exception of the Mecklenburgs, similar legislation has been applied to the land in other parts of Germany. Generally speaking, small estates and peasant proprietorship prevail in the West German states, while large estates prevail in the north. In Prussia large estates prevail in Pommerania, Posen, East and West Prussia and Hanover; while the districts of Coblenz, Wiesbaden, and Treves are parcelled out into small estates.

Of the whole area of Germany, 94 per cent. is classed as productive and only 6 unproductive. The subdivision of the soil is given as follows: Area under cultivation, 65,000,000 acres; grass meadows, permanent pasture and waste lands, 27,000,000 acres; woods and forests, 34,334,500 acres; all other, 7,065,000 acres. The following are the returns of the leading agricultural products in 1885-6:

Of barley, wheat, oats, and rye, Germany imports more than she exports. In 1884-85 about 10,000,000 tons of beet were devoted to sugar-manufacturing, which produced 1,120,000 tons of raw sugar. In the financial year 1885-86, 49,260 acres were under tobacco, and produced 757,000 cwt., against 930,000 in 1884-85, and 1,202,520 cwt. in 1881–82.

The total number of agricultural enclosures (including arable land, meadows, cultivated pastures, orchards and vineyards), each cultivated by one household, was, on June 5, 1882, 5,276,344, with a population, altogether, of 18,840,818, of whom 8,120,518 were entirely engaged on their respective farms. Of these farms the number under 1 hectare, or 2:47 acres, each was 2,323,316; from 1 and less than 10 hectares, 2,274 096; from 10 and less than 100 hectares, 653,941; above 100 hectares, 24,991.

The following are the statistics of domestic animals according to the census of January 1883:—

* 1883.

Of the above numbers there belong to Prussia 2,417,138 horses, 8,737,199 cattle. 14,747,975 sheep, 5,818,732 swine, 1,679,686 goats, and 1,237,991 beehives; to Bavaria, 356,316 horses, 3,037,098 cattle, 1,178,270 sheep, 1,038,344 swine.

Forestry in Germany is an industry of great importance, conducted under the care of the State on scientific methods. In South and Central Germany from 30 to 38 per cent. of the surface is covered with forests; and in parts of Prussia 20 per cent. From forests and domains alone Prussia receives a revenue of about 4 millions sterling.

The quantities (in metrical tons=984 of the English ton) and values of the principal minerals and metals produced in Germany in 1884 and 1885 were as follow:

The great bulk of these minerals are produced in Prussia, the mining districts of Breslau, Dortmund, and Bonn yielding most of the coal and iron. In connection with coal-mining alone 225,000 people were engaged in 1882. In 1884 the production of pig-iron in Germany was 3,600,600 metric tons, valued at 172,640,000 marks, the number of furnaces in blast in 1884 being 252. The

total production of pig-iron in 1885 was 3,751,775 tons. The total value of the productions of the foundries of all kinds in 1884 was about 15,500,000l. The total value of finished iron in 1881 was 22,971,1467., in 1882, 27,149,0057., in 1883, 24,150,000Z., and in 1884, 23,992,1007. In 1883 there were in Germany 335 works producing finished iron, besides 75 steel-works. Nearly 200,000 men are employed in Germany in connection with the various stages of iron. The relative importance of other manufacturing industries will be seen by reference to the section relating to population.

Shipping and Communications.

The following was the distribution of the mercantile navy of Germany on January 1, 1885 and 1886 :

Of the total shipping in 1885, 2,689 of 449,298 tons, and in 1886, 2,603 of 443,680 tons, belonged to Prussian ports. The total number of sailors belonging to the shipping in 1885 was 38,931; in 1876 it was 42,362. The following table shows the shipping at all German ports in 1883 and 1884:

About three-fifths of the vessels and one-sixth of the tonnage

in 1884 were German. Of foreign vessels the largest number, about 12 per cent. of the whole, both German and foreign, were British, while about 46 per cent. of the total tonnage was also of that nationality. Of the 4,135 vessels which Germany had on Jan. 1, 1886, engaged in the foreign trade, 2,290 were of 200 tons burden and under. On Jan. 1, 1883, there were 18,372 ships engaged in the river, canal, and coasts trade of the Empire, 2,460 of which had a tonnage of 150 and upwards.

In 1886 the railways of the Empire completed and open for public traffic had a total length of 23,535 English miles. Of these lines 20,407 miles belong to, and 422 of private lines are worked by, the State; the remainder belong to and are worked by private companies, but all will soon be State property.

