10 AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 



not of puny dimensions, because too small a farm would 

 not pay well : they are not large, because there is con- 

 siderable demand for dairy produce, rape-seed, flax, 

 tobacco, and other products that remunerate when cul- 

 tivated on a middling-sized farm. The farms average, for 

 peasants, 30 to 50 acres ; for landed proprietors (who are 

 not numerous of this class), from 200 to 400 Prussian mor- 

 gens, or 125 to 250 acres. A great deal of land in these 

 districts is rented out to farmers, whose houses are well 

 placed in the centre of the grounds belonging to them. 



Some readers will be surprised to hear that these three 

 characteristic features of the highlands of Cleves are 

 rare exceptions in Germany. In the greater part, espe- 

 cially in all the populous districts of Southern Germany, 

 the land is tilled by its owners, scarcely any small hold- 

 ings being farmed out. The possessions of the peasant 

 owners and cultivators are usually very diminutive, and 

 those of the richer lords of the soil, especially in the 

 North, immensely extensive. Lastly, the peasant scarcely 

 anywhere lives upon his land, but in the adjacent vil- 

 lage, whatever may be its distance from his fields. Hence 

 the Duchy of Cleves has a pleasingly varied appearance 

 where there is wood enough. Wood is usually found in 

 sufficient quantities to supply the inhabitants with fuel, 

 although coals are extensively used. But the stately 

 forests of the midland and northern Prussian provinces 

 cannot be sought in a part of the country where, for the 

 reasons already assigned, the land has a high value. The 

 subdivision of property in this district is a natural result 

 of the gain derived from good cultivation and a judi- 

 cious selection of crops. The Code Napoleon, indeed, 

 prescribes the usual division of property amongst the 



