154 AGRICULTURE ON THE EHINK. 



promptness and persevering activity than we were accus- 

 tomed to amongst the mountaineers. 



The large towns here draw off some hands from the 

 land, but the eifects of trade, although we are again on 

 the high road of Europe, are not so perceptibly bene- 

 ficial as we found them on the lower Rhine. The 

 territories of the old Electorate of Treves still betray 

 the effects of church-government and of the good old 

 times, when the object was to make people suit themselves 

 and their wants to certain forms and customs, instead of 

 proclaiming the subserviency of all forms and modes of 

 cultivation to the well-being of man himself. 



One natural result of this circumstance is that estates 

 are here met with in larger allotments than are com- 

 mon on the middle Rhine. Here, as in Westphalia, 

 a number of estates belonging to clerical foundations, 

 and which were kept of moderate size by those corpora- 

 tions, passed in this form at the period of the confiscations 

 into the hands of private owners. Farms of 250 to 300 

 morgens (155 to 187 acres) are here frequent, still more 

 numerous are those of 120 to 180 morgens, although 

 small possessions are frequent of 20 morgens (12 acres) 

 and less amongst the villagers. The larger farms are 

 compact, and mostly surround or are adjacent to the 

 dwelling-house. The small holdings are scattered in all 

 directions, the natural consequence of the village system 

 that has been described. 



The soil between Andernach and Coblentz is com- 

 posed of the sand of volcanic origin carried down from 

 the heights by the moimtain streams, but mixed with the 

 deposits of frequent floods that cover the lower part?, 

 leaving good stuff on the poor soils, but covering tho 



