With the
little ground thus obtained they mix turf, ashes, and manure, until
at length a soil is formed on which something will grow. But this
is such a gigantic undertaking, that the little culture bestowed on
the spots wholly neglected by nature cannot be wondered at. Herr
Bernhoft shewed me a small meadow which he had leased for thirty
years, at an annual rent of thirty kreutzers. In order, however, to
transform the land he bought into a meadow, which yields winter
fodder for only one cow, it was necessary to expend more than 150
florins, besides much personal labour and pains. The rate of wages
for peasants is very high when compared with the limited wants of
these people: they receive thirty or forty kreutzers per diem, and
during the hay-harvest as much as a florin.
For a long distance round the town the ground consists of stones,
turf, and swamps. The latter are mostly covered with hundreds upon
hundreds of great and small mounds of firm ground. By jumping from
one of these mounds to the next, the entire swamp may be crossed,
not only without danger, but dry-footed.
In spite of all this, one of these swamps put me in a position of
much difficulty and embarrassment during one of my solitary
excursions. I was sauntering quietly along, when suddenly a little
butterfly fluttered past me.
