SAXE ; SAXONY. The numerous German states thus designated, present various degrees of industrial and commercial developement. We will rapidly glance at them in relation to these features.
Saxe Altenburg is hilly, richly wooded, and fertile. Agriculture and grazing are skilfully conducted. There are few -minerals ; but there are iron-mines in the vicinity of Ronne burg, and the extensive peat-fields nearAlten burg yield abundance of fuel. A fine porce lain earth is found in the neighbourhood of Altenburg, which supplies the porcelain ma nufactory at Gotha. Manufacturing industry is chiefly confined to woollen cloths, stockings, and wooden wares. There are considerable tanneries at Altenburg, Kahla, Eisenberg, and Lukau. The articles of export are corn, cattle, wool, butter, and timber.
.Saxe Coburg Gotha is chiefly an agricul tural duchy. The forests yield timber, potash, and pitch. The rearing of live-stock is pro secuted with much activity. Iron is found near Friederichsstadt ; there are also coals, sandstone, millstones, marble, alabaster, gyp sum, lime, potters' clay, porcelain earth, and salt. There is considerable manufacturing industry in Gotha, but little in the other dis tricts. Besides a fair amount of export trade, the duchy has a considerable transit trade, as the high road from Leipzig to Frankfort passes through it.
Saxe Areiningen has salt springs near Fried richshall and Neusulza. The productions are similar to those of central Germany; the minerals arc various and abundant. Agricul ture and grazing are the chief employments. In some districts there are many furnaces, mills, and glass-houses. The ordinary manu factures are coarse linens, sail- cloth, woollens, and cottons ; there are also distilleries, breweries, and tan-yards. The wooden toys made in this duchy are largely sold in Eng land.
In Saxe Weimar the mineral and vegetable productions are similar to those in the other Saxon duchies. The rearing of cattle forms an important branch of industry. Manufac tures have made little progress.
Saxony, being a kingdom and of much larger size, has more manufacturing and com mercial importance than the duchies just named. The vegetable produce, besidei corn, includes rape seed, hops, flax, hemp, chicory, tobacco, madder, wood, saffron, medicinal herbs, anise, coriander, poppy, dc. Vegetables and fruit are very abundant. A
considerable quantity of wine is made. Almost a fourth part of the country is covered with forests, consisting chiefly of pine and fir ; other trees are•less abundant.
The breed of cattle has been very muck im. proved within the last century; but the most important animal is the Merino sheep, which has since 1765 yielded a supply of the finest wool. The mineral riches consist of gold, copper, iron, lead, tin, cobalt, arsenic, vitriol, bismuth, nickel, zinc, antimony, quicksilver, calamine, rock crystal, various precious stones, potters'-earth, the finest porcelain clay in Europe, basalt, serpentine, granite, marble, alabaster, fluor spar, sandstone, limestone, slate, porphyry, black amber, brimstone, alum, saltpetre, and coals.
Next to England and the Netherlands, Saxony has, in proportion to its population, the most extensive manufactures in Europe. It produces damasks and other linens, lace of great beauty, woollen, cotton, and silk manu factures ; and there are paper-mills, tanneries, breweries, distilleries, foundries, and the celebrated porcelain works at Meissen. The centre of the commerce of the country is Leipzig. The inland trade is mostly conduc ted by the merchants of Leipzig, of which the book fairs are the most remarkable. The principal exports are—fine woollen manufac tures to England, Spain, Turkey, and Russia; linen, lace, &c. to Italy, England, Spain, and France ; thread, wool, worsted, smalts, por celain, straw-manufactures, wooden-wares, glass, fruit, timber, and mineral products. The imports are salt, cotton, silk, flax, hemp, colonial produce, salt and dried fish, fancy goods, &c. Saxony is one of the members of the Zollverein or German Customs' Union.
Prussian Saxony, another member of the remarkable Saxe territories, is an active and busy province. The fine wool of the improved breed of sheep supplies not only the extensive woollen mannfactures of the province, but furnishes a largo overplus for exportation. The mineral products are chiefly copper, anti mony, cobalt, and iron. The manufactures are woollens, leather, calico, and linen. There are several sugar-refi neries, brandy-distilleries, tobacco-manufactories, and porcelain works. The exports are wool, corn, woollen and cotton manufactures, brandy, copper, iron and steel wares, and salt.