Density of Population.—In respect of density of population,
Germany with (1900) 269.9 and (1905) 290.4 inhabitants to the
square mile is exceeded in Europe only by Belgium, Holland and
England. Apart from the free cities, Hamburg, Bremen and
Lübeck, the kingdom of Saxony is the most, and Mecklenburg-Strelitz
the least, closely peopled state of the empire. The most
thinly populated districts are found, not as might be expected in
the mountain regions, but in some parts of the plains. Leaving out
of account the small centres, Germany may be roughly divided into
two thinly and two densely populated parts. In the former division
has to be classed all the North German plain. There it is only in the
valleys of the larger navigable rivers and on the southern border
of the plain that the density exceeds 200 inhabitants per square mile.
In some places, indeed, it is far greater, e.g. at the mouths of the
Elbe and the Weser, in East Holstein, in the delta of the Memel and
the environs of Hamburg. This region is bordered on the south by
a densely peopled district, the northern boundary of which may be
defined by a line from Coburg via Cassel to Münster, for in this part
there are not only very fertile districts, such as the Goldene Aue in
Thuringia, but also centres of industry. The population is thickest
in upper Silesia around Beuthen (coal-fields), around Ratibor, Neisse
and Waldenburg (coal-fields), around Zittau (kingdom of Saxony),
in the Elbe valley around Dresden, in the districts of Zwickau and
Leipzig as far as the Saale, on the northern slopes of the Harz and
around Bielefeld in Westphalia. In all these the density exceeds
400 inhabitants to the square mile, and in the case of Saxony rises
to 750. The third division of Germany comprises the basin of the
Danube and Franconia, where around Nuremberg, Bamberg and
Würzburg the population is thickly clustered. The fourth division
embraces the valleys of the upper Rhine and Neckar and the district
of Düsseldorf on the lower Rhine. In this last the proportion exceeds
1200 inhabitants to the square mile.
Emigration.—There have been great oscillations in the actual emigration by sea. It first exceeded 100,000 soon after the Franco-German War (1872, 126,000), and this occurred again in the years 1880 to 1892. Germany lost during these thirteen years more than 1,700,000 inhabitants by emigration. The total number of those who sailed for the United States from 1820 to 1900 may be estimated at more than 4,500,000. The number of German emigrants to Brazil between 1870 and 1900 was about 52,000. The greater number of the more recent emigrants was from the agricultural provinces of northern Germany—West Prussia, Posen, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover, and sometimes the emigration reached 1% of the total population of these provinces. In subsequent years the emigration of native Germans greatly decreased and, in 1905, amounted only to 28,075. But to this number must be added 284,787 foreigners who in that year were shipped from German ports (notably Hamburg and Bremen) to distant parts. Of the above given numbers of purely German emigrants 26,007 sailed for the United States of America; 243 to Canada; 333 to Brazil; 674 to the Argentine Republic; 7 to other parts of America; 57 to Africa; and 84 to Australia.
Agriculture.—Despite the enormous development of industries and commerce, agriculture and cattle-rearing still represent in Germany a considerable portion of its economic wealth. Almost two-thirds of the soil is occupied by arable land, pastures and meadows, and of the whole area, in 1900, 91% was classed as productive. Of the total area 47.67% was occupied by land under tillage, 0.89% by gardens, 11.02% by meadow-land, 5.01% by pastures, and 0.25% by vineyards. The largest estates are found in the Prussian provinces of Pomerania, Posen and Saxony, and in East and West Prussia, while in the Prussian Rhine province, in Baden and Württemberg small farms are the rule.
The same kinds of cereal crops are cultivated in all parts of the empire, but in the south and west wheat is predominant, and in the north and east rye, oats and barley. To these in some districts are added spelt, buckwheat, millet, rice-wheat, lesser spelt and maize. In general the soil is remarkably well cultivated. The three years’ rotation formerly in use, where autumn and spring-sown grain and fallow succeeded each other, has now been abandoned, except in some districts, where the system has been modified and improved. In south Germany the so-called Fruchtwechsel is practised, the fields being sown with grain crops every second year, and with pease or beans, grasses, potatoes, turnips, &c., in the intermediate years. In north Germany the mixed Koppelwirthschaft is the rule, by which system, after several years of grain crops, the ground is for two or three seasons in pasture.
