4 6 



LARGE AND SMALL FARMS IN PRUSSIA. 



At the instigation of the "Verein fur Sozialpolitik," the 

 Prussian Chamber of Agriculture has been induced to conduct 

 an inquiry into the economical advantages and disadvantages 

 of large, medium-sized, and small farms ; and a recent volume 

 of the Landwirtschaftliche Jahrbmeher (Band XXXI., Ergan- 

 zungsband I.) is devoted to a compilation by Dr. E. Stumpfe of 

 the material collected. Of this compilation, the following article 

 is a brief abstract, containing only those features of the inquiry 

 which are of interest to British agriculturists. 



The following table, giving the size of German farms in 1895, 

 shows that the subject is of great importance in that country : — 



Size of Farms. 



Number of 

 Farms. 



Aggregate area 

 in acres. 



Per cent, of Total 

 Agricultural Area 

 of Germany. 



Under 5 acres ... 

 5 to 12\ 

 12\ to 50 

 50 to 250 

 Exceeding 250 



Total 



3,235,169 

 1,016,239 

 998,701 

 281,734 

 25,057 



4,465,000 

 8,116,000 

 24,011,000 

 24,375,000 

 19,337,000 



5*56 



IOII 



29*90 



30-35 

 24*08 



5,556,900 



80,304,000 



IOO' 



Stumpfe points out that " large v. small farms " has been a sub- 

 ject of controversy in Germany for at least two centuries. 



It is necessary in the first place to say a few words about the 

 material used as the basis of the investigation. The whole of the 

 data were obtained directly from the farmers by representatives 

 of the Chambers of Agriculture of the respective provinces, and 

 practically all of it originates from one or other of the following 

 six Prussian provinces : — Saxony, Brandenburg, Silesia, Posen, 

 West Prussia, and Pomerania. As was to be anticipated in 

 such an inquiry, some difficulty was experienced in finding 



