31 



mark?. In Hamburg., the firm of Peters paid 72 under 4 

 marks, S skilled men over 4 marks, and 7 boys 3 marks. 



Tin 1 wages are lowest in West Prussia and Posen, where the 

 common distillery laborer, in many cases, does not receive 

 more than 1 mark and from that to 1.30 marks, or from 

 twenty-five to thirty-seven and a half cents a day. These con- 

 ditions exist, though there is a great scarcity of labor. The 

 men of the provinces go in great numbers to the West, where 

 they work in the mines and factories at much better wages, 

 and Poles and Bohemians come in to take their places who are 

 satisfied with the miserable amount paid. The best wages 

 for common labor are paid in Saxony and in the manufactur- 

 ing districts along the Rhino. 

 /*. Materials Used. 

 1. Potatoes. 



Of all the materials used in distilling in Germany potatoes 

 are the most important, 81.5 per cent, of all the alcohol pro- 

 duced being made from them. In describing the develop- 

 ment of the industry in Prussia in the early part of the cen- 

 tury, we mentioned the introduction of the potato as a root 

 crop for the fallows, particularly in the sandy portions of 

 Northern Germany. Other fallow crops such as turnips, 

 beets, etc., have been introduced, but the potato has always re- 

 mained the principal one. In 1898, 10.8 per cent, of the 

 arable land of the empire was planted to potatoes; rye and 

 oats alone having a greater acreage. Of the crop harvested 

 about 9 or 10 per cent, is annually distilled into alcohol. The 

 average for the last ten years is 9.25 per cent., while that for 

 1898 is 9.5 and for 1899, 10.5 per cent. We have placed to- 

 gether the acreage, the amount harvested and the amount dis- 

 tilled in the various districts in 1899, in order to ascertain 

 the proportion distilled in different sections of the country. 

 The per cent, of the crop distilled in East Prussia was 15.5; 

 W^est Prussia, 17.2; Brandenburg, IS. 3; Ponierania, 21.5; 

 Posen, 21.3; Silesia, 14.5; Saxony, 6.1; Schleswig-Hol stein, 

 } Hanover, .4; Westphalia, .0; Hesse-Nassau, 1.1 : Hhir, 

 Province, .1; Holhenzollern, .1; Kingdom of Prussia, 12.8; 



