IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I la us U 2.0 11-25 HI 1.4 I M y V I^tographic Sdences Corporalion 23 WtST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) •72-4503 ''W'^^ ^<^ ^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVl/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques > Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes tochniquaa at bibliographiquea The inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha beat original cr«>*y availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy whisn may ba bibliographically uniqua, wliich may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may significantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chaclcad balow. 13 D D D D Colourad covara/ Couvartura da coulaur I I Covara damagad/ Couvartura andommagte □ Covara raatorad and/or laminated/ Couvartura raataurte at/ou palliculte I I Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manque Coloured mapa/ Cartea gtegraphiquaa en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured platea and/or illuatrationa/ Planchea at/ou illuatrationa en couleur Bound with other material/ ReliA avac d'autrea documanta Tight binding may cauaa ahadowa or diatortlon along interior margin/ La re liure aerrAe peut cauaar de I'ombre ou de la diatortion le long de la marge IntMeure Blank leavea added during reatoration may appear within the text. Whenever poaaible, theae have been omitted from filming/ II aa peut que certainea pagea blanchea ajoutAea lore d'une reatauration apparaiaaent dana le texte, mala, loraque cela Atait poaaible, cea pagea n'ont paa M filmiea. Additional commenta:/ Commantfiirea aupplAmantairea; L'Inatitut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaira qu'il lui a AtA poaaible de ae procurer. Lea dAtaila da cat exemplaira qui aont paut-Atre uniquaa du point da vue bibliographiqua, qui pauvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dana la mAthoda normale de filmaga aont indiqute ci-deaaoua. The I toth I I Coloured pagea/ D Thia item la filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document eat filmA au taux de rMuction indiquA ci-deaaoua. Pagea de couleur Pagea damaged/ Pagea endommagtea Pagea reatored and/oi Pagea reataurtea at/ou pellicultea Pagea diacoloured, atained or foxe< Pagea dteolortea, tachetiea ou piqutea Pagea detached/ Pagea dAtachtea Showthroughy Tranaparence Quality of prir Qualit* inhale de I'impreaaion Includea aupplementt>ry matarii Comprend du matAriol auppWmantaira Only edition available/ Seuie Mition diaponibia I — I Pagea damaged/ I — I Pagea reatored and/or laminated/ rri Pagea diacoloured, atained or foxed/ n~| Pagea detached/ rri Showthrough/ I I Quality of print variea/ I I Includea aupplementt>ry material/ I — I Only edition available/ The poaa oftr filmi Grig begi the I sion otha firat sion or ill Pagea wholly or partially obacured by errata aiipa, tiaauee, etc., have been refilmed to enaure the beat poaaible image/ Lea pagea totalement ou partiellement obacurciea par un fauillet d'errata, una palure, etc., ont AtA film^ea ik nouveau de fa^on h obtenir la meilleure image poaaible. The shall TINI whi< Map diffc antil begi righ reqi met 10X 14X 18X 22X 2SX 30X y 12X 16X 20X MX 28X 32X • r« l«tails idu nodifier una ilmaga The copy filmed hare ha* baan raproducad thank* to tha ganarosity of: National Library of Canada Tha imagas appearing hara ara tha baat quality posaibia considaring tha condition and legibility of the original copy and in Icaeping with the filming contract specifications. L'axemplaira film* f ut reproduit grflce A la gAnirositA da: BibliothAqua nationala du Canada Las images suivantas ont AtA raproduites avac la plus grand soin, compta tenu de la condition at da la natteti de rexemplaira film6. et en conformity avac las conditions du contrat de filmaga. les Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the bacic cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exempiaires originaux dont la couvarture en papier est imprimte sont filmte en commen^.nt par la premier plat at an tarminant soit par la darniAre page qui comporta une empreinte d'impression ou d'itlustration, soit par la second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exempiaires originaux sont film6s en commen^ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la darnlAre page qui comporta une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^> (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboies suivants apparaftra sur la derniAre image de chaque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE". le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure ara filmed beginning in the upper left hand comer, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames aa required. The following diagrams illustrate tha method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux da rMuction difffrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seui clichi, il est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche h droite. et de haut en has, en prenant la nombre d'images nAcessaire. Las diagrammes suivants iliustrant la mAthode. f errata dto It la palure, ^on A n 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Hs.:^- ^ -!S>i 1^:"^ OUTLINES V > 07 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY, A8 APPLICABLE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURE IM CANADA. • ■ I o -. r^-^ r ^ XALLY PUBLISHED liV THE SOCIETV FOR THE DIFFUSION OF I • > ED( •.v -' USEFUL KNOWLED(\E, ^ntj rc-piAlfsTjelJ bg tlje 33ureau of ^sriculture, lli FUENCH AND ENOLISU. j;l'*' s-v. k--*.-VV^-\.-V.> Alontreal: PRINTED BT JOHN LOVFLL, AT HIS STEAM-PRINTING ESTABLISHMENT, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. T"? . ' -: • ' 'V ;■ ' ' : ;:^-"'': 1865. .,. ■■■■" /"-y ^-■^\:.' ' • 8-5 CANADA NATIONAL LIBRARY BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE OUTLINES 9 Of ffimSH HUSBANDRY, '■1' At ' 1 > APPLICABLE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN CANADA. OBIOIlTALI.r PDBLI8HBD BT TBE eOCIKTT FOB TBI mWWWWtf OV ITBKFtJL KNOWtS^iyQE, IH^ FBBVCH AHS BKOUBH. |f DIDI mTUFnilF — 1)E M.L'ABBE VERREAU JS^o. Classe Divisioti Serie/^L iHontreah PBXirrBD BY JOHV LOVKLL, AT mS STBAM-PBINTIRO BgTABLIBinfBKT, ST. HI0B0LA8 8TRBKT. 1856. •V-- • •• • »•• • • • • • • •• •• C • « • • • • •• • • ■ • BoEKAU or Agriccltvbe, QuEBKO, June, 1866. Ths foQowii^ Treati^ op, the " Ootlinks or FLmfuu Husbandbt," now re-priDted by direction oY'tlAi Bubeau or Ag&icitltubb, was compiled by an eminent Agricalturist,^fCf the request of the Society in England for the Diflusion of Useful KDowUdg/. • •• • The work was strongly i;Aifi)mmended to the contdderation of the Bubkav by RoBKBT S. Atohkson, EM].^one of the Commissioners of The Trast and Loan Company of Upper Cfia|i^ and upon a careful perusal, the propriety of its re-publication will be very apparent It is eminently practical and concise, clear and simple, and gives an excellent general view of the prac- tice and progress of, perhaps, the most prosperous agricultural countiy in the world. It contains a fund of information, valuable for the whole country, bat especially for the Lower Province, from the similarity in the habits, character, and circumstances of the people to those of the natives of Flan- ders, — a similarity extending, in many instances, even to the soil, extent and nature of their farms. r In bringing this valuable little work under the notice of the Bureau, Mr. Atcheson remarks, that his motive was simply that of promoting the advancement of the Province, and his conviction that the population of Lower Canada will readily " avail themselves of any opportunity, judiciously presented to them, of acquiring information calculated to advance their own interests, and the improvement and welfare of their country." ■ V ••' A. careful pcrasal of this instriictivu volume is strongly reeommended to the intelligent farmer. The chapter on Select Farms, p. 121, vriW be foorxi interesting and highly useful, — that of Mr. Doutrelingo, a native of France*, near Courtray, especially sa But the attention of the reader is more par- ticularly directed to those parts of the work which relate to the incre.'ur- cropping and years of neglect, may be at h(ut doubled; but will aim point out to him, in the plainest manner, the simple means by which chat result may be effected. '•> '«' • > A Table of Contents has been prefikted, and an Alphabetical Index to the , piiucipal matters odded^ to the d^i^inal work, for the conveiiienc« of • referenoe. • 1 • > • « -. • • • • WILLIAM HUTTON, Secretary, B. A. A B. 7a. - »■ ::: ■«...'>: ri:-'- ■^--r%^:^^ 1. v.c-r:,o--; ]KyK.,-,.v:ri '»:. ,....:-u,^ '-...-: ,.„^•f.■ — ;■.- ;.t.. i.-:'.!' ■■-.■>■; CONTENTS. rial Introduction, • (7ti«ptor I.— Of the division of the land into poWors and upland—Formation of the polders, and analysis of tho soil— Cultivation— Crops— Site of Farm»— Buildings, Ac If <>iMptor II.— Of tho variety of soilo in tho interior— Probable formation of them — Analysis of tho poorer laydsj-Reclaiming of heatiis— Trenching— Levelling— Mode of cultivf^iorCand gradual improvemeatt 17 • • • Chapter III.— Implements of husbandry^Modo of ploughing, M • '••• Cliaptor lY.— Of tho different kinds of 'MUhlife, and their application, SI • • • • ••• • Chapter V.— Succession and Eotatlon of Craps in u. it>nt soils 40 OhMtcr VI.— Of the cultivation of Syc, VFhoat, Barley, Oats and Buckwheat, ... 48 • • • Oliaptor yil.— Of the cultivation of Leguminous Plants, Peas, Beans, Tares and Oroen Crops, Clover, Spurry, 51 (liapter VIII.— Of the cultivation of Robf^, *:Potatoe8, Turnips, Beets. Carroti, Parsnips, Chicory, .: .^ M • • 9 * * « Chapter IX.— Of the cultivation of Flax and Hemp, OS • • • Chapter X. — Plants cultivated for their oiij' segds, such as Colza, Navetto, Poppy andCameline, *.'. 71 Chapter XI.— Of the cultivation of Plants used for their color in dyeing, aa the Woad, Weld, Madder ; and of Hops and Tobacco, 77 CliaptcrXn.— Of the management of Grass Lands, M (aiaptcr XIIL— Of Cattle. 87 (yhapter XIY.— Of the breed and management of Farm-Horses 97 ChapterXY.— Of Gardens, Orchards and Woods 101 Chapter XVI.— Of the Spado Husbandry practised in the small farms in Flanders, 104 Chapter XVIL— An account of some Select Farms, Ml Conclusion, igg OUTLINES OF FLEMISH HUSBANDEY. Mat 8 ation of -Site of It Df them iching— IT M SI 40 beat,... 46 ns and 81 Jarrots, 8« «S Poppy 71 as the 77 M 87 97 101 Olden, 104 121 IM HUSBANDRY or EAST AND WEST FLANDERS. INTRODUCTION. The provinces of East and "W-est Flanders and Antwerp, which form a part of the lately established kingdom of Belgium, were «arly known as the centre of European manufacture and commerce. When the greatest part of Europe was peopled by nations who M had scarcely emerged from a' state of barbarism, the mechanical I arts already flourished in Flandfers. Bruges and Ghent were im- I portant commercial towns in the 11th century, and supplied the various courts of the south with the rich silks and tapestries which were then their chief luxuries. They owed this pre-emi- nence entirely to a persevering industry, which neither a barren soil nor an ungenial climate could repress ; and also to a spirit and love of freedom, which existed in few other nations of Europe. Whether the careful cultivation and improvement of the soil is to be considered as the cause or the effect of their commercial pros- perity, or, as is most probable, agriculture and commerce grew I together, and mutually supported each other, the fact is no less certain, that the poor sandy soils of Flanders soon rivalled the rich plains of Lombardy in those productions which are suited to a northern climate. The husbandry of Flanders is consequently an object of peculiar interest ; and in order to account for its pro- gress it is necessary to keep in view the close connexion which exists in that country between the fanner, the manufacturer, and the I ;. 6 merclmnt, and the effects of n continually increasing- popnlation; in stimulating the exertions of those who provide the necessaries of life. Where there is a great extent of land, and the object of tlie proprietor is to derive some revenue from it; but there is not a sufficient population to create an urgent demand for agricul- tural produce, the land is always cultivated in a slovenly manner. The simplest means of invigorating the soil, in this case, when ex- liaustod by crops, is to leave it fallow, that the air and rains may restore some portion of fertility, or to lot it lie in grass, that is, to allow the plants which natarally spring up in the soil" to spread ever it, until their roots shall have furnished a fresh supply of vegetable matter to feed a ne>i sbccession of crops. Both these methods may be useful where ji'q* better is at hand ; but wherever manura can be obtained, at a reisonablo cost, this is o^erfouml the most effectual restorer of ferHlHjC In a country with a dense population, where the villages iare 'thickly scattered, or where, by means of water-carriage on Piycrs and canals, manure may be transported to- the land at a tridirig. expense, fallowing and laying down to pasture must rrecessariry be superseded by increased til- lage and manuring. This is the qase in Flanders. If tlio whole country were laid out in large fanos, and a third or fourth part were fallowed every year, or if one talf of it were left in natural grass, the population could not h& fed ; instead of exporting agrir cultural produce, as is the case how, the Flemings would require a very great importation to supply Ihe demand for internal con- sumption. Besides, poor soils, such as are found in the greatest part of Flanders, would never be recruited in this way; without repeated manming no vigorous vegetation would take place, and the land, instead of improving by being left to nature, as some- very rich soils may, would return to heath, its original state. The agriculture of the Flemings has arisen from necessity, and Las been encouraged by an increasing population. Commerce and manufactures have multiplied the objects of cultivation by a demand for them. Hence flax, hemp, oily seed's, and various other plants, often produce a greater profit to the farmer than com; and thus, by diminishing the quantity of land devoted to the growth of food, enhance the value of the latter. Manure, being greedily sought after, soon became an object of commerce, and in a short tiine a perfect balance was established between the prices of flax, hemp, oil, &c., and com, hay, and manure, the last always rising as the produce gave a greater profit, after al^ expenses were deducted. I I I opniation; tvessaries object of cro is not r agricul- r manner, when ex- ains may S that is, to spread supply of oth these wherever fouml the a dense vhere, by » may be id laying eased til- he whole irth part n natural ing agrir i require rnal con- greatest without ace, and as some- ate. iity, and •nunercQ DJi by a various ler than ^oted to Manure, nmerce, een the the last fter al^ These preliminary observations are necOTsary to enable ua to find out the true secret of Flemish husbandry, and also to guide us when we attempt to imitate it. For there is nothing more certain in agriculture, than that any produce suited to the climate may be raised on any land, whatever bo its natural quality, pro- vided thore be no limit to the expense. The coldest wet soils may hfi made to produce the plants which usually grow in light sands, by effectual draining, de«p ploughing, and the addition of silicious and calcareous earths. The most blowing sands may be fixed and consolidated by clay and pressure, and enriched by dung to such a degree as to produce heavy crops of beans and wheat ; but such improvements are made merely as experiments, unless they are dictated by absolute necessity. In most cases the cost would not be repaid by the value of the produce ; and con- sequently, no one who cultivates for profit will have recourse to such expensive means. When Flanders first began to be peopled, the rich alluvial soils along the rivers were probably the only lands cultivated, and the chief object must have been to protect them against inundations. As the population increased, and towns and villagef. arose, the lands in their immediate vicinity were soon brought into a state of garden cultivation. The manufacturers found it a relaxation to pass from the loom to the plough ; and the bread which was the produce of a little suburban farm was preferred to that which might probably be bought at less cost from the regular farmer. We see instances of this every day in the neighbourhood of om* great manufacturing towns. But in the course of time this high and artificial cultivation spread all over the country, and prices naturally adjusting themselves to the cost of production, the whole became an enlarged garden, as it may now be considered. Much, however, of this garden culture may with advantage be applied to a greater extent of ground ; and if correct accounts are kept, and the incfeased return for increased labor and manure be takSn into consideration, not for one year only, but for a series of years, we have no doubt but it will be foimd that the Flemish system of cultivation is economical as well as productive, provided it be followed up systematically, and with a proper knowledge of the principles on which it is founded. The Flemings do not boast of any great discoveries in the art of tilling the land. They refer to time immemorial for their usages. There is no record or tradition of the introduction of 8 I ;' any particular produce, excepting that of the potato, which they probably obtained first from England. But field-turnips, clover and rape, which we have received from them, have been cultivated there for many centuries. The triennial system which prevailed, and still prevails, over a great part of Europe, has left no traces in the light soils of Flanders, although it is still adopted to a certain extent in the larger farms on the stiff alluvial ^ils re- claimed from the sea, which they call Folders, and also in other pro\inces of Belgium. The progress of agriculture has been slow and gradual ; and while other nations, and England especially, were • continually introducing improvements in cultivation, and new systems of hus- bandry were proposed and discussed in numerous publications, the Flemings were going on in their old beaten track, like men who have already attained a great degree of perfection in the art they profess. Not a practice has been altered, nor any new produce generally introduced since the potato became a principal object of cultivation, except the white beet-root from which sugar is extracted. Speaking with great impartiality, we may safely assert that, notwithstanding this, the cultivation of a poor light soil, on a moderate scale, is generally superior in Flanders to that of the most improved farms of the same kind in Britain. We surpass the Flemish farmer greatly in capital, in varied implements of tillage, in the choice and breeding of cattle and sheep ; and the British farmer is, in general, a man of superior education to the Flemish peasant ; but in the minute attention to the qualities of the soil, in the management and application of manures of differ- ent kinds, in the judicious succession of crops, and, especially, in the economy of land, so that every part of it shall be in a con- stant state of production, we have still something to learn from the Flemings; and a detailed account of the mode of cultivation, especially of light lands, in Flanders, cannot fail to be both inter- esting and instructive. The object of the following pages is not to make an invidious comparison between the agriculture of the two countries, or between the skill and industry of the two nations, but to draw the attention of agriculturists in general to the principles on which the Flemish practice is founded, so that they may apply them, with proper modifications, to the cultivation of larger farms and other soils, wherever it may be done with advantage ; and if the observations we shall venture to make should give hints for the I 9 t'hicli they ips, clover cultivated prevailed, ; no traces pted to a al ^ils re- in other dual; and ontinually ms of hus- ations, the men who e art they V produce pal object sugar is fely assert at soil, on lat of the e surpass emeuts of ; and the )n to the lalities of of diflfer- cially, in in a con- sam from Itivation, )th inter- invidious itries, or draw the m which •ly them, rms and id if the for the 1 further improvement of practical Agriculture in either country, we shall not think that we have labored in vain. It may here be proper to give the reader some account of the sources from which our infonnation is derived. There are few books on Husbandry published in Flanders ; if there were, the Flemish farmers would not read them. The only account of Flemish husbandry published in England, as far as we know, besides the short sketch given by Sir John Sinclair, is the Report made to the Farming Society of Ireland by the Rev. Thomas Radcliffe, and published in London in 1819. This work contains much useful information, which several tours through Flanders, niade for the purpose of inquiring into its agriculture, have enabled us to verify. But his divisions of the country are incon- venient, and may load to great mistakes in judging of the soil. His account of the cultivation of each district does not always apply to the majority of soils within it. This is, however, a defect more in a geographical than an agricultural point of view, and we have to acknowledge our obligations to the author in the pur- suit of our inquiries. In 1815, Mr. De Lichtervelde, of Ghent, published a small work called Memoires sur les Fonds Ruraux du Departement de VEscaiU, which consisted of answers to certain queries made to him by order of the French Government in 1812, in which many particulars are found which had never before been published. But the work to which we are most indebted, and which we consider almost in every point as of complete authority, is the "Agriculture de la Flandre," written in Flemish by Mr. Van Aelbroek, of Ghent, translated into French, and published at Paris, 1830. This is the only work of any consequence on Flemish husbandry written by a native of Flanders. Mr. Van Aelbroek was, and is still, a considerable proprietor of land, and a man of great experience and information, who during the course of along life has made agriculture his study and delight. His work recom- mends itself in a peculiar manner to our notice, for it was sug- gested by a prize offered in 1818 by the Board of Agriculture in England for " the best account of Flemish Apiculture,''^ and may therefore be said to have been written purposely for the British reader. The original memoir was written in French, and trans- mitted to Sir John Sinclair. From some circumstances, which have never been explained, and the consequent dissolution of the Board of Agriculture, no notice was ever taken of it, nor could ;■ I 10 the manuscript be recovered, no answer Laving been returned to repeated applications for it. The author then recomposed it, in an enlarged form, in Flemish, for the use of his countrymen ; and it was soon after translated into French under his own eye. It is much esteemed by the French Agronomes^ or scientific agri- culturists, and has been widely circulated in France. The form of a dialogue, which he adopted, is less interesting to those who rather seek facts than discussions ; and this may be the reason why an English translation might not be suited to the taste of the generality of readers of works on Agriculture ; but we must here, once for all, acknowledge our obligations to this work for most of the details we have given, which were found to be correct wherever we had an opportunity of verifying them by our own observations and inquiries. A geographical dictionary has lately been published at Brussels, of all the provinces of Belgium. The Agricultural part is chiefly taken from Mr. Van Aelbroek's work ; but there is a short statis- tical account of every parish, which has been of great use to us.* CHAPTER I. OF THE DIVISION OF THE LAND INTO POLDERS AND UPLAND FOR- MATION OF THE POLDERS, AND ANALYSIS OF THE SOIL CULTIVA- TION CROPS SIZE OF FARMS BUILDINGS, &C. There are two very distinct classes of land in Flanders, of which the formation is evidently different. The first consists of the alluvial low deposits along the rivers and estuaries, which have been reclaimed from the sea by embankments, and to which the name of Polder is given. The second comprehends all the lands in the interior, varying in texture and fertility, and situated in an extended plain, slightly undulated and gradually rising above the level of the waters. The polders are formed by the deposits of various earths, mud, and vegetable matter, which are brought down by the rivers, and are suspended in the water so long as it remains in motion, but which are rapidly deposited wherever a * Since, ■writing the above, we have made another complete tour of East and West Flanders, and had ample means of verifying or correcting every statement which we had made. This has also enabled us to add some account of particular forms, with details communicated to us on the spot — August, 1837. II stagnation takes place. When a rising tide meets the current of a river flowing into the sea, it checks its course, and ultimately produces a complete stillness, until it again begins to ebb. Here banks of mud are gradually deposited, and the water, flowing off gently, forms narrow channels fer itself between these banks, which continually increase, until the sea no longer flows over them, except at high tides. Aquatic plants gradually grow on thek surface, and consolidate it ; and they very soon become marshy pastures. In this state they are called SckorreSy which is analo- gous to our Saltinffs on the coasts of Kent and Essex. But the fertility of this alluvial soil soon tempts speculators- to protect the land by embankments from the periodical inusdations to which it is exposed ; and the speculation is generally very profitable, although the first outlay is considerable. The first thing is to raise dykes which can resist the waters increased by the force of the winds at the highest tides. Where the direct influence of the sea is diminished by the- protection of external sand-banks and shoals, a common mud wall or dyke, with a deep ditch on the inner side, carried up some feet above the highest rise of the tide, is sufficient to prevent inundation.. The low grounds within the dykes are, however, subject to be flooded by the soaking of the water through the soil, and by the rainsi To obviate this incon- venience, the whole is intersected by canals and ditches, which collect the surface water, and discharge it through sluices which are opened w^hen the tide has simk below their level : should thi» not be sufficient, windmills are erected, which raise the water artificially to the height necessary to enable it to flow off. These mills are similar to those used in the fens in Ei^and. A double spiral in the form of a cork-screw made of boards placed round a strong wooden axle, works in an inclined trough, which is the half of a hollow cylinder cut down the axis. The lower part of the spiral is immersed in a reservoir into which the water flows, and as it is turned round by the mill, it pushes up the water along the inclined trough, and discharges it at the higher level. Na machine can be simpler, or da its work more effectually. There is little or no friction ; and, with a certain velocity, very little water is lost. Where the polders are very low, and there is some danger of occasional inundation, they are kept in pasture : but they are so much more valuable when cultivated, that every exer- tion is made to keep out the water. When they are ploughed up, they are found t©^ consist of a very fine soft clay, intimatelj i 13 blended with a portion of calcareous earth and vegetable matter in a state of decomposition, or more properly, of the substance which is the result of this decomposition, and which has been called humus. — (See " Penny Cyclopaedia," article Arable Land, vol. ii., page 221.) It also contains a portion of silicious sand, without which it would not be so well adapted to the growth of com, and some finely powdered shells, which also add to the fertility. In the Dictionnaire Geographique there is the following des- cription and analysis of the soil of the polder of Orderen, in the province of Antwerp, which, although imperfect, because it only takes into the account the mineral substances, and overlooks the vegetable, will, however, give some idea of the nature of the soil : " The soil is soft to the touch, ductile and tenacious. The microscope discovers no shining particles in it. It does not aflfect the colour of tincture of tumsol, and is consequently neither acid nor alkaline. When it is kneaded into a mass with water it is plastic, like potters' clay : when baked it forms a brick with a smooth surface : in a strong fire it vitrifies : 48 ounces of the dried soil gave the following result on analysis : — Ounces. Drms. Ors. perceat "Calcareous sand.... 6 14 ornearly 13 Silicious sand 2 3 10 " 5 Pure clay ,.. 39 2 6 " 81 White allumina (*) . . . . 16 J Loss 1 18 J 48 .. .. 100" An analysis wing des- ren, in the use it only rlooks the r the soil : |ous. The not affect y neither h water it ck with a ■ the dried r cent 13 6 81 [00" Radcliffe, r wheat, its com- is orer- 7 in any Uiroogh 13 Thaer, in his classification of soils (see Grundsatze der Ratio- nellen Landwirthschaft, Berlin, 1809, vol. ii., page 142,) places at the head of his rich alluvial soils one which was found near the mouth of the Elbe. It contains Fine clay 74 Sand 10 Calcareous earth 4.5 Humus 11.6 100 If we compare this soil with that of the polder of Orderen, and allow for the omission of the humus, by supposing that it was confounded with the fine clay and calcareous earth, which is very probable,* we shall find a considerable resemblance, sufficient, at least, to give us an idea of great natural fertility in both. When a polder is first embanked, and sufficiently drained to admit of the plough, and be sown, it produces a succession of heavy crops, without any manure whatever. Little attention is con- sequently paid to artificial means of increasing its fertility. All the straw is sold off the farm, and even the dung of the cattle used for the cultivation of the land, or necessary to the comfort of the farmer, is sometimes sold to manure poorer lands. The whole of the labour consists in ploughing, sowing, and weeding, till the crop is fit to be reaped. The most exhausting crops succeed each other ; and in a very few years the land is reduced to the average fertility * In the usual mode of analysing soils, by means of acids and re-agents, the mineral substances are separated, and their proportions ascertained ; but neither the state of division in which the earths exist in the soil, nor the proportion of animal and vegetable matter diffused through it are discovered. It is a chemical analysis, but not an agricultural one. To obtain this last no other agent but pure water should be employed, to separate the earths mechanically by mere washing, diffusion, and deposition. After this the nature of the earths may be chemically examined, chiefly to separate the calcareous from the aluminous earth. The humus is easily separated, being much lighter than the earths and the last deposited from suspension in water. It is distinguished from fine alumina, and from carbonate of lime, by heat- ing it red hot in a crucible : the humus is totally destroyed by fire, but not the earths. A long graduated glass tube is a most useful instrument for ascertaining the nature of soils. A certain quantity is put into the tube, and water is poured on ; the whole is well shaken together, and then left to sub- side. The earths will be arranged according to their size and gravity, the coarser at bottom, and the finer remaining for a longer time suspended in the water. The proportion is thus easily ascertained without a chemical analysis. 