52
Agricultube on the bhine.
rots, small patches of flax and rape-seed, point to the
wants or prevailing market crops of German peasants.
It must be owned that a labouring population, so scat-
tered and rurally disposed, forms a pleasing contrast to
the dingy rows of cottages that are met with at the
entrance to our manufacturing towns. Allowance must,
however, be made for the small scale on which the
German factories are erected, and for the substitution of
water for steam power, which scatters the establishments
instead of accumulating them on one spot. Perhaps a
taste for gardening might, in England, be usefully nour-
ished in the female manufacturing population. But we
doubt whether the English workman would change with
the German, however idyllic his dwelling may appear to
the stranger. John Bull is much to be justified if he
prefers fresh bread from the baker’s to the homely
rye-loaves that are here manufactured once a fortnight,
and if he thinks beef and mutton selected at the shambles
both better and cheaper than the dry cows and old
wethers that form, the greatest part of his time, the meat
at a German villager’s meal.
Another source of earning for the peasants of this
district is the carriage of goods to and from the Rhine.
The ox, the primitive agent of draught, has, in conse-
quence of the good roads, been very much superseded by
horses. These are now about to make way for the rail-
road, which will, besides, introduce cheap corn from the
inland counties of Germany. Of course, a modification
of the present system of cultivation must be anticipated.
If manufactures spread with the improved means of trans-
port, we may look to see these valleys filled with the
cottages of workmen surrounded by gardens only. In
AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE.
53
this manner small allotments may be useful. For the
growth of grain, or of other products that are best culti-
vated on a larger scale, a small parcelling of the land is
not economical.
The pride of the German peasant is to be a small land-
owner. The sacrifices made to gratify this longing are
incredible, as is the tenacity with which he clings to his
land in all changes of fortune. The price paid for small
lots of land in the valley of the Wiipper and the adjoin-
ing districts wτould frighten an English farmer. From
500 to 700 dollars per morgen, or 117/. to 150/. per acre,
is no unusual price for arable and meadow land. What
interest he gets for his investment seems never to cross a
peasant’s mind. The rent of small patches adjoining
these houses is not proportionately high, although dear
enough ; 10 or 12 dollars per morgen (2/. 10$. or 3/. 0$.
per acre) is constantly paid in situations remote from the
influence of towns. Building sites, especially those
favourable for trade or manufactures, sell also as high as
in England. The sum of 3000 dollars was paid a few
years back for about an acre and a half of ground on
which some zine-works now stand at Duisburg. This
was equal to 500/, per acre.
We shall, as we proceed, have frequent opportunities
of describing the position and life of the German peasant.
Here we shall only remark that the leading distinction
between the industrious classes in England and Germany
is mainly the result of a difference in the division of
labour. In England, the labourer is early taught to
look to his own exertions, concentrated upon some special
occupation. IIe is fully aware of the advantages to be
drawn from, and of the risk attendant on, a minute divi-