Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/59

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PRUSSIA 51 taries ; their average yield is about 10,000,000 gallons. Wine of good quality is produced only near the Rhine ; those brands which are produced in Saxony (Naumburg) and Silesia (Griineberg) are proverbially bad. The forests furnish an abundance of excellent timber and lumber. In the raising of domestic animals the progress of Prussia since its reconstruction after the wars of Napoleon has been more marked than in any other agricultural pursuit. The breed of horses has been so improved by government studs, that not only are all the horses wanted for army purposes obtained within the state, but large numbers are ex- ported to neighboring countries. In 1873 the total number of horses was 2,278,274, of cat- tle 8,612,150, of sheep 19,624,758, and of swine 4,278,531. Hogs are most numerous in West- phalia, geese in Pomerania, bees in Branden- burg and Westphalia, and goats in the moun- tainous districts ; poultry is abundant every- where. The fisheries on the shores of the Baltic and on the lakes and rivers are impor- tant, and all kinds of game common to central Europe are found in the forests. Wolves are seen only in Prussia proper and Posen, where also a few specimens of the aurochs and elk are carefully preserved. The lynx, fox, badger, marten, beaver, otter, and wild fowl are met with in different parts of the kingdom. Seals are sometimes caught in the Baltic. Mining industry advanced with astonishing rapidity within the second quarter of the present cen- tury; it received a temporary check in 1858, but has since made great progress, especially in the production of coal, iron, and zinc. In 1872 the total number of mines in Prussia was 2,702, among which were 476 coal mines, 544 of brown coal, 1,559 of iron, 130 of lead, 82 of zinc, 39 of copper, 5 of vitriol, 46 of man- ganese, and 1 of cobalt, employing 225,936 ands, including women and children. The to- tal value of mining products was $82,460,000. The production of coal in 1872 amounted to 581,000,000 cwt., that of brown coal to 146,- 000,000 cwt. In the production of raw iron Prussia exceeds all other states of the Euro- pean continent ; in the production of zinc all the countries of the world. The value of the products of furnaces, founderies, puddling works, &c., in 1872, was $59,000,000. About 9,280,000 cwt. of salt was produced in that year. A very small quantity of gold is found ; and agate, amethysts, alabaster, marble, gypsum, clays, &c., are obtained. Amber is found on the Baltic coast. Among the mineral springs of Prussia the following enjoy the widest reputation : Warmbrunn, Salzbrunn, Reinerz, and Landeck in Silesia; Freienwalde in Bran- denburg ; Lauchstadt in Saxony ; Driburg in Westphalia ; the sulphur springs of Aix-la- Chapelle; Wiesbaden, Ems, Selters, Schwal- bach, and Homburg in Hesse-Nassau. Up to the beginning of the present century Prussia was mainly an agricultural and military state. Even the efforts of Frederick the Great to introduce new branches of manufacture were in the main unsuccessful. It was only after the final abolition of serfdom (Oct. 9, 1807), the introduction of municipal self-government (Nov. 19, 1808), and the removal of the medise- val institution of trade guilds (Oct. 28, 1810), that manufacturing industry began to take root in Prussia. Soon after Napoleon's downfall the government turned its earnest attention to fostering home manufactures, and during the past 50 years the industry of Prussia has stead- ily and rapidly advanced. In 1806 the popu- lation of Prussia was 1D,000,000, with an average income of $10 to each inhabitant; the capital invested in manufacturing establish- ments little exceeded $200,000,000, and the number of free laborers was 480,000. In 1856 the average income of over 17,000,000 in- habitants was $42 each, the capital invested in manufactures $770,000,000, and the number of free laborers 2,771,000. In 1872 the total income of the 24,600,000 inhabitants was es- timated at $1,880,000,000, an average of $76 to each inhabitant. A powerful impulse has recently been given to Prussian industry by the results of the Franco-German war. The increase of capital and the strengthened con- fidence of the capitalists in the lasting prom- inence of Prussia and Germany led to the establishment of a large number of new manu- factories and the enlargement of many old ones. Among the new branches of industry the manufacture of beet sugar stands foremost, the number of factories in 1873 amounting to 257. The introduction of the cotton manu- facture has been attended with great losses. In 1846 the number of spindles was 194,290 ; in 1856, 289,000 ; in 1866, about 600,000. The linen manufacture has been developed to the greatest perfection in Silesia and Westphalia, and has of late assumed larger dimensions in the provinces of Hanover and Hesse-Nassau. Among the most prosperous manufactures of the kingdom is that of woollen goods, which is chiefly carried on in the two Rhenish dis- tricts of Aix-la-Chapelle and Dilsseldorf and in the provinces of Brandenburg, Saxony, and Silesia. Large manufactories of silks are found in the Rhine province, Westphalia, and Bran- denburg. Hardware of all kinds is manu- factured in all the provinces except Prussia proper and Posen. The machine shops of Berlin rival the largest establishments of the kind in England, while the great iron and steel works of Krupp at Essen are now the most extensive and famous in the world. Solingen and Suhl are celebrated for cutlery and guns ; Silesia for castings and sheet iron ; Westphalia for scythes and needles. In 1868 the iron works of Prussia produced 10,279,000 cwt. of bar and rolled iron, 2,408,000 of steel, 1,781,- 000 of sheet iron, 862,156 of iron wire, and 3,490,000 of castings. Rapid as the increase of the production of raw iron has been, it has not been able to keep pace with the increase of consumption. The manufacture of leather,