The earth and its inhabitants .. . earthitsinhabita386recl Year: 1883 ALSACE AND GEEMAN LOERAINE. 175 of bright yellow rape, poppies, flax, hemp, tobacco, bops, and other plants. The homesteads of the peasants are embowered in orchards and gardens, and present an air of comfort. The cellars are rarely without a few casks of wine or kirschwasser. The land is very much subdivided,* and Jewish usurers prey as usual upon the poorer peasants ; but notwithstanding this the inhabitants of many districts are able to live in ease. Alsace is one of the most intelligently cultivated countries in Europe,
The earth and its inhabitants .. . earthitsinhabita386recl Year: 1883 ALSACE AND GEEMAN LOERAINE. 175 of bright yellow rape, poppies, flax, hemp, tobacco, bops, and other plants. The homesteads of the peasants are embowered in orchards and gardens, and present an air of comfort. The cellars are rarely without a few casks of wine or kirschwasser. The land is very much subdivided,* and Jewish usurers prey as usual upon the poorer peasants ; but notwithstanding this the inhabitants of many districts are able to live in ease. Alsace is one of the most intelligently cultivated countries in Europe, and, according to M. Grad, capital invested in agriculture yields between 8 and 10 per cent. The wine district, which extends from Thann to Mutzig, is the wealthiest and most densely peopled part of the country. Some of the wines produced enjoy a high reputation. The region of vineyards is succeeded hy that of the forests, which are managed with great success,t and higher still we enter the pasture-grounds. The neat stock of Alsace, much of which is stall fed, is Fig. 102.—DiEuzE, Château-Salins, and the Pond of Indue. Scale 1 : 320,000. ,4° 10' E of Pans 4°25' , 5 Miles. inferior to the breeds of Switzerland and Franche Comté, but is being improved. Much cheese is made in the mountain districts. Lorraine is far inferior to Alsace in its agricultural productions, both soil and climate being less favourable to vegetation. There is no broad alluvial valley, like that of the Ehine, and the cultivation of the vine is remunerative only in the valley of the Moselle and a few other localities. On an average the land only yields half Avhat it does in Alsace, and extensive heaths are still met with. A system of 'cultivation' peculiar to Lorraine is that applied to the numerous ponds scattered over the country. About two-thirds of the water are occasionally drawn off, after which the exposed portion of the bed is sown with wheat or other cereals, and the fish are caught. The da
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