CHAPTER XXXII.
Agriculture and Commerce.
Upon the whole, it must be admitted, that the peasantry of Servia have
drawn a high prize in the lottery of existence. Abject want and
pauperism is nearly unknown. In fact, from the great abundance of
excellent land, every man with ordinary industry can support his wife
and family, and have a large surplus. The peasant has no landlord but
the Sultan, who receives a fixed tribute from the Servian government,
and does not interfere with the internal administration. The father of
a family, after having contributed a _maximum_ tax of six dollars per
annum, is sole master of the surplus; so that in fact the taxes are
almost nominal, and the rent a mere peppercorn; the whole amounting
on an average to about four shillings and sixpence per caput per
annum.
A very small proportion of the whole soil of Servia is cultivated.
Some say only one sixth, others only one eighth; and even the present
mode of cultivation scarcely differs from that which prevails in other
parts of Turkey. The reason is obvious: if the present production of
Servia became insufficient for the subsistence of the population, they
have only to take in waste lands; and improved processes of
agriculture will remain unheeded, until the population begins to press
on the limits of the means of subsistence; a consummation not likely
to be brought about for many generations to come.
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