Production and Industry.

I. AGRICULTURE.

In Prussia, by a series of ordinances from 1807 to 1850, complete free trade in land has been established, and all personal and material burdens removed that would stand in the way of this. With the exception of the Mecklenburgs, similar legislation has been applied to the land in other parts of Germany. Generally speaking, small estates and peasant proprietorship pre-. vail in the West German States, while large estates prevail in the north-east. In Prussia, large estates, with an area of 250 acres and more, prevail in Pomerania, Posen, East and West Prussia; while the districts of Koblenz, Wiesbaden, Treves, Baden, and Württemburg are parcelled out into small estates.

Of the whole area of Germany, in 1883, 92 per cent. was classed as productive, and only 8 per cent. as unproductive. According to the latest returns (1893), 91 per cent. is productive and 9 per cent. unproductive. The extension of the unproductive area is, however, only apparent, the waste lands in one portion now classed as such having formerly been included with the permanent pasture. The subdivision of the soil, according to the latest official returns (1893), was as follows (in hectares; 1 hectare 247 acres):-Arable land, vineyards, and other cultivated lands, 26,375,791; grass, meadows, permanent pasture, 8,788,806; woods and forests, 13,956,827; all other, 4,927,201.

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On June 14, 1895, the total number of agricultural enclosures (including arable land, meadows, cultivated pastures, orchards, and vineyards) each cultivated by one household, was as follows:

Their total area was 43,284,742 hectares.

These farms supported 18,068,663 persons, of whom 8,156,045

were actually working upon them.

The areas under the principal crops, in hectares, were as follows::

The total yield of their products in the years indicated, in metric tons (1 metric ton = 2,200 lbs. or 984 an English ton), or hectolitres (hectolitre 22 gallons), and in tons or hectolitres per hectare, was as follows::

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The number of domestic animals in Germany on December 1, 1897,

5,252,590
0.58 103,924 0.67
9.60 31,786,621 10:42
21,001,621 4.27
11,196,320 27.52
9,265,607 20 27

1.30

4,968,272 1.25

95,205 0.63

29,278,132 9.59

19,943,995 3.37

12,616,432 29-02

10,526,403 22.83

48,546 2:30
30,181 0.72

25,325 0.62

was:

II. FORESTRY.

Forestry in Germany is an industry of great importance, conducted under the care of the State on scientific methods. About 34,473,000 acres or 25.8 per cent. of the area of the empire, were estimated to be occupied by forests in 1893. In South and Central Germany from 30 to 38 per cent. of the surface is covered with forests: and in parts of Prussia 23.5 per cent. From forests and domains alone Prussia receives a revenue of about 4 millions sterling.

III. MINING.

The great bulk of the minerals raised in Germany is produced in Prussia, where the chief mining districts are Westphalia, Rhenish Prussia, and Silesia, for coal and iron, the Harz for silver and copper, and Silesia for zinc. Saxony has coal, iron, and silver mines; and Lorraine rich coal and iron ore fields.

The annual quantities of the principal minerals raised in five years are shown in the following table, the returns for 1897 being provisional only :

73,852,300 76,741,100 79,169,300 85,690,200 91,055,000 21,573,800 22,064,600 24,788,400 26,780,900 29,419,500 11,457,500 12,392,100 12,349,600 14,162,300 15,466,000

787,900

728,600

706,400

729,900

663,900

Rock Salt

669,100

734,900

686,900

758,900

763,400

The total value of the minerals raised in Germany and Luxemburg in 1896 was 787 million marks; in 1897, 859 million marks.

The following_table shows particulars of the production of the foundries in Germany and Luxemburg in 1896 and the number of foundries engaged principally or partly with each metal in 1896:

In addition to the above, about 2,487 kilograms of gold, valued at 6,915,752 marks, were produced. Nickel, bismuth, vitriol, and other chemical manufactures were produced to a total weight of 33,546 tons, and to a total value of 10,941,149 marks.

The total value of the productions of the foundries of all kinds in 1896 was 473,967,705 marks. The total quantity of finished iron produced in Germany in 1896 was 7,382,489 metric tons, and its value 916,787,819 marks. In 1896 there were in Germany and Luxemburg 1,560 works producing finished iron, including steel-works. Over 224,084 men are employed in connection with the various stages of iron (including pig iron), besides 35,223 iron-miners. In connection with coal and lignite mining alone the average number of hands engaged was 354,708 in 1896.

IV. FISHERIES.

The German fisheries are not important. In 1895 the persons engaged in fishing numbered 32, 199, of whom 12,224 were employed in sea and shore fishing, and 19,975 on inland waters. In 1896 (January 1) 515 boats (26,585 tons gross tonnage), with an aggregate crew of 2,811, were engaged in deep-sea fishing in the North Sea for cod and herrings. The Baltic fisheries are more developed. In 1897 fresh fish to the value of 7,100,000 marks were exported, while the imports of fresh fish were valued at 17,700,000 marks, of salted herrings at 24,400,000 marks, of other salted, preserved, and dried fish at 3,700,000 marks.

V. MANUFACTURES.

The chief seats of the German iron manufacture are in Prussia, AlsaceLorraine, Bavaria, and Saxony. Steel is made in Rhenish Prussia. Saxony is the leading State in the production of textiles, but Westphalia and Silesia also produce linen; Alsace-Lorraine, Württemberg, and Baden produce cotton goods. Woollens are manufactured in several Prussian provinces; silk in Rhenish Prussia, Alsace, and Baden. Beetroot sugar is an important manufacture in Prussia, Brunswick, and Anhalt; glass, porcelain, and earthenware in Silesia, Thuringia, and Saxony; clocks and wooden ware in Württemburg and Bavaria; and beer in Bavaria and Prussia.

The following table shows the number of persons engaged in the principal manufactures in the larger States according to the census of occupation in 1895. Additional information should be looked for under the various States:

The following are the statistics of the beetroot sugar manufacture in the Zollgebiet:

The total amount of refined sugar produced in 1896-7, was 1,004,454 tons; in 1895-96, 1,084,395 tons; in 1894-95, 989,862 tons; in 1893-94, 817,522 tons; in 1892-93, 765,455 tons.

In 1896-97 there were 22 manufactories of sugar from starch which yielded 6,314 tons of dry sugar, 34,875 tons of syrup, and 4,183 tons of colour.

The following table shows the quantity of beer brewed within the customs district at various periods. The Beer-excise district (Brausteuergebiet) includes all the States of the Zollgebiet, with the exception of Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, and Alsace-Lorraine, in each of which the excise is separately collected. The amounts are given in thousands of hectolitres (1 hectolitre gallons): :

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The total number of active breweries in the Beer-excise district was in 1896-97, 7,682; 1895-96, 7,847; in 1894-95, 8,029; in 1893-94, 8,243; 1892-93, 8,460. The amount brewed per head of the population in 1896–97 was in littres (1 litre 1.76 imperial pint) :-the Excise district 92, Bavaria 276, Württemberg 181, Baden 126, Alsace-Lorraine 57. The average annual consumption per head of the population of the entire Zollgebiet for the twenty years 1877-97, was 97 litres or 21 gallons. In 1896-97, there were 62,108 distilleries in operation, which produced 3,101,000 hectolitres of alcohol.

Commerce.

The commerce of the Empire is under the administration and guidance of special laws and rules, emanating from the Zollverein, or Customs League, which, since October 15, 1888, embraces practically the whole of the states of Germany, the towns of Hamburg and Bremen, with one or two other small places,