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THE WISCONSIN FARMER.



SCIENCE, ART, STATISTICS.

  Mit. EDrros:-You often ask us to write for
the FiAmux, but every department 1i so crowed
it is almost impossible to get an article insert.
ed edgewise; however, there is nothing that
beats a trial.
  Aluminium appears to me to be one of the
greatest desiderata to successful farming.
Its properties, when amalgamated with iron
and copper, fill a gap in agrioultural econom-
ies-the iron becomes eight times tougher,
thereby enabling us to dispense with much
cumbrous weight in reapers, drags and plows
-the copper becomes almost as hard as an ad-
amant, thereby making it almost indestruct-



able for machine bearings. When rolled into
sheets, it will take the place of shingles and
tin for roofing and make our roofs fire-proof.
Tin, on account of its scarcity, must always
be dear, while the aluminous deposits are uni-
versaL
  True, aluminium is also precious, but the
subtile forces of chemistry, which only un-,
fold themselves to the seekers of truth, will
make it as abundant as gold and silver in the
days of Solomon.
        Respectfully,            J. ED1.
 VIRONA, March, 18G3.

           The Statistics  Europe.
  A curious bird's-eye view of the political
and social state of Europe is afforded by a
heavy Blue-book just published by our govern-
ment under the title of "Statistical Tables
Relating to Foreign Countries." First, as to
density of population, we find that while, in
England and Wales there are 352 inhabitants
living in one square mile, in Russia there are
only 10; in Norway, 12; in Sweden, 22; in
Greece, 66; in Spain, 89; in Poland, 91; in
Moldavia, 100; in Portugal, 104; in Denmark,
119; in Switzerland, 161; in Prussia, 166;
in France, 176; in Brunswick, 194, and in
Holland, 280 persons to the square mile.
There are only two countries in Europe, at
this moment, possessing a denser population
than England and Wales, namely the king-
dom of Wurtemberg, in which there are 873
inhabitants to the square mile, and Belgiam,
with 898 persons on the same space of ground
However, if we take the population of Itg-
land ftoanep 1avine utn the  rinca1ity,  a



density is one of 877 individuas to the square
mile, so that, in this ese, Belgiuii i the only
country in Europe more thickly crowded
with inhabitant than our own.
  In England, for the last few years, the pro-
portion of marriages to the population has,
been one in 128, which is a higher rote than
that of most European cou11tries. In Norway,
the proportion is one in 124; in Hanover, one
in 128; in Holland and Denmark, one in 129;
in Sweden, one in 185; in Spain, one in 141;
in Bavaria, one in 160; and in Greece, only
one in 174. Proportionately more marriages
than in England and Wales are made in
France and Belgium; in both countries the
rate is one in 122; in Austria, where it is one
in 117; in Russia, where it is one in 111;
and in Prussia, where it is one in 106.
  Rather more fixed is the proportion of births
to population. It is one in 28 in England and
Wales; one in 29 in Spain and Bavaria; one
in 80 in Belgium, Holland and Norway; one



in 82 in Sweden; one in 83 in Hanover, the
Hanse Towns and Denmark; one in 34 in
Greece; and one in 88 in France. Conse-
quently the natural increase of population is
lower in France, in spite of the high marriage
rate, than in any other Enropean state. More
fertile than England are only Wurtemberg,
where the proportion of births to population
is one in .26; Russia, where it is one in 26;
Austria, Saxony and Prussia, where it Is one
in 24; and Poland, where the proportion is one
in 23.
  The greatly varying sums which the differ-
ent nations of the world pay for their govern-
ment, form very interesting points of compar-
ison. Great Britain, it is hardly necessary to
say, stands at the head of all nations in this
respect, the public revenue amounting to £2
18s per head of the population. Next in the
list stands Holland, the best taxed country of
the Continent, with £2 9s per head; and then
follows France, with £2 Os. 8d. The Inhabit-
ants of Hanover have to pay £1 lII. ld. each
for being governed; while the subjects of
King Leopold disburse £1 6s. 3d., and those of
Queen Isabella £1 5e. 4d. per head for the
same. In Prussia, despite its large standing
army, the taxation does not amount to more
than £1 2s. 9d. for each individual; while the
revenue of the other states of the Confedera-
tion varies from £1 88. to £1 per head of the
population. In all the remaining countries
of Europe, the burden on public taxation
amounts to considerably less than £1 per
bead. The Danes pay l9s. 8d.; the Portuguese
17s. 4d.; the Greeks, lOs. 8d.; the mixed races
inhabiting the Austrian Empire, 16s. 4d; the
Norwegias 18s. lid4 the Swedes, 9s. 2d4
and last of all the Swiss, only 6s. 10d. per
head.
It is with something like awe and trembling
that wRe approach a last subject of coinpara-
fIvA statistics-the ,hl4  dbahk of mendai



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