AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 227 



award of the government commissions of arbitration were 

 deputed to inspect the land, and occasionally to repeat 

 the experiments on which the valuation was founded. 

 The result is thus stated by M. Hansemann. " The 

 estimates made by the Prussian commissions raised the 

 land and house tax 20 per cent, above the valuation 

 assessed by the French authorities during the occupa- 

 tion. This resulted from the commissioners' taking the 

 price of corn at too high a figure, while they under- 

 valued the cost of cultivation. The deduction of 25 per 

 cent, from the rental of a house lor repairs is said to be 

 also too low an estimate. The rates now levied may be 

 seen in the table on the following page, which will serve 

 the traveller as a guide in his inquiries in Rhenish Prussia. 

 The district of Aix contains soils and situations of the 

 most varied and contrasting kinds, from the moun- 

 tainous declivities of Montjoie to the alluvial deposits 

 in some of the valleys. As the average of every parish in 

 the following table shows a different figure, it will testily 

 to the care bestowed on the valuations. The value of all 

 kinds of produce has, however, varied and considerably 

 augmented since the present rates were fixed, and the 

 farming processes have improved no less. The profits 

 accruing to the cultivator in 1828 are expressed by the 

 number of groschen (30 gros. = 1 shilling) and varies 

 from 24 or 27 groschen (2s. 2d. to 2s. bd.) per morgen, 

 or 35. Qd. per English acre, to 119 groschen per morgen, 

 or 16s. Ad. per English acre, for arable land. This esti- 

 mate, besides assuming a very indifferent style of farm- 

 ing, deducts all the value of the peasant landowner's 

 labour from the profit as a charge included in the cost 

 of cultivation. It may therefore be assumed as repre- 



