36 



very small ; and as on many none is sown, the whole 

 of the land devoted to Wheat does not amount to 

 one-tenth of that on which Rye is grown. 



I have reason to believe, that of late years the 

 proportion of Rye to Wheat has been increasing. 

 The first is an article of domestic consumption and 

 of universal demand ; the far greater number of the 

 inhabitants eat only Bread made from it from neces- 

 sity, arid those who can afford Wheaten Bread, eat 

 commonly that of Rye from choice. At the tables 

 of the first families, both in Germany and Poland, 

 though wheaten bread was always to be seen, I 

 remarked that the natives scarcely ever tasted it ; 

 and I have met many Englishmen, who, after a long 

 residence in those countries, have given the pre- 

 ference to bread of Rye. 



From the time I left the Netherlands, through 

 Saxony, Prussia, Poland, Austria, Bavaria, and Wur- 

 temberg, till I entered France, I never saw, either in 

 the bakers' shops, in the hotels, or private houses, a 

 loaf of wheaten bread. In every large town, small 

 rolls, made of wheaten flour, could be purchased, and 

 they were to be seen at the tables at which foreigners 

 were seated. In the small towns and villages only 

 Rye bread can be obtained ; and travellers commonly 

 take in their carriages sufficient wheaten rolls to 

 supply them from one large town to the next. 

 Wheat is only used by the natives for making, what 

 our English bakers would call fancy bread, or in 

 pastry and confectionary. If there be no foreign 

 demand for Wheat, the difficulty of selling it, at any 

 price, is great; and that little, which the very limited 

 demand of other countries of late years has required, 

 has been confined to Wheat of the best quality ; for 

 Rye, on the other hand, sales may be always made 

 at a market price ; and the price of that Grain has 

 not been depressed in the same proportion as the 

 price of Wheat. 



