Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/32

Rh 20 PRUSSIA The coast is lined with low dunes or sandhills, in front of which lie the large littoral lakes or lagoons named the Frische Had' and the Kuriscne Hafl'. (See GERMANY. ) The first of these receives the waters of the Nogat and the Pregel, and the other those of the Memel or Niemen. East Prussia is the coldest part of Germany, its mean annual temperature being about 44 Fahr., while the mean January temperature of Tilsit is only 25. The rainfall is 24 inches per annum. About half the province is under cultivation ; 18 per cent, is occupied by forests, and 23 per cent, by meadows and pastures. The most fertile soil is found in the valleys of the Pregel and the Memel, but the southern slopes of the Baltic plateau and the district to the north of the Memel consist in great part of sterile moor, sand, and bog. The chief crops are rye, oats, and potatoes, while flax is cultivated in the district of Ermland, between the Passarge and the upper Alle. East Prussia is the headquarters of the horse-breeding of the country and contains the principal Government stud of Trakehnen ; numerous cattle are also fattened on the rich pastures of the river-valleys. The extensive woods in the south part of the province harbour a few wolves and lynxes, and the elk is still preserved in the forest of Ibenhorst, near the Kurische Haff. The fisheries in the lakes and haffs are of some importance ; but the only mineral product of note is amber, which is found in the peninsula of Samland in greater abundance than in any other part of the world. Manufactures are almost confined to the principal towns, though linen-weaving is practised as a domestic industry. Commerce is facilitated by canals connecting the Memel and Pregel and also the principal lakes, but is somewhat hampered by the heavy dues exacted at the Russian frontier. A brisk foreign trade is carried on through the seaports of Kouigsberg (140,909), the capital of the province, and Memel (19,660), the exports con- sisting mainly of timber and grain. In 1880 the population of East Prussia was 1,9-33,936, including 1,654,510 Protestants, 250,462 Roman Catholics, and 18,218 Jews. The Roman Catholics are mainly confined to the district of Ermland, in which the ordinary proportions of the confessions are completely reversed. The bulk of the inhabitants are of German blood, but there are 400,000 Protestant Poles (Masurians or Masovians) in the south part of the province, and 150,000 Lithuanians in the north. As in other provinces where the Polish element is strong, East Prussia is below the general average of the kingdom in education ; in 1883 fully 5 per cent, of its recruits were unable to read or write. There is a university at Konigsberg. WEST PRUSSIA ( Wcstprcusscn), with an area of 9850 square miles, is bounded by the Baltic, East Prussia, Poland, Posen, Brandenburg, and Pomerania. It resembles East Prussia in its physical character- istics, but its fertility is somewhat greater and its climate not quite so harsh. The Baltic plateau traverses the province from east to west, reaching its culminating point in the Thurmberg (1090 feet), near Dantsic. Near the middle of the province the range is in- terrupted by the valley of the Vistula, beyond which it trends to the north and approaches the coast. The lakes of West Prussia are nearly as numerous but not so large as those of the sister pro- vince. The natural products arc similar, and the manufactures are also almost confined to the large towns. The cultivation of the common beet, for the production of sugar, has been introduced, and several sugar refineries have been erected. The valley of the Vistula, particularly the rich lowlands ( JVerder) of the delta, are very fertile, producing good crops of wheat and pasturing large herds of horses, cattle, and sheep. The population in 1880 was 1,405,898, consisting in almost equal proportions of Roman Catholics and Protestants; there were 26,547 Jews and 490,000 Poles. The percentage of illiterate recruits in 1882 was still higher than in East Prussia (7 '97), but not so high as in Posen (9'75). The capital and principal town is Dantsic (108,551), while Elbing (35,842) and Thorn (20,617) also carry on a considerable trade. PRUSSIA, RHENISH (German, Rheinjyremsen, Rhein- provinz, Rheinland), the most westerly province of the kingdom of Prussia, is bounded on the N. by Holland, on the E. by Westphalia, Hesse-Nassau, and Hesse-Darmstadt, on the S.E. by the Rhenish Palatinate, on the S. and