AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF EUROPE: GERMANY 
17 
The valleys and lowlands are much drier, receiving between 24 to 
40 inches/ Some districts along the Rhine have a rainfall of only 16 
to 24 inches. 
The broken topography of the mountain regions naturally leads to 
the small-farm type of agriculture, over two-thirds of the agricul- 
turally used area being in farms less than 45 acres in extent. The 
grazing areas of the hills furnish natural forage crops, rendering 
livestock production a profitable enterprise, not only for meat but 
for draft animals as well. On the small farms of Germany the use of 
oxen is still found to be fairly profitable. Although the fertile soil of 
the highlands is advantageous for wheat growing and wheat is one of 
the important crops of southern and western Germany, rye is grown 
extensively, especially where the soil for any reason is not well adai t- 
ed to wheat or where the climate is too rigorous. Barley is much 
more important in this region than in the plains. Root fodder crops 
are important in supplementing the natural pastures. In tie 
u rain-shadow " district of the Hartz Mountains around Magdeburg 
the dry climate combined with a fertile soil is very favorable to sugar- 
beet production, and the sugar industry is well developed in this 
region. 
DEVELOPMENT OF GERMAN AGRICULTURE BEFORE THE WAR 
Comparing the acreage and production of Germany in 1880 with 
the average acreage and production during the period 1909-1913 in 
the Empire of Germany, we find astonishing increases in production, 
as indicated in Table 8: 
Table 8. — Cereals and potatoes: Production and acreage during 1880, as compared 
with the pre-war average, 1909-1913 
[In thousands — 000 omitted] 
Crop 
1880 
Average 1909-1913 
Wheat i 
Acres 
4,485 
14,630 
952 
Bushels 
86,401 
195, 709 
26, 970 
Acres 
4,768 
15, 387 
707 
Bushels 
152,119 
Bye_. 
4 5" 222 
Spelt 
23, 529 
Total bread cereals... ........ . _ ... . . 
20,067 
309. 140 
20, 862 
10,750 
4,092 
620, 870 
Oats 
9, 250 292. 289 
591,996 
Barley . .... 
4.013 
98, 731 
158,517 
Total cereals.. . . .. .. . 
33, 330 
7,180 
700. 160 
7 
35, 704 
8, 251 
1,371,383 
Potatoes 
1,681 959 
The great' increase in production per unit of area was effected by 
improvement and intensification of methods and by the extended 
use of fertilizers. The average production of potatoes (1909-1913) 
was more than double that of 1880, whereas the increase in area 
planted was only 14.9 per cent. Cereal areas were increased but 7.1 
per cent, whereas production nearly doubled, the increase being 95.9 
per cent comparing the total production in 1880 with the average for 
1909-1913. 
Agricultural development during these 30 years was stimulated by 
Germany's great industrial growth, attended by an increasing demand 
for foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials. German agriculture 
was bound to reap a profit from this expansion of industry and the 
73727°— 26 1 2 
