AGRICULTURE OX THE RHINE. /9 



recognise in the shallow waters of its summer bed the 

 ravaging violence of the torrents that pour down it when 

 snow melts suddenly, or thunder-storms discharge their 

 waters into it." 



The summits, whose flattened surface, although inter- 

 sected by deep ravines, form what may be called the pla- 

 teau of the Eifel, are, as has been said, of volcanic form- 

 ation. Not the tufa that around Naples spreads fertility 

 and abundance, but rather the lava that surrounds Rome 

 in the bleak and naked Carapagna, is the chief formation 

 in this district, which the tourist crosses on his way to 

 the Mere of Laach. The Lake of Laach (an evident 

 tautological appellation) fills the crater of an extinct 

 volcano of the largest size, and similar lakes or meres, 

 called " Maare " in the neighbourhood, to the number of 

 twenty-seven, have been discovered. This portion of the 

 Rhenish province of Prussia is the poorest in arable land 

 of the whole kingdom. The irregular elevated surface 

 is covered with bog, and the thin coating of soil does not 

 afford nourishment for the roots of trees. Every vallej^, 

 however, is inhabited, and on the rapid slopes along the 

 banks of the Ahr and towards the Rhine vines and fruit- 

 trees produce valuable crops. The wildest part of these 

 highlands is called the Snow Eifel, and rises in the circle 

 of Priim to the height of 2100 feet. 



In the valleys falling into the Rhine, and in the valley 

 of the Rhine itself, the cultivation of fruit is the great 

 resource of the peasant landowners. Every piece of cul- 

 tivated land, or of land fit for cultivation, is covered with 

 walnut, apple, pear, or cherry trees. The commune of 

 Riibenach can show that the village revenues draw 

 annually 10,000 francs from Coblenz for cherries alone, 



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