Book I. 



AGRICULTURE IN GERMANY. 



S>7 



Sclavonian song. But let no one be induced, by these expressions, to figure to his 

 imagination a scene of rural delight. The plain is unenlivened by trees, unintersected 

 by hedges, and thinly inhabited by human beings ; a waste of arable land, badly culti- 

 vated, and yielding imperfect crops to proprietors, who are scarcely conscious of the extent 

 of territory they possess. It is for some branch of the families of Esterhazy or Palfy, 

 known to them only by name, that the Sclavonian peasants who inhabit these regions are 

 employed. Their appearance bespeaks no fostering care from the superior, no independ- 

 ent respect, yielded with free satisfaction from the inferior. It is easy to perceive that all 

 stimulus to invention, all incitement to extraordinary exertion, are wanting. No one peasant 

 has proceeded in the arts of life and civilisation a step farther than his neighbour. When 

 you have seen one, you have seen all. From the same little hat, covered with oil, falls 

 the same matted long black hair, negligently plaited, or tied in knots; and over the 

 same dirty jacket and trowsers is wrapped on each a cloak of coarse woollen cloth, or 

 sheep-skin still retaining its wool. Whether it be winter or summer, week-day or 

 sabbath, the Sclavonian of this district never lays aside his cloak, nor is seen but in heavy 

 boots. 



624. Their instruments of agriculture {Jig. 68.) are throughout the same ; and in all 

 their habitations is observed a perfect uniformity of design. A wide muddy road separates 



two rows of cottages, 

 which constitute a vil- 

 lage. From amongst 

 them, there^ is no possi- 

 bility of s(^cting the best 

 or the worst ; they are 

 absolutely uniform. In 

 some villages the cottages 

 present their ends, in 

 others their sides, to the 

 road ; but there is sel- 

 dom this variety in the 

 same village. The in- 

 terior of the cottage is in 

 general divided into three small rooms on the ground floor, and a little space in the roof 

 destined for lumber. The roof is commonly covered with a very thick thatch ; the walls 

 are whitev/ashed, and pierced towards the road by two small windows. The cottages 

 are usually placed a few yards distant from each other. The intervening space, defended 

 by a rail and gate, or a hedge of wicker-work towards the road, forms the farm-yard, 

 which runs back some way, and contains a shed or outhouse for the cattle. Such is the 

 outward appearance of the peasant and his habitation. The door opens in the side 

 of the house into the middle room, or kitchen, in which is an oven, constructed of clay, 

 well calculated for baking bread, and various implements for household purposes, which 

 generally occupy this apartment fully. On each side of the room is a door, communicating 

 on one hand with the family dormitory, in which are the two windows that look into the 

 road. This chamber is usually small, but well arranged ; the beds in good order, piled 

 upon each other, to be spread out on the floor at night ; and the walls covered with a 

 multiplicity of pictures and images of our Saviour, together with dishes, plates, and vessels 

 of coarse earthenware. The other door from the kitchen leads to the store-room, the 

 repository of the greater part of the peasant's riches, consisting of bags of grain of various 

 kinds, both for consumption and for seed, bladders of tallow, sausages, and other articles 

 of provision, in quantities which it would astonish us to find in an English cottage. We 

 must, however, keep in mind, that the harvest of the Hungarian peasant anticipates the 

 income of the whole year ; and, from the circumstances in which he is placed, he should 

 rather be compared with our farmer than our labourer. The yards or folds between the 

 houses are usually much neglected, and are the dirty receptacles of a thousand uncleanly 

 objects. Light carts and ploughs {Jig. 68.), with which the owner performs his stated 

 labour, his meagre cattle, a loose rudely formed heap of hay, and half a dozen 

 ragged children, stand there in mixed confusion ; over which three or four noble dogs, 

 of a peculiar breed, resembling in some degree the Newfoundland dog, keep faithful 

 watch." (Trav. in, Hung., 19.) 



625. The agricultural produce of Austria ismore varied than that of any other part of Ger- 

 many. Excellent wheat is cultivated in Gallicia, where the soil is chiefly on limestone, and 

 in the adjoining province of Buckowine ; and, from both, immense quantities are sent down 

 the Vistula to Dantzic. Wheat, rye, and all the other corns, are grown alike in every 

 district, and the quantity might be greatly increased if there were a suflScient demand. 

 Maize is cultivated in Hungary and Transylvania ; millet in Hungary, Sclavonia, and 

 Carinthia ; and rice in the marshy districts of Temeswar. Tobacco is extensively 

 cultivated in Hungary, and excellent hops are produced in Moravia and Bohemia. It is 



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