12
Agricultubk on the Rhine.
farmer, enclose the side of the yard opposite to the dwell-
ing-house, at a distance sufficiently great to form a dis-
tinct establishment. The size of the offices is a remark-
able feature in all German farm-houses, from the cot of
the peasant to the largest castle. All the hay, and usu-
ally all the grain, is housed ; and the stacks to be seen
in the Duchy of Cleves, sometimes on the field, and oc-
casionally near the houses, belong also to the exceptions
which distinguish this district, and evince the improved
economy of the inhabitants.
In the stables of such a house there is of course little
to distinguish them from the ordinary stables of France
and England. Stall-feeding is the rule for the horned
cattle, but in the autumn the cows are indulged with an
occasional day’s run on the barley-stubbles near the house.
The breed is chiefly Dutch, with one or two Durham
heifers intermixed. The milk finds a sale in the town
of Goch, and neither butter nor cheese are made for
market.
How different the position of a country gentleman
living upon the revenue derived from an estate of 200
or 300 acres is from that of the owner of a similar pro-
perty in England will be evident from a fewr details. In
Germany such an estate is looked upon as something con-
siderable ; and if the low price of provisions, together
with the simple and inexpensive manners ofthe Germans,
lie taken into account with the higher return drawn from
the land by the judicious selection of the crops, the ad-
vantage is certainly on the side of the German. From a
farm of 200 acres the revenue drawn in this part of Ger-
many is not less than 600Z. per annum. Rye-bread at
4d., wheaten bread at 5d. for the ll-lb. loaf, and meat
Agkictltuke on the Rhine.
13
at 3d. to 3⅜c?. per lb., with wine at Is. per bottle, are the
chief articles of consumption of indigenous growth.
Until recently tea and coffee were much less taxed than
in England, and only in manufactured wares could the
balance incline in favour of the English consumer. In
cloth and dress generally, in harness, furniture, plate, and
the ornaments of a gentleman’s establishment, a Germah
cannot indulge on a moderate fortune ; and he is wise
enough not to pretend to do so. His position in society
does not depend upon such adventitious circumstances,
but is fixed by his birth, and still more by his education.
Besides, if any supercilious traveller were to remind a
proprietor on the Rhine of deficiencies in the conven-
tional arrangements or decorations of his “ intérieur,” his
best retort would be to lead the fastidious guest to the
nearest window, and desire him to produce elsewhere the
clear sky and sunshine that for seven months in the year
can be enjoyed upon the Rhine. In the castles of the no-
bility there is no want of comfort and of elegance, as may
be seen by a visit to the villas of Prince Salm-Reiferscheid,
at Dyk, near Neuss ; or of Heldorp, the seat of Count
Spee, near Diisseldorf.
In the Prussian Rhenish provinces the trial by jury,
a valuable relic of the French sway, and almost the only
one the people care for, offers opportunities to the
country gentlemen to meet at assizes, as with us. They
indeed are shorn of the aristocratic element of the grand
jury. Elections have Onlyrecently inspired interest, and
the exercise of this right is too indirect to be very attrac-
tive. The “noblesse,” or gentry, called in German
“ adel ” (the reader may think of Sir Walter Scott’s
“ Udaller, ” in the ‘Pirate’), have no longer personal