AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 173 



Wiesbaden is a good place to study the various tenures 

 of land and the mode of occupying it common in Central 

 Germany. In the immediate neighbourhood there are a 

 number of small farms, agreeable excursions to which 

 may be made by strangers, and the more easily as the 

 sale of milk and wine is generally combined with agri- 

 cultural operations by the owners, so that a stranger 

 need not fear that his visit will be looked upon as an 

 intrusion : the valleys of the Taunus present shady 

 paths in summer to the nearest of these farms. Im- 

 mediately adjoining the town lies the secularized con- 

 vent of Clarenthal, part of whose lands have been 

 sold, while part is still a domain of the state. The 

 latter portion, comprising about 400 morgen, or 250 

 acres, is let on lease to a farmer at the rent of 9 florins 

 per morgen, or about 1/. 55. per acre. Were the circum- 

 stances other than we have described in the town, and 

 its market open for supplies at fair prices, there can be 

 no doubt but that the rent of land so situated would be 

 much higher, A nice farm near Clarenthal is managed 

 by its owner, and consists of rather more land in one lot. 

 About two miles farther on in the hills lies the small 

 farm of Adamsthal, which presents a very good picture 

 of the improved farming of Germany on a limited scale — 

 water-meadows in the hollow, grain and artificial grasses 

 on the height, and a tolerable quantity of fruit-trees, 

 although the elevated situation is not very favourable for 

 them. Similar farms, in more or less picturesque situa- 

 tions, are the Nuremberg Hof, the Armada Hof, and 

 others. The islands in the Rhine opposite to Bieberich 

 contain farms also. The Petersau, which is the largest, 

 had three farms upon it, until lately, when the govern- 



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