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Rh where the manufacture of linen was at one time a flourishing domestic industry. Saxony owes its unusual wealth in fruit partly to the care of the elector Augustus I., who is said never to have stirred abroad without fruit seeds for distribution among the peasants and farmers. Enormous quantities of cherries, plums and apples are annually borne by the trees round Leipzig, Dresden and Colditz. The cultivation of the vine in Saxony is respectable for its antiquity, though the yield is insignificant. Wine is said to have been grown here in the 11th century; the Saxon vineyards, chiefly on the banks of the Elbe near Meissen and Dresden, have of late years, owing to the ravages of the phylloxera, become almost extinct.

Live Stock.-The breeding of horses is carried on to a very limited extent in Saxony. Cattle rearing, which has been an industry since the advent of the Wends in the 6th century, is important on the extensive pastures of the Erzgebirge and in the Vogtland. In 1765 the regent Prince Xaver imported 300 merino sheep from Spain, and so improved the native breed by this new strain that Saxon sheep were eagerly imported by foreign nations to improve their flocks, and “ Saxon electoral wool ” became one of the best brands in the market. Sheep farming, however, has considerably declined within the last few decades. Swine furnish a very large proportion of the flesh diet of the people. Geese abound particularly round Leipzig and in Upper Lusatia, poultry about Bautzen. Bee-keeping flourishes on the heaths on the right bank of the Elbe.

Game and Fish.-Game is fairly abundant; hares and partridges are found in the plains to the north-west, capercailzie in the neighbourhood of Tharandt and Schwarzenberg, and deer in the forests near Dresden. The Elbe produces excellent pike, salmon and eels, its tributaries trout in considerable quantities, while the marshy ponds lying on thegleft bank furnish a good supply of carp, a fish held in great esteem by the inhabitants.

Forests.-The forests of Saxony are extensive and have long been well cared for both by government and by private proprietors. The famous school of forestry at Tharandt was founded in 1811. The Vogtland is the most densely wooded portion of the kingdom, and next comes the Erzgebirge. About 857,000 acres, or 85% of the whole forest land, are planted with conifers; and about 143,000 acres, or 15 %, with deciduous trees, among which beeches and birches are the commonest. About 35 % of the total belongs to state. Mining.-Silver was raised in the 12th century, and argentiferous lead is still the most valuable ore mined; tin, iron and cobalt rank next, and coal is one of the chief exports. Copper, zinc and bismuth are also worked. The country is divided into four mining districts: F reiberg, where silver and lead are the chief products; Altenberg, where tin is mainly raised; Schneeberg, yielding cobalt, nickel and ironstone; and johanngeorgenstadt, with ironstone and silver mines. There were, 'in 1907, 143 mines, including coal, in operation, employing 31,455 hands. The total value of metal raised in Saxony in 1907 was £7,036, o0o; in 1870 it was £314,916 The coal is found principally in two fields-one near Zwickau, and the other in the governmental district of Dresden. Brown coal or lignite is found chiefly in the north and north-west, but not in sufficiently large quantities to be exported; the total value of the output in 1907 was nearly £3,500,000. Peat is especially abundant on the Erzgebirge. Immense quantities of bricks are made all over the country. Excellent sandstone for building is found on the hills of th e Elbe. Fine porcelain clay occurs near Meissen, and coarser varieties elsewhere. A few precious stones are found among the southern mountains.

