Professor W. H. Thies, Extension Horticulturist and Editor of FRUIT NOTES, is 

 on a temporary leave of absence assisting >idth extension work in Germany. During 

 his absence FRUIT NOTES is being edited by 0. C. Roberts, Associate Professor of 

 Pomology. 



Professor Thies writes that he has been assigned to Coblenz in the French 

 Zone of Occupation, 



Previous to going to Coblenz he was stationed in the State of Hesse, Gemiany, 

 and tells in the follomng article of some of his impressions of Agriculture in 



Germany. 



AGRICULTURE IN GERILINY 



I arrived in Germany June 16 on a three-months agricultural mission ivith the 

 State Department. After spending about a month in the State of Hesse, I have been 

 assigned to the French Zone of Occupation where fruits are relatively more important. 



In Hesse it has been ray privilege to visit many farms, large and small, 

 although small farms predominate. The average size of farms is i;.2 h ectares, or 

 about 10,5 acres. Farms are very much split up. It is not uncommon for a 5-acre 

 farm to consist of 20 or 30 separate fields scattered in different directions from 

 the village. There are about 2700 villages or farm communities in Hesse. A start 

 has been made in the consolidation of farms to solve a problem resulting from 

 centuries of subdivision in accordance vath inheritance laws. There is one farm 

 of about 65 acres consisting of 625 separate pieces of land. This number has 

 recently been reduced to 120, Land consolidation is one of the biggest agricultural 

 problems in Germany, 



Women do about 60^ of the farm work. Hand labor and long hours are the 

 accepted lot of farm people. Farm machinery of every description is seen here and 

 there on large farms, but it is not adapted to most farms even though money were 

 available to buy it. Crops look unusually well this season, and large yields are 

 expected. The yield per acre, due in part to liberal use of manure and other 

 fertilizers, is high, but the yield per worker is low. 



Fruits, particularly grapes and apples, are a major enterprise in some 

 localities. No large orchards are in evidence. Instead, a few rows of fruit trees 

 with other crops between, are of common occurrence. All fruit trees are "high- 

 headed" to facilitate cultivation of potatoes, sugar beets, currants, or the 

 handling of grain crops underneath. The lowest limb is generally 5 or 6 feet from 

 the ground. Land must be conserved . Germany was not self-supporting from a food 

 standpoint under normal conditions. Now vath 8 or 10 million refugees in the 

 Western zones, food production is even more of a problem. 



At a cooperative fruit auction in Weinheim visited June 27, the principal 

 offerings ^^^ere cherries, currants, and-gbcspberries. About 100 tons vrere sold in 

 less than an hour. Fruits for this sale vrere brought in from 50 assembly points 

 in that area. 



Vineyards along the Rhine will be the subject of a later story. Some of the 

 plantings are on areas so steep that high retaining vralls are necessary, 



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