14 •oT the surrounding districts. It is not in the nfew poldfers, there* fore, that we are to look for models of husbandry ; nor is it our intention to dwell long on the system pursued there, which admits of much improvement. The usual course consists of five or six crops and a clean fallow; The manure, if required, is usually put on the land in the fallow year only. It consists of every kind of dung mixed in heaps, as it is collected from the stables, and turned over, as we do on simi* lar lands in Kent and Essex. Twenty tons of rotten dung pet acre are put on before the seed furrow. The fallows are stirred four or five times in the season : but the first ploughing is seldom given before the spring, from a notion that the land, if ploughed before winter, would imbibe so much wet as to prevent its being ploughed again in spring, and would not then bear the tread of the horses ; whereas the solid surface of the stubble allows the water to ran off, and the land is sooner fit to be ploughed in spring. There may be some plausibility in this reasoning, but all the bene- fit of the frost on a compact soil is thus lost ; and if they would lay up their stitches in a high and rounded form before winter, and be careful to make artificial outlets for the supei-fluous water, by numerous water-furrows, there is no doubt but the land might bo kept sufficiently dry ; while it would derive great benefit from the mellowing effects of the frost and air in winter. The first crop after a fallow is usually winter barley, of which this land produces great crops when not yet exhausted by over- cropping, or cokat (rape or cole,) from the seeds of whic^ oil is expressed. The next crop is beans or oats, the third, fl^t with clover seed sown amongst it. The fourth year th« clover is cut twice, or the second growth is left for seed. The fifth crop is wheat, after which come potatoes, if the land will bear another crop ; if not, it is fallowed, and the rotation begins again. It is evident that land which can bear such a succession of crops raust be deep and fertile by nature. If it were better managed at first, and its original fertility kept up by a judicious selection of crops, and occasional recruiting with manure, there is no doubt but it would give a still more profitable return in the fend. More fre- quent green crops would improve the system, and by means of these and careful hoeing, fallows might be altogether dispensed with. At present the number of cattle kept in the polders is too small to make sufficient manure. Good and strong horses are kept to plough the stiff soil, which often requires four horses to a IB plough ; but the number of cows and sheep is too small ; and the manner in which they are fed in winter, chiefly on straw only, does not denote a knowledge of the great value of cattle in hus- bandly. Whether the soil be not too heavy for common turnips, we will not pretend to determine, but the Swedish turnip or ruta baga, mangel-wiirzel, white beet-root, and cabbages would thrive well in it. With these a considerable stock of cattle might be kept in good condition in winter, if not absolutely fattened. The farms in the polders are much larger than in the uplands ; 200 acres is not an uncommon tenure ; and although this may seem but a small farm to many an English and Scotch farmer, it is a very large one in Flanders, where from 20 to 50 acres are thought as much as one man can well manage. The produce of 200 acres of polders is very considerable in good years, even with an imperfect mode of cultivation. Labour is comparatively dear in the polders. The air is un- healthy, and the population thin. Strangers and all who are not habituated to the climate, and who are accustomed to breathe a purer air in the interior, invariably suflFer from agues ; hence those who are seasoned are in request and paid accordingly. The quantity of seed sown in the island of Oatsand, which is of the richest kind of polders, and the average returns, are given by Mr. Badcliffe as follows, reduced to English measures : — Seed par Acre. Produce. 69 lb. or 1^ bushel 45 bushela 6 to 7 lb 40 « 2 bushels 30 " 2 do 38 21 do 89 " 3 do 68 « Wheat is here the least productive crop ; and winter barley is often far more productive than is here stated, especially on new polders, where 10 to 80 bushels per acre are sometimes reaped : and barley is often sown twice in succession, the second crop being sometimes equal to the first. The quantity of seed sown is less than in England, but more than in some other parts of Flan- ders, where the soil is much inferior. Great pains are taken to choose good seed ; and when it is sown, it is careftilly covered with earth dug out by the spade from the intervals between the stitches, and, in light soils, well rolled, or trod in with the feet» Thus all depredation from birds is prevented, and every seed Crops. Winter Barley. . . . Rape or Colxat. . . . Wheat. Bye Beans. Oats. 16 j;l springs up ; a good preparation of the soil ensures the vegetation, and the plants tiller out abundantly in a rich and mellow surface. The rents are moderate, compared with the produce : there is less competition for farms in an unhealthy district, and seasoned ten- ants are not readily parted with. The fai-m buildings in the pol- ders are substantial and convenient. There is a great appearance of comfort in the farmers' houses. The greatest cleanliness pre- vails everywhere. The polder farmer leads a retired life with his family, having little communication with the towns or more populous parts of the country. For a great part of the year, especially after rain, the roads are deep and almost impassable. The canals, where any of them lead to towns, are the chief means of communication. There is a practice in the polders which somewhat resembles the Irish Con-acre. Labourers hire portions of land, ploughed and manured by the farmer, who lets it to plant potatoes in, or to sow flax. A very high rent is paid for these. The labourer plants his potatoes, or sows his flax ; his family weed and hoe the crop, and gather it in at harvest ; and both farmer and labourer gain by the bargain. The potatoes help to keep the family and a cow and pigs during the winter. The flax is prepared and spun at home, and the whole produce is brought to good account. There is a mode of letting land mentioned by Mr. Van Aelbroek, which is a remnant of the old metairie system. On a farm of 200 or 300 acres, one-third is let with the buildings at a fixed rate; the tenant engages to cultivate the remainder on a joint account with the proprietor ; that is, he does all the labour, and the crop is sold on the ground, the price being equally divided between them. This arrangement can only take place where the land requires no manure and little labour. No more effiactual way could well be divised of completely exhausting the soil. We will now take leave of the polders, and proceed to the des- cription of the more varied and interesting cultivation of the dif- ferent soils in the interior. VARIBTT OF SOILS. 11 getation, surface, jre is less ned ten- the pol- pearance less pre- life with or more he year, Passable, sf means ssembles loughed in, or to labourer hoe the labourer (lily and nd spun nt. elbroek, farm of a fixed a joint )ur, and divided lere the jflfectual il. the des- the dif- CHAPTER II. OF THE VARIETY OP SOILS IN THE INTERIOR — PROBABLE FORMA- TION OF THEM ANALYSIS OF THE POORER SANDS RECLAIMINQ OF HEATHS — TRENCHING — LEVELLING — MODE OF CULTIVATION, AND GRADUAL IMPROVEMENT. There are few countries in which the soil varies so much as in Flanders, retaining at the same time a similarity of composition. The chief distinction is between the light sands and heavy loams. On digging to some depth in any part of the country, alternate layers of sand and loam, or clay, and sometimes peat, are found disposed horizontally, but very irregularly, and with rapid and sudden interchanges. According as the uppermost stratum is a silicious or argillaceous loam, so the soil takes its quality of light or heavy ; and these are so intermixed that every variety and gradation of soil may often be found in a field of a few acres. It appears probable that the rivers which discharge their waters into the sea through the coasts of Belgium and Holland have often changed their beds, as is always the case on a flat coast. The rivers and the tide, meeting, form sand-banks, called bars, which frequently obstruct the current. New channels are then formed around them. The sand-bank is gradually covered with a depo- sition of mud, as in the formation of the polders : and this, at some future period, may have the sea-sand again accumulated over it, when the whole level of the river has risen, and all the old channels are filled up. Thus the land is raised, and the shores advance towards the sea. A simple inspection of all large rivers, where they discharge their waters into the sea, clearly shows this to be the natural progress by which the flats and deltas at their mouths are formed ; and this will naturally account for the alternations of barren sand and rich loam, and every possible mixture of the two. The fertility of the polders and of some deep rich loams in the province of Hainhault and in a few spots in Flanders, has given rise to the notion that the fine crops generally observed through the whole of Belgium are owing chiefly to a very superior quality in the soil. Travellers hastily passing through the country, and observing the abundant harvests, naturally adopt this opinion. But nothing is farther from the real fact. The rich parts of Flanders are but few in comparison to the poor, as an attentive examina- tion and analysis of the soil will clearly show. The average fer- tility of the land in the provinces of East and West Flanders and B • 18 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. Antwerp will bo found much below that of our inland counties, leaving Essex and Kent out of the question. If a fair comparison were made, it should be with the poor light soils of Norfolk or Lincolnshire, where industry and the application of capitnl have overcome the natural poverty of the land, and made it highly productive. There are, no doubt, some very good lands in Flanders, besides the polders, but the greater par: have been reclaimed from a state of barren heath and waste, and would soon return to their origi- nal state if neglected for a few years. But the industry and per- severance of the inhabitants are only the more conspicuous and praiseworthy, and make the inquiry into their mode of reclaiming barren heaths, and fertilizing them, the more interesting and instructive. The poorest soil is to be found in the province of Antwei*p, the only province of the three where there are still to bo found heaths of any extent. These are situated on the confines of the kingdom of Holland. The soil is a coarse silicious sand, containing a few particles of a black inflammable matter like peat, which gives the sand a greyish colour, from which it derives the name of grey sand ; such a sand, taken from the heath at Braschaet, and analys- ed, contained, according to the " Dictionnaire Geographique," in 48 ounces of the dried soil, — Oz. Dra. Grs. Coarse silicious snn J 42 2 16 Fine Scand mixed with peat 3 6 86 Combustible peat 2 6 19 Small fibres of roota 8 10 Loss . . 89 I 48 • • • • This sand is evidently quite barren in its nature, and it is only by incorporating it with clay or loam, which is frequently found in the subsoil, that it can be made to retain sufficient moisture to keep up vegetation. Water runs through it as through a filtering stone, and sinks till it meets an impervious subsoil, where it neces- sarily stagnates. But when mixed with a loamy subsoil by deep trenching, it becomes capable of retaining moisture ; and by means of manure a scanty vegetation is forced. The roots of hardy plants being once established, the soil gradually improves, and in a few years, by incessant labour and perseverance, it becomes somewhat fertilized, id counties, comparison Norfolk or capital have e it highly :lers, besides from a state their origi- try and per- picuoiis and f reclaiming sresting and intwei-p, the Dund heaths he kingdom fiining a few ch gives the me of grey and analys- phique," in Grs. 16 86 19 10 29 it is only by tly found in moisture to jh a filtering ere it neces- soil by deep id by means ts of hardy oves, and in . it becomes I VARIBTT OV BORi. IB There is another kind of sandy soil which is also found in the heaths, but which is of a better quality. It is called soft, or sweet, yellow sand. It is of a finer texture, and contains some oxide of iron, which gives it the yellow colour. It is said to cDn* «i6t of Oc. Drs. Grs. Loose yellow silicious sand 86 4 28 Finer sand mixed with clay 4 f 89 Fine alumina 6 6 48 Loss 1 6 4o • • • • This sand is much superior to the grey, and with moderate manur- ing will produce rye, flax, clover, potatoes, oats, and with good management, even wheat. The next in order ascending towards rich soils is the sand found in the Waes district of East Flanders. Of this Mr. Radclifie has given an analysis. It was taken from the neighbourhood of St. Nicholas. But, as we observe before (page 12,) the analysis is imperfect from the omission of the humus, to which it owes its fertility, the component parts by no means indicating a fertile soil. Th«se are Silex 84 Alumina 18 Oxide of iron 3 100 If we look at Thaer's classes of soil, we shall find that such i soil is placed as low as the 17th, which he values at only 15 pet cent., or about one-seventh of the first, or rich wheat land. But if we suppose, as is the case, that the silex is very fine, and inti"- mately blended with a good proportion of humus, it will become a rich sand. It is well known that the sand of the Waes district requires less manure, and produces finer crops tlian any other sandy soil in Belgium. When the proportion of alumina is less than one-fourth of the silica, the soil may be called light ; if it is half of the silica, it becomes a good loam, fit for wheat : such a soil is found at Swe^ vighem, near Courtray : its analysis gives, according to Radcliffe, Silez 68-5 Alumina 85* ** Carbonate of lime.. 0*5 , .. Vegetable fibre. 0*5 Oxide of truD 0*6 100 i9 nxarm itusBAiroirr. When a Boil contains 40 per cent, of alamiha, ft may 1)0 ranfiiodS Mnongwt the stiff heavy soils, snch asr that which is found near Ninove and Alost: wlien it exceeds this, the Flemish farmer tftinkfl it too stiff, and requiring tol>o imprmetl ami lightened by Jime. The soil near Oustzeole; of which the following analysis i»- given, is of this kind :'— Silos ^ ., 49 Alumina.... 48{ Oxide of iron..... ... . 21 100 "this land reqiures chalk or lime to- make it prodactiv», andf these are not found in fiast Flandeiis. It is a peculiarity of the Flemish soils, that thoy scarcely contain any carlK)nate of lime.- The only soil which contait>» calcareous matters is that of the- poldersj where it consists ef finely comminuted shells; It appear* that where alumina greatly abounds it requires to be tempered with a large proportion of carbonate of lime and humus, to b(t fertile Na such soil, however, i» te be found in the interior of Flanders. The skill and ind«>fitry of the Flemish formers is con^ Wquently directed chiefly to the improvement of light lartds an4 good loams. When thoy speak of a heitvy soil, it is to be under- stood merely as a good stiff loam, not too heavy even for turnips ;' aa to the cold tvet clays, such as we have in parts of England,- they know little of them ; and the few spots which are of tin." nature are left in poor pasture, or prodtice inferior woods and cop- pice, not being thought^ worth the expense and trouble of cultiva?* tion. There are some places; horwever, in West Flandera, where-, for want of better soil, they are forced to caltirate cold clays; and the method adopted is good, viz., very deep-ploughing, Hming and manuring abundantly: under^draining fa little imderstood, but might be introdivced with great advantage. The poor sandy heaths which have beea converted into pro* diictive farms evince the indefettigaWe industry and peracTorance' of the Flemings, They seem ta want nothing but a space to work upon; whatever bo the quaJity or texttrre of the soil, in time they will make- it produce something. The sand in the- Gampine can be compared to nothing but the sands on the ae» i^ore, which they probaHy were originally. It fa highly interest- feg ta follow step by step the progress of improvement. Herer yon see a cottage and rude cow-shed erected on a spot of ther iHiOBt unpromising aspect.- The loose' white sand blown into irr^- 'VARIRTT or SOItS. -n ay f)0 ranlccdS t fonnd near minh farmer lij^htened by ig anaiysi» i» i >dactiv», anc? liarky of the- >ate of limer that of the- ti appear* be tempered lumus, to h(f interior of Micra is con^ lit lands an4 to be nnder- for tnrnips ;' of Engrland^ are of thi?- ods and cop- e of cultivw idera, where> d claysi and ', Hming and erstood, but 5d into pro* perseTcrance a space to the soil, in sand in ther on ther setr (illy interest- nent. Herer spot of the- n into irr^- \ vfbr mounds is only kept k>^eth«r by the roots of the heath : a «nia11 spot only is levelled and surroHnded by u ditre extensive improvements are going on : a wealthy projirictor or Iosk'^ is trenching and levelling the surface, •sowing broom-seed, and planting young fir-trees, which are to be out down in a few years. In anotli€r, the proccs* has gone on further, the lirs or the broom are already cut down ; a vein of ioam has been found, and is dug ont to be spread over tlte sandy '•urface-. the cart with liquid maR«re is preparing the surfaoe for *lie receptivm of seed, or the same, dihited with water, is poure4 •over the young blade just appearing above ground. The soil it seated and, if th« cost and labour were redkoiied, is paid for at** to retain moisture : imder this kind of •«and a stratum of loam is usually found at the depth of two or 'three feet, and almost invariably between the sand and the loam ;an indurated crust of earth oemented by cai^bonate of iron, which vis well known to all improvers of poor sands by the name of the firon pan ; tkis pan must be broken up, and the loaui nnder it OTiixed with the sandy surface, before -any cultivation can succeed; and in this operation the Flemiags are very dexterous. Thf i^nstrument they use is a light wooden trenching spade, the end df e&£ J)kide only being shod with ifon.: .thediandlc of this^padeie 2:2 FtKMISB HUSBANDRT. V!l| 'li about two feet long, the blade from twelve to fifteen inches. A light pick- axe is used to break the pan where it appears. A ditch is dug with the trenching spade two or three feet wide, and as deep as the trenching is intended, generally two feet, or at least twenty inches ; this ditch is filled with the earth which is taken in long- thin slices P n the edge of the solid side of the ditch. Every slice is distributed carefully, so as to mix the whole, and keep the best soil at top, and likewise to fill up hollows, and level eminences. If there is more than can conveniently be spread level, little heap» are made of the superfluous earth, which are afterwards carried,. in an ingeniwis manner, to fill up more distant hollows, by means of horses and an instrument which is called a Mollebart, of which a description will be given hereafter. Wherever there is a pan, it is carefully broken, and the loam, which is always found under- it, is mixed with the sand dug out. Draining is seldom required here, except that which is eft'ected by making deep ditches tof carry off the superfluous rain-water, which, in a countty almost as level as a lake, is no great difliculty. A canal near at hand is, however, an essential condition of extensive improvement, to bring manure, and carry off" the produce of the land, as well as to be an outlet for the water in the ditches. When Count Chaptal tra- versed a barren pfirt of Flanders, accompanying the Emperor Napoleon, the latter expressed his surprise, at a meeting of the Council of the Department, that so great a tntct of land remained ttncultivated in so industrious a nation. The answer was, "L your majesty will order a canal to be made throiigh this district,^ we pledge oiu'selves that in five years it will be all converted into- fertile fields." The canal was ordered to be made without delay, and in less time than' they promised not an unproductive spot remained. — (See Chaptal, " Chimieappliquee a T Agriculture," vol. i., page 347.) — One great cause of the agricultural prosperity of Flanders is the ready transportation of manure and produce by canals. — But to return to the newly trenched land. If there i* no manure at hand, the only thing that can be sown on poor sand, at first, is broom : this grows in the most barren soils ; in three years it is fit to cut, and produces soine return in fagots for the bakers and brickmakers. The leaves which have fallen have somewhat enriched the soil, and the fibres of the roots have giveu' a certain degree of compactness. It may now be ploughed and sown with buckwheat, or even with rye without manure. By the time this is reaped some manure may have been collected, and a Tfi MODE OF CULTIVATION. 23 I inches. A irs. A ditch and as deep least twenty aken in long- itch. Every md keep the i\ eminences. !, little heap* ards carried^ v», by mean» irt, of which )re is a pan-, found under- om required p ditches to» mti'y almost r at hand is, ent, to bring- [ as to be an Dhaptal tra- ^le Emperor iting of the id remained er was, "li this district^ 1 verted into hont delay, luctive spot ulture," vol. •rosperity of produce by If there is vn on poor m soils; in 1 fagots for fallen have- have givei> >ughed and re. By the icted, and a regular course of cropping may begin. As soon as clover and potatoes enable the farmer to keep cows, and make manure, the improvement goes on rapidly ; in a few years the soil undergoes a complete change : it becomes mellow and retentive of moisture, and enriched by the vegetable matter afforded by the decomposi- tion of the roots of clover and other plants. It is surprising that so few sheep should be kept on these new farms. Sheep folded would do good by their tread as Avell as their manure, but the management and feeding of sheep is a part of husbandry in which the Flemings, with very few exceptions, are decidedly as much behind our ligiit land farmers, as they are before us in the feeding of their cows, and preparation and economy of manure. If about twenty small cart-loads of dung can bo brought on each acre of the newly trenched ground, the progress is much more rapid. Potatoes are then the first crop, and generally give a good return. The same quantity of dung is required for the next crop, which is rye, in which clover is sown in the succeeding spring ; and a small portion is sown with carrots, of which they have a white sort which is very productive and large in good ground, and which, even in this poor soil, gives a tolerable supply of food to the cows in winter. Should the clover fail, which sometimes happens, the ground is ploughed in spring, and sown with oats and clover again. But if the clovej* comes up well amongst the rye stubble, it is cut twice, after having been dressed with Dutch ashes early in spring. It is mostly consumed in the green state. The clover-ley is manured with ten cart-loads of dung to the acre, and rye sown again, but not clover. After the rye comes buckwheat without any manure ; then potatoes again, manured as at first, and the same rotation of crops follows. It is found that the poor land gradually improves at each rotation, from the quantity of dung used : and, as this is essential, it will be easily seen tliat without water-carriage the improvement could not go on, for the necessary quantity of dung could never be brought to the ground by land-carriage through the deep sandy roads, which are mere ti-acts. For want of sufficient manure, broom-seed is sometimes sown with the rye after the clover. The rye is reaped, and the broom continues in the ground two years longer. It is then cut for fuel. The green tops are sometimes used for litter for the cows, and thus converted into manure. It is also occasionally ploughed in when young and green, to enrich the land. Oats, clover, and 24 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. ., (•' m broom are occasionally sown together. The oats are reaped the first year, the clover and young broom-tops the next, and the broom cut in the third. This is a curious practice, and its advan- tage appears rather problematical. All these various methods of bringing poor sands into cultivation show that no device is omit- ted, Avhich ingenuity can suggest, to supply the want of manure. After the land has been gradually brought into a good state, and is cultivated in a regular manner, there appears much less difference between the soils which have been originally good, and those which have been made so by labour and industry. At least the crops in both appear more nearly alike at harvest, than is the case in soils of different qualities in other countries. This is a great proof of the excellency of the Flemish system, for it shows tiiat the land is in a constant state of improvement, and that the deficiency of the soil is compensated by greater attention to tillage and manuring ; especially the latter. The maxim of the Flemish farmer is, that " without manure there is no corn — without cattle there is no manure, — and without green crops and roots cattle cannot be kept." Every farmer calculates how much manure he requires for his land every year. If it can be bought at a reason- able rate he never grudges the outlay. If it cannot be purchased it must be made on the farm. A portion of land must be devoted to feed slock, which will make sufficient manure for the remainder : for he thinks it better to keep half the farm only in productive crops well manured, than double the amount of acres sown on badly prepared land. Hence also he does not reckon what the value would be of the food given to the cattle, if sold in the market, but how much labour it costs him to raise it, and what will be the increase of his crops from the manure collected. The land is never allowed to be idle so long as the season will permit anything to grow. If it is not stirred by the plough and harrows to clear it of weeds, some useful crop or other is growing in it. Hence the practice of sowing dift'erent seeds amongst growing crops, such as clover and carrots amongst com or flax ; and those which grow rapidly between the reaping of one crop and the sowing of another, such as spiirVey or turnips, immediately after the rye is cut, to be taken off before wheat-sowing. These crops seem sometimes scarcely worth the labour of ploughing and sowing : but the ploughing is useful to the next crop, so that the seed and sowing are the only expense ; and while a useful crop is growing, weeds are kept down. These are the general principles of Flemish Husbandry. Before we en instru IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY. 25 e reaped the ixtj and the id its advan- tnetliods of vice is omit- of manure, good state, s mucli less y good, and y. At least t, than is the This is a For it shows and that the ion to tillage the Flemish ithout cattle roots cattle manure he at a reason- >e purchased t be devoted remainder : productive •es sown on )n what the the market, will be the ind is never ing to grow, it of weeds, practice of clover and ow rapidly ber,such as je taken off rcely worth Jg is useful y expense ; ept down, y. Before we enter into the particulars, we may give a short account of the instruments in use, which are few and simple. CHAPTER Til. IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY MODE OF PLOUGHING. The spade and shovel are used much more extensively in Flemish cultivation than they are in other countries. Manual labour is not spared. The trenching spade, which we mentioned in the last chapter, is used in the old improved lands as well as in those first reclaimed from the state of waste. All the light lands in the Waes district are trenched twenty inches deep or more, every six years, and all idea of fallows is abandoned. The intervals between the stitches, where the ground is ploughed in this manner, that is in the heavier loams, are all done out with the spade and shovel, as neatly as the intervals between asparagus-beds are in a well-managed garden. The Flemish hoe with which they hoe and mould up potatoes is much longer in the blade than those in use in Britain. It resembles a small spade with a handle bent at an angle of 60° to the blade : it is a very efficient instrument, and is used for many purposes where spade work would be too tedious. There are two kinds of ploughs in use, differing from each other as much as can well be imagined : these are the old Walloon plough, which is our heavy Kentish turnwrest-plough with wheels and the light single-handled Belgian swing-plough, called there also a foot plough, as it is in some parts of England (see fig.) This, which is the model of the Rothcram plough, is the parent plough Fig. 1. 