12 



distillation, the growth in trade through this branch of manu- 

 facture, or whether one considers the endless advantages to 

 agriculture and cattle raising which come from distilling, and 

 the high intelligence with which this branch of Prussian busi- 

 ness activity is conducted, everywhere the Prussian patriot 

 has only reasons for great satisfaction and for certainty of the 

 great national benefits derived from the excellently conducted 

 distilleries, which are as well an important source of revenue 

 for the public treasury." 1 



From 1831 to the present time statistical material is avail- 

 able from which we can gain a fairly good idea of the condi- 

 tions prevailing in the distilling industry in Northern Ger- 

 many. In the year mentioned there were in the eight old 

 provinces of Prussia 22,969 distilleries, of which 13,806 were 

 in operation during the year. 9,399 or 68 per cent, of these 

 were agricultural, the remainder industrial*. The largest 

 number, 6,535, were found in the Rhine province, the district 

 of the fruit stills, while the largest number operated, 4,811, 

 were in Silesia, where potato culture had become very com- 

 mon. The smallest numbers were found in Posen, 382, and 

 Saxony. 1,019. By 1887 the entire number of distilleries in 

 the eight old provinces had diminished to 7,064; 5,808 being 

 in operation, of which 1,000 and 4,796 were in the city and 

 the country respectively, or 82 per cent, were agricultural. 

 These facts indicate the concentration of production in large 

 industrial establishments, and also the tendency of the distill- 

 ers to withdraw to the country, where their plants are more 

 profitable. In Posen, for instance, the city distilleries dimin- 

 ished in number during this period from 235 to 6, while those 

 in the country increased from 338 to 444. The tendency to 

 retire from the cities was much stronger among the pofato 

 than among the grain distilleries, the number of the latter 

 having decreased from 2,280 to 756, or two-thirds, while the 

 former decreased from 2,002 to 194, or nearly 90 per cent., 

 between 1831 and 1865. 2 This is explained by the fact that 



1. C. W. Ferber. pre. cit., p. 169. 



2. From Jahrb. fuer amtliche Statistik des preuss. Staates iv. Jhg. 1876, p. 

 310, Monatshefte zur Statistik des deut. Reiches 1880 and 1886, and Meitzen pre 

 cit., vol ii, statistical part. 