The total number of telegraphic despatches in the year 1885 was 19,131,225, of which 13,622,250 were inland, and the remainder international. The length of telegraph lines in the Empire at the end of 1885 was 51,537 miles, and of telegraph wires 184,380 miles.

The Imperial post office carried 815,689,030 letters, 243,871,890 post-cards, 19,117,000 patterns, 224,382,000 stamped wrappers, 524,473,250 newspapers, in the year 1885, and 176,353,000 registered packets and money-orders, &c., of 18,296,431,600 marks value. The total receipts of the post office (including telegraphic service) in 1884-85 amounted to 193,607,130 marks, and the total expenditure to 168,976,045 marks. The number of post offices was 17,452, with 13,413 telegraphic stations at the end of 1885, and 93,845 persons employed.

Foreign Dependencies.

During 1884 Germany extended her Empire beyond the bounds of Europe by taking under her protection certain portions of the West Coast of Africa. On the Slave Coast Germany has annexed the territories of Togo and Bagida, extending about 24 miles beyond the eastern limit of the British Gold Coast colony. In Biafra Bay to the east of the British Oil River territory Germany has annexed territory extending from the right bank of the Rio del Rey on the north to the Rio Campo on the south, and including the district of Bimbia, the island of Nikol, and the various kinglets of the Cameroon river, the district of Malimba, Plantation, and Criby, where the French territory of Gaboon is reached. On the south-west coast of Africa Germany has annexed the coast of Damara Land from Cape Frio, the southernmost point of Portuguese West Africa, to Walfisch Bay; and the Namaqualand coast from Walfisch Bay to the Orange River, the northern boundary of Cape colony. On this coast is Angra Pequeña, where a German trader,

Lüderitz, acquired a station in 1883. The country reaching from 26° S. lat. to the Orange River, about 150 miles in length, and extending indefinitely inland, is now called Lüderitzland. By a treaty concluded in 1886 between Germany, Great Britain, France, and Zanzibar, the German East African Company have acquired rights over territory extending from the southern slope of Mount Kilimanjaro southward to the Rovuma river, including the basins of the Pangani, the Wamo, Kingani, Rufiji, and Ruhuhu, the lands of Usambara, Nguru, Useguha, Usagora, Uzaramo, Ukhutu, Mahenga, Manwera, and Makonde; exceeding in area 100,000 square miles.

In 1885, by arrangement with Great Britain, Germany took possession of the northern portion of that part of New Guinea lying E. of the 141st degree of east longitude, and to the north of British New Guinea, the area being 70,300 square miles, and population 109,000. This territory is named Kaiser Wilhelm's Land. The New Britain and other islands lying between 141° and 154° east longitude, and between 8° south latitude and the equator, have also been annexed, under the name of the Bismarck Archipelago, with an area of .18,150 square miles, and population of 188,000. In 1886 the islands of Bougainville, Choiseul, and Isabel, in the Solomon Group, to the east of Bismarck Archipelago, were annexed, with an area of 6,000 square miles, and a population of about 20,000.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1. OF GERMANY IN GREAT BRITAIN. Ambassador.-Count Paul Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg, accredited Nov. 23, 1885. Councillor of Embassy.-Baron L. von Plessen. Secretary.-Count Paul Wolff Metternich. Military and Naval Attaché. -Captain Schröder. Director of Chancery.-Wilhelm Adolph Schmettau.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN GERMANY.

Ambassador.-Sir Edward Baldwin Malet, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., Secretary of Legation at Pekin, 1871-3; Athens, 1873-5; Rome, 1875-8; Constantinople, 1878-9; Agent and Consul-General in Egypt, 1879-83; appointed Minister Plenipotentiary in the Diplomatic Service, October 10, 1879; Envoy and Minister to Belgium, August 29, 1883; appointed to Berlin, September 20, 1884. Secretaries.-Charles Stewart Scott; Godfrey D. Bland; A. F. LevesonGower; J. R. Rodd; V. E. H. Corbett.

Military Attaché.- Col. L. V. Swaine, C.B.
Naval Attaché.-Captain Kane, R.N.
Commercial Attaché.-J. A. Crowe, C.B.
Consul-General.-Herr G. von Bleichröder.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures generally in use throughout the whole of Germany, and their British equivalents, are