26 FLEMISH HUSCAXDRY. i t of all our most improveil swing-plouijlis for liglit Foils. The turnwrest-plough is in use in the polders. and in some few heavy-laud farms in the interior ; but it is almost entirely superceded by the swing-ploujjh, wliich, when made somewliat stronger, is found to work equally well in strong loams as in light sands. It must, however, be remembered, that in Flanders a soil is ealled heavy, whicli would be called comparatively light in many parts of England, .'IS in Kent and Essex, and which is light enough tur turnips. The Belgian swing-plough (fig. 1) acts on the principle of a shovel. The share is very broad : the sole is a kind of sledge, formed by the end of the share towards the heel, and the lower edge of the turn-furrow. This last is made of a sheet of wrought iron about half an inch thick, and bent as if it had been rolled round a cylinder. The fore-part of the share is sharp on the right edge, and spreads to the width often or twelve inches where it joins the turn-furrow, which is here verv-slijjhtlv inclined to the horizon, so as to slide under the furrow slice, and lift it up before it turus it over. The upper edge of the turn-furrow winds in a regular curve from the left side of the point of the share, till it forms an angle of 45* with the horizon on the riofht hand of the ploughman, laving the slice turned over at that angleagainst the preccilingslice. Thehandle or horn is nearly vertical, slightly bent, and tapering at the end. It has a horizontal projection on the hinder part, shaped so as to be easily grasped in the hand, by which ihe whole plough is readily held, and lifted out of the ground, at the end of the furrow, to enter it into the next. The whole is so liglit and of so easy draught, that in light lands a single horse is sufficient to plough an acre in a day to the depth of six or seven inches. When the day's work is done the point of the share is let into a hook fixed on a little sledge which carries the plough ; the ploughman then mounts the horse, and trots brisklv home. He returns to the field in the same way in the morning. There is a variety of the turnwrest-plough, used near Roulers, much lighter than the great Walloon plough (see fig.) It has two small wheels which are connected with the beam of the plough by a small bar of iron (a 6), w^hich rises from the middle of the axle at a, and goes through a mortice in the beam at 6 ; it regulates the distance of the beam from the centre of the axle, while this last can take any position, with respect to the horizon, which may be required to keep the connecting bar in a perpen- dicular position, when one wheel is in the furrow, and the other on i I iMPunnifTB OF HUSBAND nr. if poils. The w lieavy-laud •Fcikd by the r, is found to ids. It must, called heavy, t-s of England, urnips. The ? of a shovel. formed by • • edge of the it iron about >l!ed round a right edge, e it joins the ? horizon, so »re it turns it egular curve s an angle of n, laying the . The handle at the end. ped so as to e plough is f the furrow, 1 of so easy it to plough When the hook fixed ^hman then to the field !ar Roulers, :.) It has am of the the middle l)eam at b ; >f the axle, he horizon, a perpen- le other on the unploughed land. This is effected by means of a j)i:i (at a), "which passes through the axle and the end of the bar, and forms a joint like that of the beam of a balance. Tlie length of the beam of the plough is six feet. The sole is nearly half of thi* length, and the wheels are only eiglitecn inehes before the inser- tion of the coulter. The whole is nearly as light as tlie swing- plough, and is of great use in breaking up clover-leys. Besides these ploughs, they use light harrows with wooden tines set at an angle forward in the cross bars of a triangular frame^ which is drawn. by the angle towards Avhich the tines are inclined, when the object is to bring up weeds ; but from another angle, when it is used to cover the seed, or to smooth the surface after the seed has been lightly ploughed in. Rollers of various sizes, some of stone, but generally of wood, are used to roll the crops in spring, and settle the roots in the ground ; but the large heavy roller for grass-land is not in use, although it would be very advantageous in compressing loose meadows, and levelling their surface for mowing. There is an instrument peculiarly Belgian, called a traineau, or sledge (see fig.) It is a frame of wood cov- ered with planks, which is drawn along the land, to break clods, and to leave a smooth surface. It is very effectual in doing this, and is useful in loamy soils : its effect is somewhat like a com- bination of a bush harrow and a roller. Iron teeth put in ob- liquely in one or more rows are sometimes added to this traineau in stiff soils, to break the clods. The man or boy who drives the horse which draws the traineau usually stands upon it, and by his weight keeps it level. The frame of a roller is sometimes made so that it rests and drags on the ground, and acts like a traineau in breaking clods before the roller. A strong roddcd hurdle is also used as a bush harrow, to level the surface in light lands. !('■•;- 'M 'i ill i'^ rj I I m *8 PLEMISH HusBAmmr. Besides ihi common scythes, hoes and rakes, there is a peculiar iastrument for cutting corn, called the Hainhault scythe, of which notice has been taken in many agricultural publications. It is a very usefwl instnunent, and in tha hands of an experienced per- son wiil cut a third inore corn, ia the same time, than can be done with the reaping hook. It is a short scythe, of which the Wade is broad and about twenty inches long. The handle is about the «ame length, and fixed so to form an acute angle with the blade, wheii in the act of cutting ; it is bent outward at the eod where it ot is held, at an angle of about 120°, and is there sljaped like th« stout handle of a knife or turning tool. It should be so construct- ed, that, when the blade lies flat on the ground, the mam's hand is nearly perpendicularly over the centre of the curve of the blade, «o that he can swing the instiniment, by a motion of the wrist, without stooping. A leathern strap doubled and nailed on the handle, in which Iw puts the fore finger, preV'Cnts its slipping front his grasp. In the left hand he holds a light «tick three or four feet long, having an iron hook fixed at the end, bent into a serai- eircle of about eight inches diameter. With this hook he collects the standing corn, and lays it towards tb^ 'cit. while the riglit hand euts it close to the ground. The cut corn leans against thai which is standing ; and when as much has been cut as will make lialf a shea^ the workman turns half round, and hooking up part of rofls lob piec< the hi U! is v{ I IBIPLEMENTS OT HUSFANDRT. 99 i is a peculiar the, of which ons. It is a erienced pei- i can be done ch the Wade is about the h the blade, end where it aped like the so oonstruct- raa«'s hand of the blade, of the wrist, ailed on the lipping froiH hree or four into a serai- >k he collects le right hand against that IS will raake ting up part of xrhat IS cut with as much of what is standing, he cuts and rolls up the whole in the form of a sheaf, using his leg and feot to keep it in the bend of the blade : the legs are protected by- pieces of strong leather over the shins. Thus- it is laid down for the bindere. Those who are accustomed to the method of fagging" te use in Middlesex, Surrey, and the neighbourhood, where straw is valuable^ will readily see that this scythe is only an improved fagging hook, allowing the reaper to stand upright at his wort, and saving that fatigue of the back which is the chief incon- venience of fagging. For women, to whom stooping is not sa laborious, the fagging hook may perhaps do the work as con- veniently. But, in Flanders, women only tie np the sheaves, and seldom reap. This instrument has been often recommended for tise in England ; a:nd we have ourselves made presents of it to reapers who cut by the acre. Very few had the patience to become dexterous in the use of it, and after a few trials returned to the old fagging hook, although it was evident that it would, if properly managed, cut one-third more com, at least, in the same time. It is, however, inferior in expedition to the cradle scythe in the hands of a skilful mower. Tliis last is also used in Flanders, but not so commonly as the foregoing. The Mollebart, the use of which, in the levelling of newly trench- ed land, has been before mentioned, is an instrument peculiarly Flemish or Dutch. It is simply a very large wooden shovel, in form like the tin dust-pans used by housemaids, with a stout long handle. (See next page.) The bottom, which is convex, is covered all over with thin iron plates ; and a stronger piece of iron (c d) forms the edge. The handle (a) is six or seven feet long, firmly fixed to the shovel, and so placed that when the end is raised five or six feet high, the only part of the instrument which touches the ground is the edge {c d). When it is held three feet from the ground the shovel rests on the convex bottom (as at r), with the edge rising a few inches above the ground J and when it is pushed quite down, and it drags on the ground, the instru- ment rests on the hindev part of the bottom (6). The width of this shovel is about three feet, and the length from the insertion of the handle to the sharp edge is nearly the same. Sometimes it is wider than it is lonjr. In the middle of the border on each side is a strong iron hook (g), which is connected with the iron on the bottom. It is drawn by chains fixed to these hooks, united into a large link {h) a little before the edge of the instrument. To tbi* 80 FLEMISH HITBBANDRY. i!i I I'if iWi »S:: '!! i.^; \m V link are attaclicd a common whipplo-tree and bars, to which two horses arc yoked abreast. Attached to the end of the handle is a strong rope of tl»e size of a man's little finger, fourteen or fifteen teet lonf . This the driver holds coiled in the same hand which holds the handle, the reins being in the other. It is now ready to begin its operations. The man depresses the handle, so that the «dge of the shovel rises upwards, and directs the horses towards a heap or an eminence to be removed. As soon as they reach it the handle is raised, the edge of the instrument entei's the ground> or the bottom of the heap, and it is soon filled with loose earths The handle is immediately depressed, and the whole load slides on the bottom of the shovel over the sandy surface until it arrives at the hollow which is to be filled. The handle is then raised sud» denly as high as the man can reach ; the edge catches the ground, and the whole machine is overturned forwards, the handle stiiking on the whipple-tree ; the load is thus left behind. The rope, of which the workman kept the end fast in his hand, now comes into use, and by pulling it the instrument is again reversed, and pro* ceeds empty for a fresh load. All this is done without the horses being stopped for a moment. A skilful person will spread the earth at the same time that he deposits it : this is done by holding the rope so that the handle shall not fall over at once, but remain for a short time in an erect position. The earth is thus delivered gra- dually, and laid level by the edge of the instrument scraping over it. It is astonishing how much labour and time are saved by usinf; this instrument instead of carts. It takes up about 500 cwt. or more of earth each time, and this load slides along with the greatest ease to the horses : in returning they generally trot. More complex instruments have been invented to answer the same purpose, some of which are extremely ingenius, but the simplicity of this, and the small expense at which it may be made by any comi stror witl horsi ■woul ed a| « IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY. 81 to which two tlie handle is •teeu or fifteen e hand whick now ready to 3, so that the orses towards they reach it ■s the ground) loose earth* load slides on 1 it arrives at 1 3 mdlei The raised sud* the ground, striking rope, of comes into !, and pro* the horses ad the earth holding the . remain for elivored gra- jraping over re saved by >ut 500 cwt. ng with the erally trot, er the same 3 simplicity ade by any common wlicelwright or carpenter, or even by the farmer himself, strongly recommend it ; and we do not hesitate to assert, that, with a very little practice, any common labourer who can manage horses will do as much work with this simple instrument as ho would with the more perfect and ingenious machine, which obtain- ed a prize from the Highland Society some years ago. Instead of the common flail to thresh the corn, another instru- ment is used in the Waes country and some other districts, which is of a peculiar form (see fig.) : it consists of a solid block of hard wood, about ten inches long, eight wide, and three thick, in the lower part of which there are angular groves cut, about an inch and a-haU' deep : a stick like the handle of a flail is inserted ob- liquely into this block, so that when it is raised and struck on the floor it falls with the grooved surface flat on the com which is laid down tied up in sheaves. It beats off the chaff as well as the corn, and detaches it from the straw, which the flail does not do so completel3^ This chaft' is mixed with the boiled food for the cows. Besides the above-mentioned, the Flemish farmers use very few instruments, and they have not adopted any of the new inven* tions which are used in England. They have no drills, horse-hoes, scarifiers, nor threshing machines ; they use the winnowing machine, but the common fan and riddle are still very generally employed to clean the corn when threshed. In ploughing the land, in some districts they lay it flat, without divisions. In others, as the Waes district, the fields are all laid in a convex form when they are trenched, and kept so by plough- ing round in a circle upwards towards the centre. Where the loam is not very pervious to water, they lay the land in stitches seven or eight feet wide, as is usual with us. They plough across the stitches occasionally, and reverse the crown and furrow, or change the interval so as to be in a different line every year, which in the end tends to deepen the whole soil. The depth of the fur- row varies according to seasons and circumstances, and there is 89 FLEMISH nUSDANDRY. iH I l!::l much skill and ingenuity displayed in doing this so as to divide the ground well, and lay the dung where it is most effective. When weeds are to bo destroyed a very shallow skimming is thought sufficient. In autumn the dung is ploughed in a few inches deep only, to allow the access of air to decompose it. In the following spring the furrow is several inches deeper, to bring fresh earth to the surface without uncovering the dung. When a first ploughing has been very deep to bury weeds, the next is often shallow to divide the slice first turned over, and not bring up the seeds again within the influence of the atmosphere, which would cause them to spring up.* In all this there is a great attention paid to every operation, that it be performed most effectually. No more ploughings are given than are thought essential to each par- ticular crop. A great object is to have an early harvest, both because the weather is generally driest and best early in summer, and because a second crop may be sown before the midsummer showers. Winter barley is on this account preferred to spring barley ; and rye is sown early, that turnips may be sown with some chance of success, immediately after it is reaped. Summer stirring and liquid manure keep the land in a clean and rich state, and it is not allowed to remain idle. The heavier soils are laid up high before winter ; the intervals between the stitches are well dug out with the spado, and numerous water-furrows are dug across them, that no water may stand anywhere after rains. The winters are more severe on the continent th n in Britain ; and even in Flanders, which is so near to us, the fros'^. is much longer and more intense. But this is taken advantage of to expose stiff soils to its influence. They have a practice in some parts of Flanders of digging out spits of earth with the spade from the bottom of the furrows, after the plough has passed, and setting them up on the surface already ploughed. This is done by several men before the plough returns and fills the cavities thus made with the earth of the next furrow. These clods are left exposed to the air and frost, and are afterwards levelled down with the harrows. Mr. Van Aelbroek, with whom this is a favourite operation, calls it the atmospherical manuring, which ho thinks equal in effect on the soil to half the usual coat of dung. Whether the advantage be as great as he represents it or not, we will not venture to decide ; but it tends to make the soil mellow and friable, and then the manure put on will have a greater effect, and a smaller quantity will be required. • It I3 evident that the furrow slice must, in this case, be turned quite over, and laid flat, and not leaning on the preceding, as in ordinary ploughing. 'OF i Floml be ral objec| as pf For goner so as to divide most effective. V skimming is ghcd in a few omposo it. In eeper, to bring ung. When a le next is often >t bring up the 5, which would great attention fectually. No al to each par- ' harvest, both ■ly in summer, le midsummer rred to spring Dwn with some immer stirring li state, and it i laid up high well dug out across them, c winters are I in Flanders, more intense. its influence. digging out urrows, after rface already ough returns next furrow. re afterwards with whom .1 manuring, e usual coat represents it to make the will have a turned quite ry ploug^hing. t)'N MANURK. CHAPl'ER IV. ss I 'OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MANURE, AND THill APPLICAl OJf, ^I'liic collection, and application of manure is the great secret of Flemish Husbandry. Upon their poor light soils nothing could be rtiisod without an abundance of manure. It is consetjuently an object of minute attention to the Flemish farmer to collect as much as possible, and to apply it in the most advantageous manner. For this purpose the dung of the different domestic animals is generally kept separate, especially that of cows from that of horses ; the former being thought better for dry sandy soils, the latter for colder loams and days. They look upon pigs' dung as cold and inferior, adopting in this respect the opinion of the ancients. Wo think differently; but this may be easily account- ed for. The Flemish store-pigs are fed in the most miserable manner, and are merely kept alive on weeds taken from the fields, or by very scanty graEing in rougii pastures. We need not bo surprised therefore that their dung is poor. The cows arc bet- ter fed, and their dung is consequently richer. Cow dung is thought to last longer in the soil, and its effects on the second crop are more conspicuous than that of horse dung, which stimu- lates more, and is sooner effete. Sheep, which are so important to the light-land farmer in England and Scotland, for their manure, are not kept in sufficient quantities in Flanders, nor well enough fed to do much good to the land. They are commonly housed every night, and driven about in the day to gain a scanty subsist- ence along the roads and sides of fields. The manure collected in the sheep-fold is carried out on the land, and its effects are duly appreciated. A flock is occasionally folded on a clover ley before it is ploughed up, but never on the turnips, which are always given to the cows. This is owing to the small extent of the farms, which do not allow of a considerable flock of sheep being kept by any one farmer ; but a flock is made up of different lots of sheep belonging to several proprietors, and put under the care of a common shepherd, or it is sometimes the property of the shep- herd, who occupies no land, but lets out the sheep to fold, or sells the manure. But the great auxiKary of the Flemish fjirmer is the urink TANK, wherein are collected not only the urine of cows and horses, but also the drainings of the dung-hills. The urine tanks are generally sunk below the level of the ground, and have the sides C 84 VLEMIBU IIUHOANDUT. 'Vfi '»! built of brick, and the bottom pnvcd : they nro oC vniioufldiincmsion:*,. accordiriiTf to tho number of cowh and horses on tho farm. Attiulied to tho distilleries, where many boasts arc constantly kept, to consunio the rotuso wash, there are very large urine tanks of an obloni? sliape, divided by partitions into ditl'erent chanihers, so that tho liijuor may be of tho proper age when it \n used, which 8omo farmers think ought to bo six months. Each chamber ia about eight feet square, and six or eight feet deep: these are sometimes vaulted over, but frequently only covered tvith loose boards. As urine and the emptyings of privies are sold wholesale and retail, there are many largo tanks near the rivers and canals, where the dealers have sometimes great quantities in store. Somo of these consist of many square pita like tnn-pits, bricked round, and tho insido covered with a cement, which prevents loss by filtration. There is generally in a corner of each pit a graduated scale, by which the number of barrels or tons of liquid in tho tank may bo ascertained by obsening the height of the surface. These tanks are gradually filled by boat-loads brought from the largo towns ; and when the season arrives for sowing, in spring and autumn, the formers come with their carts and tubs, and purchase as much as they may want. The price varies from threo to five francs (two shillings and 8ixi)ence to four shillings) per hogshead, according to the quality. In a small farm of thirty to forty acres the tank is generally about twenty feet long, twelve wide, and six deep, with a partition in the middle, and arched over, leaving an opening for the pump, and another sufficient to allow a man to go in to empty out the earthy deposit which falls to tho bottom. A trap-tloor shuts over this aperture, to prevent accidents. Sometimes the tank is round like a Avell, with a domed top, and so deep in the ground, that it has a foot or two of earth over it. The situation of the tank is either in the faiin-yard near the entrance of the cow-house, or immediate ly behind it' sometimes it is like a cellar unde r the building ; but this is apt to cause a disagreeable smell in the cow-house. We here desv^nbe those which we consider the most convenient : the form and capacity of the tanks vary greatly according to the means and notions of the proprietors of the fanns ; but a tank of some kind or other is considered as indispensable an appendage to a farm as a barn or cow-house. The farmer would as soon think of dispensing with his plough as with his tank: and no expense or trouble is spared to keep this well supplied. The numerous towns and villages in Flanders ON MANURE. 85 [)Usdiincnsion5,. iirin. Attiichoil antly kept, to no tanlcH of an t chnnibers, so ifl used, wliich ch cliamber is fcp : these are red with loose sold wholesale crs and canals, ri store. Some bricked round, events loss by )it a graduated f liquid in the of the surface. light from the r'ing, in spring and tubs, and ies from three shillings) per ni of thirty to t long, twelve 0, and arched sufficient to sit which falls re, to prevent with a domed p two of earth vmi-yard near it' sometimes ipt to cause a es^i'ibe those and capacity md notions of nd or other is 1 as a barn or using with his spared to keep i& in Flanders ifford groat help in the way of manure. The thrifty housewife and kor active substitute the maid know the value of what in our houso- kolds is thrown away or wasted and lost. A small tank, or a tub fimk in tho ground in son)o corner contains all the liijuid which fan in any way bo useful : soap-suds, washings of diwhes, itc, are tarefuUy kept in this reservoir, until, once a week, tho farmer or contractor calls with his tub on a cart ; and this, mixed with tho contents ■ >f privies, which are frequently emptied, he keeps in largo cis 'rns for use or sale.* Bnt this supply is not always adequate to the wants of the fermor, and then ho has recourse to rape cakes dissolved in water; pr in the tank, which is expensive, and can only be protitablo lUrhero flax bears a good ]»rice, this being the crop for whicdi rape cakes are chictly used as manure. Every means, therefore, of Hugmenting the supply of urino is had re(!ourso to, and tho most «fficacious is the establishment of distilleries. These answer ti.o double purpose of consuming produce, and increasing manure by the number of beasts which arc fattened on the refuse wash. It is calculated that every Ijeast produces at the rate of ten or twelve Ions of dung, and twenty-six hogsheads of urine in the year. A moderate distillery has fifty or sixty head of cattle con^^tantly Btalled. Hero then is a supply of manure for several 1 undred acres of land every year. Formerly there were a grout many tlistilleries in Flanders, but the duty on spirits, and the interference of the government has much reduced their number ; so that tho farmers com[)laiu of the loss of this manure, and the consequent deficiency of their crops. - The dung of pigeons and domestic fowls, where it can be collect- ed in any quantity, is highly valued. The mode of using it is #ither in a dry and powdered state, to which it is reduced by liirashing with a flail, when it is sown with the seeds of legumin- ous plants, or else dissolved in tho urine tank, and thus spread over the land. This manure is chiefly reserved for kitchen firdcns ; it promotes the growth of vegetables, and produces no eeds. ^ TKe solid dung, from which tho liquid has been allowed to run oflF into the tank, must be carefully attended to, that it may not y ■ ,, * In Ghent we wero informed that the sum paid to the servants for the liquids collected, and which is their perquisite, often amounts to as much •0 they receive for wages ; and as consequendy the wages are proportionallj lower, it is in fact the masters and mistresses who benefit by it 36 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. ^ 1 be too dry, and become /ory, as it is called, or burn. It is there- fore mixed up with earth and any useless vegetable matter which can be collected into a heap or compost ; and when it appears too dry some of the liquid from the tank is poured over it, to excite fermentation, and accelerate decomposition, or it is inerely watered, when there is sufficient strength in it to produce heat. In order to increase as much as possible the quantity of solid manure, there is in most farms a place for the general reception of every kind of vegetable matter which can be collected : this is a shallow excavation, of a square or oblong form, of which the bottom has a gentle slope towards one end. It is generally lined on three sides with a wall of brick, to keep the earth from falling in, and this wall sometimes rises a foot or more above the level of the ground. In this pit arc collected parings of grass sods from the sides of roads and ditches, weeds taken out of the fields or canals, and every kind of refuse from the gardens : all this is occasionally moistened with the washings of the stables, or any other rich liquid ; a small portion of dung and urine are added, if necessary, and when it has been accumulating for some time, it is taken out ; a portion of lime is added, and the whole is well mixed together : thus it forms the beginning of a heap, which rises gradually, and in due time gives a very good supply of rich vegetable mould or compost, well adapted to every purpose to which manure is applied. The place wliere this accumulation is made is called in French a croupissoir, and in Flemish or Dutch smoor hoop, which may be translated smothering heap. Besides the manure which is collected on the form,* the vidan- ges or emptyings of privies obtained from the towns, and the sweep- ing of streets, a large quantity of peat ashes imported from Holland, are used, principally as a dressing for clover. These are the ashes of the common fuel in use in Holland, and are sold in Flanders by the bushel, as the Newbury ashes are in Berkshire. Mr. Rad- chfFe has given an analysis of these as follows : * Since the above was written, the subject of liquid manure has been very ably brought to the notice of agriAilturists in a small work by Mr. Cutbbert Johnson, and also by a paper of Mr. Kimberly, in which he announces an important discovery, made by himself, in the management and acceleration of the putrefactive fermentation in vegetable substances. The great activity of manure applied in a liquid state, especially in very light soils, is well known to the Flemish farmers ; but they know also that it is rapidly exhausted, and requires to be repeated annually, unless solid dung be used at the same time. ON MANURE. • Siltcious earth 32 Sulphate of lime 12 Sulphate and muriate of soda 6 Carbonate of lime 40 Oxide of iron 3 Loss 7 3Y vidan- 100 The effect of these ashes seems to be verv similar to that of the Newbury ashes, and by comparing the analysis of the two we may be led to the ingredients on which the result chiefly depends. Xewbury ashes, according to Davy, are composed of Oxide of iron 48 Gypsum (sulphate of lime) 32 Muriate and sulphate of potash 20 100 It appears, therefore, probable that the effect depends on the combination of the lime or the alkalis with sulphuric or muriatic acid, and that the silica in the Dutch ashes, and the iron in those from Newbury, have little or no effect on vegetation. This ac- cords with the experiments made with gypsum. The great effect of the ashes in Flanders may arise from the total absence of cal- careous earth in the light soils on which they are chiefly used. In the ])olders they are thought of so little value, that the ashes produced by the burning of weeds are often collected and carried in boats to be sold for manuring the lighter soils of the uplands. But these are not so valuable as the peat ashes. Wood ashes, after the greater part of the alkali has been extracted for bleaching, are still considered as of great use to the land. Soapers' ashes are in great request for cold heavy soils ; and sugar scum from the refiners, if it could be procured in suffi- cient quantity, would be an excellent manure for every kind of soil Where it can be obtained, they usually throw it into the urine tank ; and the mixture is then considered as almost equal to the vidanges, which are looked upon as the ne plus nlfra of manures. Soot is used as a top-dressing for wheat, or clover in spring, as it is with us. It is thought to destroy insects, and hasten vegtation The weeds, which grow abundantly in all ponds, canals, and ditches in this level country, where the current is never rapid, are mown in spring, and used in their green state as manure forpotatoes. They are laid in the furrows, and the sets placed over them ; the furrow is then filled up by the plough, and the weeds, decom- 38 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. I'i i* II ■-. i '; • I ; ■ A posing very rapidly, greatly assist the growth of the potato plants: so rapidly do these weeds ferment, that much of their value is dissii)ated, if they are left only forty-eight hours in heaps, before they are put into the earth. We have already noticed rape cake dissolved in water as a substitute for urine : it is also used in powder, either as a top- dressing, or sown with the seed. The practice of sowing in drills, and putting in dry .nanures in contact with the seed by means of drilling machines, has never been adopted in Flanders ; nor has the use of ground bones been hitherto introduced to any extent. There is perhaps no modern invention which would be so applica- ble to the Flemish sands, or so advantageous.