spect in the manner of shooting, leaves, flowers, or fruit: two in particular demand admission into the pleasure-garden; the double-blossomed and the red-flowering. The pleasing show the common cherry tree makes when in blow is known to all; but that of the double-blossomed is much more beautiful. It blossoms like the other in May; the flowers are produced in large and noble clusters; for each separate flower is as double as a rose, is very large, and placed on long and slender foot-stalks, so as to occasion the branches to have an air of ease and freedom. They are of a pure white; and the trees are so profusely covered with them, that when viewed at a distance they have been compared to balls of snow. But by the multiplicity of the petals the organs of generation are destroyed; so that those flowers which are really full are never succeeded by any fruit. The red-flowering cherry tree differs in no respect from the common cherry tree, only that the flowers are of a pale red color, and by many are esteemed on that account. Besides the ornament and utility afforded by the flowers and fruit of the cherry, its timber is a further inducement for propagating it; more especially that of the small black wilding sort; which will grow, in a soil and situation it affects, to be a large tree; which, if taken in its prime, will yield perhaps not less than a ton of valuable materials, peculiarly adapted to the purposes of furniture. The grain is fine, and the color nearly approaching to that of mahogany. 5. P. domestica, the common plum tree, grows twenty or thirty feet high, garnished with oval, spear-shaped leaves, and with the pedunculi for the most part single, terminated by flowers, succeeded by plums of many different colors, sizes, and shapes in the varieties.

6. P. insititia, wild plum, or bullace tree, grows twelve or fifteen feet high; the branches somewhat spinous; the leaves oval, hairy underneath; and the pedunculi by pairs, terminated by white flowers, succeeded by small, round, plum-like, fruit of different colors in the varieties.

7. P. padus, the common bird-cherry tree, grows fifteen or twenty feet high, of a shrub-like growth, with a spreading head, large, oblong, rough, serrated leaves, having two glands at the back of the base like the other, and with shorter, more compact clusters of flowers, succeeded by large red fruit. This grows wid in hedges in the north parts of England.

8. P. spinosa, black thorn, or sloe tree, grows ten or twelve feet high, very branchy and bushy quite from bottom, armed with strong, sharp spines, small, spear-shaped, smooth leaves, pe

dunculi growing singly, terminated by flowers, succeeded by small round cherries in autumn. It grows wild every where in hedges and woods; and is very proper for planting field hedges, being of very quick and close growth.

9. P. Virginiana, the Virginian bird-cherry, grows thirty feet high, dividing into a very branchy head, having a dark purple bark, oval, slightly serrated, shining green leaves, having two glands at the fore part of the base, and long clusters of white flowers, succeeded by small, round, berry-like, black fruit. All the different varieties of plums have at first been raised from the stones, and are afterwards preserved by budding and grafting on any plum-stock. The same method is applicable to cherries; only these are grafted to most advantage upon stocks of the wild black and red cherry raised from the stones of the fruit. The apricot-trees are propagated by budding on any kind of plumstocks.

PRU'RIENCE, n. s. ?
PRU'RIENCY.

or appetite to any thing.

An

Latin prurio. Sitching or great desire

PRUSA, in ancient geography, a town situated at Mount Olympus in Mysia, built by Prusias, who waged war with Croesus and Cyrus. It was the capital of Bithynia, in Asia Minor.

PRUSIAS II., king of Bithynia, made an alliance with the Romans, but afterwards receiving Hannibal kindly, by his advice, made war on Eumenes, king of Pergamus, whom he defeated. Eumenes complained to the Romans, on which queen Flaminius was sent against him; whereupon Prusias rendered himself for ever infamous by offering to deliver up Hannibal, which that hero prevented by a voluntary death. Prusias then restored Eumenes his provinces; but became such a servile flatterer of the Romans that his subjects dethroned him, made his son Nicomedes king; and, on his flight to Nicomedia, assassinated him, A. A. C. 149.

