Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/556

* PRUSSIA. 488 PBUSSIA. many. The density of population is over 250 to the square mile. Topoou.M-iiY. Prussia has a froiitajje of nearly 1100 miles on the Kortli and Bailie seas, ilie tidal variations of level in the North Sea are not great, but northwest storms have wrought great destruction on the low, Hat seaboard of Prussia, so that in the course of centuries a large area of coast has been destroyed by the washing away of the shores. The Frisian Islands, fronting this part of the Prussian coast, are the ruins of a former coast line, and large parts of the present coast are saved from destruction only by costly works of protection. Much of the coast is bordered by marshy land, which affords fine pasturage. The Baltic, still more shallow than the North Sea, also lacks important Hood and ebb tides, and no marsh formations are found along this coast. There are fewer islands than along the North Sea, one, however, the island of Riigen, being of considerable size. The coast has several deep in- dentations, the most important of which are Kiel Bay, Liibeck Bay, Pomeranian Bay, and the Gulf of Danzig. Sand dunes stretching along parts of the coasts have nearly cut off the sea, and the lagoons (Haffs) within are filled with fresh water from the rivers emptying into them, so that the Haffs are only slightly Inackish. Out- side of Hamburg, Breluen, and Liibeck, Prussia has all the important seaports of Germany. The great plain which comprises by far the larger part of Prussia is by no means flat or level, though its elevations formed of the accu- mulations of boulders and ground moraine of the lee Age rarely exceed (iOO feet in height. Communications in all directions meet with no obstacles on this comparatively level surface, stretching in Prussia between the Ems and Rus- sia and soithvard nearly to the southern boun- dary of the kingdom.' (See Gebmaxy. ) In the south-centre (region of the Harz) and the southwest (lower Rhine Plateau) the surface rises and merges with the hilly and mountainous regions of the South German States ; but in the southeast the great northern plain is continued in the low j)lain of the Oder and only the fringe of the kingdom covers the northern part of the Sudetic ranges. Hydkogkaphy. Prussia has the middle and lower courses of all the great rivers of Germany excepting the Danube. It is within its borders, therefore, that the Rhine, Weser, Elbe, and Oder attain their highest availability for navigation, as they How over the plain gently sloping to the north and northwest. In the northeast are the Vistula, Pregel, and Memel (Niemen), the first and last entering the country from Russia. Nat- urally the canal system of the Empire has its largest development on the Plain of Prussia, where these artificial highways may most easily be constructed. (See Germany' for rivers, canals, and lakes.) All the great rivers of the plain re- ceive their large tributaries from the east, so that their courses are near the western limits of their drainage systems. Climate and Soil. The differences of tem- perature between Prussia and South Germany are not great, the southern States being nuich more elevated. In winter the south in the same longitude is no warmer than Western Prussia, which has the ameliorating influence of the North Sea. The temperature differences are greater be- tween the west and the east of Prussia, as the continental influences are intensified toward the east. The Rhine Province is the warmest part and the Baltic lands are the coldest parts of Prussia. There is sulHcient rainfall for agricul- ture, the precipitation being quite evenly dis- tributed and averaging 21 inches per annum, and being as high as 30 inelies or more near the North Sea. (See Germany", paragraph on Climate.) The soils are best in the Rhine Province, but the sandy plain is poor in plant food and is made highly productive only by the most scientific methods of fertilization. Sixty-three per cent, of the soil is poor or mediocre sandy loam or sand, per cent, is bog or marsh, and 2'.i per cent, is good loam or clay. For Flora and Fauna, see Germany. Geology and JIineral Resources. The whole plain is strewn with sand and clay of Quaternary age that have been spread over the surface by glacial and alluvial action from the Ice Age till the present time. These deposits rest u])on areas of all formations from the Primary down through the Tertiary, small parts of these harder rocks ]irujecting here and there above the diluvium and alluvium, as, for example, the chalk clift's of Riigen and the limestone plateau to the east of Berlin near Riidersdorf. In the southeast, the ■ mountains of Silesia are chiefly composed of granite, gneiss, and schists, while the highlands of the Harz and the lower Rhenish Plateau are composed almost entirely of Devonian and Si- lurian rocks, Prussia ranks among the great mining countries and leads the German States in value of mineral product. Ninety per cent, of (Jer- many's coal comes from Prussia, chiefly from Sile- sia, Westphalia, and the Rhine Province. Lignite is extensively rained in the Province of Saxony. The output of coal in 1900 was 101.9Gti,158 tons (metric), and of lignite 34,007,542 tons, West- phalia, Silesia, Hanover, and Hesse-Nassau are the sources of Prussian iron, the output of pig iron in 1900 amounting to 5,781,893 tons (met- ric). Upper Silesia is the world's largest source of zinc, and the output in 1900 was 155,760 tons. Copper-mining in that year yielded 32.181 tons, and lead 115,105 tons. The total value of min- ing products in 1900 was 1,09(1,087.000 marks, and of the smelting products 584,513.724 marks. See Germany, paragraphs on Geology and Mininij. Agriculture. Prussia is the most important agricultural State of the German Empire, con- taining about two-thirds of the entire cultivable area. In 1895 the number of acres under cultivation was 70.344.953. Though Germany is one of the European countries in which most of the agricultural holdings are divided among small owners, there are more large es- tates in Prussia than in any other part of the Empire. They are especially numerous in the eastern provinces, where the land system is much like that of neighboring Poland, in which the country districts are still divided to a large extent among the gentry. In the same way many of the old landed gentry of Prussia stiil live on estates embracing 2500 acres nr upward; and the estates above .500 acres each aggregate about one-fifth of the land held in agri- cultural holdinsrs. On the other hand, small holding's (from 5 to 250 acres) vastlv predomi- nate in the west and centre, though also mnner- ous in the Province of East Prussia. In spite of the fact that Germany has become a manufactur-