Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1855-12-12

STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN EURoPE.-A
correspondent of the New York Tribune,
writing from Selim, in Hungary, gives the
following description of the comparative state
of agriculture in the different countries of Eu-
rope
In England the principle prevails that the
soil shall be divided into as large estates as
possible, and that so many hands only shall
be devoted to agriculture are indspensably
necessary, without losing any capital or labor
during the year. Hence the farms in Eng
land are large when compared to those on the
Continent, although often small in comparison
with the estates in our great West There is
also high state of cultivation in England,
notwithstanding more than nine-tenths of the
population possess neither lands nor tene-
ments.
In France we find second and entirely
different principle governing the division of
the soil, which owes the origin and develop.
ment to the French Revolution. The French
philosophers discover no difference between
money and the soil, and make the latter as
divisible as the former. This proceeds from
the fundamental maxim that agriculture is
free trade
In England there are not far from four hun
bred thousand landed estates. Proportionally
according to the larger geographical extent of
France, there would be one million four hum
dred thousand landed estates in that empire;
whereas in 1881 the number reached 10, 404,-
l2l, or twenty six times as many as in Eng
land. Two thirds OF the population of France
are engaged in agricultural pursuits. Much
capital of labor is lost and it is we'll known
fact that that the state of agriculture in that
empire is by no means so far advanced as in
England The people are far more revolu-
tionary, although they have greater interest
in the soil. Half Of the entire consumption
of food of all kinds in England, is animal,
while in France il amounts to but one fourth
According to ministerial reports, the French
peasant consumes nineteen pounds of flesh
per annum, and the English farmer scarcely
less than two hundred.
In Germany we find principle mediate be-
tween the two above mentioned. The landed
estates are in general not so large as in Eng
land, but much larger than in France. Ac-
cording to the laws, and frequently in conse.
quence of long standing customs the larger
estates, especially those belonging to the no.
bility, cannot be divided. The principle is
also modified in certain parts of Germany.
Agriculture stands lower on the average than
| in the United States
| In Russia the soil is divided according to a
different system. The serf has the right to
| cultivate a certain portion of land, but not to
| possess the same. Hence Russia, having no
| proletaire, has risen above the fear of social
! and political revolution. The construction of
her society is, in this respect, the Utopia of
socialism realizing on magnificent scale the
| st. Simonian theory of reform. A census is
taken every twelve or fifteen years, at which
time the estates of the land holders undergo
new division. The serfs then receive new
| portions of land to cultivate. In this manner
a continual division of the soil is effected, so
far as cultivation is concerned, but the condi-
ton of agriculture is far worse than in France
! or Germany.
1t is a singular fact that the Magyars, from
| being the most warlike of the Asiatic nomads
who settled III Europe, became, after theil
conversion to Christianity in the land of theil
adoption, Of all Others, most devoted to agri-
cultural pursuits. They lived for centuries a.
tillers of the soil, resuming their weapons on.
ly to repel foreign invasion. Consequently
until the instruction of '4S, less was known
of the Hungarians than of any other people in
Europe.
The Germans are too theoretical to make
good farmers, the Hungarians md Slaves toe
idle--the latter being especially inclined to q
pastoral life. In the country one not unfre
quently sees three or four Croats or dgnifC
Magyars, pipe in mouth, watching a single
COW while grazing.
Hungary could feed forty millions of hun
cry men, but the state of agriculture is la
mentally low. Their farming utensils are ex
ceedingly primitive and clumsy, while tn
seed is generally not of the best quality. Tn
breeds of horses and cattle are far inferior t.
our own.