2 BULLETIN 1399, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
There was a falling off in 1914; and, then, during the war all fac- 
tors involved in supplying the food requirements of the German 
people were depressed. Production in the territory now included 
within the present confines of the Republic of Germany fell off to 
about two-thirds of the pre-war normal, while the population con- 
tinued to increase both relatively and actually. This resulted in an 
acute food shortage that was not sufficiently compensated by increased 
importation to allow the German people to enjoy their pre-war 
standard of living. 
As was to be expected, potato and pork production were the first 
to rally from the depression of the war period, the low point having 
been reached in 1919. Since that time recovery has been rapid, so 
that in 1924 potato production was 97 per cent of the 1909-1913 
average and swine 89 per cent of 1912 production. 
TRENDS IN GERMAN AGRICULTURE 
BASE- POTATOES, CEREALS AND CULTfVATED LAND. 1909- 13 = 100 SWINE, 1912 = 100 POPULATION. 1910-100 
100 
PRE-WAR 
1871-1875 1876-1880 I88I-I88S 1886-1890 1891-1895 1896-1900 1901-1905 1906-1910 I9II-I9I5 WI6-I920 1921-1925 
Fig. 1.— Trends in German agriculture 
Lands available for profitable cultivation were exhausted about 10 years prior to the opening of 
the World War, while population continued to increase rapidly. Every effort was made to force 
production to th<* maximum limit with a success attained by few other nations at any time m tin- 
world's history. The outstanding feature of this attempt to make Germany as far as possible 
independent of outside sources of supply is characterized by the close parallel between potato and 
swine production not only before but also after the war. (See text.) 
Index numbers of bushels of wheat and potatoes and acres of cultivated land are referred to the 
1009-1913 average as 100, numbers of swine are referred to 1912, while population is referred to 1910 
as a base. In each case the pre-war data are compared with the basic data for the wdiole of the 
German Empire, while post-war data are compared with data calculated on the basis of the areas 
w it bin the boundaries of the German Republic as of 1923. 
The^low point in cereal production was reached in 1917-18, and in 
land under the plow in 1922. Since then the tendency has been up- 
ward, but recovery lias been relatively slow because of the handicaps 
tinder which German agriculture has been Laboring. It is the subject 
of much debate whether some of these handicaps are to be removed. 
As a result cereal production, particularly rye production, is nearly 
at low ebb, so that Germany, formerly a rye-exporting country, now 
imports this chief bread grain of her people. 
Should German agriculture return to pre-war levels, domestic 
production would be still farther from satisfying German food 
requirements than was the case before the war. This is so because 
