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ployed in field labour shows that the pick of the peasantry are turning;' 

 their thoughts elsewhere. It is important to observe that this tendency" 

 on the part of the rural population to gravitate towards the towns is 

 not in Germany, at all events, owing to any difficulty experienced by 

 the agricultural labourers in obtaining land. " The farmers are 

 only too ready to let small holdings at a nominal rent, or to sell out a 

 few acres to their men to induce them to remain in the country." But 

 even this temptation fails to retain them. In Bavaria rather a curious 

 custom prevails with regard to small holdings. " Land is not sub- 

 divided among the children of the family. As a rule, one of the 

 children inherits the whole farm at a fair price during the life of the 

 parents, when the latter reach their ' sixties.' The remaining children 

 get *p:iid OUT,' but retain the right of living in the honse if ill-luck 

 meet them in life." Elsewhere, to prevent the evils of sub-division, 

 the State has intervened, every parish being now empowered to take 

 measures for reclaiming very small patches and bringing them back 

 into one plot. " Every workman ," says Mr. Koenig, " has the option 

 of acquiring land and building his own cottage, and this very fact 

 forms, socially and politically, the mainstay of the country." Yet, as 

 we see, it will not keep the peasantry in the land. 



Turning to live stock, we find that sheep farming in most parts of 

 Germany is on the decline, owing to the fall in the value of wool. 

 Cattle are kept chiefly with a view to milk and draught purposes. But 

 in Westphalia, Mecklenberg, and Saxomy sugar beet roots, in the lan- 

 guage of the Keport, seem to be " the order of the day." The difficulty 

 with this crop is the number of labourers which it requires and the 

 increasing scarcity of skilled hands, owing to the higher wages to be 

 obtained in towns. Agricultural wages, vary, of course, in different 

 districts. The ordinary labourer earns Is. 9d. a day in Summer, 2s. a 

 day in harvest, and Is. 6d. a day the rest of the year. But then he 

 gets a cottage free, a small plot of ground for potatoes, and another 

 for linseed ; and he has the use of the farm horses to work his allot- 

 ment. Piece work is paid much higher ; and in Saxony it seems that 

 this system is the commoner of the two. Beer is one of the 

 staple products of Bavaria, where great attention is naturally paid to 

 the barley crop. It has been found that by careful selection of varieties, 

 &c., the quality of malting barley can be greatly improved. I'he 

 brewer then pays a higher price for it, and the farmer makes a profit 

 where formerly there was a loss. Bavarian beer may only be brewed 

 from malt and hops, and this regulation is enforced by very heavy 

 penalties. Here, at all events, is something made in Germany which 

 Englishmen may well covet. We have no space for all that the 

 Eeport says of the reclamation of moorland and its beneficial results, 

 which the writer thinks might be reproduced in Ireland. Nor can we 

 more than mention generally what he says about the excellence of 

 German agricultural implements. These " are as good as those of any 

 country, with the exception of mowing machines and binders, in which 

 the United States are first, and of steam ploughs and treshing 

 machines, in which England excels." It seems, on the whole, to be 

 the writer's opinion that if British farmers had the scientific knowledge 

 of German ones they would be able to hold up against taxes, and 

 railway rates, open ports and foreign competition. " We must never 



