Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/763

 maize principally in the south; wheat in the south and west; buckwheat in the north; millet in the southeast; rapeseed, poppy, anise, and cumin in the central and northwest districts. The largest grain fields are in Würtemberg, the smallest in Mecklenburg. Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxe-Altenburg, Mecklenburg, Holstein, &c., produce a larger quantity of breadstuffs than is required for home consumption, while Saxony and some of the Saxon duchies import breadstuffs. Flax and hemp, madder, woad, and saffron are cultivated more in the south and central region than in the north. Tobacco is extensively raised (even for exportation to other tobacco-growing countries) on the upper Rhine, the Werra and Oder, and in Brandenburg. Excellent hops are furnished by Bavaria and Brunswick. Beets are raised in enormous quantities for the manufacture of sugar, and their cultivation has almost entirely superseded the grain culture in the Prussian province of Saxony, Anhalt, Hesse-Darmstadt, and S. Bavaria. Chiccory, as a substitute for coffee, is raised in the country between the Elbe and Weser rivers. In garden culture Würtemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, and the Saxon duchies hold the highest rank. The fruit raised on the banks of the Rhine and Neckar, in Saxony and N. W. Bavaria, is of the very best quality to be found anywhere. Peaches and figs ripen only in localities protected from the cold. The apples of Saxony are of the choicest kind, and are exported to Russia in large quantities. Marron chestnuts, almonds, &c., are raised in the S. W. states. Great attention is paid to the improvement of fruit. In all the states there are pomological societies, which from time to time hold national conventions. The culture of the vine extends to lat. 51° 30′. (See .)—The three free cities excepted, the greatest density of population prevails in the principality of Reuss elder line (473 to the square mile), the kingdom of Saxony (442), the grand duchy of Hesse (288), and the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg (256). In the following states it exceeds the average: Würtemberg, Baden, Brunswick, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Schwarzburg, Reuss younger line, Lippe, Anhalt, and Saxe-Weimar. In Prussia it is 184, in Bavaria 166. The number of large cities, proportionately to the population, is greater in Germany than in any other country except Great Britain, Belgium, and Holland. There is one city with more than 800,000 inhabitants (Berlin), two with more than 200,000 (Hamburg and Breslau), seven with more than 100,000 (Dresden, Munich, Cologne, Magdeburg, Königsberg, Leipsic, and Hanover), 22 with more than 50,000, and 50 with from 20,000 to 50,000. More than nine tenths (92 per cent.) of the population of Germany belong to the German race; the remainder, belonging principally to the Slavic race, is mainly confined to the eastern Prussian provinces. The entire number of Slavs in Germany is about 2,640,000 (2,450,000

Poles, 140,000 Wends, 50,000 Czechs), or 6½ per cent., of which number only about 50,000 are outside of Prussia. In the latter country there are also about 150,000 Lithuanians and Letts. The Danes, in Schleswig, number about 150,000, and the French, chiefly in Lorraine, 230,000. Except Ireland, no country of Europe has lost so large a number of inhabitants by emigration as Germany. From 1819 to 1855 the aggregate number of German emigrants was estimated at 1,800,000. The number of German immigrants into the United States from 1820 to 1872 amounted to 2,580,000. The Germans are usually classified into Low Germans and High Germans, or northerners and southerners. The dividing line may be drawn from lat. 50° 30′ in western Ger- many to lat. 52° 30′ on the eastern frontier, or along the course of the Sieg (a tributary of the Rhine) to the southern slope of the Hartz mountains, crossing the Elbe near its confluence with the Saale, then a little to the northward along the southern banks of the Havel and of the Warthe. In physical development the Germans are superior to either the Latin or the Slavic race. Their frame and their muscular development are strong, almost heavy. Among the lower classes of the rural and laboring population stoutness and strength often approach to clumsiness. Generally the northerners are taller and have better-shaped features and limbs than the southerners. The blonde complexion prevails only in the north; in central and southern Germany light or dark brown is more frequently found. In power of endurance the Germans are surpassed by the Slavic race, in agility by the Latin. The prominent features of the German national character are honesty, faithfulness, valor, thoughtfulness, perseverance, and industry. The Germans have largely promoted the progress of human knowledge. There is scarcely a single branch of science in which they have not excelled. In music, painting, and sculpture they occupy a very high rank among nations. The German artisan is valued for his dexterity and steadiness. The sectional and local diversities of character are very great in Germany. While the Protestant northerners have many characteristics in common with the Anglo-Saxon, the Catholic southerners approach in some important respects the Latin race, particularly in a certain preponderance of imagination over reason. The Low German assimilates far more readily to the English or American than to the Austrian or Swabian.—The culture of the soil in Germany is highly developed, and inferior only to that of England. The products of agriculture have been nearly doubled by the introduction of more rational methods of cultivation since 1816. All German states have agricultural colleges, some of which enjoy a world-wide reputation. The methods of cultivation are different in different portions of the country. The triennial and quadrennial rotations of crops are most in use. According to the first method,