vineyards, and the misery of the period contributing to this 

 end. However, its use was chiefly confined to the cities, and 

 it was not until after the Seven Years' War that alcohol be- 

 came the drink of the poor peasants, among whom the habit 

 spread with great rapidity. 1 



c. Character of Early Distilling. 



In the beginning, production was chiefly carried on is 

 cities. In Prussia, the Great Elector forbade distillation out- 

 side the cities, and not until the end of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury was the privilege extended to the manors. 2 This: 

 monopoly was very important to the towns, as the distilleries, 

 not being hampered at first by guild restrictions, and having" 

 a ready sale for their product at good prices, grew rapidly. 

 Dreyhaupt, in 1750, called the business "Eine Alte Nahrung" 

 of Halle, which had 35 distilleries in 1756, and the same was 

 true of many other cities, particularly those situated in good 

 grain growing districts. 3 With the poor transportation facil- 

 ities, grain was not easily and profitably disposed of; but 

 when distilled into alcohol, rye became a much more portable, 

 valuable commodity, and in addition the waste of the stili 

 furnished an excellent food for animals. So swine 'raising- 

 was carried on in connection with distilling, witl^ veij lucra- 

 tive results. The gains soon showed themselves-*etill greater 

 in connection with cattle-feeding, so land-owners hastened to 

 establish stills on their possessions, in order to profit through 

 the maintenance of more cattle, which the by-products of the 

 distillery alone made possible. 



With the growth of the industry, and a recognition of its 

 agricultural importance, the earlier restrictions against the 

 use of grain were removed, as the States now wished rather to . 

 foster than to hinder the development of what had become a 

 weighty source of revenue. As early as the sixteenth century,- 

 taxes began to be levied on alcohol by German States, chiefly 

 as local taxes on consumption. In Bavaria, Amberg imposed. 



^v 



1. Baer, pre. cit., p. 223. 



2. Wolf; p. 45. 



3. Schwetschke, Gewerbliche Geschichte der Stadt Halle. Halle, 1883; pp. 

 211 and 216. 



