8o 



GERMANY - AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL 



2) the sale of property in parcels which produces excessive subdivi- 

 sion {Guterzertriimmenrng). 



In all old Bavaria the system of single succession is in force. I^anded 

 propert}^ is inherited by a single heir, the other heirs being paid the price of 

 their shares. This S3^ste^l has a feudal origin and has been preserved by 

 the conservative spirit of the agriculturists who have remained faithful 

 to ancient customs. 



Landed property is generally, or at least oftenest, inherited by the 

 youngest heir, for reasons both economic and social. It is the custom for chil- 

 dren when they marry to leave the paternal home in order to settle on their 

 own farms. A farmer generall}^ marries when he is between twenty and 

 twenty-five years old ; and when his children marry in their turn he is 

 still able to cultivate his farm without them. 



The price which the heirs receive as their share is always a little less 

 than it would be if the land were sold freely. The price of buying back the 

 shares is none the less very high, so that the net profit yielded by the farm 

 is brought only with difficulty up to 2 or 3 per cent. 



Besides pajdng the shares of his brothers and sisters the heir of the land 

 has to maintain his parents. The conditions of this maintenance are fixed 

 by a contract in which the quantit}^ and quaHty of the objects agreed upon 

 are minutel}^ specified. The stipulation that the value of the maintenance 

 be paid in cash is very rare. 



This system of succession prevents the formation of too minute hold- 

 ings, but it leaves the holdings burdened with debts ; and the eventual 

 result of this is that there is after all subdivision. In other words holdings 

 are sold in parcels. 



These sales are made : 



a) By the owner who retains his dwelhng-house and the appurte- 

 nant lands and divides his remaining land into parcels which he sells se- 

 parately. 



b) By the medium of a speculator in land wdio bu3''s the whole hold- 

 ing and divides it into lots which he sells on his owai account. 



,Such division has attained to enormous proportions of recent years, 

 as is seen from the following table : 



1901-1902 

 1902-1903 

 1903-1904 

 1904-1905 

 1905-1906 

 1906-1907 

 1907-1908 

 1908-1909 

 1909-1910 



hectares 



