 
 
 
 6 „ 10 „ 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 11 » 20 „ 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 21 „ 35 „ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 36 „ 50 „ 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 178 
 
 200 
 
 214 
 
 •218
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 233 
 
 Number i.<f Landed Properties in the Rhinegau District of 
 JRiidesheim — contin ned. 
 
 Parish. 
 
 7. Lorch . 
 
 Lorclihausen 
 
 SL Winkel. 
 
 Size. 
 
 i Years. 
 
 less than 2 morg. 227 
 
 2 
 6 
 11 
 21 
 36 
 51 
 
 5 
 10 
 20 
 35 
 50 
 70 
 100 
 
 more than 100,, 
 
 less than 2 
 
 2 „ 5 
 
 6 „ 10 
 
 11 „ 20 
 
 21 „ 35 
 
 less than 2 , 
 
 5 r 
 
 10 , 
 
 20 , 
 
 35 ,: 
 
 36 „ 50 , 
 more than 100, 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 21 
 
 140 
 
 88 
 
 23 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 497 
 
 114 
 
 25 
 
 18 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 1844 
 
 285 
 
 149 
 
 78 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 553 
 
 149 
 
 39 
 
 27 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 175 
 
 228 
 
 107 
 
 24 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 225 
 
 278 
 
 132 
 
 40 
 
 24 
 6 
 1 
 
 Land under 
 Vines. 
 
 Morgen. 
 595 
 
 531 
 
 531 
 
 224 
 
 595 
 227 
 
 224 227 
 520 500 
 
 383 482 520 '500 
 Taxation of Vineyards. 
 
 Cap. Simplum. Fl. krs. 
 
 Under 2 morgens 50 fl. „ „ 12^ 
 
 2 „ 5 „ 100 „ „ 35" 
 
 5 „ 8 „ 200 „ „ 50 
 
 8 „ 11 „ 300 „ „ 1 15 
 
 11 „ 14 „ 500 „ „ 1 45 
 rising afterwards 200 florins for every 3 morgens.
 
 234 AGRICULTUKE OS THE EHIXE. 
 
 From this table we see that the annual return from a 
 morgen, two-thirds of an acre, is estimated very low. The 
 average of the Steinberg vineyards for twenty years is 
 half a pipe per morgen : now as the cheapest wine is worth 
 in the Rhinegau 200 florins per pipe, the valuation at 50 
 florins, on which the simple rate amounts to 12^ kreutzers, 
 or 4d. English, is very moderate. When five simpla, as 
 they are called, in the year are required, the majority of 
 the Rhinegau vineyards do not pay more than about 
 2s. 6d. per acre. In the same manner the return sup- 
 posed to be derivable from arable land is rated very low 
 in all the German States, although the Governments went 
 to vast expense and trouble, when the land-tax was regu- 
 lated, to discover what the cost of cultivation under its 
 rudest form amounted to. Prices also ranged generally 
 low in the years in which this regulation was effected, and 
 the result has been a very moderate assessment. In Nas- 
 sau, Ilesse, and Baden, the return having been deter- 
 mined by commissions of inquiry, and established at some- 
 thing like the rate found in Prussia, a tax of one kreutzer 
 in the florin, or one in sixty, was levied upon the supposed 
 net produce, to form what is called the simplum. The 
 number of simpla to be levied for the year's expenses is 
 determined in Nassau, Hesse, and Baden by a vote of the 
 Chambers. The direct taxes, and not the indirect taxes 
 and excise duties, form the fluctuating items of the budgets 
 of these States. The customs' duties are regulated by the 
 periodical congresses that assemble to fix the tariff" of the 
 ' Zollverein.' On adhering to this customs' league each 
 of the German States that has representative asssemblies 
 was obliged to resign, by a vote of the Chambers, the ar- 
 rangements of the customs' duties to the executive, and
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIXE. 235 
 
 they are managed in diplomatic form like treaties of peace 
 and war. The Chambers have given up their claim to 
 control the import, export, and transit duties, but retain 
 the privilege of voting the number of simpla of which the 
 land-tax is to be composed. 
 
