A DAY WITH FRIEDRICH.
Page: 18

Ziethen. He was lieutenant in the Ziethen Regiment; but in the last
war (POTATO-WAR, 1778), on account of his ill health, your Majesty
gave him his discharge; and he now lives in Genser.'

KING. "'So? That is one of the Gorgases, then!--Are you still
making experiments with the foreign kinds of corn?'

ICH. "'O ja; this year I have sown Spanish barley. But it will not
rightly take hold; I must give it up again. However, the Holstein
STOOLing-rye (STAUDENROGGEN) has answered very well.'

KING. "'What kind of rye is that?'

ICH. "'It grows in Holstein in the Low Grounds (NIEDERUNG).
Never below the 10th grain [10 reaped for 1 sown] have I yet
had it.'

KING. "'Nu, nu [Ho, ho], surely not the 10th grain all at once!'

ICH. "'That is not much. Please your Majesty to ask the Herr
General von Gortz [who has not spoken a syllable all day]; he knows
this is not reckoned much in Holstein:'--(the General Graf von
Gortz I first had the honor to make acquaintance with in Holstein).

"They now talked, for a while, of the rye, in the carriage
together. Presently his Majesty called to me from the carriage,
'Na, stand by the Holstein STAUDEN-rye, then; and give some to the
tenants too.'

ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty.'

KING. "'But give me some idea: what kind of appearance had the Luch
before it was drained?'

ICH. "'It was mere high rough masses of hillocks (HULLEN);
between them the water settled, and had no flow. In the driest
years we couldn't cart the hay out, but had to put it up in big
ricks. Only in winter, when the frost was sharp, could we get it
home. But now we have cut away the hillocks; and the trenches that
your Majesty got made for us take the water off. And now the Luch
is as dry as your Majesty sees, and we can carry out our hay when
we please.'

KING. "'That is well. Have your tenants, too, more cattle
than formerly?'

ICH. "'Ja!'

KING. "'How many more?'

ICH. "'Many have one cow, many two, according as their
means admit.'

KING. "'But how many more have they in all? About how many,
that is?'

ICH. "'About 150 head.'

"His Majesty must lately have asked the Herr General von Gortz, how