RL'RAL ECONORnCS I527 



The exact yields of straw and beet 'are not known. With regard to 

 wheat IMolds Red ProHfic was chosen in 1911 as it stands cold well and the 

 grain, owing to its good milhng quality, fetches a better price than other 

 foreign sorts grown in the district. Squarehead does not stand the winter 

 well and ^delds poorly, so it has been given up. Criewener 104, a good 

 yielder but rather late, has also been tried as well as Strubs square. 



Broad casting was dropped in 191 1 ; the drill was introduced very 

 opporttmel}', as this year was exceptionally dry. 



Agricultural improvements. — The old organisation was changed in 

 the autumn of 1905 and from this date progress has been rapid. For- 

 merly the approaches to the holdings were sown and their use forbidden, 

 by police order, from seed time to harvest. Now, plots of less than 0.3 

 acre have vanished, and the area includes only 4600 plots instead of 8000. 

 Unfortunately they are still too small for harvesting machines to be used. 



Other agricultural improvements are : new drainage systems and re- 

 pair of existing systems ; clearing of watercourses and levelling of the soil. 



Stock. — The holding studied carried 14 head of cattle, equivalent 

 to one animal, weighing i 100 lbs. to 2.9 acres, compared with one animal 

 to 5.7 acres for the period 1896-1905. The increase is due to the growth 

 of vegetable produce and the dearness of meat. Efforts are made to obtain 

 a good yield of milk, as well as to find animals well shaped and easy to 

 fatten ; the average weight of each cow which varied from 992 to i 047 lbs. 

 10 to 15 years ago, is now i 272 lbs. The yield of milk has also gone up from 

 600 to 620 galls, in 1906 to 700 galls, in 1913. The stock is grazed on the 

 parish land for the first year, for the second 3'ear on the Simmenthaler 

 pasture in the Oberlahn district. 



The holding supported an average of 18 pigs, with a live weight of 89 

 to 112 lbs. per acre. Breeding has been given up and animals bought 

 at 6 weeks are fattened and sold at 6 months. 



Public woodland. — The public woodlands, which occupy about 1000 

 acres, are on deep sandy soil ; their net yield per acre only reaches 3.S. 

 A centur>' ago, one eighth part of these woods was pasture, but the forest 

 department objected to their restoration to their old state. 



Labour. - By comparison with the Eastern provinces, the district of 

 Wiesbaden, thanks to its small holdings, is particular^ well off with regard 

 to labour. It took only 835 out of 367 364 foreign labourers employed by 

 German agriculture, whose importation was approved by the " Deutsche 

 Arbeitzentrale " for 1912-13. 



With regard to the transfer of rural property, it should be noted that 

 a peasant takes over this father's holding when he is about 35 years old. 

 The father can still look after the stock and the mother manage the home. 

 Often one or two of the brothers or sisters of the 3'oung holder are unmarried 

 and help him as paid workers. Otherwise he hires a labourer or woman 

 worker. The children of the holder also help on the holding. After some 

 years hired labour can be replaced by that of his grown up children. The 

 holder enlarges his farm by buying or renting new plots ; he saves money 

 or pays off his debts. Between 24 and 26 the eldest sou marries and settles 