S.W. by Lorraine, and on the W. by Luxemburg, Belgium, and Holland. The small district of Wetzlar in the midst of the province of Hesse also belongs to Rhenish Prussia, which, on the other hand, surrounds the Oldenburg principality of Birkenfeld. The extent of the province is 10,420 square miles, or nearly twice that of the kingdom of Saxony; its extreme length, from north to south, is nearly 200 miles and its greatest breadth is just under 90. It includes about 200 miles of the course of the Rhine, which forms the eastern frontier of the province from Bingen to Coblentz and then flows through it in a north-westerly direction. The southern and larger half of Rhenish Prussia, belong- ing geologically to the Devonian formations of the lower Rhine, is hilly. On the left bank are the elevated plateaus of the Hundsriick and the Eifel, separated from each other by the deep valley of the Moselle, while on the right bank are the spurs of the Westerwald and the Sauerland, the former reaching the river in the picturesque group known as the Seven Mountains. The highest hill in the province is the Walderbeskopf (2670 feet) in the Hochwald, and there are several other summits above 2000 feet on the left bank, while on the right there are few which attain a height of 1600 feet. Most of the hills are covered with trees, but the Eifel is a barren and bleak plateau, with numerous traces of volcanic agency, and is continued to- wards the north-west by the moorlands of the Hohe Venn. To the north of a line drawn from Aix-la-Chapelle to Bonn the province is flat, and marshy districts occur near the Dutch frontier. The climate varies considerably with the configuration of the surface. That of the northern lowlands and of the sheltered valleys is the mildest and most equable in Prussia, with a mean annual temperature of 50 Fahr., while on the hills of the Eifel the mean does not exceed 44. The annual rainfall varies in the different districts from 18 to 32 inches. Almost the whole province belongs to the basin of the Rhine, but a small district in the north-west is drained by affluents of the Meuse. Of the numerous tributaries which join the Rhine within the province, the most important are the Nahe, the Moselle, and the Ahr on the left bank, and the Sieg, the Wupper, the Ruhr, and the Lippe on the right. The only lake of any size is the Laacher See, the largest of the " maare " or extinct crater lakes of the Eifel. Of the total area of the Rhenish province about 46 '5 per cent, is occupied by arable land, 1 7 per cent, by mea- dows and pastures, and 31 per cent, by forests. Little except oats and potatoes can be raised on the high-lying plateaus in the south of the province, but the river-valleys and the northern lowlands are extremely fertile. The great bulk of the soil is in the hands of small proprietors, and this is alleged to have had the effect of somewhat retarding the progress of scientific agriculture. The usual cereal crops are, however, all grown with success, and tobacco, hops, flax, rape, hemp, and beetroot (for sugar) are cultivated for commercial purposes. Large quantities of fruit are also produced. The vine-culture occupies a space of 30,000 acres, about half of which are in the valley of the Moselle, a third in that of the Rhine itself, and the rest mainly on the Nahe and the Ahr. The choicest varieties of Rhine wine, however, such as Johannisberger and Steinberger, are produced higher up the river, beyond the limits of the Rhenish province. In the hilly districts more than half the surface is sometimes occupied by forests, and large plantations of oak are formed for the use of the bark in tanning. Considerable herds of cattle are reared on the rich pastures of the lower Rhine, but the number of sheep in the province is comparatively small, and is, indeed, not greatly in excess of that of the goats. The wooded hills are well stocked with deer, and a stray wolf occasionally finds its way from the forests of the Ardennes into those of the Hundsriick. The salmon fishery of the Rhine is very productive and trout abound in the moun- tain streams. (Compare the agricultural tables under PRUSSIA, p. 14 suj>ra.} The great mineral wealth of the Rhenish province probably furnishes its most substantial claim to the title of the "richest jewel in the crown of Prussia." Besides parts of the Carboniferous measures of the Saar and the Ruhr, it also contains important deposits of coal near Aix-la-Chapelle. Iron occurs abundantly near Coblentz, the Bleiberg in the Eifel possesses an apparently inex-