* The manner in which manure is applied to the land for different crops will be explained as these are separately treated of : but the general principle which i)ervades the whole system of manuring is worthy of attention. Two great objects are always kept in view. The first is to obtain the most abundant crop of whatever is sown, the next is to impregnate the soil with an increasing power of production, if possible, or at least to maintain that which has been obtained. In consequence of this, almost every crop has a certain portion of manure ap])lied to it, which varies according to the nature of the crop to be raised, and that which has pre- ceded ; experience having taught that some crops exhaust the soils more than others. But it is not the mere surface that they desire to manure. They well know that the deeper the soil is fertilized, the greater will be the profit, and the less the labour. They are not satisfied with enriching the land to receive the seed, they furnish food for the growing plant in different stages of its growth, if they think it necessary. There is in consequence no fluctuation in the growth, no check at a time when the plants re(iuire support. The seed is made to vegetate rapidly by being in contact with the rich juices of the manure ; and hence a much smaller ]»roportion of seed is required. Tiie young blat to sink deep. In a momentary exertion it assists the horse by the weight on his back ; and the heavy Flandei's horses are well able to carry a man, and draw a (ight load at the same time. AVhen the ca»k is emjity tlie horse trotrt home for another load, and no time is lost- It ie a-ptoaishing what advantage there is in accustoming liorses to ti'ut when they have no load ; it actually fatigues them kss than the continued sleepy walk. Who would suppose that tlie Flemish and Dutch farmers surpassed us in activity? but whcevtrf hafc been in the Xetlierlandfi in hay-time or harvest must acknowlevith e'hers: and lastly, by what means a given soil may pro«luce this in the greatest per- fection, and at the least expense. As far as the different crops are concerned, it is a mere matter of calculation, whicli it is most profitable to sow. But this may be greatly modiSed by tlie effect of the crops on the subsequent produce, or by the wants of the cattle, which must be kept for the sake of their dung. Hence in one situation a rotation may be the most advantag-^oas, which in another is not so. Where an unlimited quantity of manure can 'Se procured, it may not be necessary to raise so much food for cattle. Where wheat is in great demand, it may not be worth while to sow rye, if wheat will grow as readily with a little more manuring. Wliere rye is the chief food of the popalation, and the soil produces it more readily than wheat, as is the case in all sandy soils, rye is the principal crop. Where barley is in demand, and ftlie soil consists of a thin coat of earth ever a solid chalk, as isi the case in some parts of England, barley naturally becomes the chief crop ; and so likewise in the polders, where extraordinarj-^ crops of barley are grown, this grain is the most profitable. Greeiv crops and roots, excepting potatoes, which are become a principal food of man, must be considered as subsidiary crops, raise-stem could have been established, and wheat couM have Wen made to grow on the same land, year after year in succession for ever, no advantage wcdkl have been obtained, because it would soon have been as- ON ROTATmN OF CROPS. n common as oats ; but rotations would have been useless. But setting aside theories, it has been clearly proved by experience, that variety of produce is essential to continued fertility. Even where no r«.>tntion is apparent, one really exists. The natural grasses are so nnnierous that we do not perceive how thev varv and succeed each other ; but whoever has attentively examined a rich meadow, iH whitdi the grass is allowed to stand till the seeds are ripe, will fiml that every year there is some change : thc- grasses which were most abundant disappear, and others take their place ; in time the first appear again, and the rotation is established, which any one may be convinced of by examining the hav mado olf the same land in ditlerent years. The fairy rings produced by a species of mushroom prove to demonstration, that the ground may be tired of particular plants, and refuse to bear them ; but the richness of the grass in the nng proves also that the soil is. not exhauste«l. In the usual rotations adopted in Flanders, it Avill be found that all these circumstances have been taken into consideration ; and as by a wise disposition of Providence, the bees, without reflection, are compelleil by circumstances to build their cells strictly hexa- gonal, the very best form which a mathematician could devise for their puqwse, so, by circumstances, men may be loil to adopt the svstem of cultivation which is most advantageous on the whole, without any knowledge of the principles on which it is proved to be so. To begin with the light sands. On the poorest spots, which are only just reclaimed from a state of barenness, the principal object is to increase the active vegetable soil or humus ; and the rotation uuist exclude those crops which greatly exliaust it "Wheat is out of the question, and potatoes can only be raised to be consumo years in >s come in p of rye : excepting nly clover ^rop after ivn early. end cor- ninth or id wliere io for it IS, which a great tions go TABLE OF ROTATIONS FOR THE RICHEST KIND OF LIGHT SOIL. First Year. Flax and ♦Clover, or Carrots. Second. Wheat. Oats. Barley and Turnips Third. Fourth. Fifth. , Sixth. Rye and TurnipsI and" Turnips II.VO j or I ' Barley, j Potatoes Wheat. Seventh. Ryo and Carrots, or Barley and Turnips Ryo and Carrots. Potatoes Rye or MTieat. ' Barley, and Turuips Potatoes "WTicat. Rye and Turuips Rye and Turnips Oats. Barley and Turnips or Oats. Rye Flax Potatoes' Wheat, and and Turnips Carrots. I I Eighth. Ninth. Tenth Fhix. Clover. Flax and Carrots. Rye. Clovei Flax. Clover. Oats. Clover. * If clover is sown with the fla.v it is cut in the second year, and another year is added to tho rotiitioii: but it is more u~ual to sow carrots with the flax> and sow oats or barley the second year. 44 FLEMISn IIUSDANDRY. : :i '^1 III this rotation two and even tliroo oiv»ps of corn follow eaoli other, whicih can only be excused by tlie intervention of turnips, and the repeated manuring. In a farm of any extent a greater proportion of grass or ch^ver must be sown to supi)ly the manure required for the other crops : the potatoes are all consumed ob the farm ; wheat, rye, and tlax are tlie only produce sold. AVhen we come to the cultivation of the different crops separ- ately, we shall see what a quantity of manure is recpiired in the Flemish system, a great part of which must be purchased, not- withstanding the quantity of stock which may be kept on the clover, turnips, carrots, and potatoes grown. When the soil is sufficiently strong to grow beans this useful crop is introduced as follows : — 1 234 5 6 780 Potatoes, wheat, beans, rye, wheat, clover, turnips, tlax, wheat, 10 11 12 13 14 oats, fallow, tobacco, rye, oats. This is a very long rotation in which a fallow is introduced in the eleventh year. Tobacco requires a good friable soil, so that this must be a very superior loam. In a stift' loam near Alost the following rotation is adopted: — 1 Potatoes, with 20 tons of dung per acre. 2 Wheat, with 3^ tons, and 50 barrels of urine. 3 Flax, with 12 tons dung, 50 barrels urine, and 5 cwt. rape cake. 4 Clover, with 20 bushels wood ashes. 5 Rye, Avith 8 tons dung, 50 barrels urine. 6 Oats, with 50 barrels. 7 Buckwheat, no manure. The quantity of manure used here appears extraordinary, and although the soil is called n sti.T loam, it is by no means so in reality, for, from constant cultivation and manuring, it is more like a fine mellow brown garden soil. It seems rather too rich for buckwheat, but the oats will have reduced it, as the liquid manure only acts on the immediate crop, and leaves little behind. In a rich loam at Vlamertingen, two miles west of Ypres, the following rotation is found : — ox nOTATION OF CHOI'S. 45 1 Turnips, carrots, chicory. ' 2 Oats and clover seed. 3 Clover. 4 Wheat. 5 Flax. G Wheat. 7 Beans. 8 "Wheat, Potatoes. 10 Wheat. This is the most scourging rota- tion of any, and proves a very rich soil ; the manure, however, is not spared. Great attention to weeding " can alone supply an occasional sum- mer fallow. The potato crop and the flax help to koip the land clean. In the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 9th years the land is manured. 11 Oats. On the rich heavy loams, the following is the Table of Rota- tions given by Mr. Van Aelbroek : — TABLE OF ROTATIONS FOR A GOOD CLAY Oil STRONG LOAM. n First ear. Second, Clover, I Third. 1 Fourth. Filth. ^\^leat. Flax.-{ Rape and Tumijjs OatH. Barley and Turnips Carrots or Barley and Turnips Rnj)e and Carrot.s orUeansi Wheat. Boans. "Wiieat. Sixth. [Seventh i Uyo I and jPotatoes Turnips Rye Wheat. ; and jTurnips Eighth.! Mnth. '. Tcntli Barley Beans. Wlieat. or Ryo. and Turnips Ryo and Turnips Rye and Turnips ""and l^i"--. Clover I ^^ Potatoes '^"""1" Rye \Mieat. and I Oats. Turnips ' Potatocf Potatoe: Rye M'heat. and Tiu'uips t Clover. Wheat. Rye I Wheat: and f Flax. Turnips, Rape j Potatoes! and : Flax. Carrots.' Rye Oats ami or rurnips, Flax. Wheat. Rape and Rve or Barley and Turnips Oats iir Turnips' Fla.\. Flax. I Rve I or I Barley ! and ■ Turniiis Oats or Flax. Flax. Here is a great variety of produce, some of which, as rye, is more suited to a light soil ; but the demand for rye, both for the distillers and for bread, determines the cultivation of it whenever it can be done. Wheat and rye occur twice in the course, pota- toes and flax only once. Turnips as often as they can be grown after a crop of corn. Only a smalt proportion of beans are sown. This is owing to the smaller demand for this pulse, and also to the manner in which beans are usually sown, viz., broad-cast, which 1. 46 FLEMISH IlUfinANDnV. 1 rik lii :l'^ !'■ i docs not insure a good crop, although the closonoss of the stems smotlicrs tlic weeds. From thoso specimens of rotations a tolerable idea may bo formed of the general system. The mode in whieli each crop is cultivated will form the subject of the next chapter. CnAPTER VI. OV TIIK CULTIVATION OF UYE, WIIKAT, UARLEY, OATS, AND nUCKWIIEAT, The general preparation of the soil for these different crops varies according to the season in Avhich they aro sown, and tlio crop which preceded. All, except buckwcat, are well manured at the time of sowing, and sometimes also during their progress towards maturity. The principle which pervades the whole system is to force the first vegetation, by wliich means a much smaller quantity of seed is rccpiired, and to supply the food necessary for the growth of the plant. The manner in which rye and wlieat are juit in will give an example applicable to every other grain. Rye is everywhere a principal crop, as it f'. a considerable portion of the food of the working classes in Flanders, seldom made into bread by itself, but mostly mixed with a ])ortion of wheat, and sometimes with barley also. Rye is sown in light soils, as often as it can be done with any prospect of advantage, tind, as it is found that a crop of turnips soAvn after rye harvest touch repairs the soil, a second crop of rye is generally taken, as may be observed on inspecting the tables of rotations. But it must bo remembered that this second crop is well manured, and that v;ith deep ploughing and ample manuring, land will produce a good crop of the same kind of corn much more frequently than it would under less tuvourable circumstances. When wheat or rye are sown after a white straw crop, as we call it, that is, after Avheat, rye, barley, or oats — which can only be done with advantage under very favourable circumstances-— the stubble is well harrowed soon after harvest, in order to pull up the weeds, and expose their roots to the sun. In the beginning of October from ten to fifteen tons per acre of good rotten dung are spread evenly over the land, and immediately ploughed in six inches deep: the land is ploughed in stitches or beds, varying I. '(. CULTIVATION OF RYE, WHEAT, ETC. 47 frmii SIX to twolvo feet wide, acconUnfj to tlic nature of the soil ' the hcjivicr soils are laid in the smallest stitches: li.|iiid inamiro at the rate often hogsheads per acre is then poured into the inter- vals hctwcen the stitches, by means of a water-cart, which delivers it rcgnlarly, the horse walking in the interval. The harrows aro now drawn across the stitches. Tliis brings a part of the fine .•soil into the intervals, and prevents the too rapid evaporation of the licpiid manure. Six pecks of rye, or of wheat, or two bushels of winter barley, are now sown evenly over the lan(h The man- nred soil in the intervals is first stirred by the plmigh goino- onco up and down, as is done between rows of turnips in the Xorth- uniberland system, throwing the loose earth in a ridge in the mid- dle. Men folloAV with shovels, antl throw this earth over the seed as is done with potatoes in lazy-beds in Ireland, and completely cover it. A roller is then passed over, if required ; or in very loose soils, men tread in the seed regularly with tlieir foot, as the gardeners do. The small extent of the fjirnii allows of this gar- den culture, which in large occupntion.s would be impracticable ; but the princii>le is the same, whether executed by manual labour or machinery. A stitf heavy soil is ploughed nine inches deep, immediately after harvest, and l.'sid in narrow stitches ; spits of earti. aro dug out of the furrows with the ?}>ade. and placed renfu- larly over the plouglied part, without breaking them, as was des-- cribed before, and they are left in this state for scA-eral weeks, til! seed time, when lime is spread over the land at the rate of fifteen or twenty bushels per acre: the harrows level the lumps, .and mix the soil with the lime : five or six hogsheads of liquid manuror aro poured over this, and very little more than a buj^hel of rye of wheat per acre is sown ; the earth from the intcnals is then shov- elled out, and spread evenly over the seed. When whe.at or winter barley succeeds potatoes, as is generally the case, the ground is not ploughed, but only harrowed across: the stitches aro marked out by the plough, and the earth in the" intervals is spread over the seed. About a bushel and a-lialf is ihe greatest quantity of seed sown per acre. Tlye average is five pecks. After rape, which is reaped early, there is time for a bastard fallow, which is not lost sight of. The land is ploughed, cross-ploughed, and laid in stitches, and then the wheat is sown in the same manner as before described. It must, however, bo observed, that as potatoes and rape are very highly manured, no additional manure is put on for the wheat, but should its 48 VLKMIrtll IlUhDANDIlY. ty It V ^i .1; i ^1' ; ii Ik "rcat re[Mito for the tiiiencss of its Hour. ]t seems to degen- erate in every other soil. We have scon a ree sold for that purpose. The Scot(;h here is a hardy inferior sort, fit for exposed situations. The Sucrion is a flat barley with two rows of seeds, which stands the winter well. All barley requires a soil in which the roots can spread rea^lily : the best preparation for it therefore, in heavy soils, is potatoes, as they are usually highly manured, and the earth is well stirred by repeated ploughings. When it is taken after wheat, it is most advantageous to sow it in spring, having given a good tilth to the land before winter, and another in spring. In this case a good manuring both solid and liquid is applied. In light soils carrots are sown among the barley, in spring, thus making the earth produce two crops at the same time, the first reaped in July, the second drawn in October. Oats are frequently sown after clover, and sometimes after rye or potatoes, ; ^ suits the rotation. It is a grain that thrives in almost any soil, with a small proportion of manure, and when the land is enriched gives a large return. The preparation for oatSi 60 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. il.i! ' I I II •' in Flanders, begins by spreading dung over tlie clover ley, but in a smaller quantity than for barley. This is ploughed in before winter, with a shallow furrow, which is laid over flatj to accelerate the decomposition of the roots of the clover. Sheep dung is thought peculiarly good for this purpose. The land is ploughed deep in spring, not to bring the dung again to the surface, but to turn a coat of earth over it. Liquid manure is sometimes spread over the surface before the seed is sown, but not always. The crop seldom fails to give from six to nine quarters per acre from two bushels sown, which is not more than half the seed usually sown in England. When grass-lands are broken up, oats are the most productive crop without any manure, and two crops of this grain are frequently taken in succession, which, as we observed before, can seldom be profitable in the end, whatever be the immediate gain ; but the temptation of two good crops, with little or no expense, is too strong to be resisted. Oats are sometimes reaped with the Hainhault scythe, and sometimes mown. From the length of the straw, which is the consequence of high manur- ing, it is thought most advantageous to tie it up in sheaves at harvest, to prevent the shedding of the seed, if it be taken up loose. Buckwheat is a grain which comes in very conveniently to be sown in poor, light soils, when the manure runs short. If the soil is rich it runs to stalk, and produces a succession of flowers, and but little seed is brought to perfection : as it is a plant which will not bear the least frost, it has but a short period to grow and ripen its seed in ; and if the growth is luxuriant, the vegetation of the stem is prolonged till the frost nips it. It is sown late in the season, and may be con- sidered as a subsitute for a fallow. The land is generally ploughed three or four times, and well cleaned, and the buckwheat is sown in the middle of May. It usually precedes potatoes or carrots, for which the repeated ploughings prepare the soil; and the buckwheat, by the shade of its broad leaves, smothers all the annual weeds. It is sometimes ploughed into the land in a green state, when manure is scarce, and then it is succeeded by rye or wheat ; but this is not a common practice in Flanders, where manure can generally be obtained in abundance by the canals. Buckwheat is used for feeding poultry and pigs, and also for distilling. "When it is ground, it produces a very white flour, from which a pleasant cake, like a crumpet or thick pancake, is made, which is much relished by the peasants. I SOCLTIVATTON 0"F lEQUMINOUS PLANTS. !)l CHAPTER Vir. ■"OF THE CULTIVATION OF LEGUMINOUS PLANTS, PEAS, BEANS, TARES, AND GREEN CROPS, CLOVER, SPUURY. 3Peas 3re cultivated on the light soils, but, as is the case with buckwheat, they are only sown when tlie land is not thought sufficiently rich for other crops, and when there is a deficiency of manure, as little or none is given to the land for this pulse. They are generally sown broad-cast, in the naonth of April, and the peed ploughed in : two bushels of seed per acre is the usual quan- tity. The ground is prepared by being ploughed once or twice in autumn, and agai« in spring, but less care is bestowed on this crop than on any other. When the plan4;s are about four inches high they are well hand-weeded. The produce is from twonty- «^ght to thirty-two bushels per acre. Neither peas nor flax ar« sown again on the land which has borne a crop of peas, in less ■than eight or ten years. The white pea, which is split for ship store, 4s preferred as the most valuable, but the grey pea for hogs is also common. The cultivation of beans on the heavy soils, whicli alone are fitted for this pulse, is by no means so perfect as in England, especially in Kent The broad-oast method of sowing prevent* the use of the horse-hoe ; and as n principal object in sowing beans in Flanders is to smother the weed^, they are sown so thick that the hand-hoe is of little use. The manner in which tlie land is prepared is as follows : having been ploughed in autumn, and well harrowed to destroy the weeds, it is ploughed «gain very deep hi March, and the stitches are reversed, the crown being where the interval was before. It is again well harrowed, and about three bushels of beans per acre are sown regularly by hand, and harrowed in ; after this ten or twelve tons of manure are put on evenly, or, if the soil is very heavy and cold, eight tons of manure and fifty bushels of lime. This is ploughed in with a very shallow furrow, only two or three inches deep, and then tlie land is laid smooth by passing the harrows reversed over it. Some farmei-s sow the bieans after the manure is spread, and plough in both together ; others plough in the manure first, and then sow the beans, and cover them with the harrows. This last method does not suffici- ently cover them, and if the weather should 'be dry soon after mowing, the beans will not come up so regularly. 52 rLBMISH HUSBANDRY. Bi ! V. A few intelligent proprietors liavc seen the defieicjicy of thi* method both in the crop nnd in tlie state of the land after it, and have adopted another practice taken from the gardeners. A man, with a strong hoe like the Devonsliire hack, makes holes in a line, at a foot or more from each other, and women follow and drop two or three beans in each hole, which are covered with the earth scooped out of the next row of holes as the workman returns. The distance between the rows is the same as between tlie holes in the rows ; and by making the holes in one row opposite the intervals of the other, the whole field is planted in a quincunx order, as is usually done with cabbage plants. There is a great saving of seed in this way of planting beans ; and when the plants come up they are well hoed and weeded, and the earth is drawn up all around the stems. The produce is much greater, and the land is as clean as after a fallow. Another method, where the land is sound and dry, is to spread the manure, and rake it into the furrows as fast as tliey are made by the plough ; beans are then dropped on the manure, and covered with the earth of the next furrow when the plough returns, till the whole field is planted. If this is done in every second furrow only, the crop will be all the better, and the land more easily hoed. ITorse-hocs have not yet been introduced into practice ; some such instniments have been brought from England, but they are mere objects of curi- osity, and are despised by the ignorant. In heavy soils some of the best farmers trench-plough the land, by means of two ploughs follow- ing each other in the same furrow. This is most advantageously done before winter, that the frost may mellow the poorer earth brought up. A good liming and manuring soon bring the whole mass into a fertile state, and in this deep soil beans grow luxuri- antly. In some districts where the soil is loamy, they sow pens and beans together, and sometimes tares also: the object is to produce green food for the cows and pigs in summer. In this case the closer the plants can be made to grow the better for the land, as nothing cleans it more effectually. The crop is cut at the time when the pods are just formed, and while the top is still in bloom : it is used in a fresh green state, as tares are in England. If any extent of ground is devoted to this crop, portions are sown at different times, to have a regular succession : it produces the heaviest crop of green food that can well be got from the land. This practice is worthy of imitation in our stiff soils. It seems not to exhaust the land, and leaves an admirable surface to sow 1 a '( fv. / CULTIVATION OF LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. ^heat in with a single slight plougliing; or, if it be thought advantageous, there is ample time thoroughly to pulverize the soil during summer and autumn. Tares are occasionally sown for their seeil like pca>, but they do not enter into the usual rotations, and as the generality of soils are light, clover is preferred. In the heavy soils they are mixed with peas and beans for green fodder as we noticed above. A more extensive cultivation and succession of winter lares and spring tares might afford a useful addition to the food for horses in summer, especially as clover cannot be sown with advantage on the same land oftener than every seven or eight years. Clover is the glory of Flemish farming, and in no country is it found in greater fierfection. It was from Flanders that the culti- vation of this productive and useful plant was introduced into Great Britain. Sir Richard Weston, in an account of a journey into the Netherlands, in 1645, speaks with admiration of the fields of clover he had seen there, when clover was not known in England as a cultivated crop, and only found amongst natural grasses in rich meadows. The large broad clover, commonly called red •vie -ar (Tri/olium Prateiise,) is that which is chiefly cultivated ia i" '' i-s. This is sown in spring, at the rate of 8 llw. of seed per 4 > , -inongst the barley, oats or flax, or in the rye or wheat which were sown in autumn. When it is sown among flax, which ia drawn without injuring the clover, it is cut the same year. With barley it is apt to become too rank, and impede the drying of that crop at harvest. In the second year the clover cxjmes to perfec- tion ; it is then mown at least twice, but often three times in the season, furnishing a heavy green crop each time. The great use of clover for cattle tempts farmers to rejjeat the crop too often on the same ground, and the conseijuence is a failure, not only on account of the soil beinjr deteriorateil for this plant bv the too frequent production of it, but also by encouraging a most destruc- tive i)arasitical plant called the Orobancf'f, whiih in some places in F'landers threatened to put an end to the cultivation of clover. The minute seeds of this plant fix themselves to the roots o( the clover, and vegetate at their expense. The plant afietted Wcornes Weak, aiid ultimately dies away, and the < >robanche spreads so rapidly that whole fields of clover are soon destroyed, if the progress of it be not arrest/^'d in time : the only sure remedy is to keep the land in good tillage, ntid iwt to sow clover in it again for at least eight or ten years ; if it be sown sooner the Orobanclie - '» i'l ^' ^ .. I. S4 FLEMISn nUSBANDUV. will again make its appearance. This plant is known in EngTan^^ but it« devastations have never been so great as to lea«l to any public notice of it. It is easily discovered, rising several inches out of the ground, and tlie stem being of a jieculiar scaly form. In the spring of the next year after the clover is sown, it is almost univer.^alh' dressed with Dutch peat-ashes, at lenst in the lighter soils. From thirty to fifty bushels are spread on an aere^ •Ix^ut the Olid of Febniary r showery weather is favorable to their being waslad to the roots of the clover. In strong soils the top- dressing often consists of the compost, which we have described as being collected in the cronpissoir, which is rich and well mixed with lime. When weeds appear among the young clover they are carefully pulled up at the time wl en the tojvdressmg is put on ; and if the plants seem weak and thin, a sj>rinkling of dihite() tank liquor invigorates the growth. Tlie greatest part of the clover is given to ciittle in a green state, it being then most nutritive : hay is only made of any sur- plus quantity which could not be consumed in the season. This is usinillv made about the middle or end of June. In the makin«r of clover hay there is nothing superior to the method.-^ used in England, excepting that small proprietors sometimes reap it and tie it in bundles, as is done with corn, especially if the seed b* ripe r by this means the loaves are less scattered rsbout. and in them is contained the principal nourishment of the plant. In order to have clover seed free from admixture with the s«?eds of weeds, women and children are sometimes employed to gather th< heads of the clover, singly, when ri|)c : they collect them in bas- kets, and carry them to the barn till they can t-e thr.ished, which is usually done in dry frosty weather, because then the capsules are brittle, and the seed separates more easily from them*. The Waes countrj- is that which chiefly supplies the market with clover seed : and Lokeren is the plate where the greatest quantity is sold. Many fiirmers from oth**r districts prefer buying this seed to savins; their »)wn. Ihe value of an acre of chjver is very eonsiilerablc. The first «rop is often sold on the ground for 120 francs, nearly 5/. f»er acre, and the set-d fronr the second crop, which in the Waes country frciiuently amounts to five or six cwt., may be worth there as much more, making the whoUi produce amount to lOA, with very little outlay. Taking the difference in the value of agricultural! frctUice, this ia- fully cr^ual to 15^. per acre iu England, a suia d( CULTIVATION OP LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 55 which few crops of clover will realize here, when the expense of making tiie hay is deducted. When the clover-plant fails the land is ploughed in autumn, and some other crop is sown ; or fresh clover seed is sown in the vacant places, in the following spring, and tho bush-harrow or the traineau is drawn over, to bury it : by this means a good crop is often secured by the end of July. Spurry — Spcrgula Arvensis — is a plant which grows very rapidly in light sandy soils. It is often sown i mmedi at ey after barley harvest, to be cut in time for the sowing of rye. The pro- duce is trifling, but it costs little, and cows are very fond of it. It is said to give their milk and butter a very .agreeable flavour. Ten or twelve pounds of seed are suflicient for an acre. A variety much larger and more productive than that which is a mere weed in our ligl.^ soils is sometimes sown in the end of March, and, with the help of liquid manure, produces a tolerable crop in less than two months ; after which a crop of potatoes may still be had, or, at least, a very good crop of turnips. This is sometimes a con- veniens^ way of bringing a field into a regular course again, when, from some circumstance or other, the usual rotation has been disturbed. Lucern, which is so highly prized in some countries, is not cul- tivated to any great extent in Flanders. The poor light sands arc not very favourable to this plant, which likes a rich deep soil. In western Flanders there are some soils well adapted to its growth, but it is not so common as to form any marked feature in Flemish husbandry. Barley is sometimes sown to be mown green in spring, but rye, which is chiefly sown for that purpose in England, is sel- dom cut green. This arises probably from a reluctance to cut down a plant which, when it comes to perfection, produces the principal food of the people. That this is no suflicient reason the slightest reflection will convince us, for rye cut in a green stato does not exhaust or deteriorate the soil, as it would when left to ripen its seed, and it may therofore be sown again on the same land without waiting the usual time allowed for its recurrence. The question is simply as to the value of the seed sown when compared with that of the green crop. Buckwheat is sometimes cut for fodder in the light sands, and helps to make up for a deficiency of clover. 