 As the Government undertakes the charge of many 
 things that in England form objects of local taxation, 
 what we should call county and even parish rates are 
 usually included in the consolidated tax raised from the 
 land, and from the traders and industrious classes gene- 
 rally, whose assumed profits have been calculated, like 
 those of the farmer, at a very low rate. In all the Rhe- 
 nish States the care of the high roads is undertaken by- 
 Government. In Prussia a charge is specified for this 
 purpose in the provincial budget. In Nassau there is a 
 foundation fund, appropriated from the proceeds of the 
 alienated church lands confiscated during the revolu- 
 tionary wars. This fund furnishes a sum annually for the 
 care of the high roads, another for augmenting the revenues 
 of the poorer clergy, and a third sum in aid -of education. 
 
 We have already noticed the excellent system of 
 schooling that is met with everywhere in Germany, and 
 nmst here point to a feature that has been generally dis- 
 regarded by both Fren<'h and English writers on this 
 interesting subject, but which seems to us to form the 
 mainspring that causes the German system to work so 
 well. The schoolmaster in Germany is a public officer 
 placed in the district to which he devotes his labour. His 
 importance is in no way dependent upon the power of 
 courting parents or of tyrannising over children. Ills 
 acts are all public, and he is under the constant control 
 of public opinion. But with these restraints against mis-
 
 236 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 conduct, he has a powerful motive to exert himself. The 
 expectation of promotion is ever before him. All the 
 higher scholastic charges are filled by men who rise as it 
 were from the ranks. In the grammar-schools young 
 men from college enter as ushers and rise to be head 
 masters. In the village schools skilful masters are pro- 
 moted from places with small salary to larger schools 
 where the remuneration is better. A meritorious teacher 
 is sure to obtain an increase of salary where no opportu- 
 nity of promotion presents itself. 
 
 By this excellent system not only is a vast amount of 
 talent secured for the important office of public teacher, 
 but the hope of advancing to the higher posts in the 
 scholastic career induces a number of clever young men 
 to devote their time to the tasks of ushers or under-teachers 
 at low salaries. Thus a sufficient number of teachers can 
 always be found, and the schools are well supplied with 
 men who, not being fatigued with incessant labour, carry 
 a freshness and cheerfulness to their classes that is highly 
 beneficial. It is in this manner that with a very small 
 expenditure a highly valuable course of education is now 
 at the command of every German. The system of in- 
 struction at the village schools is admirable, and at the 
 grammar and polytechnic schools in the larger towns it 
 must be pronounced first-rate. 
 
 The common principle in Germany is to recognise no 
 distinction of rank. The school is open to all, and the 
 small fees (in villages, not amounting to many shillings ; 
 and in towns, but to one or two pounds annually) are 
 ])aid by all alike. In the Duchy of Nassau a change has 
 been attempted at Wiesbaden, which, by giving a select 
 education to those who are willing to pay the small sum
 
 AGKICULTTJRE ON THE RHINE. 237 
 
 of two pounds annually, allows a poorer class of scholars 
 to be educated almost without fees. 
 
 The rates levied for making roads do not exempt those 
 who use them from paying toll. The gates are usually 
 met with at distances of 1 German or 4| English mil-es 
 apart, and the toll on a two-horsed vehicle is generally 
 about twopence. In the towns a much higher toll is 
 commonly levied for paving-money. Roads between 
 villages are made by aid of local contributions, and are 
 kept in repair by the respective villages. The poor are also 
 maintained by their fellow-villagers under various local 
 arrangements, but food is happily not too dear anywhere 
 on the Rhine to render it impracticable for the aged and 
 even the partially infirm to earn in some manner their 
 daily bread, without the aid of workhouses. There is a 
 great deal of home-relief distributed in the towns by the 
 overseers, partly from the voluntary contributions at 
 churches, and partly derived from sums drawn from the 
 revenues of the respective towns. A pauper is, how- 
 ever, unhesitatingly i-emoved to his parish, and men- 
 dicants are in general not tolerated. 
 
 The prisons are also a charge on the general revenue. 
 Their cost is diminished by a good system of prison- 
 labour, out of the proceeds of which, too, a small fund is 
 provided for discharged prisoners, a regulation which has 
 a most salutary effect. Excellent prison discipline is 
 established at Cologne and at Eberbach in the Rhinegau, 
 at which places the system of secondary punishments is 
 admirable. The charge for the police establishments is 
 one of the heaviest, and in its present shape the police 
 system is the most doubtful, as to any good resulting 
 from it, of all the German institutions.
 
