STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN EUROPE. 29 



sessions within the circle of Bavaria, contained 

 199,000 horses, 160,000 oxen, 465,000 cows, 961,000 

 sheep, 320,000 hogs, and 378,000 goats. Yet are the 

 Bavarians, compared with the inhabitants of the 

 north of Germany, half a century in the rear. The 

 people are extremely ignorant and fanatical : like 

 the people of Rome and Lisbon, they sacrifice much 

 time to processions and fetes, and, like them also, are 

 slaves of the vilest appetites. Debauchery is no- 

 where more flagrant than in Munich.* 



Wurtemburg is ranked among the most fertile and 

 well-cultivated countries of Germany. The mount- 

 ainous parts produce potatoes, oats, hemp, and flax ; 

 the less hilly abound in wheat, spelts, rye, buck- 

 wheat, Indian corn, and barley ; and in the valleys 

 we find tobacco, and madder, and vineyards in which 

 the grapes of France, Cyprus, and Persia succeed 

 perfectly. Apples, pears, &c., are of common pro- 

 duct and of excellent quality.f 



XI. It has been justly remarked, that, to know the 

 state of husbandry in any country, you have but to 

 examine the instruments employed, the succession of 

 crops, and the condition of labourers. Tried by these 

 tests, the agriculture of Russia will be found to be 

 in a state of great degradation. The plough (called 

 soka) which is commonly used is very light, of sim- 

 ple construction, and only calculated to enter the 

 ground one inch and a half; the harrow consists of 

 one or more young pine-trees (whose branches are 

 cut off about eight inches from the stem), steeped in 

 water to add to their weight, and tied together. With 

 such miserable instruments, each drawn by a single 

 horse, the farmer scratches the ground without al- 

 ways covering the seed, which is no doubt the rea- 

 son that in dry seasons their harvests are very bad.J 



* Geog. Math., &c., art Bavaria. Compare the productiv< 

 ness of Bavaria with England ; the comparison is in favour c 

 the former. 



t Idem. t Pallas, pages 3 and 4, vol. i. 



C2 