50 FLEMISH 11U8HANDRY. CHAPTER VIII. i4 I'f OF THE CULTIVATION OF ROOTS, POTATOES, TURNII'S, BEETS, CARROTS PARSNIl'S, CHICORY. If we are indebted to the Flemish for the introduction of clover and turnips into our jigricullure, they are ccjually so to us for the valiitblo potato. This root is now become a great substitute for corn tliroughout all Europe, and its intluence on the population cannot be denied. When corn fails potatoes are generally most abundant, and thus prevent that distress which is so great aclieck to population. In Flanders potatoes form a part of every rotation, the light soils being peculiarly adapted to the growth of this root ; and as a great part of the produce is consumed by cattle, and thus gives an adequate return in manure, the objection often made to its extensive cultivation, that it exhausts the soil and returns little to it, is not well founded. Were it not for potatoes to keep the cattle during the latter part of the winter and beginning of spring, when the supply of turnips fails, a much smaller number could be kept, for hay is a dear fodder in most parts of Flanders. I^otatoes were' at first only knowu as an esculent root in gardens, and it was a long time before their real value was found out. In 1740 they were for the first time sold in the market of Bruges, in consequence of the zeal of an individual of that town, Mr. Ver- hulst, who distributed some sets gratuitously to the farmers in the neighbourhood. From that time the cultivation increased rapidly, and spread all over the country. The varieties which are mostly sold in the towns are the earliest and best flavoured, which are chiefly raised in sheltered gardens. The plant being a native of a warmer climate cannot bear the least frost. It is therefore not safe to plant it in the fields before March or April. The sets which are planted to produce an increase are not seeds but buds, and as such perpetuate the qualities, good or bad, of the parent stock. Each variety proceeds from some original plant raised from seed, and is subject to ago and decay with its parent. Hence varieties continually degenerate or wear out, and fresh or new varieties must be produced by sewing the seeds : recent experi- ments and observations fully bear out the truth of this jissertion. It is therefore not sufficient merely to find a superior variety, the age of the parent plant should also be noted. Some will last longer than others, but all old varieties sooner or later show marks CULTIVATION OF ROOTS, ETC. 61 of decay; and tlio sooner tlicy are exchanged for younger and more vigorous the better. In Fhinders the principal crop of pota- toes is planted in April. Potatoes require much manure to give a great return, although those which grow in poor soils are much pleasanter to the taste. For cattle, however, quantity is of more consequence than flavour. The soil in whicli potatoes are to bo planted should be well prepared by deep and repeated ploughing, or what is still better, by trenching with tho spade. Tn Flanders the sets are planted in rows two feet wide or more, and the same distance between the sets, so that each plant may have the earth drawn up to the stem, and a small hillock made round it. Some- times the land is ploughed and manured as for other crops, excepting that the quantity of manure is at least double the quan- tity usually put on for corn. The sets are then dropped into holes regularly made with a blunl dibble, and filled up with earth. These sets are either small potatoes picked out for that [uirpose, or larger cut into pieces, taking care that there shall be at least two eyes or buds left in each piece. When potatoes are planted to any considerable extent, the method is similar to that which we des- cribed for beans, the furrows being proportion ably deeper ; the sets are dropped upon the dung in every second or third furrow about eighteen inches apart, and covered by the return of the plough. In this manner nine or ten bushels of potatoes will plant an acre. The crop averages about three hundred bushels, if the land is well prepared, and the potato-plants have been well hoed and moulded up. This is not very great return, considering the quantity of manure. The quality of the potatoes depends on the nature of the soil ns well as on the variety planted : in light sands the pota- toes are small, and mealy when boiled ; in good loams they grow large and more juicy, but are not so well flavoured: the latter producing a greater bulk are preferred for cattle. There is a potato called Schdde Windcke potato, from the name of a villrtire near Alost : thev grow in a strong soil, and are remark- ably mealy and gooy :\ irontleman of the name of Lankman, which are in great repute, and go by his name. It would be diflicult to point out the variety from which these sprung, as the soil in which tliey are transplanted has, no doubt had a great influence on their 58 FLEMISH HUSUANDRY. 'i U i; ■■' i* , present quality. A few small Flemish potatoes, which wo once .sent to a friend at Keiiilworth, prodiu-ed in that rich soil some of the lari^est potatoes wo ever met with. None of the orijj^iiial potatoes were so lar/^e as a hen's i'(ri I mi ON TURNIPS. 59 crops that a small farm is made to pioduco mucli more in propor- tii)ii than a large one, and that every mmnber of a family is con- stantly antj busily employed. As soon as the corn is cut, the por- tion of the field which is cleared is ploui^lied and harrowed, iinuid manure is poured over it, and the seed is sown ; so thiit in tweniy- four hours an aero which was but just cleared is again prodr.cinjj a fresh (trop. The ploughing and sowing goes on every day, and follows on the heels of the rt-apers : of such conserjucnce may Ix' the delay of two or three days, that the seed sown first will be out and in the rough leaf; when that which was two or three days later is only just coming up, and is subject to .all the depn-diitions of insects. When the turnips are fairly up, they are watered with diluted urine, and their growth is rai)id beyond l)elief. We have seen turnips sown in the middle of July, after barley harvest, which in the end of August already showed very promising bulbs. If it were not for this accelleration of the growth, no crop of any weight could bo raised by the end of September, when they are usually pulled up. The cultivation of the beet-root had been introduced into Flan- ders under the dominion of Buonaparte, for the manufacture of sugar: it was then a forced cultivation, and was abandoned as soon as peace had restored the usual supply of sugar from the colonies ; and althouirh the revival of this manufacture in France, where considerable fortunes have been lately realized by it, has induced several speculative individuals, and also a compariy with a largo subscribed capital to re-est.ablish manufjictories of Ix-et-root sugar in different parts of Belgium, the Flemish farmers in general are not much disposed to raise the beet-root for sale. They imagine, whether correctly or not, that the land sutTers from this crop, when there is no return of manure, as much as it would from potatoes sold off the farm, while the latter ar'3 much more prulitable : and the carriage of this heavy produce to any distance through roads almost impassable in autumn greatly diminishes the ret'.irn. The manufacturers of sugar have f..uud, in conseqnoiico, that they can- not rely on a regular supply from thi^ farmer, and that they must enter into the cultivation of the beet-root to a large extent on their own account, to keep up a proper supply. The company estab- lished near Waterloo have purchased a large tract of land, a great part of which is in woods, which they are cutting down, and con- verting into arable land for this purpose : on this fresh soil, which is by no means rich, the beet-root appears to thrive well. A largo 00 FLEMISH IIU8DANUKY. W:h i'iij' M :g mgnr mnnufactory is croctcd at Bruges, another near rrhent, and a smaller near Dixituule. atul various other places, which will require many hundreds ot* acres for beet-root annually, and thus make this rout an important article of cultivntion. The r.iude in wliich this root is cultivated has nothing peculiar in it. The land is plouj^hed and woll manured ; the stod is dihhled, as in the ^'arden, in rows a foot or eighteen indies wide and a foot asun
tr in the crops. Time will show who arc right. In the mean time the cultivation of the white and yellow beet, which contain most saccharine matter, is extending rapidly. A small portion only of these useful roots is rais»'d for the cows. They are not supposed to bo so good for the milk as turnips, and they take up the whole season. Should the cultivation be greatly extended, it may have a great eftect in causing a variation in the usual rotations of crops now generally adopted. The advantage to agriculture of the beet-root sugar manufactory, where good land is not over-abundant, is still problematical. The Jiutft-b(tiilli'ttol)or a jroo.l wciy:lit of cMiTois is producoil on land wliic laid on its importation into Hritain. It is the same jtlant which Arthur Young so strongly recommeinled for its leaves for cattle and sheep, but it has not been found to answer the exj>ectation in this point of view. The root contains a strong bitter, which may bo extracted by itifusion ; it is also useil in the brewing of beer, to save hops. It is wholesome, and if it does not impart an unplea- sant taste to the liter, there can bo no objections to its use. At all events the cultivation of it, whether for beer or cotfee, is apart of Flemish agriculture, and deserves to bo noticed* The seed is sown in the end of March or beginning of April. It is treated exactly .is the carrot, when sown alone. The ground should b« Pi ON FLAX. 03 iilollow and «lpop, rntlior lii'.ivy tliiin lij^lit, antl ploui^lu'il ortromli- cd tt» ft i;<»o ^ivcn to sli(><'|)ot'|ii^8> liut t!i»'y ufiv<> a l>a»l tastt- to tin- milk of tlic rows wlio cat, them. Tiie roots arc takon np in SoptcmlK-r, and an* tlion of tlu' sizo of a small rarrot : tliey aro cut int«» pieces, and drieij in a kiln. In tliat state tlu*y nro <'xportod. TIm* price varies mtuli, according t(» produce and ns and in ]>articular soils: the market is ovorstockoti at one time, and a threat demand <'xists at another. Such a produce can never enter into a regular course, but may be raised a.s cireumst;inces may afford a prosj)ect of sale and profit. J CFTAITKR TX. OF TIIR Cl'LTIVATIOX OK FLA AND ItrMI'. Flax may be considered as a staple commoc!*: in Flanders: it employs a preat portion of the popuhi^'on, is exported n largo quantities, ant perfectly understood there. It maybe raised in various soils, but its.jualitr depends much on the land (diosen for its cultivation, and on the tillaife and mammni;. Its roots sink deej), where it has rot^ii, and It is f^enerally said, that the roots of trtutd llax should strike into the soil to a depth equal to half the length, at least, of the stem above ground. The soil most projier for this plant, if theie is a choice, is a deep, rich, friable loam, neither too dry in summer, nor wet in winter, in short, the best and d(M'pest soil that can be found '. but jis this is scarcely ever *n 1m; obtained to any <;reat extent, art and labour must supply tl ' Jiciency of nature; and trenehinff, workiuif, and manuriui; must <'reate a deep soil, and enrich it. A porous subsoil, or one tlvit is well drained, is essential. In a course, or rotation, in whic's Hax enters jus a princij)al crop, the whole inanaey are saved in bags or baskets. The flax deprived of the seed is now tied in small bundles, and, in some places, immediately j)ut into the water to steep ; but about Courtray, where every proces.s is water runs over and under the frame, and is convinually changwl. The consoqm-nce of this is, that the (lax becomes of a clean while colour, without the usual bluish tint, and is therefore more valuable. The time of steeping i» swmowhat longer than in s'agnant water. It is pn-tended by those who do not adopt this nielhoil, that there is a considerable loss in the weight of (lax steeped in this way, which counterbalances the superior value. This is, however, not clearly proved, and the quantity of Hax which is bn u^jht from a great distance to be thus steeped is a ]>resuniptive proi)f that this method is, on the whole, the most profitable, and the l>est. The flax is frequently examined, when it is nearly steeped enough : if it be left a few hours too long in the water the quality is injured, and if it be taken out too soon the whole fibre will not l»e detached, but will break in the scutching. As soon as the fibres separate from the woody part, the whole lengtli of the j»lant, it is immediately taken out of the water, the bundles are untied. ane(ore they were steeped, v ^ spread on clotJis in the sun, to thoroughly dry them; after wuicu they are stored in a dry granary, until the seed be want«»d for crushing or for sowinor. The seed which is beaten out in winter is better than that which has been separated from the capsules at first, because it has had time to ri|KMi, and to convert more of its mucilage into oil. The Flemlih flax seed, when sown, produces more seed than that from ON HEMP. M Riga, but the flax is inferior. Ileiico fresh Rin;a seed is bought every second year. >fi'.\t to Courtray, for the growth of good flax, ar<' Roulers, Tliielt and Oudenardo ; the Wues ilislrict comes next, with Terraondo and Alost : that from the neighbourliood of Ghent is inferior. An acre of good flax near Courtray is worth from 201. to 25/., without reckoning the seed, wliich is worth .5/. or C/. more. Merchants come out of France and Brabant to buy it, as it is pulled and tied in bundles. They have it steoi)ed at their own expense by the regular steojiers. In other districts the flax is of less value, in florae not above half the sum. When it is con- sidered that wages are not much more than half of what they are in England, it will be seen that the rent and profits of an acre of land fit for the growth of flax must b« (considerable ; but it must be observed, that this golden crop only recurs every nine or ten years; and the continual manuring of the land must in part be set off against this crop, which some how or other considerably reduces the fertility of the land. Hemp is not cultivated so extensively as flax, but as it forms a principal produce in the Waes district, where there are some con- siderable rope and cable manufactories, and is cultivate*! with some care, it cannot ))e passed over. The best soil for this plant is a good dQC]^ loam, such as is found in spots in the Waes distrirt, and near Alost. The hemp raised on this soil is long and of a strong texture, and consequently well adapted for cables, cordage, and strong canvas for sails. In lighter soils the hemp is sown thicker, and does not attain the same size or strength. The soil on which hemp is intended to be sown is ploughed in autumn and again in spring. In the middle of May it is manured with fifteen tons of good rotten dung, which is immediately ploughed in, unless the land had been manured in suf.unn, which is the better practice, as then the dung h already in adccomj^osed state at the spring ploughing. In some small farms the hemp- hmd is trenched and prcjiared with the spade, and it amply repays the additional expanse. In either case the liquid manure is not omitted, «'sp(*'.:iallv if t'lilaiif/px can be prcKiured : five tubs of this last, each as mu«h as a horse can draw on the land, are considered as good a dressing as fifl<'i'n hogsheads of the common tank liquor, which is chii'Hy cows' urine. This manure is allowed to sink into the soil for three or four days; the land is then harrowed, and about half a bushel of hemp seed is sown per acre. The sos are. The i^round is ploughed in autumn and in spring, and asi^ain a short time before the seed is sown, and well manured with farm-yard ilunu;. The seed is sown very thin, and harrowed in : as the plants come up they are weeded and thinned out, so as to leave them nine inches or a foot apart. l?etoro winter they have accjuircd a considerable size, and the stems have had tho earth drawn up to them. Thus they remain all winter without injury from the frost: in sprinj; they are weeded again, and the earth gathered round each plant, which ensures a vigorous growth of the seed-stem. After Howering in April and May the seed-pods fill, and begin to get ripe in Juno or July : care is taken to cut •the crop before the poils are fully ripe, or they would shevell manured, ploughed to a good de[»th, and laid in stitches : tho plants are then brought in baskets to the field. A man, with a wide spade made on purpose, opens a gap in the soil, by i)lanting in the spade vertically, as far as the blade will go, and then pressing tho handle towards his body : a woman or child with a basket or bundle of plants imme- diately sets one in each corner, and the spade handle being replaced in a perpendicular position, the earth falls back upon the two plants. The man, when he has drawn out the spado, puts his foot ON COLZA. 19 between the two [Aunts, nnd thus pn'sscs the earth ai^alnst their roots. The wholo of this u|K'ratiuii is pcrforincl in tar less time than we have taken to ilescrilx! it; in fa»t, jirartice i,'ives such dexterity that a donhh; row of plants is avl in u very short time all ah>n^ the bi'd : the next doidtio row, whiih is set in n»tiirninjaf, 18 cii^htucn inches distant from the tint, and the phmts are jihiced 80 as to alternate with thvelled, and the earth is raised aroun ! the stems. They cannot fail to grow 74 rLCMisn nuHBANnnr. 9 and nhoot out stronjr sood-Htoins nnd «u<*o»iIent loaves. Thow lenvos are much rellsliod bvcUtIo, aud thi8 sonjotiinos induces tlio small farmer to gather a portion of them for his cows, at a time when fodder isscaree; hut he pays dear for this supply, by the diminution of th<> seed, which is abundant in proportion to tho luxuriance of tho loaves on tli<^ stem at the time of floworinjy. When the colza is cut, it i« thrashed, m described before, unless tho weather bo very unfavorable; in that cas(> it is dried, as well as circumstances permit, without much handling : it is then laid in layers with dry straw, and stacked in the field, or carried to tho barn. This plan is, however, seldom resorted to in Fhmders, the season in fr(>neral permitting its being housed in a dry state, if not threshed in the Held. To save time and trouble the plants of colza are sometimes put in with the plough, being 80t in tho furrows, as wo have described in planting potatoes, with this difference, that the plants are set upright, or rather slanting a 'little against tho furrow-slieo last turned up, and the return of the plough covers the roots, leaving the crown above ground. A man goes along the furrow, and with his foot presses against each plant to settle the earth aroinul it. This method is not so much practised in Flanders as it is in other parts of Ik'lgium, where tho extent of farms is much greater, and whore so miw.h labour cannot well bo spared for each crop. It is a loss j)erfect method, and tho plants do not lake root so certainly, or grow so well as by tho other. An acre of good colza produces on an average thirty bushels of seed. In March, after tho colza has been hoed, carrot-seed is often sown in tho intervals : it comes up well, and after tho colza is reaped, and tho ground has been cleared of the stumps which remj.ln, tho carrots are thinned out, and get to a good size before winter. The colza is sometimes sown thick and broad-cast, to servo as food for (tattle and sheep in winter nnd spring, but tho Navettc {Bmsskn Napm) is more usually sown for this purpose. Tho Navrttc^ which is also called Rnbiolh\ is a plant of tho cabbage tribe, which grows well in lighter soils than suit tho colza. If it wore not for this peculiarity, the colza, as more productive of seed, wouUl always bo preferred. Tho navette is not usually planted out, but sown broad-cast, and thinned out. If it is sown in spring it will run to seed in autumn, but its produce will be less ; if it bo sown in autumn it will stand tho winter, and seed s. ThfiM TulucOS tllO , nt n time >Iy, by tlin ion to tho orin. It is certainly, (ushols of ?d is often colza is ps wliich izo before servo as Navettc it of the tho col /a. uctivo of usually t is sown will be and seed Off poppr. Ti early in tho next oummcr. This is the prcforablo method, as it may be sown after Iiarrcst, and wlien it is ripe there is p[o<>eing thrown over tho seed, tho harrows reversed are drawn over it. In May the plants are thinned to a ff»ot distniico each way» for each throws out many stems. In Augtist the seed is ripf. and it is gathered in a manner which will app<'ar tedious, but win. Ii is etTectual to obtain all the seeil in perfection. When some of the heads begin to drj, and the openings through which the seed sheds appear under the crown, men and women go along the rows of jxtppies, and shake every head in succession over a basket or box hung on the left arm, without breaking tho stems: all the ripe seeds which arc loose in the head, drop out, and in time the basket is filled, and the seeds are put together in sacks. A few days after tho tho same operation is repeated, after which the stalks are pulle/nnn Sotirmii) — a plant fit tpwully fuiitid ill tlic iiiliN, niul ('ni(li*-at<'«| as a w*ril. It lias tlui ptculiar advaiitaj^o of ripcMiiiif; itH hifiin iu tiiu cliort spaic of tlin!« im >fillis from til. tiiiu' of K4»«v'' 1 1 \A on tliiA Hccuiiul Hown iii spiiiiji;, \\Iu'ii tlic col/a, r/'.'. • «• any ollur crop, lian prii>h«ed, less than '2 IIis. per aero, in sown, mixed with fine Hand or n-ihes to tlistrihrne it more e(|iially. The hiihleharrow or tniiiuaii snllleitiilly covers it ; nnd hh it wil i;iow oil v«ry ]»<»or land, no more inniure ih re«|uiri'd than w»h lelt hy the la>t crop. If it is sown in May the seed will he ripe in S«'ptcml»er, and in tln-n treatt'd exaclly as tin* colza or the navelte. The prodiuv in rieh soils is less than that of I'illier of these last, Init it iiiav 1» K! sown wiii'ie ci'i/a won hi give no adetpiafo rt'turn: in ^^ood land it is eoiifessedly only a buhstitult'. Willi the stems of the eaiiieliiii' nsct'iil hro^uiis arc ir.ade, and in some plaees the plant is tiiliivated for that purpose: it forms a part of the industry of th(> small farnn'rs who have hut a few acres of land, whiih they eullivato with the spa;lil»onrliose, especially on thin chalky soils. In some jtarts of the contiiH'iit, where aj^riiultuie is little understood, and the fiuio. illy covorn iiiMiiuro in I Miiy tlie lly lis tlio than that 1/a wotihl ly only u ruiitiiH nrc jiuriioso: » have hut , as in th»' II worlhy cultivatrd [»rii-ru'hls wlu'ther juirpose, •oiitinrnt, Diiutinios >r jx'opla thu Reed amps in CnAPTEIl XT. or TIIF. CIM.TIVATIOS OK IM.AXTH fBKD FOK TIIKIIl COI.olH IK DVKINO, AS TIIK WUAD, WELD, MAUDKli. ; — AND OF IIOI'H AND TOIIACCO. TiiK W.in»«n inlroilnood into FJanire would permit ; dyo sliitrs attracted his particular attention, mid the cultivation of the Isatis Tinctoria was greatly encouraged. This plant is cnllelo on that account, has the leaves smooth, and the seeds of a violet colour. The land on which it is cultivated is laid out in beds, and very highly manured. Tho manure used is such only as is well decom- posed, and it is thoroughly mixed with. the soil. In fact, a good preparation for flax will be e(|ually so for |)a.stel. Tho seed is sown very thin, in March ; tho plants requiring mucli room, dibbling il regularly would bo an improvoraent, tjikiiig caro not to put it in too deep. In tho beginning of May the plants are thinned out, if they are too close. They are left from a foot to eighteen inches asunder at least. In the end of June the leaves begin to be fit for gathering, which is known by their bonding down, and turning slightly yellow. A dry time is necessary fortius gathering, which is reiieated three or four times as the leaves arrive at tho proper state of maturity. Considerable attention is required to produce tho most perfect colour, as well as tho greatest quantity of tho it or earth adhere to the leaves they should bo dye any TB FLEMISH HUSBANDRT. '• 1-1 Ma 1 .'■1 (t i Blighlly washed, and set t« dry in the sun. They are the bctler for a slight drying before they are carried to the mill. They should never bo heaped up in the fresh state so as to excite tho least fermentation. They are ground into a paste in a mill con- structed like an oil-mill. The paste is well pressed with the hands and foot, under a shed, and made into one or more heaps, of which the sintace is made smooth. There it heats, and a hard crust is formed on the surface, which must not bo broken on any account ; all cracks in it are immediately stopped with some of the paste. In a fortnight the fermentation is completed, which is known by the cessation of the strong ammoniacal smell diffused during the time of its continuance. The mass is then broken up, and the crust is well mixed up with the interior parts. The whole is formed by the hands into balls of about 1 lb. weight each, and then pressed into oblong moulds, and formed into cakes like small bricks. These being carefully dried are fit for sale. Whether the cultivation of woad is profitable or not depends so much on the price of indigo,, and the demsinds of the manufacturers, that the cultivation of it to any extent must always be attended with some risk. A small quantity, however, proportioned to the wants of the dyers around, may always be raised with advantage. The Weld {Reseda luteola) is also a plant raised for the yellow dye which it affords. Its French name is Gaude. It is an annual plant which grows three or four feet high ; its flowers are greenish, growing in long spikes. It is a native of Europe, and found along ditches, roads and woods. It is consequently hartly, which is not the case with the small species called mignionctte, so commonly sown for its sweet smell. The weld will grow in most soils, and does not dislike those which are slightly wet, but it is most pro- ductive in good soils. It may be sown after rye, potatoes, or turnips, about once in eight or ten years, and without any manare^ In southern climates it is sown in autumn, but in the' northern always in spring. The seed being small is usually mixed with sand or ashes when sown, and covered only by the bush-harrow or traineau. When the plants begin to cover the ground they are carefully weeded or hood, and no further care is necessary till the end of summer, when the seed is ripe, and the stem begins to put on a yellow tint. The plants are then carefully pulled up, and immediately taken to a place where they can be sheltered in case of rain ; they are set up against walla or hedges exposed to tfae sun, that they may dry rapidly ; when sufficiently dried the MADDER. 70 he bcllcT . They >xcite tha mill con- wilh the lieaps, of 1(1 a hard en on any li some of ed, which ill diffused )roken «p> rhe whole each, and like small Whether > much on urcrs, that sndcd with > the wants rtge. the yellow I an annual c greenish, ound along liich is not commonly t soils, and s most pro- wtatoes, or ny inanare. ic* northern mixed with >ush-harrow round they jcessary till m begins to pulled up, sheltered in exposed to r dried tho seed is beaten off with sticks, or against a board set on edge, and is caught on a cloth. Bundles or sheaves are then mn 'o of the dried plants, and deposited in a dry and airy place under cover ; they are sold in that state. A simple decoction of tho plant is used in o^ycing. MadJer has been long cultivated to a great extent in the rich alluvial soils of tho province of Zealand, which forms a part of the kingdom of Holland ; but it has also been introduced into the Flemish polders, and an establishment for its cultivation and manufacture has also been formed, under the protection of the Belgian government, by Mr. Van der Plancke, at Drongon, near Ghent. The account of the cultivation of it, which we shall here describe, is partly taken from tho " Dictionnaire d'Agriculture," Paris, 1820, and partly from a pampldet published by Mr. Van der Plancke, Ghent, 1830. The madder is called in French Garance ; in Flemish, Meckraj). It is the Ruhia TInctorum Sativa of Linnaeus. It coin&s originally from tho southern parts of Europe, or the north of Asia : but it has been long domesticated in the north of Europe, and improved by assiduous cultivation. It has a long herbaceous stem, and roots which, in good ground, extend several feet in length. Tho outer skin of tho root is yellow, the internal part red. It is this root which is the object of culti- vation : a rich light soil of great depth is essential to its success. This immediately indicates that trenching with tho spade two or three feet deep is a necessary preliminary. The ground should have a supply of humus diflused through the whole mass of the soil, which can only be obtained by a course of high cultivation for a considera ^5 period, and particularly by that of artificial grasses. If there were rich dry old pastures which could advan- tageously be broken up, which are not often found in Flanders these would give the best soil for tho roots. But then a deep trenching is still required, and repeated ploughings, to render the soil loose and friable. The preparation of the land begins in the autumn, in the manner which we have repeatedly described, when a very good tilth is required for the ensuing spring-sowing or planting. Tho dung is ploughed in before winter, the vidanges or urine poured on in spring. Madder is usually sown in a seed bed, ^nd transplanted where it is to remain. The seed is sown while yet fresh, for when it is kept till very dry and hard it is a long time in coming up, often as much as a year or two. It is therefore kept moist in sand, 80 FI.KMISH Ill'SIIANDKr. I- until it is wantctl to bo sown. A rich 1)l'»1 in miuh; in a ffnnh'O or Belli in H|)tin up well tln'V arc traiispiantoil when a twi-lvt-nionth oM. 'Ilu- f^round on whifli tlw plants am set is divitltHl into narrow beds ahont three feet w'ldt,', and two rows of [ilantH are wet abotit a f«H*t apart upon each, (iri'at rare is taken both in rai^inij the plants from the seed bed, and in |)laiilini; thcin out, not to injur* the roots. Tlu y are taken out of the earth only in such (juanlities as may be wt im- mediutr'ly, that the roots may not be too lon;^ exposed to the air. The iuftrunn-tit ft)r settinj; them is a narrow-]»ointed hoe, very lik(! that which is known by the name of the Wrnon hue, ho tiseful in hoeing win at, but with a short handle. A hole about hix imhoH deep is made with this instrument a foot fr4>in the left side of the bed, and the plant is immediately inserted in it; tlie earth is then pressed round it, and another jilant is put in similarly at a foot distance to the right of it. The labouriM- then retreats a foot back, and sets two more, and so on till the whole bed is pl.in'ed with two rows «)f j)lants. Four rows are sometimes planted in a bed five feet wide ; a line is tluu stretehe(l alony; the miiMIe of the bed, and two men, t»ne on eafh side of t!ie line, plant two sets eaidi, one man with the right hand, and the other with the lell, one f«)ot being in tlie interval, and the other on the ImmI, to pre.^ the e.arth to the plants; by changing rides the fatigue of tin; position is lessened. In this way it is thought that the finest roots are pro- duced, lint tlier*' is a re.idier way, which is to plant the y<»ung shoot.s which ris'e from the crown of the old pl.ant^, and which .uc carefully taken oil with some portion of the loot : these shoots are planted as wtt have iloeribi'd before. It mu I, howt»\er,be observed, thai if this last mellnnl be long ontinued in suc«x's.-.i.ts in diggtJig between the bed", and Iioeing between the phuits. The first i»perat ion may Vk) perfornitd with the plough, when the extent is considerable, the other with a horse hoe. ilefore this Is done, ii«)wever, it is very useful to |Knir a considerable (pkinlily of liipiid manure in I ho inti'rvals bi'tween the beds. Theso intervals are «lug out and stirr«d, until the roots of the man) »«tetl. II j; between ration may derahh', the r, it \* very nure in \hc auuld lje m.