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portant only as furnishing a very extensive market for the 

 products of the soil. 



Distilling 1 , on the other hand, answers all the requirements 

 of an excellent business to be carried on in connection with 

 agriculture. A large investment of capital is not necessary. 

 as a small, simple still can produce as good raw alcohol as the 

 larger, better equipped establishments, though the latter ex- 

 tract a higher per cent, of spirits from the same quantity of 

 mash and at a less cost. Then it is claimed that they make 

 possible the utilization of materials whose transportation to 

 the markets would not pay on account of low prices, i. e., 

 potatoes, etc. The by-products of the still (schlempe) enable 

 the farmers to keep more cattle than otherwise, through which 

 there is an increased production of meat and manure, the 

 latter making possible a more rational agriculture. 



It is true that transportation is not as difficult a problem as 

 formerly, but it is still of importance, particularly in the 

 eastern provinces of Prussia, where the roads are ver}' poor. 

 In Germany one of the greatest difficulties the farmer has to 

 meet is the supply of food for the cattle. With intensive 

 agriculture, made necessary by the high price of land and 

 dense population, the meadows and swamps are more and 

 more brought under cultivation. This causes a rise in the 

 price of hay and scarcity of pasture, and no fodder crop such 

 as Indian corn is grown. Distilleries furnish a very cheap 

 and excellent food in their residues, as most ,of the nourishing 

 elements remain after the fermentation. Consequently, if 

 the alcohol produced pays for the materials used, the entire 

 value of the "schlempe" for feeding is gained. "Schlempe" 

 has the quality of increasing the now of milk and in addition 

 a great quantity of manure, which is so scarce and so valuable, 

 is produced. The more rational agriculture increases the fer- 

 tility of the land and so the ground rent. In addition it is 

 more easily possible for the farmers to employ the laborers 

 during the winter months, which for the latter is of greatest 

 importance in agricultural districts. 



For these and other reasons a large number of enterprising 

 farmers maintain distilleries in connection with their busi- 