 238 AGRICULTLRK OX THE RHINE. 
 
 Besides the land-tax there are, in Prussia, some produce- 
 taxes that press on the cultivation of the soil. One we 
 have noticed, that on tobacco. In Prussia tobacco grown 
 in portions of land exceeding six roods (about -^ acre) is 
 taxed at four different rates according to the soil. The first- 
 class soils pay about 7|c/., the second 7d., the third G^d.j 
 and the fourth 6d. per six roods, or from 1/. 5s. to 1/. per 
 acre. The immediate effect of this tax is to exclude 
 tobacco to a great extent from the rotations of the farmers 
 in Rhenish Prussia. In Baden, Hesse, and Rhenish 
 Bavaria, where no tax is incurred by its cultivation, 
 tobacco is extensively grown, and is found to be a very 
 profitable crop. 
 
 Wine is also taxed in Prussia, after fermentation, at 
 rates varying according to its quality, from 35. 6d. to 9d. 
 per eitner .fifteen English gallons). For the sake of these 
 two duties, which bring in about 60,000/. annually to the 
 Prussian exchequer, the whole ]»nnciple of the ' Zoll- 
 verein ' is set aside, and the free internal traffic between 
 the various States is constrained. Tobacco and wine 
 pay a differential duty on importation into Prussia from 
 the other German States that have not adopted the same 
 system of taxation. Large quantities of tobacco are an- 
 imally sent into Prussia from Baden and Bavaria. In the 
 greater number of German States there are taxes on the 
 transfer of land and houses, that would very much inter- 
 fere with the marketable value of land if the forms of 
 transfer were not otherwise easy, and the titles conse- 
 quently good and clear. The stamp j^aid in Prussia for 
 the contract of sale which, when registered, ibrnis the 
 title-deed or conveyance, is one per cent, on the pur- 
 chase-money. In Nassau a tiix of two per cent., besides
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIKE. 239 
 
 a stamp of | per cent., is levied on transfers of land and 
 houses. Similar charges are made in Hesse, Baden, and 
 Bavaria. 
 
 In Prussia there are several towns which still retain a 
 tax upon the grinding of flour, at the rate of Is. 6d. for 
 every scheffel of wheat, and of 3d. per scheffel for other 
 grain. This tax is equivalent to nearly 8s. per quarter 
 on wheat, and Is, 4d. on the quarter of rye. About one- 
 seventh of the towns of Prussia adopt this in lieu of an 
 income-tax, which has been introduced into the othtr 
 towns. 
 
 In general, we may remark that the taxes raised di- 
 rectly from the land and its produce in Prussia, furnisli 
 one-half of that portion of the revenue derived from tax- 
 ation, and two-fifths of the whole revenue of the State. 
 Amongst these must also be included the tax upon all 
 malt used in brewing and distilling, although this tax 
 is not raised until the malt is put into the mash-tub. 
 Distillers then pay a duty of -^^ of a dollar, or 2id., for a 
 space equivalent to 20 quarts of mash room, from which 
 it is calculated that one quart of whiskey, of 50 per cent, 
 strength, can' be extracted. For brewing, malt is taxed 
 by weight, at 20 groschen, or 2s. per cwt., which is. 
 perhaps, equivalent to 6s. 4d. per quarter. The small 
 stills and breweries which we have mentioned as being 
 frequently attached to farms, pay only five-sixths of the 
 duty levied where distilling and brewing are independent 
 trades. Beer brewed in small quantities, and for domestic 
 consumption, is exempt from duty. 
 
 All the rates of taxation that we have named are very 
 moderate where the system of cultivation is good, and 
 the size of farms admits of a sufficient profit being
 
 240 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 drawn from them by the cultivator. But in the present 
 minute division of the soil they are felt to be very heavy, 
 except where superior intelligence enables the farmer to 
 study his market and suit his crops to it. Where this is 
 not attended to, the profit that we have assumed as being 
 common upon the Rhine, and which is very considerable, 
 is, of course, not obtained. Where intelligence has been 
 stimulated by accompanying prosperity in trade and ma- 
 nufactures, our calculations of the farmer's profit will often 
 be found to be under-rated. 
 
