26
Agricultcke on the ruine.
They retain the privilege of following the natural
demand that infallibly follows the growth of population,
and they turn their position to good account. The high
]>rices paid for land are in some degree to be ascribed to
the want of good investments in other occupations. The
manufactures that are so sedulously protected by the high
import duties, do not furnish enough in quantity to sa-
tisfy the consumer, nor do their profits attract capital
from the land. On the other hand, the only article of
agriculture thrt is protected by a high duty, cheese, does
not need this help, which perhaps in many places ope-
rates to the disadvantage of whole districts by inducing
the farmers to neglect the growth of flax. Foreign
cheese pays an import duty of 12s. per cwt, Flax is
only taxed at Qd. per cwt., and although perhaps not
more profitable for the grower than cheese, yet affords
more employment to the labouring class.
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CHAPTER II.
WE now invite our readers to accompany us (in their car-
riages or on the map) in an excursion into the lowlands
of Cleves. For this purpose we leave the high road on
the heights, and cross over to Pfalzdorf, a colony esta-
blished in 1741, on a heath, by Protestant emigrants from
the Palatinate. Near this settlement, which industry and
skill have rendered flourishing, the house and grounds of
Herr Lobbes are situated, whose father is known as an
esteemed author on agriculture, in the practice of which
art he was (as his estate testifies) eminently successful.
The grounds were enclosed from the heath, and are now in
perfect heart and full cultivation. This farm (Vasenhof),
like that of Herr von Busch, serves still as a model
farm for the neighbourhood, and the opinion of the
present proprietor on all subjects connected with rural
economy is not less respected. The house has less of
architectural ornament than that of Herr von Busch, and
is laid out more upon the plan of the larger farming esta-
blishments of the neighbourhood. The ground floor is
occupied by spacious kitchens and washhouses, and when
we visited it the contents of the former apartments were
displayed at the windows, and on boards and stools in
the yard, where countless pots and stewpans, tin plates
and dishes, cullenders and braziers, announced by their
brilliancy that the periodical cleansing time for the
autumn, “ the kirmess,” was at hand. This locked-up