Agricultural Administration in Austria-Hungary. 679 
varying physical features, make it impossible to describe the 
climate in one word. The sun is hotter in Hungary than it is 
ordinarily in England, and one morning in the third week of 
September, when the best stallions at Mezohegyes were specially 
paraded for my inspection at 6-30 a.m., the temperature was 
already so high that a shaded view-point was very acceptable. 
The winters in the plains are severe and prolonged, and there is 
often considerable drought in the eastern parts. Yet, on the 
whole, the climate may be said to be mild and agreeable. 
For many purposes of comparison, Austria is officially sepa- 
rated into four divisions, and there may be advantages in adopt- 
ing these here. The four divisions are called respectively : — 
1. The Alpine and surrounding Provinces, consisting of 
Lower and Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, 
Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. 
2. The North-West Provinces, comprising Bohemia, Moravia, 
and Silesia. 
3. The North-East Provinces. — Galicia and Bukowina. 
4. The Karst Provinces.- — Gorz, Istria, Trieste, and Dalmatia. 
Hungary is generally dealt with as a whole, though occasion- 
ally Transylvania has been separated from it, and at other times 
Croatia and Slavonia. These last are, indeed, by no means 
constant factors in Hungarian statistics. 
In the Alpine Provinces, the frequent inclemency of the 
weather and the nature of the soil make stock breeding, stock 
feeding, and forestry the most remunerative agricultural em- 
ployments. The population is almost wholly German. 
The North-West Provinces are the most fertile and the 
most advanced in the Empire : the climate is good, the land 
is excellent, the cultivators are skilful and enterprising ; and, as 
a consequence, agriculture is in a very- flourishing condition. 
The best kinds of grain are grown, and the best breeds of 
animals reared. There is much stall-feeding of stock for the 
great markets, the refuse of the very numerous sugar-factories, 
breweries, and distilleries being utilised in this way. Steam- 
ploughing, artificial manuring, and high cultivation generally, 
are practised. Half the inhabitants are Germans and half 
Czechs. 
In the North-East Provinces agriculture is in a very 
rudimentary condition, and is almost the only occupation 
of the people. Many cattle are raised and fed in the common 
pasture-lands, the Galician or Podolian breed being highly 
esteemed for the excellence of its beef. The forests are of great 
extent. The inhabitants are of the Slav race — Poles and 
Buthenians, besides Wallachs and Jews. 