-ule to jjo eiijiiteen imrheH deep, so as to reach umler the ro«its, but in this case a p!oUi,Hi miwt bo coiistrucfiid for tin* pur|M>s<-. .e umhI for this purpose. When tho rot)ts are takt-n up ihey are left on the j;round to dry partially, so p.s to become tough, and not break so reiulily ; after which they are put in h«;a|>s, and left for thrwor ftjur day.s, covered with straw if the weathfr b- rainy. The sooner they are housed after this the better. K\erv care shouM l>«' taken not to break the roots. The next o|ieralion is to dry them slowly in a kiln, and then they are in a lit state to bo .sold to tho dyers, or to tho.se who prepare the dye. Hops, of whi»'h the cultivation U so well understood in Krigland, are also extensively (cultivated in Flanden*. But there are n()ho|>- grounds there of any such extent as ihostj of Kent or Surrey. The hops are «hit'My cultivated by siiull proprietors or fiirmerH near Alost, Vpres, and ro|K'ringen : a Rh<'t«'reole t»'n feet long is stuck in each interstciion of the lines, or sometimes two jwles are pla«-e. Taller poles, fili« en to twenty and even (liirtv feet high ate now placeil where the foinu-f were, and the mounds of earth round the plants arc watered with liipiid maimre, which soon sinks in. When oil cakes are dissolved in tlie urine, the eflecl on the crop isvjon perceived by the vigour of the growth. In August the ho|K are in bloom, and then the earth is again hoed and ler, when the ll«>wer clostw, and a yellow powder apj»«':irs on it, tluy are fit to Ih3 pulled ; the j>ules arc taken down, and the vines are cut about four feet from the gronntirred, and all the remains of the vines are cut down two inches alxive the rck two A-vt high is raised over the plants ; and so it remains till next spring. In April the earth In removed, and all the to|>s of the shoots which have grown out in the loose earth arc cut otF, anil when dresse<| like aspar:\gus are very highly prized by gourmands in I*aris. The main shoot is also cut down four or five inchti* alnivc the ground, anru- it;no Ihs. rihed in .i as it diH'c 1 does not Tobacco is raised in nhnost every farm, to a small extent, for liomo consumption, there hein^ no government monopoly of this drug in Flanders. In Kast. Fhind(;rs near Grammont, and in West Flanders near Menin, and aloitu the Lvs, the cidtivation of tohac- CO is more extensive. It sxrows well in licjht soils, but in the irootl loams its ijuality is better. The ground must be well stirred and amply manured, especially with as much rape-eake as can bepro- '•ured, dissolved in water or urine ; 2000 cakes |)Cf acre are not thought a great dressing, dotdile that r part of the water, /cry year, lower, and e, liavinc? r. Those •s are con ertod into latnre, and sh farmer, er mode of y Mr. Van is.sels Agri- the funda- )arso sward I lime, and :\ wet, sour coupled by nually sold led is much rm, but the ittonded to, grass ; anu xhausted, so icir fertility. . to 5/., and The mea- depaatured s the grass much finer, and enriches the soil by the dung and urine of the cattle ; the trearling also tends to destroy many rank weeds, and to give the roots of the grass a firmness which makes it shoot out vigorously. When grass land is deteriorated by continued mowint', or when the soil is wet and cold so as to produce rushes and coarse weeds, the best remedy is to plough it up, and cultivate it as arable land for a few years. Tlie manure used in this case is lime and ashes ; and if a good system of draining were introduced, a thing little practised in Flanders, many a jwor sour meadow might be render- ed equally fertile with the best. The usual mode is to plough up the sward in autumn, letting it rot during winter, harroiv it well in spring, and sow oats iu it. The crop is always abundant, and if after this the land were well manured, and laid down ajrain with good grass seeds in a crop of barley or wheat, the meadow would be renovated without loss of fertility ; but several crops are usually taken before it is laid down again, and there is not a suf- ficient attention paid to the selection of good seeds. The sweep- ings of hay-lofts are thought gooy this means strips of land are raised above the floods, and in time the ditches are filled with the muddy deposit, till at length they are obliterated, and the whole surface heing raised so as to be only flooded in winter, a most fertile meadow is produced. In tlie western part of Flanders, about Ypres, and from that to Dixmude, there is a tract of land which has evidently been an ancient polder, and is now covered with the richest pasture: it will fatten a moderate siaed ox per acre in four or five months, and the cows fed upon it give an extremely 9» FLRMISII IIUBUAKDRr. 1 m i ]• i t rich butter. Tliis butter is rcnownetl for ship provision, and IR exports I in large quantities: much of it comes to England, where It is confojindftl with the Frieshmd butter, wliich is of a Himilar quality. Tho natural riclmess of tlie pastures is the cause why little attention is paid to improve them, or to prevent their being deteriorated ; and some of them gradually become so overrun with coarse grasses and weeds, that wlicre the fanner is not absolutely restricted from breaking up tho grass, as is generally the case, h« finds it very ailvantageous to convert them, for a time, into arable land. The produce, at first, is most abundant, and this is so strong a temptation to over-cropping, that they arc sehhmi laid down again without being much exhausted, and requiring seveial years to restore a good sward. All hough the weeds are eradicatetl, the land is not iuiproved. Tiiis might bo obviated by a more judicious system ; and considerable profit might bo obtained from tho con- version of the pasture into arable land, which migiit be laid down again in a clean and good state, so that the grass which imme- diately followed tho corn should bo abundant, and of an ex(;ellent quality for hay, and the pasture, after tho first year, as good as ever. In this particular instance the Flemisli farmer might take a lesson with advantage from our countrymen in the north, who so well understand the convertible system of husbandry, particu- larly in Berwickshire, Uoxburghshire, and the Lothians.* The manner in which the hay is made in Flanders difVers little from that which is ooinmon in Knglnnd. The mowers hold the HCytho somewhat difterently : the handle is straight and long, and the end passes over the left arm; the stroke is not quite so free, but the grass is cut close and even, and there are not so many inequ.alities to b(> seen in the remnant of tho grass, as is often the case in our meadows, when the mowers are not closely watched, and wish to get over their work too rapidly. Clover is not much shaken out, and sometimes it is tied up in sheaves with straw bjuuls like corn. It is always tied up in bundles when suflTiciently dry, and thus stacked in the barn. Ilay-ricks arc not common, except in the large farms of the polders ; and where small ricks are made they are usually built round a pole, and are more like cocks than ricks, containing at most five or six tons of hay each. In the neighbourhood of Dixmude and Yprcs, however, square •See account of Select Fatms, No. V.; Scorcby, p. 13 ; Farmoi's Series of Library of Useful Knowledge, No. 25 , and lUackio on the couversiou fi arable land into paature, 1811. OK CATTLE. 8V and iR I, where > HimiUir n«»i» why ir bfcing un with )8ohitt'ly case, h« o arable 10 strong id down lal yearft nfctl, the jiidiciouft the pon- lid down •h inimc- cxcellent good as ight take Mth, who , particu- Vers little hold tlm long, and so free, so many often the watelHid, it is not with straw uflRciently common, mall ri<;ks more like hay each, cr, square moi's S«rie5 (uvt'isioa tJ* ricks may hn seen of forty or fifty tons, and tolerably well tlmfch- ed, but none have that neat and trim a|i|)<'ar.iii(e which the hay- ricks have in Middlesex, of which the hides and ends art* pulled, 80 as to present a »m<»oth surface, and the thatch is laid as neatly as that of a barn. There are some water meadows along tlie rivers, with jiropcr sluices to regulate the irrigation, but they are not very common, nor laid out with the; same art and regularity that our water mea- dows arc in general ; small dittiies and open drains, to facilitate the running off the water after a flood, are usually made to assist the simple inundation of the land, and prevent the water from stagnating in any lower spot, wl»t;re it would injure the grass. The nu'ad(»\vs situated above the rise of the rivers are seldom irrisrated by diverting a portion of the river in a channel from a higher point, bi'crause the fall in the rivers being very small, the length of the camd would be too great to obtain a suflicient fall : where there are falls, they have been taken advantage of to drive water- mills; and there are ancient rights which interfere with any deviation of the current. With the exception of those extensive pastures which we have mentione(l in the south-western part of Flanders, there is not much grazing land. Stall-feeding is universally adopted, and the (;altle, fed on roots and clover mixed with meal, are only let out occasion- ally in suinm.'r for afew hours in the day, to have a little exentise, and keep them in health. In many farms, especially the smaller, to which no pasture is attached, the cattle never go out of the sta- ble, but have even their water brought to them, in this manner the cows certainly give n)ore milk, and the oxen fatten readily, but they are more subject to epidemic diseases, which fretpn-ntly carry oil' a great part of the <-attle, without any certain remedy havinjr ever been discov<'red for this evil. CIIAlTKIi XIII. OF CATTI.K. TiiK nund)er of beasts fed on a farm, of which the whole is arable land, is surprising to those who are not acjuainted with the mode in which the food is prepared for the cattle. A beast for every three acres of land is a common prop«)rtio!», and in very small occupations where much spade husbandry is used, the proportion Pl.F.MIflll IICHnANDRT. w h Hiill j;'r<'ah«r. T<» j^ive nn ul'H of tim system it is nocossary to rertot't, tlwit ill ovcry t'ariii a fifth, at Irast, of tluj laihl is sown with tuniijiH iiimiotliatfly aftt-r harvest. Then.' tiiiiiips are not such Ji» are soint'tiincH sown in Kni;lanil inuhM* the nani«' of stuhhie turnips, in the vnd of Au^'ust or in S«-|itenil»er, anotatoo8 arc raiseil, more than is re(Hiired for the use of tlu' family, and these are pMierally consumed hy the cattle. Carr»»ts which havo been sown in spring; either alono or amoiiffst tin* harley, tlax, or colzii, complete- the winter's provision. Tln'su roots are chopped up together in a tub, and some hean-iiieal, rye-meal, or huckwln'at- meal, is adth'd : l)oilin<^ water is pouretl over this, and allowed to cool ; or the whole is hnilcd to«refh, •• in a c«>pj»er, when fuel is n»>t too scarce. < >f tliis mixture, which they call hmssiu, two pails full are t;iveii iidlk-warm, m'siiiini; and eveiiini;, to j-.-ich cow, and this is their food durin\hole winter, with n little wheat or barley-straw. Hay is only jLjiven in a few •listricts, where the pas- tures are extensive, as about Kurnes and Dixmude, but never in that unbounded ipiantity in which the cows eat it in Kn<;land. Very little hav is nuide in any otlu-r distri< t, and tli.it oidv clover hay, whiy inixin<; iIkmii with tli«> turnips. Sonic faniuTs cut nil tho Htraw which in ijivcu to rattle into chafV, ainl mix it with the hrat«- HJn ; it is thus vui>|^«o lbs. of butter p«'r week. \Vliere the number of cows is great, tho average is much less, lM'cau*e when there aro only two or thrco cows, ii deficii'ucy in one of thetn is imnu'diately noticed ; the cow is got rid of, and a l»etter one pundiasol. In a great number there are alw.ays a few inferior cows, and a lower average is the conso- ((uoiicc. It ai'pearn astoni>hing that Iho occupier of only ten or twelve acres of light arable lana\s the outgoings of the farm : the butlerniilk feed» the family and the pigs : the bread is boiled in it for soup : it is eaten with potatoes instead of butter, it is made into hasty puthling with binkwheat tlour: it is the meat and drink of all ; and as long ns the cows give plenty of milk there is no want in the house. A fallinir (»ft' of the milk is imnicdiatdv noticed, and the food of tho cows is increjused or changed, till the usual i|uantity is obtaineomi But Tho best eows come from Holland, especially from Kriesland ; thoy are brought over the frontiers in great numbers, and sold in calf to the Flemi-h dealers. The principal market fur llicm is M.dines. (Jood-si:^ed cows sell A»ras much ;•.«- llicy usually do in ourcoiintry fairs, that is froii! Si. to l'2l. each, with a calf, or when just about IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I I L& 12.0 mm lilB Sciences Corporation ^l^ "^^A fe ^ ^ 4^ ■1.25 II 1.4 ||.6 ^ 6" ► 23 WIST MAIN STRHT WiBSTER,N.Y. MSSO (71«)t72-4S03 4^ ^ \ 90 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. to calve, which is generally in May. If the calf is a female she is reared ; a bull-calf is sold immediately, or fatted for the butcher. There are too few fine bulls kept amongst the small fiirmers in Flan- ders to keep up a good breed. There is also a predilection for large heavy animals, from the idea that a large beast is more pro- fitable when fat than a small one, a notion which our Essex and Norfolk farmers, who fat the small Scotch oxen, will not readily allow. When a bull-calf is reared, the largest and strongest in the limbs is usually preferred, even with inferior symmetry, and the produce is coarse, as may be naturally expected. Some very good bulls have been introduced of late yc.irs from various coun- tries, and a fine young short-horn bull brought from England is now, or was lately, in the possession of Count d'Hane, at Loven- dighem. near Ghent, which will at least serve as a specimen of an improved form. The same gentleman has procured cows from Switzerland and llolstein, the latter a very fine short-horned breed : and under the fostering care of the Belgian government, which pays great attention to every thing by which the prosperity of agriculture can be promoted, a taste for improved forms in the domestic animals cannot fail to be produced. The establishment of a veterinary and agricultural college at Brussels, on an extended scale, will soon diffuse around true notions with respect to the breeding of cattle, whether milch cows, or oxen for the butchers, two things which are quite distinct, and in some measure incom- patible. In the mean time the Dutch cows are the best, and eagerly sought after. The oxen preferred for feeding are those which have been worked in the Gampine : in Brabant a»d Naniur they are still sometimes used for the plough, instead of horses. At the distilleries they take all sorts of cows, often without sufiicient discrimination, and on the rich wash they all get flesh in some reasonable time ; but few experiments are made to show what breeds fatten at the least expense, or give the greatest profit. If this were done frequently there would remain no doubt as to the form which fattens most readily. The cattle are kept on brassin and cUt straw till May, when they are turned into the pastures, if there are any. But in all the upland farms where the land is mostly arable, the food is cut for them, and carried into the stalls. This consists of winter barley, or vetches, and clover, chiefly the latter. At first, when the clover is very young, it is given sparingly, and if all the turnips are con- sumed, boiled potatoes with a little hay are considered as a useful ON CATTLE. »1 le she is butcher, in Flan- iiion for ore pro- isex and t readily st in the and the me very US coun- ■gland is ; Loven- en of an ws from d breed : t, which perity of IS in the iment of extended ;t to the butchers, B incom- Dest, and re those •ant asd istead of I without get flesh to show 3st profit, ubt as to ay, when in all the s cut for r barley, he clover I are con- 3 a useful corrective, for clover, given injudiciously, causes the cows to heave.* By the time the clover is in bloom il is their only food. Clover is not supposed to give the milk or butter any bad taste, as many think in England, although nothing gives so fine and and rich a flavour as natural meadows. The butter made when the cows eat clover does not keep so well when salted ; but there is so great a demand for it in the numerous towns and villages, that there never is any difficulty in disposing of it in a fresh state, that is, moderately salted ; for as soon as the butter is made a considerable portion of salt is always added. In the large dairies about Fumes and Dixmude, the milk is set in shallow pans on a cool brick floor in the dairy house, and skim- med, as is the case in England : the cream alone is churned three times a week. A barrel churn is commonly used, which will churn 40 or 50 lbs. at a time. It is sometimes turned by hand, but as this is rather hard work, a horse mill is frequently erected to turn it. The butter, as soon as it is taken out of the churn, is well washed and worked with a cool hand, or a kind of spatula or flat spoon, till all the milk is washed out. It is immediately salted and put into casks which contain about 1 ^ cwt. If the quantity made at once is not sufficient to fill the cask, it is pressed down, and the surface laid smooth ; some salt is dissolved in water, till it is nearly saturated, and this is poured on the butter, so as to cover it an inch deep : a linen cloth is tlien inserted, and laid smoothly over the butter, to exclude all air, and this is kept down by a round board with a weight upon it : when more butter is added the cloth is removed, the brine poured oft', and the new portion added is pressed close to the other. Thus no streak is observable in the place where the different churnings join. The * Mr. Van Aelbroek gives a ctirious remedy for cattle which are hoven by eating young clover too greedily. It is as follows: — An ouuce of horse- hair is held over the fire with the tongs, and singed till it forms a crisp round ball, which when cold is well covered with butter, so that it may easily be passed into the gullet of the hoven beast. There it sticks, and causes such an irritation, that in a few minutes the animal vomits, and this continues till the stomach is emptied of its contents, and the cow is saved. "We have never tried it, but give it on the above respectable authority : should it be efficacious, it is a most simple .<>nd valuable remedy, which is always at hand. It is at all events worth trying, where the more certain remedy, by inserting a leathern tube into the stomach, is not at hand. But no farmer who has cattle should over be without this useful instrument, and we would strongly recommend it to the notice of those who have never used it 92 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. bntter made in summer, when the cows feed in the rich pastures, is of a fine golden colour, and to those who do not dislike a little saltness, it is much better when a week or a fortnight old, than when fresh churned, and not salted. It keeps perfectly well for a twelve month or more. The casks are made of clean white wood, and are prepared by well scouring with brine, and rubbing the inside Avith salt. It is of consequence that they be Avell made, and air tight. Dixmude is the great market for this butter, which is exported in considerable quantities : much of it goes to Ostend, where it is shipped, and a considerable portion, as we observed before, comes to England as Dutch butter. In most of the smaller farms the whole milk, after liaving stood twelve hours in shallow pans, is poured into a deep vat, where it is left to get slightly acid ; it is then churned in a large upright churn, and treated exactly as described above. It is allowed that the butter churned from the cream is preferable ; but the use of buttermilk is so general, and it is thought so much more wholesome than skimmed milk, that the old method is preferred, in spite of the greater labour required to churn the whole milk. The churn- ing is generally done by a horse, where the number of cows exceeds four or five ; sometimes, as in Holland, a dog walks in a wheel, which turns the machinery by which the plunger is moved up and down. There is little or no cheese made in Flanders, except some skimmed milk cheese for family use, in those districts where the cream alone is churned. The cheese consumed is chiefly of Dutch manufacture. In the fattening of cattle the same food is used as is given to the milch cows, with the addition of bean-meal, rye-meal, or oats, An ox kept stalled up for six or eight months, and well fed, will double his original weight, and pay well for the food he has con- sumed : but the principal advantage to the farmer is the increase of the liquid manure in his cistern, and of dung in his yard. Each ox is reckoned to produce as much of both kinds together as will manure two acres of land. When a cow appears to increase in flesh at the expense of her milk, it is a common practice to feed her well, milking her as long as she gives a tolerable quantity, and not allowing her to take the bull. Her milk gradually dries up, and by that time she is so forward in flesh as to be soon fit to be killed : the improvement in her flesh fully compensates for the loss of her milk. There are some farmers who purchase young ON CATTLH. 93 COWS in full milk, keeping ten or twelve of them, whom they treat as mentioned above ; and as soon as one is fat she is replaced by another. If they have skill to select the breeds which fatten n st readily, they make a good profit by the milk and the sale of ihe cow when fat. Abundant food i? indispensable for this purpose : the white sugar-beet and the mangel-wurzel are found very good in this case : for milch cows, however, they are thought too fat- tening. Very large cows and oxen are fattened in the neighbourhood of Ghent. They are kept stalled longer than usual, sometimes twelve or fourteen months, and are then very fat, especially those which are fed in the distilleries. The fatting of calves is not so generally attended to in Belgium as in some parts of England, but the metliod h worthy of notice. In the^cow-house there are several narrow boxes parallel to the wall, about two feet wide, six or seven feet long, and three feet high ; the door is in the end. Sometimes there is a door at both ends, which is most convenient to clean out the box. In this a calf is placed, so that he can get up and lie down, but he cannot turn round to lick himself. He is fed three times a day with new milk, and where they are curious in veal as near Ghent, white wheaten bread is boiled in milk, with two or three eggs beat up in it, and this mess is given milk-warm to the calf at noon : salt and chalk are also given in small quantities. The veal thus produRr. m ri to tlieiT being less severely worked than to their being better shocf. The manner of shoeing is heavy : the horflcs arc tied up in a strong frame or cage, to which the foot to be shod ib firmly tied, so that^ even if he bo pricked to tins quick by a nail, he can only exert the muscles of his legs in vain, and straiH himself, but he can neither oscape nor defend himself. The horses are harnessed with heavy collars and rope traces. The weight of the harness is much increased by making the collar 80 large ; and, as every additional weight must add to the fatiguo of a day's work, it is a useless waste of strength ; but any attempt at alteration or improvement would, no doubt, bo strongly repro- bated. The horses used in the towns draw enormous loads on carts and waggons of various cj^J^criptions. Some of these have the body of the waggon sulit low between two large wheels, the axlotree being bent for the p\wp<^se. In front are two small wheels placed near one another, ancl turning round under akiml of crane- neck, which forms the fore-paj*t;c}f the waggon. This form is very convenient in towns for loading and unloading goods. In the country they use carts and w^^ons not greatly different from our own. A pair of horses and one plough are thought sufficient for forty acres of arable land, the- whole of which is, on an average, ploughed twice, and harrowed 'three times every year. This alone will give work for above two hundred days, without reckoning the carting of fodder and manure,'and'harvest-work. The horses should be well fed to stand all this work.. The value of a strong young carthorse is, on an average, aWv.t twenty pounds. In England a gimilar horse would be worth thirty pounds, or more, which accounts for the importation of Flemish cart-horses into England. It is supposed in Flanders, that the English dealers buy Flemish mares to breed from, which is a great mi&take. Here and there a mare may be found ;vith good proportions, and from her size a breeder might be tempted to give her a good moderately sized half-bred horse, in hopes of producing strong coach-horses ; but the common faults- of the breed, the coarse neck, large belly, and falling croup, would probably appear in the progeny, even if the English cross infused some spirit and life into the produce. We are not aware that any good horses have been lately bred from Flanders, mares : besides,^ the dealers buy the geldings in preference, wlwnthey can get them. The importation of horses from the Netherlands is therefore a mere speculation, the price being lower there, and the import-duty trifling ; but the trade is falling off, in consequence of a rise in the iter fikofL a strong 80 that exert the I Utiither >e tracesi he collar latiguo ' attempt [y repro- loads on ese have leels, the II wheels ofcrane- a is very In the from our cient for average^ )is alone )ning the es should g young Dgland a accounts d. It is mares to aare may ler might horse, ii> on faults- ip, would 3 infused that any ; besides^ oret them, re a mere port-duty ise in the 'OABDKN8, ORCIIARDfi, AND WOODB. tOl |jrieo of good horses in Flanders, and a emaller demand for them in England. The most useful horses for work are to bo met with in the Walloon country and the [trovineos of Namur and Luxem- burg. Some of these horses, when well fed, have good ligureu, and this breed would be much better to cross with our active half- bred horses, than the ii'lemish. They are sometimes found iu Flemish farms in preference to their own heavy breed ; and the public carriages in Flanders aixs almost invariably dra^vn by horses which have been imported from other provinces. Asses and mules are very seldom seen, which wo are surprised at, for an ass might be kept on the very small fai-ms, to do the work which is now frequently done by men, euch as drawing har- rows, wheeling manure to the land, and bringing home the produce. The only use to which asses are put seems to be to carry women and their panniers to niai^et. Those asses, however, whidi are met with are all in good condition, and show that they have been liber- ally provided with food, instead of being half-starv-od en commons iind in lanes, as they are often with us. CHAPTER XV. lOF OARDENS, 'ORCHABDS, AND WOOOSL To every farm there is usually attached a good kitchen-garden, ♦Which is well stocked with vegetables and In situations where €he soil is favourable to fruit-trees there are a few orchards, bui, none s© extensive as in many other countries where cider is made. This beverage is not much used in Flanders, beer being the favour- ite liquor ; hence the cultivation of fruit-trees is chiefly to supply the towns with their fruit. They axe never planted in the hedge- rows, as they are in many other countries, because it induces the ourhood of the towns, where fruit can 'be readily disposed of, every cottage has a little orchard attached to it. The apples, pears, >«herries, and plums which it produces help to pay the rent. In 4ome situations walnut-trees grow to a great size, and produce abundant crops, Which are always valuable, especially when walnuts are scarce in England, as a considerable exportation of jfhem enhances their price. There is nothing particular in the man- agement of fruit-trees in Handera. There are not manj wallefl 102 FUSanSH HUSBAITDRT. gardens, except near the houses of the richer proprietors, and in the immediate neighbourhood of large towns, as Ghent and Bruges. "Wherever there are old convents, good gardens are generally found, gardening having always been a favourite recreation of the monk* in their oM age. A considerable extent of woodland once covered the poorer sandy districts about Thorout, and from thence to Bruges and many other parts of Flanders, of which the soil was formerly not thought worth cultivating. But all these woods gradually disap- pear as cultivation spreads, and of late years the conversion of woods into arable fields has gone on roost rapidly, especially sinee the coal-mines have been more extensively worked, and the price of wood for firing has diminished. The increase of population and industry will probably soon convert what remains of them into cornfields. Tlie most common trees found in old woods are oak, beech, ash, and birch. The plantations of firs are mostly of modern origin, and intended merely as a preparation for the further im- provement of the land, as was mentioned before (ch. II., page 21.) They are, consequently, of no size, nor of much use as timber. Where woods are properly attended to, it is the ctistom to prune the trees, and cut off all the young branches which shoot from the stem, to the height of thirty feet or more. When the shoots are quite young this is done close to the bark, which soon grows over the wound, and the stem has a straight smooth appearance. In this way trees may be left nearer to each other than if their bran- ches spread out ; but there is no chance of finding oaks with large limbs, which are so useful for ship-building. In fact, there is scarce- ly any ship-timber growing in Flanders. The trees are usually cut down at forty or fifty years old, as it is thought, and perhaps- correctly, that after that time the growth of an oak does not pay the interest of the price it would have sold for, together with a lent for the land it occupies. The same calculation has caused the white poplar, and other quickly growing trees, to be preferred to any other for planting in all situations where such trees find sufii- eient moisture. In the fl^at and low parts of Flanders, where the water lies very near the surface, and where ditches are necessary to drain the land, as well as to separate fields and properties, the white poplar and the alder are planted on each side of the ditch, generally in the slope, about eighteen inches below the level of the field. These form a fence which is not impervious, and which would be of little use if the cattle were turned out to fiaed ia tho- GARDENS, ORCHARDS, AND WOODS. 