90 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



566. The rural economy of Greenland and Iceland has been given, the former by Crantz, 

 and the latter by Sir G. Mackenzie. Only a small pait of Greenland produces pasture, 

 and a still smaller part grain. The culture of the last, however, is now given up. 

 Cabbages and turnips grow well in the gardens, and there are some oak trees, brambles, 

 and junipers between the 60 and 65 N. lat. Sir G. Mackenzie thinks potatoes and 

 barley might succeed in some places. There are considerable pasture farms, a good and 

 hardy breed of horses, and herds and flocks of cattle and sheep. Farmers have no leases, 

 but pay rent in kind, and cannot be removed from the land unless it can be proved that 

 they have neglected its culture ; that is, they hold on the metayer system. The stock of 

 cattle and sheep is considered as belonging to the soil of the landlord. A tenant may 

 quit his farm whenever he chooses, but must leave the proper amount of stock to 

 be taken by his successor, 



Sdbsect. 3. Of the Agriculture of the Kingdom of Prussia. 



561. The agriculture of Prussia was considerably advanced by its second king, 

 Frederic William, who is said to have imported 16,000 men from Saltzburg, and 

 expended 25 millions of francs in building villages and distributing lands among them. 

 His successor, Frederick the Great, after having procured a peace, made exertions in 

 agriculture as extraordinary as in war and architecture. He drained and brought into 

 cultivation the borders of the lakes of the Netz and the Wasta, and established 3500 

 families oh wh^t before was a marsh. He di-ained the marsh of Fridburg, and established 

 on it 400 families. He made extensive drainages, enclosures, and other improvements 

 in Brandenburg, and in Pomerania, and built the extensive embankments of Dallast, in 

 Friesland, by which, by degrees, a large tract of land was recovered, which the sea sub- 

 merged in 1724. He formed a Council of Woods and Waters for managing the national 

 forests, and regulating rivers and lakes. He established the Royal Economical Society 

 of Potsdam, and other societies, and cultivated a farm. He created a market for agri- 

 cultural produce, by the establishment of manufactures ; and, in short, he left nothing 

 unattempted that might benefit his kingdom. The successors of the great Frederic have 

 not distinguished themselves as encouragers of agriculture, with the exception of the 

 present king, Frederic William I. 



568. The surface and soil of a country so extensive as Prussia are necessarily various ; 

 but, nevertheless, there are few or no mountainous or hilly districts, or fertile plains. 

 The prevailing soil is sand, and almost the whole of the country is in aration. 



569. The soil of the maritime provinces of Prussia is in general so light, that it may be 

 easily ploughed with two oxen, and those of diminished size, and no great strength. 

 Jacobs not unfrequently saw, on the smaller portions of land, d single cow drawing the 

 plough, and whilst the plough was guided by the owner, the cow was led by his wife. 

 The more tenacious soils, on the banks of the streams, are commonly but of small extent. 

 There is, indeed, a large portion of land in the delta, formed by the separation of tlie 

 Nogat from the Vistula, between Derschau and Marienburg, which, under a good 

 system of management, would be highly productive, and which requires greater strength 

 to plough ; there are some others, especially near Tilsit, of less extent ; but the whole 

 of them, if compared with the great extent of the surface of the country, are merely suffi- 

 cient to form exceptions to the general classification which may be made of the soil. 

 (Jacob on the Trade in Com., and on the Agriculture of Northern Europe. ) 



570. The landed estates in Prussia, previously to the year 1 807, were large, and could 

 only be held by such as were of noble birth, or by merchants, manufacturers, or artisans, 

 who had obtained a patent of nobility. When the French had overrun the country, in 

 1807, these restrictions were removed; and, by successive measures, personal services 

 have been abolished, and the whole of the enslaved peasants have become converted into 

 freemen and freeholders. These small and numerous freeholders are the occupiers and 

 principal cultivators of the soil ; rent-paying farmers being seldom to be met with, except 

 in the vicinity of large towns, and on the domains of the crown. (Ibid. ) 



571. The general course of cultivation in Prussia is to fallow every third year, by 

 ploughing three times when designed for rye, or five times if intended for wheat, and 

 allowing the land to rest without any crop during the whole of the year, from one autumn 

 to the next. Most of the land is deemed to be unfit for the growth of wheat, under any 

 circumstances. Where it is deemed adapted to that grain, as much as can be manured, 

 from their scanty supply of that article, is sown with wheat, and the remainder of the 

 fallow-ground with rye. The portion which is destined for wheat, even in the best farms, 

 is thus very small ; and, as on many none is sown, the whole of the land devoted to wheat 

 does not amount to one tenth of that on which rye is grown. (Ibid.) 



572. The live stock, in proportion to the surface, is veiy deficient. According to a 

 calculation by Mr. Jacob, the proportion of animals to an acre, over the whole of East 

 Prussia, West Prussia, and Pomerania, is less than one third of Avhat it is in England. 



