Berlin: You're a single German farmer looking for love and there isn't a night club, bar or cinema in sight? Search no further than www.landflirt.de. Like any successful business idea, the Web site Landflirt (rural flirt) began by recognising a demand and filling it, using the Internet to bring lonely hearts together.

With a sliding scale of rates beginning at 10 Euros for four weeks, singles in the country can post a personal ad on the site giving their name, age, hobbies and description of their dream date to get the ball rolling.

Michi, 32, seeks a "beautiful child of the city hankering for the countryside" and can offer a "tall, well-built body without a beer belly or a beard".

"Ready for a night around town or a trip to the shops" Michi says that he is equipped with a driver's license and a trustworthy nature.

Hannes, 30, is looking for a woman who can "identify with agriculture" while 31-year- old Heiner would like a partner who "can make a good joke from time to time" and can laugh at his.

Although he likes to surf the Internet and watch soccer, Heiner says that there was still something missing in his life.

All the candidates have their individual tastes and preferences, but three qualities appear in nearly every wish list from the farm-sincerity, faithfulness and a willingness to work hard.

Men outnumber women on www.landflirt.de more than two-to-one. The 229 female singles currently listed on the site appear to mainly live in cities but dream of a country idyll.

Take Carmen, 33, "a beautiful city flower whose dream was always to live in the countryside".

Since the launch of the site, more than 1,25,000 people have visited it and 2,500 have posted an ad.

Although the site has a sense of humor, the demographic problem it addresses is a serious one.

One in three Germans residing in a rural area lives in unwanted celibacy, according to a study from the Social Sciences Institute in the Southern city of Goettingen, a situation that poses a threat to the future of German family farms.

More than 10,000 are expected to fail this year, due in part to a demographic crunch.

German agricultural feed company Raiffeisen stepped into the breach in 2000 along with the Federation of Rural Youth and launched the site.

Only time will tell if the Internet can turn the rural romance trend around but there are some signs of hope.