Book I. AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 87 



this of which we have been speaking, a peculiar degree of decency is attached. If the laborer is comfort, 

 able in point of apparel, the farmer is still more so. In home-work, the farmer generally protects his 

 clothes by a smock-frock of blue linen : a great attention to cleanliness prevails throughout 



537. JVith respect to the farm-house, the exterior is for the most part ornamented by 

 creepers, or fruit-trees trained against the walls ; and within, the neatness which pre- 

 vails is quite fascinating. Every article of furniture is polished ; the service of pewter 

 displays a peculiar brightness ; and the tiled floor is purified by frequent ablutions. 



538. The cottage of the laborer, though not so well furnished, is, however, as clean ; a 

 frequent and periodical use of water, and the broom, pervades every house, great and 

 small, in the country and in towns ; originating, perhaps, in the necessity of cleanliness, 

 and the public enforcement of it, when Flanders was visited by the plague. 



539. The Fle7nish farmer seldom amasses riches, but is rarely afflicted by poverty : in- 

 dustry and frugality are his characteristics ; he never looks beyond the enjoyment of 

 moderate comforts ; abstains from spirituous liquors, however easily to be procured ; 

 never exceeds his means ; pays his rent punctually ; and, in case of emergency, has al- 

 ways somewhat to command, beyond his necessary disbursements. 



540. From this outline of Flemish rural economy, confessedly the best in the climate to 

 which it belongs with the exception of Britain, what are the general conclusions to be 

 drawn by a British farmer ? Sir John Sinclair, who visited the country with the avowed 

 purpose of " ascertaining whether it was not in our power to put an end to that extraor- 

 dinary difference between the prices of grain in Britain and Flanders (p. 1. and 83.) 

 which exists at present (1815), or at any rate to bring it nearer its former standard, thus 

 concludes : " that this may be accomplished, there is every reason to hope will be the 

 case, provided proper attention is paid to the various particulars enumerated in the pre- 

 ceding pages, and more especially to the foilowing : To a change of seed from the Con- 

 tinent ; the importation of Dutch ashes for our clover, and other crops ; the use of 

 salt for agricultural purposes ; a diminution of fallows ; more attention to weeding 

 and to manures ; a more general culture of flax and rape; and, above all, to the 

 means by which the diseases of wheat, and the mildew in particular, can be most effec- 

 tually prevented." [Tract on Flemish Agriculture, p. 85.) 



54 1 . Our opinion on this subject is different : to us, the means to which, according to 

 Sir John Sinclair, proper attention must be paid, appear most inadequate for the end 

 proposed, and more especially " the use of salt, Dutch ashes, diminution of fallows, and 

 a more general culture of flax and rape." The doctrine of the diminution of fallows, 

 so much insisted on, we consider to be one of the most ruinous ever held forth to 

 practical farmers. Happily, the most intelligent of these know better than to adopt it in 

 practice. Economy, industry, and cleanliness, are the words which indicate the gleanings 

 to be made by the British farmer in Flanders : but as to lowering the price of grain by 

 adopting any of these Flemish practices, the idea is ridiculous. 



542. The improvements which might be adopted from Great Britain, by Flemish 

 farmers, enumerated by Sir John Sinclair, entirely coincide with our views, and we 



shall therefore barely enumerate them. They are the adoption of the drill-machine, and 

 plough combined for. beans and pease; the threshing machine; iron pillars for corn 

 stacks ; rye-grass to sow with the red clover ; an improved breed of sheep ; the same of 

 hogs and cows ; lime ; salt (to a certain extent, and principally for seasoning the food 

 of cattle) ; the Swedish turnip, the improved sorts of potatoe, drilled turnips, and 

 temporary pastures. 



Sect. V. Present State of Agriculture in Germany. 



543. The agriculture of Germany is, in many respects, less diflPerent from that of Britain 

 than is the agriculture of France or Italy. It is, however, but very imperfectly known in 

 this country ; partly from the numerous petty states into which the German empire is 

 divided, which greatly encreases the variety of political circumstances affecting agriculture ; 

 but principally from the German language being less generally cultivated by Britons, than 

 that of France or of Italy. The outline which we submit, is drawn chiefly from the pub- 

 lished journals of recent travellers, especially Jacob, Hodgson, and Bright, and from our 

 own observations made in 1813 and 1814. We might have rendered it much more 

 copious by availing ourselves of some knowledge of the German language, and consulting 

 original works ; but the very contracted statements which we must have given, in order 

 not to exceed our limits, would not have compensated either the writer or the reader. We 

 have, therefore, only noticed the general circumstances of the country as to agriculture ; 

 its common or corn and cattle culture ; and the culture of the warmer climates. 



SuBSECT. 1. General View of the Agricultural Circumstances of Germany. 



544. A great variety of soil, surface, climate, and culture, must necessarily exist in a 

 country so extensive as Germany. From the south of Hungary to the north of Den- 

 mark, are included upwards of twelve degrees of latitude, which alone is calculated to pro- 



G 4 