PRUSIAS, in geography, a town of Bithynia, anciently called Cios, from a cognominal river, and giving name to the Sinus Cianus of the Propontis; rebuilt by Prusias the son of Zela after having bee.. destroyed by Philip the son of Demetrius. It stood on the Sinus Cianus, at the foot of Mount Arganthonius. Of this place was Asclepiades, surnamed Prusicus, the famous physician.

PRUSSIA, an extensive kingdom of modern Europe, is by some writers said to have derived that name (through Prussia proper) from the Pruzzi, a tribe of the ancient Scythians or Sarmatians. Others suppose it derived from the word Russia, united with the Sclavonic word po, signifying near. Po-Russia, easily modified into

Prussia, would thus imply the people or country near Russia. This kingdom occupies a great part of northern Germany, bordering on the south of the Baltic; and extends, with little interruption, from the confines of Lithuania to those of the Netherlands: being washed at one extremity by the Neimen, and at the other by

the Rhine and the Moselle. Or it is bounded by Russia and the Baltic on the north; Poland on the east; the Austrian empire and the kingdom of Saxony on the south; the Netherlands on the west; and the kingdom of Hanover, with the duchy of Mecklenburg, on the north-west. From north-east to south-west it measures about 750 miles. Its breadth is very unequal, and in some places it does not exceed 100 miles: in others it is 300. In one place it reaches from the Baltic to the southern point of Silesia, below 50° of latitude. The extremity of the grand duchy of the Lower Rhine, which now forms a part of the kingdom, also stretches nearly to the 49°.

According to Hoffmann, the whole extent of the Prussian dominions includes an area of

Provinces.

1. Brandenburg

115,795 English square miles, or 74,108,800 British statute acres. The population, in 1817, was 10,536,570; which is about ninety-one persons for each square mile. The following statement shows the rapid increase of this population:-In 1688 it was stated at 1,500,000; in 1713 it was 1,620,000; at the death of Frederick William, in 1740, it had increased to 2,200,000; and in 1786 it was 5,800,000. On the accession of his present majesty, in 1797, the population of his dominions was 8,700,000.

Part of the Prussian monarchy, situated within the confines of Germany, forms a portion of the Germanic confederation. The other part is entirely independent of that body. The whole is now divided into ten provinces, i. e.

Chief towns. No. of inhabitants.

2. Pomerania

6. Duchy of Juliers, Cleves, and Berg 3,634 7. Grand duchy of the Lower Rhine 6312

Total (exclusive of lakes and waters) 115,025

A level and rather low surface is the predominant character of this country; but Silesia, which is divided from Moravia and Bohemia by the Carpathians, is frequently diversified by the rapid interchange of hill and valley. The eastern side, however, participates with the grand duchy of Posen in all the properties of an extensive plain, which, with the other regions between it and the Baltic, constitute the grand basin of the Oder. According to Busching, the principal detached hills in Silesia are Spiltzberg and Gratzberg. The countries approaching the Baltic are level and marshy. Many parts of the Prussian landscape, particularly Prussia Proper, abound with forests, and in the districts of Silesia bordering on Hungary noble woods clothe the range of hills that forms the barrier. The south-western regions, in the vicinity of the Rhine, also contain many forests, and morasses and pools abound in various parts.

Most of the large rivers which intersect these dominions originate in foreign sources. The Oder and the Pregel, indeed, may be considered as Prussian rivers: the former, rising in the mountains in the northern part of Moravia, soon after enters the southern parts of Silesia, flows through the middle of that province, and crosses Brandenburg and Pomerania, falling into the Grass-Haff, after a course of nearly 400 miles. The Pregel originates near the south-east extremity of Prussia, and passes by Konigsberg into the northern end of the Frische-Haff. The Spree, rising in Saxony, flows through Berlin, and enters the Elbe. The Vistula and the Memel

847,800 10,536,572

55,000

45,000

15,000

likewise complete their course by flowing through this kingdom; the former into the Frische-Haff, and the latter into the Curische-Haff. The Netze and the Warta are two considerable rivers running from east to west, through the grand duchy of Posen, till they unite above Landsberg, and afterwards pour their waters into the Oder. The Weser, the Rhine, and the Moselle, with some of their tributary streams, intersect Western Prussia. The Netze and the Vistula are united by a canal, which enters the latter river near Bromberg. Smaller canals intersect some parts of the kingdom: as one which connects the capital with the Oder on the east, and another with the Elbe on the west.

