Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1854-06-02
German Agriculture.

Each German has his house, his
orchard his roadside trees, so laden
with fruit, that if he did not care
fully prop up and tie together, and
in many places hold the boughs to-
gether with wooden clamps, they
would be torn asunder by theirow
weight He has his plot for corn,
mangold wurtzel, for hay, for pota-
toes, for hemp, &c. He is his own
master, and he, therefore. and every
branch of his family, have the stron-
gest motive for constant exertion.-
You see the effect of this in his in
dustry and his economy.
In Germany nothing is lost The
produce of the trees and cows is car
ricd to market much fruit is dried
for winter use. You see it lying in
the sun to dry. You see strings Of
them hanging from their chamber
windows in the sun. The cows are
kept up for the greater part of the
year, and every thing is collected for
them Every little nook, where the
grass grows by roadside, and brook,
is carefully cut with a sickle, and
carried home on the heads of the
women and children in baskets, or
tied in large cloths. Nothing of a
ny kind that can possibly be made
of any use, is lost weeds, nettles,
nay, the very goose grass which
covers waste places. is cut and taxi
en- for the cows. You see the little
children standing in the streets of
the villages, in the streams which
generally run down them. busy
washing these weeds before they are
given to the cattle.
They carefully collect the leaves
of the marsh grass, carefully cut the
potato tops for them, and even if
other things fail, gather green leaves
from the woodlands. One cannot
help thinking continually Of the en-
ormous waste of such things with
us-of the vast quantities of grass
on banks, by roadsides, in the OPEN
ings of plantations, in lanes, in
church-yards, where grass from year
to year springs and dies, but which,
if carefully cut, would maintain
many thousand cows for the poor.
To pursue still farther this sub
ject of German economy. The We
ry cuttings of the vines are dried
and preserved for winter fodder
The tops and refuse of hemp serve
as bedding for the cows nay, even
the rough stalks of the peoples. af-
ter the heads have been gathered
for oil, are saved, and all these are
converted into manure for the land.
When these are not sufficient, the
children are sent into the woods 10
gather moss, and all our readers ia
mlliar with Germany will remem-
Der TO have seen them coming home
ward with large bundles of this on
their heads. In autumn, the fallen
leaves are gathered and stacked for
the same purpose. The fir cones,
which with ms lie and rot in the
woods, are carefully collected and
sold for lighting fires.
In short, the economy and care
of the German peasants are an ex-
ample to all Europe They have
for years, nay ages, been doing that,
as il regards agricultural manage
ment, TO which the British public is
but just now opening its eyes
Time, also, is as carefully econo-
mixed as every thing else. They
are early risers, as may well be con-
ceived, when the children, many of
whom come from considerable dis
lance, are at school at six in the
morning. As they tend their cattle
or their swine, the knitting never
ceases, and hence the quantities of
stockings and other household things
which they accumulate are aston
ishing.-Ho0in.
BENEFIT OF BfEs To Fpr,r