The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-11-06
THE HAsK IsN s !: E;R
GERMAN AGRIC TlJRE.
~ Frederlck .. HaslIin,

TX III &. &, " !
Il e not SO long ago that what Il
nov, the German empire formed q col
lection Of Agricultural states. With
merest commercial and poIit cal sig,
nlncanca and OF no particular success,
as growers of food-prod ducts. Today
the German empire stands among the
foremost industrial nations. and
Grows many times as much upon hei
farms as II did in the days when az.
rtculture claimed the greatest part sot
her peoples energies. Germany's
advance as an aricultural state has
been about as remarkable a. her In
dustrial development. 4
Roughly, the beginning Of Ger
1nanys farm development are coinci-
dent with the founding OF the empire,
with the beginning Of her modern
industries, 1S7l-1Ss0. The same
study, method and patience which
have made them great in the one
have made them successful in the
other. During the last thirty years
old farms have been brought under
scientific management; swanIps have
been trained and sand wastes water
ed and fortified, until today almost
every rural square yard OF the em-
pire is growing in grain, vegetables
or forest, or is used for grazing.
Germany has an area Of EOS, 900
square miles and population Of
about 65; 900, 900, representing some
S12 persons to each square mile.
Naturally, the feeding Of so many
persons from the produce Of 90 linz
tied q territory presents q great
problem. Yet, Herr Delbruck, I'M
perial Minister Of the Interior, has
just recently made the announcement
that, under stress, Germany can
handily sustain herself. The prob
lem has been solved by the applica-
ton Of Germany's wonderful science
and method to the care and develop
ment Of her farms.
Most countries of q similar density
in population are large importers Of
food from necessity. England is,
probably, the best example OF this,
England Is forced to import great
quantities Of grain from the United
States, Russia and other countries.
She buys her meat in this country,
in Australia and in South America.
Her dairy products come from Dem
mark, Finland. Norway and Sweden,
while her fruit is largely supplied by
European and American growers.
With this food export cut or, her
people would starve.
Germany, too, has been large
buyer Of foreign foodstuffs, but, 1t
must be remembered, that this coun-
try PRODUCES considerable agricul-
tural product for export. There are
thousands upon thousands of acres
planted there each year in beets
which go into the production OF an
important part Of the worlds sugar
Other thousands Of acres are sown
in potatoes, and q great amount Of
this product finds its way into sew
eral hundred distilleries where It Is
turned into alcohol. In the recent
review made public by the minister
OF the interior, 1t was suggested that
Germany would only need to restrict
her output OF sugar and potato al
cohol IN order to add considerably to
the abundance Of native foodstuffs.
There grows upon the American
travelling by railway for the first time
through German lands peculiar.
feeling of the foreigners Of the
country, a foreignness Of landscape
rather than of people or plant, Of ar
,chitecture Of custom. After white
he catches himself peering m vain as,
the train hurries along for some sue
cession OF straggly, clustered.
purposeless field or for some shaggy
and unkempt woods. He is, contin-
ually disappointed. There pass be-
fore him fields barren Of brush, bush
or tree and Of an even green with
the various kinds Of produce, which
they are bearing; or forests. long
cool stretches of pine, fir and birch
the ground beneath the overarcning
branch rncluttered by broken boughs
and free Of brush and weed growth.
It Is this infinitely well-kept air.
about a German landscape which
makes the American feel most the
stranger, and this strangeness new
er wears of.
These well-groomed fields and for
ests stretch throughout the length
and breadth of the empire. "A large
forestry service, imperial, state and
private, takes care Of the appearance
and OF the upkeep OF the woodlands
while the farmers and estate owners
lavish a like care upon the fields. On
the larger estates, none Of which Of
course, can compare in size with our
great western grain or grazing
ranches, one passes acre after acre
planted In potatoes, grain or beets.
But the smaller estates are mostly
broken up into fields Of varied pro-
duction. And all along the perfect