The lakes and pools of Prussia are so numerous as to add considerably to the insalubrity of the climate. These are chiefly in the eastern regions, and are supposed to exceed 400 in number: many are also spread over the surface of Pomerania, Brandenburg, and the western regions. One of the largest of these is the Spelding-See, in the south-east of Prussia Proper; and, including its several creeks, spreads more than twenty English miles. Besides these, the kingdom of Prussia presents many singular Haffs or sheets of water, at the estuaries of some of its principal rivers. One of these, denominated the Grass-Haff, is situated in the north-west point of Pomerania, at the mouth of the Oder. A second, the Frische-Haff, extends from Elbing to Konigsberg, and is only separated from the Baltic, to which it is nearly parallel, by a narrow slip of land. It is about

seventy English miles in length, and from three to ten in breadth; but not of sufficient depth to admit ships of large burden. The bank which separates it from the Baltic is said to have been thrown up by storms about the end of the twelfth century. Another of these gulfs commences a few miles north-east of the last, stretches northward, and enters the sea opposite Memel. This is the Curische-Haff, and is broadest at its southern extremity, but very narrow towards the opposite end. Its length is nearly sixty English miles, and its greatest breadth about thirty. The space between it and the sea is likewise very narrow. It is subject to frequent storms.

Prussia, amidst great variety of climate, must be considered as on the whole a cold and damp country. The lakes, forests, and marshes, render some places particularly unhealthy; as, for instance, Prussia Proper, where the autumn is often deluged with rain, and the winter is very long. Silesia is the most pleasant and healthy province, but in the south-western parts, which border on the Carpathians, the winters are severe. Some of the most favored districts produce the grape, but not in perfection. Brandenburg and Pomerania are principally sandy and marshy plains. The south-western regions enjoy a more favorable temperature.

Silesia is one of the most fertile of the old provinces, and portions of the lately acquired territory on the Rhine possess a genial soil as well as climate, requiring skilful culture to render them very productive. But in Brandenburg the soil is sandy and very barren: and other central parts of the country are marshy and totally unfit for culture.

We have not met with so able a sketch of the general agricultural state of Prussia as is furnished by Mr. Jacob in the course of his first Report on the Foreign Trade in Corn. He carefully examined the maritime, which are also the principal agricultural provinces of Prussia, i. e. East and West Prussia and Pomerania.

They appear by the official accounts, which he quotes, to have exported 447,183 quarters of wheat, and 1,218,916 quarters of rye, barley, and oats, beyond their own growth, in the last nine years, up to the end of 1824; exclusive of the year 1818, the returns of which, for East Prussia, are wanting, but which probably were 350,000 quarters of wheat, and 340,000 quarters of the other grains. It is possible, however, that some portion of this quantity may have been produced in the internal contiguous provinces of Posen, Silesia, and Brandenburg.

Before the year 1807 the landed estates in Prussia, as in most other parts of Europe, were in the possession of large proprietors. Many of them could only be held by such as were of noble birth; and the merchant, the manufacturer, or the artisan, however much money he might have accumulated, could not invest it in such land until he had obtained a patent of nobility. These restrictions were removed by the king, about the year 1807, when the French had overrun the country. A tenantry in our sense of the term was then, as it still is, almost unknown, The land was worked by a class of persons in some respects slaves; and in most respects but

little removed from that condition. In many cases they had an hereditary kind of right to some use of the land, such as to grow one crop of corn according to a prescribed course, whilst the lord had the right of pasture between the crops. These peasants were sold with the land, or descended to the heir, and were bound to perform certain labor or services for the lord. They could not, on the other hand, be dismissed from their holdings, nor had their superior any power over the property they might happen to be able to accumulate.

