Prussia

Communications.

With most internal means of communica tion Prussia is excellently provided. On April 1, 192o, the rail ways became the property of the Reich, and on Oct. 11, 1924, as a result of the Dawes Agreement, their management was put in the hands of a private company, though they remained State property. On March 31, 1923, the railways of the German republic in Prussia (excluding the Saar) were 19,339 m. in length. The most important trunk line of Prussia is that which enters the western frontier near Aachen and runs through Cologne, DUssel dorf, Hanover and Berlin, and crosses the Polish corridor between Chojnice and Tczew, and the Free Stat9 of Danzig between Tczew and Marienburg, proceeding via Konigsberg to the eastern frontier at Eydtkuhnen. Generally speaking, the principal lines of the country either radiate from Berlin or run alongside the frontiers and boundaries.

Prussia possesses also an extensive system of natural and arti ficial waterways. The most important of the canals are the North sea and Baltic canal (officially the Kaiser Wilhelm canal), the Elbe-Trave canal (to give Liibeck access to the Elbe), and the Dortmund-Ems canal and its continuation, the Dortmund-Rhine canal. Among the largest ship-owning ports are Flensburg, Stettin, Konigsberg and Kiel.

Agriculture.

The north-eastern provinces of Prussia contain a high proportion of poor soil, and in the north-west occur large tracts of heath and moor. The reclaimed marshlands in both dis tricts, as well as the soil in the neighbourhood of the rivers, are usually very fertile, and tracts of fruitful ground are found in the valleys of the Rhine and its affluents, and in the plain around Magdeburg, the so-called Böhrde. The most fertile Prussian province is Saxony, while the least productive are East Prussia and the Grenzmark. The principal crop in Prussia is rye, of which the ordinary bread of the country is made ; it grows in all parts of the country, especially in the north and east, and occupies an area of nearly 8,000,000 ac. (1924). Oats occupy an area equal to about two-thirds of that devoted to rye, and are also grown most extensively in the north-eastern districts. Wheat, which is chiefly cultivated in the south and west, covers only about a fourth as much ground as rye. Barley is most largely grown in Saxony and Silesia. Other grain crops are spelt (chiefly on the Rhine), buckwheat (Hanover and Schleswig-Holstein) and millet ; maize is grown for fodder in some districts. Potatoes, used both as food and for the distillation of spirits, are cultivated over an area of about ac. (1924), and are specially predominant in the eastern provinces. The common beet is extensively grown for

the production of sugar in the provinces of Saxony, Hanover, Silesia, Pomerania and Brandenburg. Flax and hemp occupy con siderable areas in East Prussia, Silesia and Hanover. There is some cultivation of rape-seed for oil. Agriculture in Prussia is on a high level, with much application of the latest scientific im provements, including widespread utilization of electrical power. The number of farms of less than 5 ac. each was 1,877,824 in 1925; farms ranging from 5 to 5o ac. numbered 975,773; farms ranging from 5o to 25o ac., 129,975; and farms exceeding 25o ac., 14,795. In all the provinces farms under 5 ac. predominate, but larger farms (up to 5o ac.) are a marked feature in Hohenzollern. The cultivation of the beetroot for sugar has had a far-reaching effect upon Prussian agriculture, especially in the provinces of Saxony, Silesia, Hanover, Pomerania, Brandenburg, the Border province and the Rhine province. Also owing to the deep cultivation of the soil and the incessant hoeing which the beet crop requires, the three or four crops which follow it are invariably good, and the liability to failure of the immediately succeeding crop is reduced to a minimum. Moreover, the fiscal policy of the Prussian Government has been of first-rate assistance to the Prussian farmer. Barley is grown on an area of nearly 2 million. acres (1924). Chicory is produced chiefly in the Prussian prov ince of Saxony ; the principal centres for its manufacture in Prussia are Magdeburg, Berlin and Breslau.

Live Stock.

The province of East Prussia, with the principal Government stud of Trakehnen, is the headquarters of horse rearing. The horses bred there are generally suitable for the lighter kind of work only, and are in great request for military purposes. Horses of a stouter type are bred in Schleswig-Holstein and on the Rhine, but heavy draught horses have to be imported from France, Holland, Belgium and Denmark. The best cattle are reared in the maritime provinces of the West.

Forests.

Prussia contains a large proportion of woodland. The most extensive forests are in East Prussia, Silesia and Branden burg, where coniferous trees prevail, and in the Rhenish and Hessian districts, where oaks and beeches are the most prominent growths. The north-west is almost entirely destitute of timber, and peat is there used universally as fuel. The admirably managed Government forests form a considerable proportion of the whole, and the State also coftrols the management of forests in private possession.