 The following details of some large estates in Southern 
 (Germany will best serve to show the skill that is exerted 
 in the management of large properties as compared with 
 the peasants' system of cultivation. The morgen is tlmt 
 of Wirtemberg, and is to the English acre as 71 to 40, or 
 nearly three-quarters of an acre. 
 
 Hipfelhof, near Heilbronn on the Neckar, contains — 
 
 490 morgens arable. 
 
 .55 „ meadow. 
 
 15 „ vineyards. 
 
 250 „ forests. 
 
 Rotations. 
 
 87 morgens winter corn. 
 170 „ summer corn. 
 
 43 
 
 43 
 
 103 
 
 44 
 
 rape and poppies. 
 
 potatoes and turnips (Swedes). 
 
 clover and lucern. 
 
 tares (green), clover, and fallow. 
 
 490 morgens. 
 Stock : 7 horses, 14 oxen — in winter only 4 to 6 
 oxen.
 
 AGElCULTUaE ON THE RHINE. 
 
 241 
 
 Ibingerhof, near Weil : — 
 
 534 morgens arable. 
 
 83 „ meadow and garden. 
 
 28 „ common pasture. 
 
 325 ., forests. 
 
 85 ', fields let ofif. 
 
 1055 
 
 Rotations. 
 
 117 morgens spelt. 
 78 „ oats and barley. 
 52 „ rape-seed. 
 26 „ potatoes and Swedish turnips. 
 
 26 morgens tares and peas. 
 92 „ clover and lucern. 
 78 „ clover pasture. 
 65 „ clean fallow. 
 
 534 morgens. 
 Cattle : 12 horses 
 
 oxen. 
 
 Details of Cultivation. 
 
 ^1 
 
 Crop. 
 
 Spring Periob, 50 Work-days. 
 
 
 
 
 Barley. 
 Oats. 
 
 
 ^& 
 
 Z ? 
 
 26 
 39 
 
 Twice ploughed (a third time 
 in autumn) I day to § morgen . 
 
 Harrowing and rolling 4 times. 
 4 morgens daily . . . 
 
 1 ploughing, 3 times harrowing . 
 
 52 
 
 104 
 156 
 
 87 
 
 26 
 94 
 
 13 
 
 Ditto on 
 fallow. 
 
 3 harrowings (broken up in au- 
 tumn) ..... 
 
 39 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 Peas and 
 
 tares. 
 
 1 ploughing, 2 harrowings 
 
 2 ploughings (1 in autumn) 
 
 78 
 52 
 
 56 
 
 87 
 
 360
 
 242 
 
 AGRICULTURE OX THE RHIXE. 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 S-2 
 
 u 
 
 OS 
 
 
 
 "oi 
 
 Ei 
 
 
 Crop. 
 
 Spring Period. 50 Work-days. 
 
 O !* 
 
 o ^ 
 
 ^S 
 
 
 ^1 
 
 i^ 
 
 
 I Brought forward 
 
 
 3G0 
 
 26 
 
 Potatoes. ' 4 har rowings . . . . 
 
 104 
 
 26 
 
 
 3900 cwt. dung, CO cwt. daily . 
 
 
 65 
 
 30 
 
 Meadows (half in winter) 3600 cwt. or 115 
 loads of compost top dress- 
 
 
 
 
 ing 
 
 . . 
 
 57 
 
 23 
 
 »» Manured with dung, 115 loads . 
 
 . , 
 
 60 
 
 52 
 
 Rape-seed Fallow-ploughing, 1 harrowing . 
 
 . . 
 
 100 
 
 40 
 
 Lucern. pour horse-harrowings. Carting 
 green fodder, 2 horse-loads, 20 
 
 
 
 
 1 tlays 
 
 80 
 
 60 
 
 
 [Various other work . 
 
 1 
 
 •• 
 
 _!1 
 
 
 
 
 
 778 
 
 52 
 
 Rape. 
 
 52 
 
 Rape. 
 
 13 
 
 Spelt. 
 
