There is great difference in annual waterfalls, the greatest being as we approach the Alps, whether from the north or south. The annual rainfall is thirty-five inches at Basel, sixty-four and a half inches at Interlaken, sixty-nine at Schwyz, rising to eighty-eight on the Grimsel and one hundred and two on the St. Bernard, and falling at Lugano to sixty-three. The percentage of snow in the total annual rainfall varies from sixty-three on the St. Bernard to six at Geneva. The importance of this precipitation may be understood when it is recalled that a precipitation of twenty-eight inches is considered essential to agricultural security. The meadows are aided in no less degree than the climate by constant fertilizing and extraordinary care in the way of watering, draining, etc. A Swiss acre of good grass-land is worth, in the richer and more populous Cantons, from 1500 to 2000 francs. Milk, and what is made from it, constitute the most important resource of the peasant’s income. The manufacture of cheese is one of the most ancient industries of the country, instruments for this purpose having been found in different parts among the ruins of the “Lake-dwellers,” whose date is anterior to all historical records. On wedding occasions it was formerly the custom to present the bride and bridegroom with a large cheese, the joint contribution of their relatives; and this cheese was handed down, generation after generation, as a family register, on which were inscribed births, deaths, and marriages. Cheeses bearing date of 1660 are still to be seen. In some parts of the country cheese forms the staple food of the people, and the laborers are often paid with it. There are no fewer than five thousand five hundred cheese-making factories, and nearly 13,000 tons are exported annually, the value of which is over $7,000,000.