103 fields, as is the case with us ; but these hedge-rows are a source of considerable profit to the landlord and to the tenant, the for- mer reserving the trees, and the latter ]■ iving the liberty of cutting the underwood every seven years. This is so general a practice, that the incoming tenant is obliged to pay to the outgoing the value of all the underwood, which has not been cut the last year, according to its growth ; he receiving the same allowance when he quits. This insures the proper care of the fences. The ditches are cleared out as often as there is any deposit of mud suflScient to pay for the expense, which is generally in two or three years. There is no such thing as a raised bank to be seen in all Flanders, except the dykes along the rivers. The earth which is dug out of the ditches is spread over the land on each side, in order to raise it, and where there is any danger of floods in winter the ditches are wide and more numerous, in order to raise the land above the floods. In low places the ditches are so near to each other, that they take up a large portion of the land, which lies in narrow strips between them ; but this is no loss, as the earth raises the land, and lays it dry, besides deepening the soil : and those strips of land drained by the ditches, and by the trees planted along them, which suck up a great portion of the superfluous moisture, are in general very productive. Wliere the land lies high and dry no ditches or hedge-rows are to be seen ; the fields and properties are only dis- tinguished by land-marks, and the whole has the appearance of a common field, although no right of common pasture exists over them, except such as is voluntarily given to the common flock of sheep, or to the sheep of the person who keeps a bull and a ram for the use of the parish, as was mentioned before (page 94.) Fences and ditches, where they are not necessary to carry off the water, are considered as taking up ground which may be more profitably cultivated. This is a general notion on the con- tinent, contrary to our invariable practice of enclosing with a hedge and ditch. Fences and hedges are not only useful to pro- tect the crops from the inroad of cattle or trespassers, but they break the force of the winds, and often prevent the storms from laying the corn. In cold springs also they intercept the shar|>, cold winds, and prevent them from nipping the young blade in its tender state. If they intercept the rays of the sun in summer, they do so in a very trifling degree : and, provided there are no high trees in the fences, a neat low hedge will have little effect in retarding the maturity of the crop. Trees in hedge-rows, except 104 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. poplars, willows, and alders, planted along the ditches for the purpose of drawing up and evaporating the moisture, as is the case in Flanders, although they may occasionally be profitable to a landlord whose tenants have not made a sufficient deduction from the rent on this account, are always dearly paid for by the injury which they do to the adjoining land. If a portion of the best land were converted into a wood, and well managed, it would repay the landlord better, in the end, than all the straggling trees, which spoil the fences, and diminish the annual produce of the land. We are not taking the appearance of a country into the account. The beauty of an English landscape would be much lessened, if the hedge-rows were not furnished with trees, but we are treating of the interest of the farmer, and not of the man of taste or the artist. Coppice wood is cut every seven, eight, or nine years. A cer- tain number of the strongest stems are left to grow to poles and trees, as is most profitable. In moist situations alders and wil- lows form the principal underwood. Beech, ash, and oak grow in the higher and drier spots. Neither woods nor coppices are thought very profitable, and they are converted into arable fields as soon as there is a demand fordand in the neighbourhood. CHAPTER XVI. OF THE SPADE HUSBANDRY PRACTISED IN THE SMALL FARMS IN FLANDERS. The husbandry of the whole of the north-eastern part of East Flanders, where the soil is a good sandy loam, may be considered as a mixed cultivation, partly by the plough, and partly by the spade. Without the spade it would be impossible to give that finish to the land, after it is sown, which makes it appear so like a garden, and which is the chief cause of the more certain vege- tation of the seed. There is a great saving of seed by this prac- tice, as may be seen by comparing the quantity usually sown in Flanders with that which is required in other countries where the spade is more sparingly used. In large farms in England the spade is only used to dig out water-furrows, and to turn heaps of earth, which are made into composts with different kinds of manure. But in Flanders, where the land is usually laid in SPADE HU8BANDRT. 106 East dered the that like vege- prac- n in liere I the s of IS of in stitches of about six or seven feet wide, the intervals, as we observed before, are always dug out with the spade, and the earth spread evenly (sifted, as they call it,) over the seed which has been har- rowed in. The earth may not be of a fertile nature below the immediate surface ; sometimes it is only a poor sand, or a hard till, but this is no reason why it should not be dug out. If it is very light and poor, a good soaking with urine, a few days before it is dug out, will impart sufficient fertility to it. If it is very stiff, the clods must be broken as small as possible in the digging, as is done when stiff ground is trenched in gardens ; and what is left unbroken on the surface, and not pulverized by the passing the traineau over it, will inevitably be reduced to a powder by the frost in winter. Thus the land is not only kept perfectly drained, but the seed, being covered by an inch or more of earth, is placed out of the reach of birds, without danger of being buried too deep. The soil from the bottom of the trench contains few seeds of weeds, and the root-weeds are necessarily cleaned out in the spreading. This earth spread over the surface of the land keeps it clean by burying the smaller seeds which the harrows may have brought to the surface, and preventing their vegetating. It is for this reason that the roller, or the traineau, is made to press the surface; or that, in very light soils, men and women tread it regularly with their feet, as gardeners do after they have sown their beds. The trench, which is thus dug, is a foot wide, or, more properly, one-sixth part of the width of the stitch or bed ; and the depth is from a foot to eighteen inches, according to the soil. Thus a layer of earth about two inches deep, at least, is thrown over the seed, which has been sown on a surface made even by the small harrows, or the bush-harrow. These two inches gradually incorporate with the soil below, and thus, at every such operation, the soil is deepened so much. The trenches are so arranged that every year a fresh portion of the ground is dug out, and in six years the whole land will have been dug out to the depth of at least one foot. In the next course the trench is dug a few inches deeper, which brings up a little of the subsoil ; and, after four or five such courses of trenching, the whole soil comes to be of a uniform quality to the depth of eighteen or twenty inches, a most important circumstance to the growth of flax, potatoes, and carrots, all of which are very profitable crops to the farmer, and the two last indispensable to the maintenance of the labourers and the cattle. In the Waes country they proceed m 106 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. differently, for they have a soil which, by repeated trenchings, has long been uniform in quality to the required depth. There they regularly trench one-sixth part of the land every year, and plant it with potatoes, or sow carrots in it. This comes to the same thing in the end, and is, perhaps, a saving, from the fixed price of trenching, and the expertness of the labourers in this operation. But where the land has not yet been so completely deepened, the first may be the most easy method of producing the thorough mixture of the ditferent parts of the soil ; besides, it is only done on that part of the farm which is sown with corn, or about half of the arable land ; so that it is only the twelfth part of the farm which is thus dug up. There is no doubt that this operation might be done at a less expense of labour by the application of improved implements: thus a small plough, with one horse, might draw two small furrows, laying the earth into the middle of the divisions between the stitches. This earth might be shovelled out, and thrown on the beds on each side : a second bout of the plough would give the required depth. We would suggest this as an experiment to all occupiers of wet soils, especially where the land has been lately drained. The effect of it would be perceived in a short time, and would perfect the improvement produced by judici- ous and deep draining, and the use of the subsoil plough. The great point is the expense. It is impossible to calculate exactly what additions this would make to the expense of an acre of land at the time of sowing. At first the price would be much too high, but, as labourers become better acquainted with it, and more expert, there is no doubt but it could be done at a price which would bear the same proportion to the price of corn with us as it does to the Flemish farmer ; and, with our ingenuity in performing operations by instruments and machines, which supersede much of the manual labour otherwise required, it might be found not only highly advantageous to the crops, but also highly economical. A bushel and a-half of wheat is an ample allowance to sow an acre, where every grain is protected, and nine out of ten are likely to grow, if the seed has been carefully selected. This of itself is a suflScient saving, but the crop will be more certain in a deep dry soil, whatever be the season : and the gradual and permanent improvement of the soil must not be lost sight of. Might it not be judicious in the landlords to make some allowance to those ten- ants who hold their farms for a short term, if they would adopt this plan, which would be far more eflfectual than a partial under- SPADE HU8PANDRT. 107 Ts, lias e they [ plant J same price of eration. ed, the lorougli Iv done out half he fann ►n might nopTOved ht draw divisions out, and i plough lis as an the land iived in a jy judici- y\\. The e exactly e of land too high, ind more ice which us as it srforming jde much found not onomical. sow an lare likely itself is In a deep |ermanent »ht it not liose ten- iild adopt lal under- draining, which often produces but a very trifling or temporary effect ? The landlord will ahvays find that he reaps the principal advantage, in the end, of any method which permanently improves liis land. But even the tenant, if he lias a lease, of which a few years remain unexpired, will 'erive a certain profit from this oper- ation, after the first year or two, and this may induce him to try it even without encouragement from the landlord. Let him make the experiment upon a single acre first — the loss cannot be great- Let him keep an exact account of the extra labour and extra pro- duce, as compared with an acre cultivated in the usual way, and the result must be satisfactory one way or other. If this experi- ment be made in several places, it will at once decide the question whether this addition to the manual labour of the farm is repaid by the increased produce or not : if it should only balance, with- out immediate gain, there would be a great advantage in the prac- tice : there would be more employment for men out of doors, and threshing machines and other instruments to diminish labour would not be looked upon with a jealous eye, as depriving the poor man of his bread. Supposing an acre, the length of which is one hundred yards, and the width consequently forty-eight yards and a fraction, divided into twenty stitches, which will make each stitch a little more than seven feet, including the interval, there will be two thousand yards in length to dig out and spread on each side. This, at a penny for twenty yards, would cost only eight shillings and fourpence ; and we think it might be done for less, if previously loosened with a plough. The saving of one bushel of seed at seven shillings, the present price (1837,) would nearly pay the expense ; but suppose the expense to be the double of this, the advantage to the land at the end of a few years would amply repay it. At first it is not likely that the effect would be very striking in the superiority of the crops, but a gradual improve- ment would be visible, especially in the clover, which strikes its roots deep, and cannot bear a wet or a hard bottom. Heavy lands may thus be made to bear excellent turnips, and admit of folding sheep, while similar lands, not so treated, would not be fit for this root, nor be advantageously folded over, in consequence of the moisture remaining nearer to the surface. Another application of the spade, in the Flemish cultivation of land, is the deepening of the furrows, by taking out solid spits of the bottom soil in autumn, and placing them on the ploughed part of the land. This, which has been noticed before as. a practice 108 FL'EMISH HUBBANDBT. peculiariy Fleniisli, tends to lighten the whole soil, to mix ti por- tion of the subsoil with it, and gradually deepen it. The spit •which is taken oat is left to crumble by the influence of the atmos- phere, and in winter or in spring the clods are broken and spread by the harrows, and mix with the surface. This operation can only be useful in light loams and sands, for it is evident that in day the holes thus made, and but loosely filled up, would form basins for the water to collect in, and do more haitn than the earth brought to the surfiace could do good. But the principle is the same, whieli is to increase the depth of good soil gradually. We would give the prefere.nee to the first method, unless where the tenure did not permit the farmer to wait a few years to reap the full benefit of the operation. The last described is the more im- mediate in its effects, the former the more perfect and durable. Instead of the spade an instrument is also much used, which may be considered as intermediate between it and the hoe. It is the hack, or heavy hoe, which is used for loosening th« soil to a email depth, in order to clear it of root-weeds and annuals, which may have shed their seed before the crop was reaped. It has a blade like a small spade, fixed to a handle three or four feet long, at an angle of about 60 degrees (see fig.) With this instrument the stubbles are cleared, the weeds are cut up, and the land, thus stirred, is prepar- ed by raking and harrowing only, for sowing turnips or any other crop sown immediately after harvest. The depth thus cultivated is only two or three inches, but the ground is gone over rapidly^ and at a less expense than it could "be done with a plough at the busy time of harvest. The work is not too heavy for women and boys, who are often seen employed in it : whereas it is very unusual to see a woman at work with a common spade. The same instrument is also used for drawinar the earth round the Toots of potatoes or of colza, which are seldom moulded up with the plough. Where the land is cultivated entirely by the spade, and no horses are kept, a cow is kept for every three acres of land, and entirely fed on artificial grasses and roots. This mode of cultiva- tion is principally adopted in the Waes district, where properties ctipor- 'he spit ! atmos- l spread ion can that in lid form he earth le is the ly. We here the reap the more im- rable. id, which ae. It is soil to a lis, which It has a fifPADE iruSDANDHT. 109 any other cultivated jr rapidly, plough at or women it is very ide. The round the d up "with e, and no land, and of cultiva- properties afe very small. All the labour is done by the different members of the family ; and children, instead of being a burden, soon begin to assist in various minute operations, according to their age and strength, such as weeding, hoeing, feeding the cows. If they can raise rye and wheat enough to make their bread, and potatoes^ turnips, carrots, and clover, for the cows, they do well ; and the produce of the sale of their rape-seed, their flax, their hemp, and their butter, after deducting the expense of manure purchased^ which is always considerable, gives them a very good profit. Sup- posing the whole extent of the land to be six acres, which is not an uncommon occupation, and which one man can manage. One acre is trenched twenty inches deep every year, well manured with the dung and urine of the cows, and planted with potatoes, part of an early kind and part of a later, as the land is ready, from the beginning, of April to the end of May. If the soil is fit for wheat, this is usually the next crop ; if it is too sandy, rye is sown instead. The taking up the potatoes gives a sufficient tillage for the wheat or rye, which is sown as soon as the potatoes are oft', and the seed is covered by digging narrow trenches at six or seven feet distance from each other, and throwing the earth evenly over the seed. The land is rolled, or trodden •with the feet, which last is best in light soils. Half an acre of land is usually in carrots, which have either been sown with the flax, or, which is much better, by themselves. The turnips are always sown on a stubble. The land which has borne rye is generally preferred for this pur- pose, as it is the first crop reaped. They may also be sown with advantage after early potatoes, or after colza. Sometimes oats are sown immediately after harvest, to be cut up green for the cows before Avinter, or winter barley to cut early in spring. Spurrey is sown for the same purpose, but it is so apt to infest the ground as a weed, that it is only in the very sandy soils that it is much cultivated. Buckwheat is sown when there is no man- ure to spare, in order to fatten a couple of hogs for the winter's provision. The rotations of crops, followed by the small spade farmers, vary extremely, according to the soil, situation, and other circumstances. Hemp, flax, and colza, seldom recur in less than nine or ten years, as they require much manure, and do not succeed if sown too often. Wheat usually occupies a-fourth, or a-third of the land, rye a-sixth, potatoes a-sixth, clover an-eighth : carrots and turnips are mostly secondary crops, although occasionally sown also as principal crops. The successions are generally as follows ;^; no FLEMIBO HCBBANbRT. In good loam. Wheat after clover, potatoes, or l)eati8. Rye and turnips after wheat or potatoes. Oats after turnips or carrots. Potatoes after turnii)S, clover, or buckwheat. Flax after hemp, potatoes, or carrots. Hemp after turnips. Colza after flax. Beans after wheat or clover. Turnips after rye, barley, or oats, the same year. Carrots in the rye or the flax, or after clover. Clover in flax, oats, or wheat. Winter barley, to cut green in spring, after potatoes. When any other productj is raised, such as peas, tares, poppies, tiameline, beet-root, or parsnips, they only take the place of those crops which are most nearly allied to them, whether pulse, oily Beeds, or roots, without altering the succession. The first object of the spado fartner is to procure food for his cows, for without them he cannot have manure enough. He must not merely have a bare suflSciency for them, but he must have abundance, for, if the food of the cows fails, his whole process is impeded t he must then either sell some of his stock, or buy fodder at a ruinous expense. If he has too much, he will never be at «. loss how to dispose of it. He must also havp food for himself and his family. It is calculated that each grown individ* Mai consumes in the year-— 6 bushels of vje ^ 3 ditto wheat ? or 12 bushels of grain. 3 ditto buckwheat } 14 ditto potatoes. ^8 lbs. of butter. 1 cwt. of pork. And 2 quarts of butter-milk, or skim-milk, per day. If a man with his wife and three young children are considered as equal to three and a-half grown-up men, the family will require thirty-nine bushels of grain, forty-nine bushels of potatoes, a fat hog, and the butter and milk of one cow : an acre and a-half of land will produce the grain and potatoes, and allow some com to finish the fattening of the hog, which has the extra butter-milk ; another acre in clover, carrots, and potatoes, together with the stubble turnips, will more than feed the cow; consequently two and a-half 8. heat. me year* clover. ig, after poppies, of those ilse, oily d for his rh. He le must whole jtock, or he will vr^ food individ* n. SPADE nUSBANORY. Ill lay. isidered [require a fat I of land finish linother stubble a'half acres of land is sufficient to feed this family, and the produce of the other three and a-half may be sold to pay the rent or the interest of purchase money, wear and tear of implements, extra manure, and clothes for the family. But these acres are the most profitable on the farm, for the hemp, flax, and colza are included ; and, by having another acre in clover and roots, a second cow can be kept, and its produce sold. We have, therefore, a solution of the problem how a family can live and thrive on six acres of moderate land. We must next consider how the land is to be tilled by them without any hiring of labour. A good labourer can trench four perches of land, each perch being the square of five and a-half yards, in a day, or dig eight perch«s. It will take him thirty days to trench an acre, and sixteen to dig it well. It will take him, therefore, seventy-eight days' labour to trench one and dig three more acres; one being in clover does not require it, and that which had potatoes before is prepared by digging them up. His wife and children carry the clover which he cuts after his day's work, and weed the crops. The digging for wheat and rye is done in the autumn, beginning with the land cleared of colza; the hacking the stubble for turnips, and sowing them makes a variety in the toil, this not being so laborious. The trenching is done in winter and at any spare time between harvest and spring. The wheeling of manure, harrowing, sowing, digging out water-furrows, and reaping the corn on three acres, will take forty-five days* labour. An acre of potatoes on the trenched ground will require twenty-four days' work to make ridges, plant the sets, mould them up with the hoe, and take them up. The turnips after rye will require eight days to hack the stubble, harrow it, and sow the seed, and four days, with the help of the family, to pull them and wheel ^ them to the root-cellar, for they are never left in the field in winter. Allowing five days for cutting the clover, and making a portion of it into hay, we have found work for one hundred and sixty-four days, which, to include various smaller operations, we shall reckon altogether two hundred days' work out of doors. The remainder is amply suflScient to thrash out the produce, prepare manure, assist his wife and children in feeding the cows and pigs, and weave occasionally. The flax, being generally sold standing, and pulled by the buyer in summer, does not interfere with the farmer's labour. The weeding in spring is done by the whole family, and neighbours mutually assist each other. 112 FLKMISH nUSBANDRT. In a farm of ten acres entirely cultivated by the spado, the addi- tion of a man and a woman to the members of the family will render all the operations more easy ; and with a horse and cart to carry out the manure, and bring home the produce, and occa- sionally draw the harrows, fifteen acres may bo very well cultivated. Mr. Do Lichterfelde has given a calculation of the expense of cul- tivating such a farm, and the average produce, which, as being on good authority, we shall subjoin with some remarks. The culti- vation here is supposed to bo carried on by hired labour : — c •a ''' 2 « ? t>. ^" 2 H < e § - %. o o- TABLE of EXPENSES and PRODUCE in the Cultivation of 16 Acres of Land by the Spad«, vritb a llorse to carry Manure and Produce. le addi- ily will [id cart d occa- tivated. I of cul- eing on e culti- BEMARKS.— Tho llorin (11) is 2U hoIs (a) ; thu koI 4 liardu (I).— The nnck in nearly 3 bushds imp. mcaa.— 14 llorins uiaku iil stiTliiiK.— A pinto (pt) is nearly an English quoitur-peck. I 114 rLEMISIf IIURUANDRr. DISTRinUTION <.f tho LABOUK on the FOREGOING FARM, por Acre, Wheat aitkr Potatoes or Flax, or Hve aiter Wiifat. t'.X'. Work. Digf^in^^ iiiKi rotniing ncdfl >20 o Oarrying liquid manuio, iind cj)rrndi?ig 1 o Sowing tlie Hced 0^ Harrowing in '2 (» Digging out tho interval.^, and spreading the earth over thu scud 2] (» Treading in the seoJ o Jn Spring. Weeding 8 Harvest. Reaping 2 J- Tying tho slieaves 'ji Loading 1 o Stacking a Total 81 i 16 Bi'OKWHEAT AI'TEll BaHLEY, CUT GUEKN. Digging, sowing, harrowir)g, 22J- Weeding o 8 Mowing 2 Gathering and carrying to thrashers 4 Thrashing in the field 3 o Oleaning, winnowing 1 o Loading andcarryiug straw I Stacking 1 Total 3ai 12 Oaxs after TuRNirs. Carrying 8 loads of dung 1 Spreading 1 Digging, harrowing, and sowing 22} Rolling 2 Weeding 8 Harvesting as for wheat 5^ 2 Total 31f 10 Oat3 after Buckwheat. Same as the preceding 81| 10 Digging the intervals, and spreading the earth over the beds .. . . 2^ Total 34J 10 Flax after Carrots. Before Winter. Digging out spits of earth from the intervals, and placing them on the beds 2^ In Spring. Spreading 1 Digging 20 Carried forward 28} 2^ 1> 1 »4 2 4 3 1 1 1 1 1 22J 2 8 H 2 m 10 3ii 10 2i 34i 10 2i 1 20 23} WPADE nuftnANDRY. 116 ttny't WMk Man W'imn nrotiglit forwurd, 2M) {) Carryinijf liqiiitl mnnuro 1 o Harrowing rcpt'iitcilly 2 Sowiiif^ 0^ Bush-hurrowiu;^ tho scod 2 Rolling 2 Wcodiug 80 Total 80} 80 Colza afteu Clovrr or Potatoks. Before Winter. Propriring a bod to raise plants 0\ 0:J Carryiug 4 loadu of dung , o^ Sprcaliiig 0| Deep trenching 30 Taking up young plunts, and making holes for planting 4 o Putting tlio plants in tho holes, and treading tli" earth to them.. o 4 Digging »pit-< out of the intervals, and placing them between tlie plants 3^ In March. Carrying liquid manure , 1 Weeding 8 Harvest. Cutting the Htems 4 q Carrying them to the thrashers in tho field 2 Thrasliiug 5 q Cleaning 1 q Tying up tho straw 1 Loading and stacking , 3 Total 53 15J Carrots after Turnips. Digging, harrowing, and sowing, as for oats 22^ Spreading earth over the seed 2^ Wee:Ung 8 Taking up the crop 4 Collecting and cutting tops 8 Securing them in pits with straw and earth over them 2 Total 80J 16 Clover. Sowing amongst the oats or wheat 0^ Spreading ashes after harvest 1 Mowing twice next year , 6 Tying up iu bundles, and carting 2 Total 8i Mm.. ^■^-„Jl,-.il-"*;.;^„ 116 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. TUBNIPS AFTER RtE. Dai'i Work. Men Woan. Digging, 80-wing, and harrowing 22J Weeding and thinning out 8 PoUing and carting 6 Total 27i 8 "WiNTEE Barley aftkr Rye, to cut green. Before Winter. Digging 20 Carrying 8 loads of dung 1 Spreading dung 1 Sowing = . 0^ Spreading earth out of intervals over the seed 2^ In Spring. Cutting and carrying 8^ Total 28i Potatoes after Colza or Barley, cut green. Digging and drawing furrows with the large hoe 30 Carrying six loads of dung Of^ Spreading dung in the furrows 2 Cutting the sets 1 Placing them in the furrows, and covering them 2 2 l^hen they are up. Carrying liquid manure 1 Pouring it to the plants 2 Hoeing and moulding up 3 In Autumn. Forking up the Potatoes 3 Gathering them S Loading and carrying 1 Total 44f 6 Rkcapitulation. For wheat or rye 31^ 16 Buckwheat after barley, cut green 30,^ 12 Oats after turnips 31f 10 Oats after buckwheat 34^ 10 Flax after carrots 30| 80 Colza after clover 53 16 J Carrots after turnips 30f 16 Clover 8i Tumips after rye 27J 8 Winter barley after rye 28| Potatoes after winter barley, cut green, or colza 44f 6 The total value of the produce is here stated at 2345fl. 5s., which, at 14 florins per £., is 167^. 10«., or 11/. 10». per acre. Wheat is worth in Flanders on an average B5s. per quarter, and a SPADE HUSBANDRT. IIY 20 1 1 C'i n H 28i 30 Oi 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 3 8 1 man's daily wages are lOrf., Avithout food, in summer, and 9d. in winter. We have given the table without alterations, although we are aware that it appears imperfect ; for although the keep of a horse is mentioned, it is not included in the expenditure. The straw, green crops, and roots, are valued, no doubt, after minute calculations, but it does not appear whether the produce of the stock is only equivalent to the food consumed, or gives a profit, — a matter of great importance. To correct this we will make another calculation on the same basis ; and, to make it more intelligible to the English reader, we will put the prices as they are now in English money. The 29,000 lbs. of straw will produce, at 500 lbs. of straw for a cart-load of dung, fifty-eight cart-loads ; four cows and a heifer constantly kept in the stable will give, with the wash- ings of the stables, at least twenty gallons of liquid manure daily, thai is, three hundred and sixty-five casks of twenty gallons each in the year. Thus the manure is accounted for, and if any is purchased it may be expected to be at least repaid by the increase of produce above the stated average. The crops raised chiefly for the stock should be valued by the produce of that stock, and we will show that it is fully sufficient for the purpose. Two acres of clover contain three hundred and twenty perches, which are cut twice. Each cow will consume half a perch a day of the first cut, and two-thirds of a perch of the second cut, that is, fifteen perches per month of the first, and twenty of the second. The two acres will, therefore, keep six beasts, including the horse, who eats less than a cow, three months and a-half, and the second cut two months and a-half more, if no hay is made ; but if an acre of the fii-st cut is made into hay, and an acre of barley cut green is given early in summer in its place, there will be two tons of hay for win- ter fodder. Two acres will produce at least fifteen tons of potatoes, two acres of turnips will average about ten tons each, although sown after harvest, and one acre of carrots fifteen tons. If a cow consumes 40 lbs. of turnips, and 20 lbs. of potatoes, and the same quantity of carrots per day, made into a brassing she will require in six months, or one hundred and eighty-thiee days, 7320 lbs. of turnips, 36G0 lbs. of carrots, and 3600 lbs. of potatoes : and five cows will consume 30,600 lbs. (nearly 10 tons 7 cwt.) of turnipr, 18,300 lbs. (8 tons 3.] cwt.) of carrots, and 18,300 lbs. (8 tons 3^ cwt.) of potatoes. It appears, therefore, that there is ample pro- vision for the cows kept, with a considerable surplus for the pigs. The horse will have two tons of clover-hay and a little com occa- 118 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. sionally, not exceeding twenty bushels in the whole year, which must be deducted from the produce of the oats. This calculation is made merely as a proof that the quantity of food raised for the cattle is more than sufficient for their maintenance. The common mode of calculation in Flanders is by the vcrge^ of which tUere are three hundred in a Ghent acre, which is about one-ninth greater than the statute acre. It is this acre which the table refers to. A verge of clover, carrots, or turnips, is considered sufficient for a day's food for a cow. An acre will, therefore, keep her three hundred days, and, as we have one acre of clover, and one acre of barley cut green, two acres of turnips, and one of carrots, the pro- duce will keep five co.vs three hundred days ; so that there will be required as many potatoes as will keep five cows sixty-five days, which, at half a bushel per day for each cow, will be one hundred and sixty-two bushels and a-half, a quantity which, in good land, may be raised on half an acre. This mode of calculation gives so nearly the same result as the former, that they confirm each other. It is evident, then, that fifteen Ghent acres of light land of mod- crate quality may be ke[)t in good condition by the foregoing plan of cultivation by the spade, with the help of a horse and cart, and will maintain four milch cows and a heifer, a horse, two or three pigs, and a couple of young calves, sending to market, or consuming in the family the following produce, deducting seed : — 90 buphel-5 of wheat, at 79 £31 10 90 bushels of rye, .at 43. Sd 19 2 6 30 bushels of buckwheat, at 4s G 100 bushels of oats, at 3s, (leaving 20 bushels for the horse) 15 An acre of flax, supposed worth 20 60 bushels of rape-seed, at 6s 18 8 cwt. of butter from four cows, at bl. per cwt 40 Two fat hogs, at 7^ 14 A heifer and two calves sold annually 8 £171 12 6 The expenses on the farm, reckoning labour at the rate paid for it in the dearest paits of England, will be as follows, according to tho table of labour : — 635 days of men in summer, at 2s JE63 10 80 ditto in winter, at 2()d. (thrashing) 6 13 4 264 ditto of women, at lOd 11 180 bushels of peat-ashes, at 4d 3 fiPADE HUSBANDRy. 