172 
Variation in the Price and Supply of Wheat. 
Canal links the Danube to the Rhine, and thus completes the 
great thoroughfare, and makes it continuous from Odessa to 
the German Ocean. The plains of the Danube, in Hungary 
and Bavaria, are among the richest in the world. The agricul- 
tural resources of the former country are unsurpassed. Mr. 
Bonar, Secretary of Embassy at V ienna, in an account of the 
industry of Austria, in 1867, writes as follows : — " Hungary with 
its dependencies is traversed by a whole network of broad and 
powerful streams all verging to one great artery, the Danube, 
and some of which have been again connected by canals. The 
principal commerce and trade of Hungary consists in raw pro- 
duce derived from the vast plains bordering the numerous rivers. 
The Waag, Gran, Theiss, and Maros, furnish the lowlands with 
timber, minerals, and other products of the Carpathians, and 
carry them, together with grain, &c., to the Danube ports. The 
Franzens Canal, traversing the fertile districts of Baczka ; the 
Bega Canal, with the corn-harvests of the Banat ; the Drave^ 
bringing the produce of the iron industries of Carinthia and 
Styria ; even the diminutive Temcs stream and the Save all 
combine to raise the traffic of the watercourses of Hungary to 
the highest importance." 
The population is about 8,000,000, and the growth of corn as 
follows : — Wheat, 5,000,000 quarters ; rye, 4,000,000 quarters j 
barley, 4,700,000 quarters; oats, 6,300,000 quarters; maize, 
3,300,000 quarters. This is about 9J bushels per acre for the 
whole of the arable land, and if one-half of it is in corn every 
year, the average yield is 18i bushels per acre. There are 
4,500,000 acres of pasture, 4,500,000 acres of meadows and 
gardens, 1,500,000 acres of vineyards, and 15,900,000 acres of 
foi-ests. The number of sheep is 15,000,000. Some of the finest 
cattle in Europe are bred on the luxuriant pastures. Swine are 
numerous in the forests ; Avhile herds of bears and wolves and 
wild fowl swarm in the lakes and marshes •. bustards frequent 
the plains, and birds of prey the wilder parts of the country. 
The climate is favourable in the south, on the plains of the 
Danube ; here snow seldom lies many weeks ; the lemon and 
orange blossom all the summer, fruit and wine are aljundant, 
and the tobacco is ncarlv as good as in America. In the north, 
under the snow-capped Carpathians, winter lasts till May or June, 
Here are rich mines of iron, lead, copper, and coal ; but manu- 
factures are not yet important ; and the exports, which are chiefly 
of produce, exceed the imports by one-third. 
States of the Zollvekein. 
The States comprising the (xerman Customs Union will have 
a great influence on the future corn-trade of Europe ; we there- 
