^80 Account of the Meetmg 



hy weight. He found that the small animals paid double the profit of 

 the larger ones." 



The Meeting- was concluded by horse-racing, and a fete given 

 by the Grand- Duke to the peasantry : the members who attended 

 amounted to 900 ; of these the greater number were proprietors 

 of the North of Germany, but scarcely an Agricultural Society 

 of any note throughout Europe omitted to send a representative. 



That this Society is on a scale to work very great improvements 

 in the agriculture of Germany there can be no doubt. If I were 

 to form an opinion only from what I heard, I should say it has 

 already materially changed the cultivation of the North ; but the 

 rigid adherence to old customs displayed throughout Mecklenburg 

 in the management of the farms, at least leads me to the belief 

 that improvements in practical agriculture are as tardy in their 

 advance there, as I fear it must be admitted they are in many 

 parts of our own country. 



In Mecklenburg, and indeed its neighbouring states, one 

 obstacle to great improvement is to be found in the few wants of 

 the occupiers. Wealthy in the possession of the means of living 

 comfortably, with the certainty for the most part that the same 

 means will be continued to their children, they are little disposed 

 to exertion. It may not be uninteresting to add a few remarks 

 which I collected as to the tenure of land and general statistics of 

 Mecklenburg, a country with which we are likely to be more and 

 more connected, not only in the intercourse of commerce, but 

 because of the warm feelings entertained towards England by its 

 hospitable and intelligent inhabitants. 



In Mecklenburg the tenure of land comprises, 1st, the domains 

 of the Grand- Duke; 2ndly, the seignories, or estates of the 

 nobles. About seventy years ago this privileged class solicited 

 their Prince to permit the acquirement and holding of lands by 

 persons " not noble ;" the result was an immediate increase in the 

 value of estates, as the competition for purchase increased. 



At present there are 987 large estates in Mecklenburg- 

 Schwerin, of which 67 belong to the Grand-Duke as reigning 

 Prince, 10 his private property; 78 belong to 23 Counts of the 

 Duchy ; 360 to 257 other nobles ; and 338 to 279 persons " not 

 noble :'' 14 religious institutions possess 86 ; 17 corporations, 42 ; 

 and 6 peasant communities possess 6 estates. These tenures are 

 further classified : — 1 st, the " lehn," or fief -land granted by the 

 Prince upon condition of certain assistance and duties in war from 

 the noble holder, reverting to the donor in the event of the family 

 becoming extinct ; he cannot, however, appropriate it to his own 

 use, nor sell, but confer it upon a " noble " subject. 



Many estates are called " majorat," or entailed upon the eldest 

 son : some few " minorat," in which the youngest inherits. A 



