ALSACE AND GEEMAN LOERAINE. 



175 



of bright yellow rape, poppies, flax, hemp, tobacco, bops, and other plants. The 

 homesteads of the peasants are embowered in orchards and gardens, and present an 

 air of comfort. The cellars are rarely without a few casks of wine or kirschwasser. 

 The land is very much subdivided,* and Jewish usurers prey as usual upon the poorer 

 peasants ; but notwithstanding this the inhabitants of many districts are able to 

 live in ease. Alsace is one of the most intelligently cultivated countries in Europe, 

 and, according to M. Grad, capital invested in agriculture yields between 8 and 

 10 per cent. The wine district, which extends from Thann to Mutzig, is the 

 wealthiest and most densely peopled part of the country. Some of the wines 

 produced enjoy a high reputation. The region of vineyards is succeeded hy that 

 of the forests, which are managed with great success,t and higher still we enter 

 the pasture-grounds. The neat stock of Alsace, much of which is stall fed, is 



Fig. 102. — DiEuzE, Château-Salins, and the Pond of Indue. 

 Scale 1 : 320,000. 



,4° 10' E of Pans 



4°25' 



, 5 Miles. 



inferior to the breeds of Switzerland and Franche Comté, but is being improved. 

 Much cheese is made in the mountain districts. 



Lorraine is far inferior to Alsace in its agricultural productions, both soil and 

 climate being less favourable to vegetation. There is no broad alluvial valley, 

 like that of the Ehine, and the cultivation of the vine is remunerative only in the 

 valley of the Moselle and a few other localities. On an average the land only 

 yields half Avhat it does in Alsace, and extensive heaths are still met with. A 

 system of "cultivation" peculiar to Lorraine is that applied to the numerous 

 ponds scattered over the country. About two- thirds of the water are occasionally 

 drawn off, after which the exposed portion of the bed is sown with wheat or other 

 cereals, and the fish are caught. The dam is then again closed up, and the 



* Average area of each property in 1870, 7"9 acres. 



t The Government forests alone yielded £?44,ôS0 in 1877, or ahout 19s. an acre (8s. after deducting 

 all expenses). 