The conditions upon which the peasants held their portions of land were very various, some having a greater, and others a less share of the use of them; some doing greater, and others less service for them. By a series of legislative measures, which were enacted from 1807 to 1811, the whole of the enslaved peasants have become converted into freemen and freeholders. In some cases the holdings have been equally divided, and the peasant has his moiety in perpetuity. In cases where the lord's claims for personal services were more extensive, the peasant had a smaller share in the land. In some instances, compensations in money were settled by compact between the lords and the peasants, sometimes by the payment of a fixed sum, or by a security on the land allotted in perpetuity to the peasant, for the payment of such sum. Sometimes the peasant retained the whole of the land he had before used, paying to the lord the value of that portion which might otherwise have been given up to him. The successive measures by which the peasants were raised to the rank of freemen were not received by all with equal readiness. The lords were compelled, but the peasants were allowed to decline compliance; and, even to the present day, some few prefer the ancient mode of their holdings to that which the laws have allowed.

Although the foundation is laid for a new and better order of things, yet its effects on the agriculture of the country have not hitherto been fully realised. The abolition of personal services, and of hereditary ownership of such services, has been too recent for the full operation of the change of the parties from the relation of master and slave, to that of employer and employed, to produce the effect which is its natural tendency. It is obvious that all the operations of agriculture are still performed by the laborers with a listlessness and slovenly indolence which was natural to their former character, and which their new condition has not yet had time to remove.

The land in the three maritime provinces, as indeed in almost the whole of Prussia, may be considered as either in very large portions belonging to the nobility, or to the new class of proprietors; or as very small portions, such as under the ancient system were deemed sufficient for half the maintenance of the family of a peasant. There are but very few of that middle class of capitalists, resembling our farmers, who can hire land to that extent, which one able man can most advantageously manage, and, after stocking and working it, pay for the hire to the proprietor

With some few exceptions, and those very few,

no rent is paid; but each occupier, whether a large or a small one, is his own landlord. The deviations from this general view are to be found, for the most part, on the banks of the great rivers, where meadows, either for the purpose of fattening cattle, or of saving hay, for the supply of large towns near the mouths of these rivers, are let to tenants for money rents.

The value of land generally is low, as may be inferred from the low price of produce, and of rents for what little is rented.

According to official documents it appears that the three maritime provinces of East Persia, West Prussia, and Pomerania, including in the latter the late Swedish territory, contains about 25,500,000 acres, or more than half the extent of England. By an official account, made up in 1821, the stock of cattle appeared to be as follows, at the latter end of the year 1819; viz.

556,839 horses and colts. 1,171,434 oxen, cows, and calves. 2,049,801 sheep and lambs,-and

617,310 swine.

The lowest estimate of the stock of cattle in England gives three times this number of horses, and more than four times the number of cows and sheep, to the same extent of land; and most of those who have calculated on the subject have carried the proportion of cattle to surface in England much higher.

From this deficient stock of the animals, from which manure is derived, it will naturally be inferred that the increase of grain must be very small. Mr. Jacob was satisfied, from his observations, confirmed by the opinion of intelligent natives, that much of the land in cultivation could not yield on an average more than three times as much corn as the seed that had been sown. The calculations made by the most intelligent statistical enquirers, and the most observing calculators, have not estimated the average increase of the four kinds of grain, viz. wheat, rye, barley, and oats, taken together, to be more than four times the seed.