 18 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 83 
 
 Meadows 
 
 92 
 
 Lucern 1 
 
 
 and } 
 
 
 Clover.J 
 
 63 
 
 Corn and 
 
 
 Rape. 
 
 
 Green 
 
 
 Fodder. 
 
 Summer Period, 70 Work-days. 
 
 Twice fallow-ploughing . .104 
 
 Four times harrowing . . 208 
 
 Manuring with 10,530 cwt dung,| 
 
 60 cwt. daily . . • • • 
 
 Turning stubbles . . .52 
 
 Breaking up fallow, 2 ploughings] 26 
 Two harrowings . . . j 26 
 
 Earthing 3 morgeus twice, per 
 
 horse . . . . I 36 
 
 Housing hay and after-grass, 37 i 
 
 cwt per morgen, 3071 cwt. . j . . 
 I green j 
 
 >2904 cwt 
 ihay J 
 Carting 3191 cwt. com, 4806 cwt, 
 
 straw = 320 loads 
 70 days, two horses 
 
 Sundry jobs .... 
 Carting tithe produce 
 
 174 
 52 
 
 1754 
 87 
 43 
 
 12 
 
 61^ 
 58 
 
 160 
 140 
 
 100 
 4 
 
 1073
 
 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHIXE. 
 
 243 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 , T3 
 
 IP 
 
 
 Crops. 
 
 Autumnal Period, 55 Work- 
 days. 
 
 S o 
 
 O X 
 
 6 <v 
 117 
 
 
 117 
 
 Spelt. 
 
 1 ploughing .... 
 
 195 
 
 52 
 
 Ditto. 
 
 Ploughing in seed, twice harrow- 
 
 
 
 
 
 ing 
 
 286 
 
 145A 
 
 13 
 
 Fallow. 
 
 Carting dung, 78 loads, 30 cwt. 
 
 . . 
 
 39 
 
 13 
 
 Stubbles. 
 
 Carting dung after clover-seed, 
 52 loads .... 
 
 
 26 
 
 18 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 Ploughing up twice, 1 harrowing 
 
 54 
 
 64^ 
 
 
 
 Carting in 2704 cwt. 
 
 
 45 
 
 13 
 
 Fallow) 
 idle 1 
 
 Turning .... 
 
 13 
 
 22 
 
 52 
 
 Rape. 
 
 Ditto .... J 
 Ditto .... 1 
 
 78 
 
 130 
 
 26 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 
 
 40 days' green fodder carted, two 
 
 
 
 
 
 horses .... 
 
 
 80 
 
 
 
 Sundry jobs .... 
 
 
 60 
 807 
 
 The calculation resulting from these data show- 
 In Spring 778 days' work in 50 days = '^^ = IS^- horses 
 In Summer 1073 ditto „ 70 „ = >^2| = IS^^g ditto. 
 In Autumn 807 ditto „ 55 „ = f^ = Uf^ ditto. 
 
 The above rotations are supported with 33 cwt. per 
 morgen of horse and cow dung, which are carted out in 
 149 days by two-horse carts, at 120 cwt. daily. 
 
 Carting and Spreading Manwe. — The contract for 
 manure at the Steinberg vineyard is 12 florins (1/. ster- 
 ling) per morgen = ]/. IO5. per acre. 
 
 In the difference that lies between the profits to be
 
 244 AGBICULTURE OX THE RHINE. 
 
 drawn from the system of cultivation adopted on large 
 farms and that which the land-tax estimate assumes as 
 the peasant's return, lies the whole secret of the slow 
 accumulation of capital in Germany, 
 
 THE END. 
 
 London : Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street.

 
 University of California 
 
 SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 405 Hllgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 
 
 Return this material to the library 
 
 from which It was borrowed. 
 
 0CT05W
 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 B 000 014 676 1 
 
 m. 
 
 
 
 
 *^'2 --,^'^' "'kA» ''■-■;■ '^AAr-:' .;■•-■ -'^_k^A 'k-
 
 :.^ttww, Kj^j 
 
 
 
 K^V; , „■„ ill 
 
 1' 
 
 ^»i¥r»f!oc»»^^*? 
 
 'i9^K.wvy*MV^ 
 
 k/'?^if 
 
 "Wt/y^^/