Taking the average of the six years 1900–1905, the crop of wheat amounted to 3,550,033 tons (metric), rye to 9,296,616 tons, barley to 3,102,883 tons, and oats to 7,160,883 tons. But, in spite of this considerable yield in cereals, Germany cannot cover her home consumption, and imported on the average of the six years 1900–1905 about 412 million tons of cereals to supply the deficiency. The potato is largely cultivated, not merely for food, but for distillation into spirits. This manufacture is prosecuted especially in eastern Germany. The number of distilleries throughout the German empire was, in 1905–1906, 68,405. The common beet (Beta vulgaris) is largely grown in some districts for the production of sugar, which has greatly increased of recent years. There are two centres of the beet sugar production: Magdeburg for the districts Prussian Saxony, Hanover, Brunswick, Anhalt and Thuringia, and Frankfort-on-Oder at the centre of the group Silesia, Brandenburg and Pomerania. Flax and hemp are cultivated, though not so much as formerly, for manufacture into linen and canvas, and also rape seed for the production of oil. The home supply of the former no longer suffices for the native demand. The cultivation of hops is in a very thriving condition in the southern states of Germany. The soil occupied by hops was estimated in 1905 at 98,000 acres—a larger area than in Great Britain, which had in the same year about 48,000 acres. The total production of hops was 29,000 tons in 1905, and of this over 25,000 were grown in Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Alsace-Lorraine. Almost the whole yield in hops is consumed in the country by the great breweries.
Tobacco forms a most productive and profitable object of culture in many districts. The total extent under this crop in 1905 was about 35,000 acres, of which 45% was in Baden, 12% in Bavaria, 30% in Prussia, and the rest in Alsace and Hesse-Darmstadt. In the north the plant is cultivated principally in Pomerania, Brandenburg and East and West Prussia. Of late years the production has somewhat diminished, owing to the extensive tobacco manufacturing industries of Bremen and Hamburg, which import almost exclusively foreign leaves.
Ulm, Nuremberg, Quedlinburg, Erfurt, Strassburg and Guben are famed for their vegetables and garden seeds. Berlin is noted for its flower nurseries, the Rhine valley, Württemberg and the Elbe valley below Dresden for fruit, and Frankfort-on-main for cider.
The culture of the vine is almost confined to southern and western Germany, and especially to the Rhine district. The northern limits of its growth extend from Bonn in a north-easterly direction through Cassel to the southern foot of the Harz, crossing 52° N. on the Elbe, running then east some miles to the north of that parallel, and finally turning sharply towards the Vine. south-west on the Warthe. In the valley of the Saale and Elbe (near Dresden), and in lower Silesia (between Guben and Grünberg), the number of vineyards is small, and the wines of inferior quality; but along the Rhine from Basel to Coblenz, in Alsace, Baden, the Palatinate and Hesse, and above all in the province of Nassau, the lower slopes of the hills are literally covered with vines. Here are produced the celebrated Rüdesheimer, Hochheimer and Johannisberger. The vines of the lower Main, particularly those of Würzburg, are the best kinds; those of the upper Main and the valley of the Neckar are rather inferior. The Moselle wines are lighter and more acid than those of the Rhine. The total amount produced in Germany is estimated at 1000 million gallons, of a value of £4,000,000; Alsace-Lorraine turning out 400 millions; Baden, 175; Bavaria, Württemberg and Hesse together, 300; while the remainder, which though small in quantity is in quality the best, is produced by Prussia.
The cultivation of grazing lands in Germany has been greatly improved in recent times and is in a highly prosperous condition. The provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, Pomerania, Hanover (especially the marsh-lands near the sea) and the grand-duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin are particularly remarkable in this respect. The best meadow-lands of Bavaria are in the Live stock. province of Franconia and in the outer range of the Alps, and those of Saxony in the Erzgebirge. Württemberg, Hesse and Thuringia also yield cattle of excellent quality. These large cattle-rearing centres not only supply the home markets but export live stock in considerable quantities to England and France. Butter is also largely exported to England from the North Sea districts and from Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg. The breeding of horses has attained a great perfection. The main centre is in East and West Prussia, then follow the marsh districts on the Elbe and Weser, some parts of Westphalia, Oldenburg, Lippe, Saxony and upper Silesia, lower Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine. Of the stud farms Trakehnen in East Prussia and Graditz in the Prussian province of Saxony enjoy a European reputation. The aggregate number of sheep has shown a considerable falling off, and the rearing of them is mostly carried on only on large estates, the number showing only 9,692,501 in 1900, and 7,907,200 in 1904, as against 28,000,000 in 1860. As a rule, sheep-farming is resorted to where the soil is of inferior quality and unsuitable for tillage and the breeding of cattle. Far more attention is accordingly given to sheep-farming in northern and north-eastern Germany than in Schleswig-Holstein, Westphalia, the Rhineland and south Germany. The native demand for wool is not covered by the home production, and in this article the export from the United Kingdom to Germany is steadily rising, having amounted in 1905 to a value of £1,691,035, as against £742,632 in 1900. The largest stock of pigs is in central Germany and Saxony, in Westphalia, on the lower Rhine, in Lorraine and Hesse. Central Germany (especially Gotha and Brunswick) exports sausages and hams largely, as well as Westphalia, but here again considerable importation takes place from other countries. Goats are found everywhere, but especially in the hilly districts. Poultry farming is a considerable industry, the geese of Pomerania and the fowls of Thuringia and Lorraine being in especial favour. Bee-keeping is of considerable importance, particularly in north Germany and Silesia.