Course of cultivation.-The general course of cultivation is to fallow every third year, by ploughing three times, when designed for rye, or five times if intended for wheat, and allowing the land to rest without any crop during the whole of the year, from one autumn to the next. Most of the land is deemed to be unfit for the growth of wheat under any circumstances. Where it is deemed adapted to that grain, as much as can be manured from their scanty supply of that article is sown with wheat, and the remainder of the fallow ground with rye. The portion which is destined for wheat, even in the best farms, is thus very small; and, as on many none is sown, the whole of the land devoted to wheat does not amount to one-tenth of that on which rye is grown. Of late years the proportion of rye to wheat has been increasing. The first is an article of domestic consumption and of universal demand; the far greater number of the inhabitants eat only bread made from it from necessity, and those who can afford wheaten bread eat commonly that of rye from choice. At the tables of the first families, both in Germany and Poland,

though wheaten bread was always to be seen, Mr Jacob remarked that the natives scarcely ever tasted it.

'From the time,' says this gentleman, 'I left the Netherlands, through Saxony, Prussia, Poland, Austria, Bavaria, and Wurtemberg, till I entered France, I never saw, either in the bakers' shops, in the hotels, or private houses, a loaf of wheaten bread. In every large town, small rolls, made of wheaten flour, could be purchased, and they were to be seen at the tables at which foreigners were seated. In the small towns and villages only rye bread can be obtained; and travellers commonly take in their carriages sufficient wheaten rolls to supply them from one large town to the next. Wheat is only used by the natives for making what our English bakers would call fancy bread, or in pastry and confec tionary.'

Although the increase of wheat is greater than that of rye, yet, as it absorbs all the manure of the farm, and requires the land to be ploughed twice more, it is now deemed to be the least profitable of the two crops by many of the farmers. As the rye receives the full benefit of the fallow, its increase is greater than that of the spring crops which follow it.

Barley and oats are sown in the spring which follows the harvesting the wheat and rye, and these complete the course, which is again followed by a whole year's fallow. By this rotation of crops, the land bears corn only two years out of three; and the crop of the last year scarcely produces three times the quantity of the seed that was sown.

'Like others,' says our able reporter, 'I was prevailed upon to pay the closest attention to the details and face of the land of the most skilful, the most affluent, and most productive proprietors. I visited several noblemen, whose knowledge of and attention to agriculture was fully equal to that of any men in this or any other country; and, if the produce of the land was not equal to that raised by our best farmers, the difference must be attributed rather to the soil and climate than to any deficiency either of capital, of skill, or of assiduity. On such property the wheat sown was very insignificant, and the proportion of that grain to rye had gradually declined of late years. One nobleman, who farmed his estate of 26,000 acres, of which two-thirds was tillage, and one-third woodland, grew but a few acres of wheat, and of late had sold no corn of any kind. From the ports of England being shut against corn, he had turned his attention to the production of fine wool. On this estate there is a flock of 15,000 merino sheep, yielding on an average two pounds and a half of fine wool, the annual sales of which amount to one-half more than the value of the sheep. Through the five winter months the sheep are fed with corn, chiefly rye, at the rate of one pound per day, which is estimated to be equal to three pounds of hay. The proprietor calculated. that sheep thus kept yielded nearly as much more wool as, added to the benefit which the manure of the animals received from that kind of food, was equal to the price he should have received for the corn, if he had sold it; and

that the profit on this system was the value of the whole of the hay, which would have been otherwise consumed. Instead of selling, he finds it more profitable to buy corn. On the same property, the extent of land planted with potatoes was upwards of 1500 morgens, or about 1000 acres, the chief part of which were used in the distillery, which seems an indispensable adjunct to every well-managed farm. The calculation made there was that two bushels of potatoes yielded as much ardent spirit as one of barley; and that the residuum, after extracting the spirit, was equal in alimentary power, for the draft bullocks, which are fed with it, to two-thirds of its value before the wort was extracted from it. By the process on this estate nine bushels of potatoes are mixed with one of malt, to draw the wort, which is afterwards distilled, so as to produce a spirit containing eighty per cent. of alcohol, in which state it pays a duty, much complained of, of sixpence per gallon. It is reduced, before it is sold, till it retains fifty per cent. of alcohol; and the price charged to the retailers is about fourteen-pence per gallon.