Induslries.-The central-European position of the kingdom has fostered its commerce; and its manufactures have been encouraged by the abundant water-power throughout the kingdom. Nearly one-half of the motive power used in Saxon factories is supplied by the streams, of which the Mulde, in this respect, is the chief. The early foundation of the Leipzig fairs, and the enlightened policy of the rulers of the country, have also done much to develop its commercial and industrial resources. Next to agriculture which supports about 20 % of the population, by far the most important industry is the textile. Saxony carries on 26% of the whole textile industry in Germany, a share far in excess of its proportionate population. Prussia, which has more than nine times as many inhabitants, carries on 45 %, and no other state more than 8 %. The chief seats of the manufacture are Zwickau, Chemnitz, Glauchau, Meerane, Hohenstein, Kamenz, Pulsnitz and Bischofswerda. The centre of the cotton manufacture (especially of cotton hosiery) is Chemnitz; cotton-muslins are made throughout the -Vogtland, ribbons at Pulsnitz and its neighbourhood. Woollen cloth and buckskin are woven at Kamenz, Bischofswerda and Grossenhain, all in the north-east, woollen and half-woollen underclothing at Chemnitz, Glauchau, Meerane and Reichenbach; while Bautzen and Limbach produce woollen stockings. Linen is manufactured chiefly in the mountains of Lusatia, where the looms are still to some extent found in the homes of the weavers. The coarser kinds only are now made, owing to the keen English competition in the finer varieties. Damask 1s produced at Gross-Schénau and Neu-Schonau. Lace-making, discovered or introduced by Barbara Uttmann in the latter half of the 16th century, and now fostered by government schools, was long. .an important domestic industry among the villages of the Erzgebirge, and has attained to a great industry in Plauen. Straw-plaiting occupies 6000 hands on the mountain slopes between Gottleubaand Lockwitz. Waxcloth is manufactured at Leipzig, and artificial flowers at Leipzig and Dresden. ' Stoneware and earthenware are made at Chemnitz, Zwickau, Bautzen and Meissen, porcelain (“ Dresden china ”) at Meissen, chemicals in and 'near Leipzig. Dobeln, Werdau and Lossnitz are the chief seats of the Saxon leather trade; cigars are very extensively made in the town and district of Leipzig, and hats and pianofortes at Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz. Paper is made chiefly in the west of the kingdom, but does not keep pace with the demand. Machinery of all kinds is produced, f rom the sewing-machines of Dresden to the steam-locomotives and marine-engines of Chemnitz. The last-named place, though the centre of the iron-manufacture of Saxony, hasto import every pound of iron by railway. The leading branch is the machinery used in the industries of the country-mining, paper-making and weaving. The very large printing trade of Leipzig encourages the manufacture of printing-presses in that city. In 1902-1903 Saxony contained 601 active breweries and 572 distilleries. The smelting and refining of the metal ores is also an important industry. The principal exports are wool, woollen, cotton, linen goods, machinery, china, pianofortes, cigarettes, flannels, stockings, curtains and lace, cloth from Reichenbach and Zittau, watches of superlative value from Glashiitte and toys from the Vogtland. Conslilution.-Saxony is a. constitutional monarchy and a. member of the German empire, with four votes in the Bundesrafh (federal council) and twenty-three in the Reichstag (imperial diet). The constitution rests on a law promulgated on the 4th of September 1831, and subsequently amended. The crown is hereditary in the Albertine line of the house of Wettin, with reversion to the Ernestine line, of which the duke of Saxe-Weimar is now the head. The king enjoys a civil list of 3,674,927 marks or about £18 5,000, while the appanages of the crown, including the payments to the other members of the royal house, amount to £29,544 more-The

legislature (Stfindeversammlung) is bicameral-the constitution of the co-ordinate chambers being finally settled by a law of 1868 amending the enactment of 1831. The first chamber consists of the adult princes of the blood, two representatives of the-Lutheran and one of the Roman Catholic Church, a representative of Leipzig university, the proprietor (or a deputy) of the H erfschaft of Wildenfels, a proprietor of the mediatized domains, two of Standesherrschaften, one of those of four estates in fee, the superintendent at Leipzig, a deputy of the collegiate institution at Wurzen, 12 deputies elected by owners of nobiliar estates, ten landed proprietors and five other members nominated by the king and the burgomasters of eight towns. The second chamber consists of 43 members from the towns and 48 from the country, elected for six years. All male citizens twenty-five years old and upwards who pay 3 marks per annum in taxes have the suffrage; and all above thirty years of age who pay 30 marks in annual taxes are eligible as members of the lower house. With the exception of the hereditary and some of the ex-officio members of the first chamber, the members of the diet are entitled to an allowance for their daily expenses, as well as their travelling expenses. The executive consists of a responsible ministry (Gesammt Ministerium), with the six departments, of 'ustice, finance, home affairs, war, public worship and education, ancf foreign affairs. The minister of the royal household does not belong to the cabinet. The constitution also provides for the formation of a kind of privy council (Staatsrat), consisting of the cabinet ministers and other members appointed by the king.

For administrative purposes Saxony is divided into five Kreishauptmannschaften, or governmental departments, subdivided into

twenty-seven Amtshauptmannschaften. The cities of Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, Plauen and Zwickau, form departments by themselves. The supreme court of law for both civil and criminal cases is the Oberlandesgericht at Dresden, subordinate to which are seven other courts in the other principal towns. The German imperial code was adopted by Saxony in 1879. Leipzig is the seat of the supreme court of the German empire.

The Saxon army is modelled on that of Prussia. It forms the XII. and XIX. army corps in the imperial German army, with headquarters at Dresden and Leipzig respectively.

Church.-About 94 % of the inhabitants of Saxony are Protestants; about 12,500 are Jews, and about 4-7 %, including the royal famil, are Roman Catholics. The Evangelical-Lutheran, or State, church has as its head the minister de evangelic is so long as the king is Roman Catholic; and its management is vested in the Evangelical Consistory at Dresden. Its representative assembly consisting of. 35 clergymen and 42 laymen is called a synod (Synode). The Reformed Church has consistories in Dresden and Leipzig. The Roman Catholic Church has enjoyed the patronage of the reigning famil since 1697, though it was only the peace of Posen in 1806 which placed it on a level with the Lutherans. By the peace of Prague, which transferred Upper Lusatia to Saxony in 1635, stipulations were made in favour of the Roman Catholics of that region, who are ecclesiastically in the jurisdiction of the cathedral, chapter of St Peter at Bautzen, the dean of which has ex-officio a seat in the first chamber