GERMANY'S STRAW INDUSTRY. The manufacture of straw is one of the most important industries of this Empire, giving thousands means of support. I believe it could be profitably introduced into Wisconsin, Minnesota, northern Michigan, the woods of Maine and hills of Vermont, New Hampshire, and western Massachusetts. Straw, that once served only for fuel or fertilizing purposes, is put up by these people into the most. useful, beautiful, and fantastic forms. Plates, dishes, baskets, boxes, tables, trunks, fans, hats, caps, mats, etc., are made by the million and sent to all parts of the world. In a stretch of country containing 6 square miles, there are 10,000 persons employed in making articles of straw. Of the straws used, the best come from Tuscany. They are rye and wheat straws, and are known as the "grano marzuolo," or March grain. It is sown in March, very thick, to prevent the blades from growing too fast or strong. In June it has grown to a length of 18 or 20 inches and is ready for use. The rye and wheat is torn out by the roots, bound into small bundles, exposed to the sun but not to the rain, and is then laid aside for one or two years' seasoning. Before being worked, the bundles are spread out like fans, exposed three nights to the dew and three days to the sun; they are then turned to expose the other side two nights to the dew and three days to the sun. In this way, the straw that was green becomes a beautiful yellow or golden white. The ears and roots are now removed, and the stems are sorted into twelve to twenty different sizes. The sorting is done by means of sieves graduated from coarse openings to fine ones. The straws are then arranged, according to length, into three classes and fastened in bundles, which are steeped in water, allowed to drip, and then placed upright around a practically air-tight room, in the middle of which is a brasier full of burning sulphur. The sulphur is renewed each evening till the straw becomes a beautiful white. The sorting has separated only the thick from the thin, the short from the long; there remains the difference. in size between the top and bottom of each separate stem. To obviate this the stems are cut again twice, leaving only about 2 or 3 inches of the middle, which has a uniform thickness; these are woven into the finest hats. The other ends are also woven into hats, caps, etc. This process prevails not only in Tuscany, but in Lombardy, Switzerland, and France; but the French or Swiss straw is said to be neither so strong nor so beautiful as the Italian. In Italy, the straw is worked up whole; in Switzerland and Germany, it is split. In Saxony, the straw passes through nine processes from the moment it is cut by the reapers. The stems are first drawn through a rake or toothed utensil till the ears, roots, and projecting leaves are removed. The next step is the arranging of the corn into sheaves; the third consists in removing the knots and cutting the stems into three lengths or pieces. The upper or thinnest is the most valuable part. The straw is then dampened and placed for twenty-four or thirty hours in the upper part of an apparatus consisting of two compartments, one over the other. In the lower is burning sulphur, the fumes of which enter the upper through hundreds of little holes, bleaching the dampened straw. The next step consists in again sorting according to length and thickness, and splitting by drawing the straw over a toothed, saw-like piece of steel. Even the very coarsest straw can be utilized for fine work by splitting. The straws are then plaited into bands, trimmed, wound, and sewed. Formerly the sewing was all done by hand; rapidly increasing competition compelled manufacturers to introduce machines. Even now it is a question whether Germany or any western people will be able to compete in this and kindred industries with Japan and China. In this branch, as in almost if not quite every other industry of the Empire, education is developing a class of skilled labor whose. capacity to compete increases with the years. Saxony alone has six such schools. I wish it were possible to impress upon our people the importance of manual training and technical education. J. C. MONAGHAN, CHEMNITZ, June 1, 1898. Consul. GERMAN OPPOSITION TO UNITED STATES PORK. Consul Warner transmits from Leipsic, under date of June 4, 1898, the following report from Consular Agent Neuer of Gera: Under the pretense of protecting the sanitary condition of the people, an unjust and systematic war is waged against American pork in this city. Warnings are published by the magistrates against the consumption of raw American pork, though every piece of bacon and ham is subject to an inspection by duly authorized examiners. before entering trade. Dealers in our hog products are required to hang signs in conspicuous places in their stores bearing the inscription "Amerikanische Fleischwaaren" (American meats). No means are left untried to create widespread prejudice, and all local papers take up the subject of trichinæ in American pork as one of their favorite themes. The inspection fees have recently been doubled, and now amount to 25 pfennigs, instead of 121⁄2 pfennigs as before, for every piece of bacon or ham, resulting, for instance, in an expense of from 35 to 40 marks ($8.33 to $9.52) per tierce of boneless hams. Not long ago a shipment of corned pork was detained to undergo inspection, thereby exposing the meat to decay and practically prohibiting its entrance. Moreover, the Gera authorities have ordered all American pork to be conveyed to their slaughterhouse for microscopic examination, regardless of whether it is to be sold here or elsewhere, a measure very detrimental to the interests of the dealers in this city. Not one case of death or even of disease can be attributed to the consumption of American pork, while I know of several cases of trichinosis from the use of freshly slaughtered German pork, in spite of microscopic inspection. If one case of trichinosis could be traced to meat from our country, the fact would be published far and wide, and it is probable that imports of American pork would be prohibited. It is an established fact, however, that in consequence of the salting, pickling, and smoking to which our hog products are subjected, the trichinæ are no longer living, or have at least lost the power of reproduction in the human body. From my personal experience I am able to state that I have never known a microscopist to state that he had observed trichinæ manifesting any sign of life in well-salted meats. The reasons for this agitation against our hog products are, it is almost generally conceded, entirely selfish. Our meats are much cheaper than those of Germany and form an indispensable article of food for the poorer classes in this country, thus arousing the opposition of German hog raisers and wholesale butchers. AMERICAN AND GERMAN MACHINERY. Of all the products of American industry, there are none, for the time being, of greater interest for the export trade than those of our manufactures of machinery. It is certain that the United States has outclassed, in this particular branch, all the other industrial nations, and this fact is acknowledged to-day even by persons who, upon the whole, do not evince much friendship for our country. The city of Bamberg is not an important place for industrial enterprises. By far the greater part of products exported from here is not made in this town, but in the neighborhood. Notwithstanding this, American machinery has been very successfully introduced at Bamberg, and every week the local newspapers contain advertisements touching the sale of American agricultural and tool-making machines. Only a few weeks ago, a shipment of American machines to manufacture metal capsules for bottles (manufacturer, Bliss Company, Brooklyn) arrived here, and I am glad to be able to state that these machines were not only entirely satisfactory to the purchasers, but exceeded their expectations. This is worthy of note, considering that only a short time ago capsules made in Germany were exported to the United States. American machinery for the manufacture of shoes can be found in any German establishment of importance, and the United States electric machinery (Walker Company, Cleveland) used in the electric street railway of Bamberg is giving entire satisfaction. This is saying a good deal, considering that one of the largest works for electric engineering in Germany (Schuckert, at Nuremberg) is within close proximity. It may also be mentioned that American watches have made their appearance in this market and are finding ready purchasers. The people speak highly of the neat workmanship which is characteristic of all American machinery. If our manufacturers, especially those of specialties, would take the good advice given to them in the CONSULAR REPORTS from time to time, good results would be bound to follow. Circulars printed in English are of no use in this country. This has been said by my colleagues and myself over and over again. Those who follow the example of two American gentlemen of my acqaintance who had a patent for an ingenious cigarette-making machine, and did not mind the trouble and expense of coming to Europe last year and showing their apparatus at work, may be sure of success. We might learn a lesson from the German manufacturers. The figures of the export of German machinery for the first four months of this year again show that manufacturers here are straining every nerve to improve their foreign trade. The export of German machinery to Russia-Germany's largest buyer-has, after a short depression, again risen. Germany's exports of locomotives last year were chiefly to Belgium, Denmark, Austria-Hungary, Roumania, and Switzerland; while there was a decrease in this line to Russia, the Transvaal, and the Dutch West Indies. In cast-iron machinery France, England, Italy, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, and Russia were better customers than before; the exports to Spain, Brazil, and Chile diminished. The greatest improvement is shown in forge-iron machinery for Russia; the quantity exported to that country during the first four months of this year was nearly twice as large as during the same period of 1897. Russia ought to become a great market for American machinery. BAMBERG, June 13, 1898. LOUIS STERN, THE GERMAN FARMER. The American farmer enjoys great advantages over the German farmer in the way of modern labor-saving machinery, larger tracts. of land, etc. As an offset to this, the German farms in a more intensive way, and generally produces full crops. These facts, however, would not enable them to fight against depression if they did not receive State aid and had not quite a perfect system of cooperation. At many of the old universities, such as Berlin, Göttengen, Leipsic, Halle, Munich, etc., there have been founded argricultural colleges, and in all other colleges there are chairs of agriculture, with professors to lecture on the subject, thus disseminating a valuable amount of practical scientific knowledge. "Cooperation," say the Germans, "is the farmer's stronghold and bulwark." There are cooperative credit banks, cooperative dairies, cooperative steam plows; and there is cooperation in drainage and irrigation. As a rule, the farms are devoid of small undergrowth, stumps, stones, creeping vines, etc. Timber is equally well cared for. In draining and irrigating the farmers are experts. At present, a perplexing question is how to stop or check the exodus of labor to the cities, where wages are higher. The salaries paid farm laborers vary, but average 35 cents per day (50 cents during harvest), with the use of a small house, patch of ground (about one-half an acre), and the privilege of using the implements for cultivating same. Single men who board with their master are paid considerably less. The German Government is endeavoring, both by legislation and education, to enable the farmer to compete with his rivals. Americans should try intensive farming. STETTIN, June 10, 1898. JOHN E. KEHL, Consul. BEET-SUGAR EXPORTS FROM GERMANY. As a supplement to a report on the German beet-sugar industry by Consul-General Goldschmidt, of Berlin,* the consul-general adds. that the total exports of sugar from Germany in 1896-97 (counting all grades, as well as stocks previously carried over) reached the enormous amount of 2,616,776,425 pounds. The amount, continues Mr. Goldschmidt, was unprecedented and will probably never be reached *See CONSULAR REPORTS No. 211 (April, 1898), p. 494. |