'Another person, of the same rank, who had turned his attention to the improvement of his property, boasted that his corn land already yielded nearly six fold for the seed that was sown, and could be further increased. He, too, cultivated potatoes very extensively, and, by converting them into starch and treacle, made that land yield a profit which, had it been devoted to corn, would have produced a loss. He had tried to make sugar from potatoes, and found it not advantageous; but he assured me that treacle paid him well, and he could afford to sell it 18s. per cwt., whilst that from the West Indies cost 24s. I could perceive no difference between the sweetness of this treacle and that from the tropics, but it has less consistency. A nobleman whom I had before known, to whose hospitality I am much indebted, and whose estate I viewed in detail, took the trouble to furnish me with the course of cultivation he pursued on the property on which he resides. Though cultivated with care, and though fairly productive, I readily give credit to what he assured me,-that the whole benefit which he derived from the estate of 6300 acres, in his joint capacity of landlord and cultivator, had not exceeded the amount for which he had sold the annual clip of the wool of his flock of 4000 sheep.

'On the several other estates that I viewed, the recurrence of corn crops was equally distant; the superior portion of land devoted to green crops, and pasture, the same; and the stock of cattle bore nearly a like proportion. These, however, were exceptions, few in number and confined in extent, when compared with the general condition of the estates of the three provinces.'

The new proprietors, he afterwards states, who have been raised to that condition by the abolition of the ancient feudal tenures, though they can scarcely ever want the bare necessaries of life, have very little beyond them. If they happen to be both industrious and economical, their own labor, on the small portion of land which they possess, will supply them with potatoes and

some little bread corn, as well as provision for their two oxen. They all grow a small patch of flax, and some contrive to keep five or six sheep. If disposed to labor beyond the time required for their own land, there is a difficulty in obtaining employment; and in the winter months, which are long and severely cold, no agricultural work can be performed. The flax and the wool spun in their cottages must supply the clothing of the family; and the fat of the animals they kill must be converted into soap and candles. Meat of any kind can be rarely afforded to be eaten by such families; and only the few who are more prosperous than their neighbours can keep a cow to supply them with milk. They consumie nearly all they produce, and are considered happy if they have a sufficient surplus for sale to meet the demands of a few shillings annually for the payment of their trifling taxes and local assessments. It was the universal opinion of all with whom I had any conversation on the topic that this description of peasants were hitherto in a worse condition than under the old tenures; and as this was attributed to the depression of agriculture, and the want of capital, and of incitement to the large occupiers to employ their spare time, it was not considered to be an impeachment of the wisdom which had planned and executed their emancipation.'

Low state of agriculture. In general the soil of the maritime provinces of Prussia is so light that it may be easily ploughed with two oxen, and those of diminished size and no great strength. On the smaller portions of land a single cow is not unfrequently seen drawing the plough; the latter guided by the owner, while the cow is led by his wife. The more tenacious soils, on the banks of the streams, are commonly but of small extent. There is indeed a large portion of land on the Delta, formed by the separation of the Nogat from the Fistula, between Derschau and Marienburg, which, under a good system of management, would be highly productive, and which requires greater strength to plough. Some others, especially near Tilsit, are of less extent; but the whole of them, if compared with the great extent of the surface of the country, are merely sufficient to form exceptions to the general classification which may be made of the soil. The various implements of husbandry are quite of as low a description as the working cattle. The ploughs are ill constructed, with very little iron in them. The harrows are made of wood, without any iron, even for the tines or teeth. The waggons are mere planks, laid on the frame loose, and resting against upright stakes, fixed into its sides. The cattle are attached to these implements by ropes, without leather in any part of the harness. The use of the roller is scarcely known; and the clods, in preparing the fallow ground, are commonly broken to pieces by hand with wooden mallets. In sowing, the seed is carried in the apron, or the skirts of the frock of the man who scatters it on the ground.

The monied value of the live stock on the farms is low. The best flocks of Merino sheep, exclusive of the wool, are averaged to be worth about 6s. or 6s. 8d. per head. Cows are worth from 30s. to 65s. A dairy which Mr. Jacob saw,