From the detailed occupational census of 1907 the following facts and figures are cited as to the ownership of farm lands in Germany and other data: There were cultivated each by one household, farms between 2V2 and 25 acres, 2,305,562; between 25 and 250 acres, 674,097; above 250 acres, 23,183. The total number of all farms, including those of less than 2/acres and of over 2,500 acres, num bered 5,736,062, and the acreage amounted to 105,000,000. A peculiar feature of these tables is the overwhelming number of very small farms, those measuring less than 2Y2 acres (or one hectare) being 47 per cent of the total; and those below 25 acres in size being 87 per cent of the aggregate number. And another curious fact is that although numerically the owners of large farms (2,500 acres, or 1,000 hectares and over each) are but a handful, they possess almost one-fourth of the entire area of the tilled land, and that nearly all of these big land holders are to be found in that portion of Prussia denominated popularly Transelbia, i.e., those seven original provinces of Prussia lying east of the Elbe River and being the least progressive and politically the most dominated by the "junker" class of landed gentry, or by aristocratic capitalists. It tallies with these significant facts that over 85 per cent of the entire agricultural land in Germany is tilled and harvested by the owners, and less than 15 per cent by tenants or hired laborers. About 40 per cent of all the farmers cultivate their own land exclusively; a little over 30 per cent cultivate rented land beside their own, and the remaining 30 ncr cent cultivate alto gether rented land. In these last-named re spects there has been hardly any change within the past 40 years.
As to the breeding of livestock, that is also an important part of farming in Germany. The marshy plains of the north, the grassy slopes of hills and valleys in the west and south, and the moderate climate as a whole with its absence of rapid extremes, are admittedly well adapted to the cattle-raising industry. As a matter of fact, this branch has likewise kn proved on a large scale within the past two gen erations. The raising of sheep and goats is the sole exception to this, and the decline in this particular, which has been going on for several decades, has been due to the strong com petition of Australia and Argentina, and to the low prices for wool incident thereto. How ever, in the plains of Brandenburg, Silesia and Saxony sheep-growing is still of imrtance. What has helped Germany in her to render profitable the breeding of cattle has been (besides protective legislation) the scientific cultivation of nutritious fodder grasses, such as lucerne, alfalfa, and the selection and im provement of the breeds themselves, including the fattening process for the market (rape oil cakes, sunflower cakes, etc., used). Cattle are raised principally in the rich marshlands along the North Sea (Holstein, Oldenburg, East Frisia) and in the fertile valleys and mountain slopes of Wurttemberg, Alsace-Lorraine and Bavaria. Horses are bred of various types; the heavy, hardy draft horse of Mecklenburg, Holstein, Hanover and West Prussia, the less weighty horses of East Prussia, Saxony and Hesse, etc. The government studs of Prussia, such as the ones in Trakehnen, Uelzen, Han over, etc., are largely responsible for keeping up the rather high standard of horses through out Germany, both for military and civilian purposes. Of horses, Germany owned, in 1912, 4,516,297 (an increase of about 50 per cent against 1882) ; of cattle, 20,158,738, in the same year (an increase of 25 per cent when com pared with 1882) ; of sheep, 5,787,148 (a de crease of about 75 per cent) ; of goats, 3,533,970 (a similar decrease) ; and of hogs, 21,885,073 (an increase of about 40 per cent).
Some 34,500,000 acres of the area of Ger many are covered with forest and the cultiva tion, preservation and renewal of which re ceives much attention by a large corps of specially trained men, the bulk of whom are in the government service. There are four for estry colleges in the country. But while the annual output of merchantable lumber and tim ber is very large, it is not large enough to satisfy the demand made for industry and the building trade, and part of this demand must be supplied from abroad. The larger woods and forests in most of the separate states of Germany belong to the different governments or are so-called "Crown lands." These are usually under the care of special boards of management, and these also exercise certain rights of control and supervision over all forest lands, whether public or private. For the country as a whole, about one-third of all the wooded land is fiscal and about one-sixth is communal, while the "Crown forests," i.c, owned by the various hereditary rulers and their families, measure 675,000 acres. The re mainder is chiefly private property, subject, however, to a certain government control, the i main object of which to prevent the spread of conflagrations, of noxious insects, etc. The most valuable forest lands are to be found in the states of Bavaria, Saxony, Hesse, Baden and Wurttemberg, these being rich in leaf trees —oak, beech, birch, ash, etc., while Prussia has the most extensive government-owned forests, mostly coniferous, such as pines and firs.
The German fisheries, for some unexplained reason, have remained far behind those of most of the empire's neighboring states and in the number of persons engaged in that branch of work are not very considerable. Still there has been improvement in recent years, and the an nual German catch of the North Sea and the Baltic amounts to some $9,500,000 in value, about equally divided between the two seas. Cod and herring, besides some smaller fish (like sprotten, a species of anchovy), are taken both in the North Sea and in the Baltic. The imperial government has made some effort to increase the deep-sea fishing fleet and to en courage the consumption of fish and other sea food as a popular nutrient, but has met with scant success. As a matter of fact, about $20,000,000 of fresh, salted or canned fish are imported annually. The number of persons em ployed by the fisheries on both oceans amounts to but 42,000. In German rivers, ponds and lakes are found salmon, carp, trout, eels, pike, but no concerted movement to stock these waters plentifully and steadily has yet been made.
Bibliography.— Arndt, E., 'Deutschlands Stellung in d. Weltwirtschaft' (Leipzig 1908); Barker, E. M., 'Modern Germany' (London 1912) ; Meyer, H. E., 'Deutsche Volkskunde' (Strassburg 1898) ; Partsch, R., 'Central Europe' (New York 1903) ; Ratzel, F., 'Deutschland' (Leipzig 1898) • Rauchberg, Otto, 'Die Landwirthschaft im d. Reiche' (in Vol. XV of Archiv flit sot!. Gesetr.g. iI. Statis tik, Berlin 1900) ; Schierbrand, Wolf von, 'Ger many: the Welding of a World Power) (New York 1902) • Thiele, Ad., (Deutschlands land wirtschaftl. Klimatographie) (Bonn 1895).