119 200 rape-cakes for the flax, at 2d. (£6 a- ton) 1 13 4 Extra expense in harvest, beer, &c 2 3 4 £88 Hemains for rent, interest of capital, profit, &c 83 12 G £171 1*2 C The b\iilc!iiigs required for such a farm are not expensive. The dwelling-house generally consists of a large Uitchen and two bea- rooms, of a dair\', partly under ground, and a cellar for keeping roots in v.inter. The barn and cow-house are often placed at right anjrles to the dwelling-house, and, with some open sheds, enclose a vard. But the cheapest plan is that given in the annexed figure, where the whole is under one roof. The urine-tank is the most *3ssential part, and will appear very large for so small a farm. Front Eltvalion. Ground Plan. X paid for 3 4 Slink floor arch jtl over. 2Q =1= 30 -4— 40 50 00 -A SCALE OF FEET. A A.wrine tank, under the stable and cow-houso, 30 feet by 20, and 6 dct'p, with a partition in it. B, kitchen. Dand E aresleepinarts of Essex and Ilerlfordshirc, which will produce good beans without being too heavy for turnips, or even crirr'^'s. The quality of the soil does not vary materially through tlie farm. It is not of so rich a nature as the clays of the pokhns, and, when washed, contain;? a considerable pori.io!i of silicious sand ; but it has been enriched by repeated and ample manuring, not only by the dung and urine of the cattle kept on the farm, but by pur- chased manure of every description, especially the sweepings of the streets of Courtray, and the emptying of privies. The farm-buildings are very conveniently arranged at a small distance from the high road, from which there is an approach by an avenue of trees. TL larm-house, which is substr.ntial and convenient, and the stables for the horses, occupy one side of a square or rectangle of sixty yards loiig by fifty wide. Opposite the house stands a roomy barn, and another occupies two thirds of the west side of the square. The east side is taken up with a cow-!iouse, ox-talls, and other useful buildings. The entrance is by a gate-way with double gates, at the north-east angle of the yard. A paved causeway ten feet wide runs all round tlie farm-yard, i-aised about eighteen inches above it. The co'v-stalls, barns, tfec, are on a level with this cause-way, and the yard slopes gently towards the middle, where there is an oval tank surrounded by a brick wall, which rises two feet above the yard. There is an opening in this wall sufficient to allow a cart to be banked into it ; from this opening the bottom slopes to the further end, where it is three feet deep. This is the crovpissoir, into which all the liquid part of the dung runs, when it is washed by the rain, through openings left in the wall which surrounds it. The urine is collected in another large vaulted reservoir immediately under the cow-house and ox-stalls. This description applies equally to most of the farm-yards attached to large farms, for one hundred and twenty acres is a large farm in Flanders. Thirty cows are constantly kept on this farm, and six horses, besides young heifers and colts. The cows are always kept in the stalls, and fed with green food in summer, and ;.a:s with meal in winter. Each cow has a stall in which she is tied up by herself, separated from the next by a large fiat slab of stone about four feet square set on edge. There is a low stone trough before her, and an opening in the wall to give her air. She is tied by a leather SELECT FARMS. 123 strap round her neck, with a chain fastened to a staple, which goes through the wall, and is secured hy a nut and screw on the other side. The cow-stable is forty yards long without any divi- sion, and six yards wide, so that there is much room behind tho cows. In the middle, against the wall, is a pump to supply water for the cows, and to wash out the stable, which is very frequently done, the whole being swept into the urine-tank below through an an aperture, towards which all the guttci-s slope from the cow-stalls. Under the pump is a stone cistern ^Yhich is constantly kept full, that the water may acquire the lempeiature of the air. In this cistern bean or rye meal is mixed, in the proportion of a laige double hand-ful to three gallons of water, so that the cows never drink the water without this addition. It is supposed to increase their milk, and make it richer. Outside of the building is tlie pump by which the urine is raised to fill the casks in which it is conveyed to the land. Another pump is in the centre tank, by which the dung water is raised, either to mix with the urine when rape-cakes have been dissolved in it, or to pour it over the solid dung to accelerate the putrefaction. The pens for fattening calves, as des- cribed (page 93,) are placed along the wall behind the cows, and being only two feet wide, take up very little room ; there are only two or three of these, for, so near a considerable town, the fatting of calves is not so profitable as selling fresh butter. A few acres of grass are kept in permanent pasture near the house, and the cows are put there for a few hours every day in summer, more for exercise and for the sake of their health than for grazing. All the rest of the land is arable, and cultivated very strictly according to a regular rotation. Mr. Doutreluinge, the occupier, informed us that he had several times made experiments by varying the usual course ; at one time increasing the quantity of flax, and at another that of colza : but he found, by keeping very exact accounts of the expense and produce, that every deviation caused a loss in the end. The rotation is very simple. The whole of the arable land he divides into six parts — one part is half in flax and half in colza, one wheat, one rye and turnips, one oats (five-sixths of which with clover-seed,) one clover, with a small proportion in potatoes and carrots, one two-thirds wheat and one- third beans. The land intended for flax is ploughed soon after harvest with a very shallow furrow, or only well harrowed to destroy the stuble ; rotten dung is spread over it, at the rate of twenty large loads per 124 FLEMISH IIUSDANDRT. acre, about tho month of September. It is left spread on the land for some time, and then rolled with a heavy roller : this is to press it into the ground, and make it fine. It is then ploughed in with a shallow furrow. When the plough has made a furrow, six or eight men with spades dig spits of earth out of the bottom of it, which they set upon tho ] irt already turned up, so that the ground is partially trenched. The plough on its return fills the holes thus made, and, when the whole is finished, lies in a very rough state, with large clods all over it : so it remains all winter. In spring, when the clods are pulverized by the frost, the harrows pass over repeat- edly and level the surface. The land is then ploughed and harrowed several times, till it is thought sufficiently fine. Liquid manure is now put on. This consists chiefly of the emptyings of privies, and the urine of cows, and also of raj^e-cakes dissolved in urine, and left to ferment for some time, which is done in the open tank in the yard. The quantity of rape-cake used depends on the supply of vidanges, which are preferred, the other being only a substitute. This is allowed to soak into the ground for a few days. It is then well harrowed, and the linseed is sown at the rate of about three bushels to the acre, and covered by the harrows reversed, or the traineau. The only peculiarity in this process is the spreading of dung over the land and, letting it remain some time before it is ploughed in. According to the prevailing opinions, we should say that a portion of it must evaporate and be dissipated. But the practice must not be hastily condemned on mere theoretical prin- ciples. It is well known that there is no manure so good for flax as that which is collected in the towns by poor people, who sweep the streets, and make composts of everything which is capable of putrefaction. This compost is sold, in a dry state, by measure ; and we have repeatedly seen the preparers of this manure spread it out in dry places in the sun to bring it to a marketable state. Probably the origin of this may have been that, by being dry, the carriage of it is lighter ; but that the virtue of the compost is not lost by drying appears from the reputation it has amongst the farmers, who piously believe that its extraordinary eft'ects are to be ascribed to a peculiar blessing of God, as it enables the poor and destitute to gain a livelihood. It must be recollected that this manure is so prepared by repeated turning and watering, and that the vegetable fibres in it are almost entirely decomposed. It is probable that in drying nothing is evaporated but simple mois- ture. This practice being peculiar, and not very generally adopted, renders it more deserving of notice. SELECT FARMS. 125 he land to press in with ', six or m of it, I ground )lcs thus ite, with or, when f repeat- arrowed lanure is v\es, and ine, and tank in e supply ibsiitute. t is then )ut three 1, or the lading of fore it is ould say But the cal prin- for flax lo sweep pable of neasure ; e spread )le state, dry, the st is not ngst the ts are to le poor ted that ing, and ised. It )le niois- adopted, A little beyond Courtray along the Lys, towards Menin, is a farm particularly noticed by Mr. Kadcliffe in his report of the Hus- bandry of Flanders. It was then in the occupation of a Mr. Van Bogeart, who afterwards retired with a competent fortune, chiefly acquired by farming. It is now occupied by Mr. Do Brabanter who cultivates it very carefully, with some slight deviations from the practice of his predecessor. This farm is called VolJander and is one of the finest and most compact we have seen. It con* sists of about one hundred and forty acres, of which about twenty are fine meadows along the river, occasionally flooded in winter but not irrigated ; about ten acres are rich heavy land, adjoining the meadows, in which beans and wheat thrive well ; all the remainder, about one hundred and six acres, or rather more, lie in an oblong field bounded by a hedge-row, at one corner of which, nearest the river, stand the farm-buildings. A road or path six feet wide, runs through the middle of the field, and the road which leads to the farm-yard skirts one end of it. The soil of this field is a rich light loam, which lies over a substratum of clay, but at such a depth as to be perfectly sound and dry. it is not extremely fertile in its own nature, but has been rendered so by many years of an improving husbandry. Every part of the land has been repeatedly trenched and stirred two or three feet deep ' and the immense quantity of manure, chiefly liquid, put on year after year, has converted the whole into a very rich mould. The strength and vigour of the crops bear witness to the goodness of the husbandry. As we walked along the middle path, which is just wide enough to admit the wheels of a cart, the whole produce might be seen at once. It was just the time when the flax had been pulled, and remained stacked on the ground. The colza had been beat out, but the stems remained in heaps where they had been cut. There were fifteen acres of most beautil'ul flax of a bright straw-colour, and the stems a yard long. This, besides the seed, was worth in the stack from 25l. to 30/. per acre ; twelve acres of colza had produced about fifty quarters of seed ; eighteen acres of oats looked so promising that they could not be set at less than nine quarters per acre ; eighteen acres of wheat, which stood well with short but plump ears, we valued at five quarters per acre ; eighteen acres of rye, partly cut, with the straw above six feet high, would probably produce rather more than the wheat. There were six acres of white poppy, of which every plant was strong and upright, and the grouud under it as clean as a garden : 12G FLEMISH IIUSBANDRT. t> i V- i wc arc no judges of this crop, but we were informed that the expected produce would bo about seven or eight hect(»litres (twenty to twenty-three bushels)* per acre : six acres were in potatoes, expectetl to proiluce eight hundred hectolitres (two thousand two hundred and seventy bushels : — three hundred and seventy-eight bushels per acre.) A small patch, about an acre, was in carrots, which looked fine and large; twelve acres were in clover, nearly the whole of which was cut green to give to the cows and horses : it produces three good cuts in the year where it is not allowed to go to seed. The tea acres of heavy land wore partly in beans and partly in wlicat. Thus we have one hundred and sixteen acres all profitably crop- ped, leanng four acres for the roads and farm-buildings. Although this farm is within two miles and a-half of Courtray, the greatest part of the manure is collected on the farm. Rape-cake is used most profu.ady, and to this, as well as to the depth of the soil, the beauty of the flax is ascribed. Mr. l)e IBrabanter usually sows his t^ax after oats, which, on this account, have been very highly manured. His urine-tank is very cajvicions, like a large cellar under his cow-house. The farni-buiklings are arranged nearly as those of the last-described farm ; he has a hsga dry vault to store his roots iu winter. His stock consists of twenty-seven cows in milk, five or six heifers, nine horses, and three colts. The rent of this farm, including land-tax and other imposts paid by the tenant, amounts to 4880 francs, 18 '/. 15s., which is fully equal to 270/. in England, taking the value of agricultural produce in the two countries as a measure. There is nothing very peculiar in the practice of Mr. De Bra- banter. He ploughs the land well, lays it in narrow stitches with active, fiuper- ■ intends the dairy, and took some prido in shovvii, ' ue< in rool vaulted ceMar numerous pans set on the briciv tloor IiIIw had cost eight pounds, and the man regretted that he had not had the means to purchase a second, as he could have maintained two very well. Half of the land was in wheat, the other half in clover, flax, and potatoes ; so that the clover did not recur sooner than in six years, the flax and potatoes in nine. As soon as th^ wheat was cut, he began to hack the stubble about four inches deep with the heavy hoe, and as fast as he got a piece done it was sown with turnips, after having some of the contents of th« urine-tank poured over it ; for small as the &rm was, it had its reservoir for this precious manure. Thus a considerable portion of the wheat stubble was soon covered with young turnips of a quick-growing sort, which, if sown in the beginning or middle of August, were fit to be pulled in November and December, and stored in the cellar for winter use. There was a small patch of cameline, which was sown less for the seed than for the stem, of which he made brooms in his leisure hours in winter. But these hours could be but few, and only when snow covered the ground, and prevented him from digging and trenching, which was a constant operation ; for the whole five acres had to be dug in the course of tho year, and as much of it as possible trenched, the soil being a stiff" loam of a good depth, which was much improved by trenching and stirring. The milk and potatoes fed the fsimily, with the addition of a little salt pork, for a pig was fed on the refuse of the food ^ven to the cow, and a very little com, and consequently was not overburdened with fat Most of the wheat and all the flax were sold, and more than paid the rent, which was not high — about 10^. a year, without any rates, tithes, or Uaes. Incessant labour kept the man in good health, and his wife was not idle. They had two or three young children, one at the breast : but, except the wish for another cow, there seemed no great dissatisfaction with their lot, nor any great fears for the future. They had no parish-fund to fall back upon, not even a union workhouse ; but, had they come to want by unforseen acci- dents, they would have found the hand of private charity stretched out to help them. We have before alluded to a farm of which the occupier kept ewes for the sake of their lambs, which he alone in the neighbour- hood fatted for the butchers. His name is De Eeyart, and his farm is situated at a little distance from the neat and flourishing BBLBCT VABliS. 18« This ad not tained lalfin sooner asth^ inches D don« lof ih« had its portion ipB of a iddle of )er, and jatch of stem, of >ut these ground, \i was a ig in the bed, the mproved efiamily, \ fed on tie com, it of the the rent, 38, tithes, and his sn, one at eemed no s for the ot even a seen acci- stretched ipier kept leighbour- % and his Qourishing village of Hamme. It consists of sixty-five acres, of which five are meadow, near a little rivulet. The ewes are kept as another far- mer would keep cows. He considers the keep of one hundred sheep as equal to that of fifteen cows. He has, however, five cows also ; and three horses do the work of his farm. His rent is about thirty shillings an acre, — a considerable rent^ hut small in propor- tion to the price of land, which here sells at an extravagant rate, not payii^ two per cent, for the outlay. Hamme is in the Waes country, where the cultivation is carried to the greatest perfection. One-sixth part of Mr. Eeyart^s farm is trenched two spits deep every year, which costs him 30 francs — about 11. 5«. — ^per acre. This shows that the land is light, and the trenchers expert, to be able to do it at that price. The first crop on the trenched ground is potatoes, after the land has had twenty tons per acre of good yard dung spread over it. This is ploughed in four inches deep. After a fortnight an equal quantity of dung is put on, and this is ploughed in seven or eight inches. It must be observed that in ploughing the ground is turned completely over, so that the dung lies under the furrow-slice. The second plough- ing does not bring the dung first laid on tlie surface again ; but the point of the share, going four inches under it, lifts it up enclosed in two layers of earth; that which had been above the first dung is turned down upon the last portion, and the four inches last raised are turned to the surface, so that there are two distinct strata of dung, if we may so express it, one four inches under the surface, and the other eight. The advantage of this method must be obvious ; and the ploughmen who can execute it should not be despised. Potatoes are planted on a part of this ground, and hemp sown on the remainder. The potatoes are put into holes made with a blunt dibble, and it will be perceived that, if they are put in ax inches deep, they are placed between two layers of dung, and cannot fail to grow readily m such a rich and mellow bed. When potatoes are fairly up out of the ground, the earth ia stirred and rtused around the stems, and liquid manure is poured on the little heaps thus made. It is not surprising that with SD much manure a great crop should be produced : but this manure is not all put in for the sake of the potatoes only, but for the flax, which is to follow, for which the dung should be well incorporated with the earth, and the land very clean. For the flax rape cakes dissolved m urine, or, what is preferred, vidanff€9, form the chief manure. Carrots are sown soon after the linseed, ise FLSMI8H HUBBAMDRT. 1 . if if not at the same time. In weeding the flax groat care is taken not to pull up the young carrots ; when the flax is pulled the car* rots are already very forward, and, by the help of the urine-carti soon swell to a good size. After the flax and carrots the land is manured with fifteen tons of dung, which is ploughed in, and wheai sown in October. The next crop after wheat is, as usual, rye and turnips with six tons of dung. Then oats without dung; and, after them, buckwheat also without manure. The course then begins again with a fresh trenching. This is the usual course in the sandy loam of the Waes country. But what distinguished' Mr. De Keyart's farming is his flock of ewes. , Of these he has 100, who are carefully fed in the yard in summer and under cover in winter. All their food is brought to them, and as the lambs are the principal object, the ewes are well supplied with roots and corn in winter. The old crones are fatted off regularly. The manure is collected carefully : what can be washed into the tank goes there ; the more solid part is mixed with earth before it is put on the land. His crops are as those of his neighbours, viz. : — • wheat about four to five quarters an acre, flax worth 20^. an acre, hemp 1 21. In 1 83 Y there were on the farm twenty acres of wheat, eight of flax (part with carrots and part with clover,) three of hemp, four of clover, four of oats, two of buckwheat, fifteen of rye and turnips, two of potatoes, (fifty-eight acres in all.) The remainder of the sixty-five acres is pasture and homestead. The wheat is thrashed with the instrument described in page 31, and the chaff beat off is boiled in the brassin. Here we observed some small stacks of wheat neatly thatched, which might contain eight or ten loads of straw in each. The making and thatching of these is here a separate trade. In the neighbourhood of Tamise there are many small farms cliiefly cultivated by the spade, which are perfect models of this species of husbandry. The farm of a man named Everart may be taken as an example. He has eight acres of land, and keeps three oows. The whole is cultivated by himself, with the help of a labourer during three months in the year, who is chiefly employed in trenching and digging. The manure is carried on the land in wheelbarrows. The land is much poorer than in the farm we noticed near Alost. Tlie first crops after trenching are buckwheat and potatoes — the latter with all the manure that can be spared : as many as sixty tons an acre are frequently put on. By this means the produce will be one hundred and twenty sacks, each of ntsoT rAiuis. 18V 200 lbs. weight, or nearly twelve tons, which is a very large crop on such a soil. After potatoes he sows wheat, then rye and tiir nips, then flax and clover, wheat, rye, and turnips: this is th« regular course, which is only varied by carrots being sown in part of the flax, so thac the clover may not recur too soon on the same ground. The cows are kept in stalls with their heads completely separated from each other : each cow has her own trough, and cannot interfere with her neighbour. The partition goes back as far as behind the shoulders of the cow : when she lies down she cannot see any of the others. The food is given to them from a narrow chamber before them, in which are the troughs for the brassin, so that they may literally be said to feed like pigs. They are cleaned and curried like horses. The habitation is neat, only one story high, containing a kitchen and two chambers, with a small garret over these. There is a email bam, cow-house for three cows, with a calf-pen. There is a place where a horse might be kept ; but a horse would only be profitable if there were more land ; at present his keep can be saved. The urine-tank with the privy over it is an indispensable part of every farm-yard, however small. The wheelbarrows, which are used instead of carta, have a large wheel, and the frame it light They are calculated to carry dung and sheaves of com. The liquid manure is carried to the field in a tub, sometimes by means of a pole between two men, or a man and a woman, some- times on the wheelbarrow. It is poured out by means of a bowl with a long handle, and which can take up liquid and semi-liquid substances equally well. There is an appearance of comfort in these little farms whfch is very pleasing. Hard work, instead of being here thought an evil or a hardship, is thought essential to the health and comfort of the individual. The children are brought up in industry. It is interwoven with all their associa- tions ; and when the young men marry they find wives who are brought up in the same manner, and are useful helpmate to them. The great ambition of the small Flemish farmer is firsf of all to be able to set up his children, by giving them what is indispensa- ble in taking a small farm. If he has been very successful, and at the same time very fragal, he will hoard his savings till he can buy a few acres of land of his own. If he can build a house he then has arrived at the utmost point that the most sanguine man can look forward to. There are many small proprietors who have risen slowly by the labour of their own hands ; and their habitationt 136 VLEMI8B HUBBAin>MT. fthow, by their extreme neatness, and the care taken of everything about them, that they feel a pride in enjoying the just reward of honest industry. p si CONCLUSION. From the general outline of Flemish Husbandry which is given in the foregoing pages, and from the examples which we have added, the general principles which pervade the whole system are easily discovered. The garden has e^^dently been the model for the operations of the farm. The spade has originally been the chief instrument of cultivation; and when a greater extent of farms necessarily introduced the plough, the favourite spade was not entirely laid aside. A Flemish farm of forty or fifty acres must still be looked upon as an enlarged garden ; and if a com- parison is instituted with the cultivation of land in England, we can only compare the Flemish husbandry, as far as tillage is con- cerned, with those large unenclosed gardens which are found in the neighbourhood of London, where the common vegetables are raised which supply the markets, where green crops are cut early for horses and cows kept in London, and where the soil is continually enriched by the manure, which is brought every time a cart returns from having carried out the produce. In these grounds the system is similar to the Flemish — deep digging or trenching, abundant manuring, and a rapid succession of crops. But there is one part of the Flemish system in which even the market-gardeners are inferior to the Flemish farmers. This is the collection and application of liquid manures. In England stable- dung laid in large heaps, and allowed to heat to a considerable degree, which is promoted by frequent turning and mixing the different parts together, is the principal manure of the market- gardener. It is put on the land in great abundance, and often without much attention to the state it is in, when the plough or the spade turns it into the ground. But the value of rich manure in a liquid state is not appreciated. The emptyings of privies and the refuse of slaughter-houses, which are. carried in a semi-liquid ■ state in tumbrils made on purpose, are mixed up with the stable- . dung, to accelerate its decomposition : but there is no tank or pit in which it can be kept separate, or diluted to the degree required OOKCLUSIOir. 139 ytliing ard of a ^ven e have, tern are , 3del for een the :tent of ide was ty acres a com- land, we 3 is con- found in getahles i are cut e soil is ery time In these Tging or of crops, even the lis is the id stahle- siderahle ixing the a market- md often )lough or h manure riviesand imi-liquid ■ he stahle-. ankor pit' required to act directly on the roots of the plants, without injuring them by being too concentrated. This is the great secret of the 'Flemings, by which they have converted poor sands into rich mould, and produced in the lightest soil crops of wheat as fine and heavy as we do in our best clay-loams. The total ignorance or disregard of the power of urine on vegetation cannot be better shown than by the fact that a large cow-keeper, near London, having built a reservoir for the urine of several hundred cows, thinking to make some profit by the sale of it, found so little demand for it, at a very low price, or even for nothing, that b6 destroyed the tank, and let the urine run into the common sewers, to add to the variety of rich impurities which daily flow into the Thames. A gentleman from Flanders, to whom this was mention- ed, asserted that in his country, there would have been many applications to contract for all Aii* brine, at the rate of 21. per cow per annum — a sum which wi>wj^ have amply repaid the cow- keeper for the expense of his t^nk^.'and put a large annual sum into his pocket. It is not that ^^fdeners are not aware that urine IS a rich manure, but they want « experience in the management and application of it, and every .I^emish farmer could teach him this, if he would : and a few experiments with common attention would enable any intelligent matt to find it out himself. It would be of little use to obs<^ve the various methods of cul- tivation in other countries, if jy^.did not endeavour to apply them where it may be done to advantage. The practices of gardeners are always a good example'jto farmers, and wherever they can be introduced on a great scale they are always found highly bene- ficial ; so the methods adopted by the small farmers, and by those who cultivate by the spade in Flanders, might be introduced on a much larger scale on light sands in England. Instruments may be invented by which the ground may be tilled as effectually as by digging, and much more rapidly. The subsoil plough, lately introduced, is an approach to a rapid method of trenching. The gradually mixing the subsoil with the sui-face is readily accom- plished by its use. The manuring with liquid manure may be effected on a hundred acres as easily as on twenty, provided there be a sufficient number of beasts kept stalled to produce.it. If one tank could not contain all the liquid, it is better to have several in different parts of the farm. There is nothing to prevent a man of capital from multiplying his farms ; and if he applies the same quantity of labour, and keeps the same number of cows, 140 ruutisB 108 iinmr. m in proportion to the number of his acres of land, ho may have the name results. It would startle a farmer of four hundred acres of arable land if he were told that he should constantly feed one hundred head of cattle ; and yet this would not be too great a proportion, if the Flemish system were strictly followed. It ia probable that in a large farm, by means of a division of labour, the whole work might be done at a comparatively smaller expense. There might be buildings in different parts of the fium, in which the cattle might be fed, so as to avoid carrying the green food, or the manure, to a great distance. By having several tmaty servants to superintend the management of the different departments of the &rm, great regularity might be introduced ; and a system of checks mighb be contrived, by which the occupier of an extensive farm might'have all his work done as regularly and effectually as if he had only a few acres to manage. A largo farm requires a large capital^ d and received, but of work done, of fodder consumed, and of tiie distribution of the labour of men and horses, so as immediately to detect any extravagance or error, and at all times to show the prolit or loss, there can be no induce- ment to apply capital to the Qultivation of land. The Flemish farmer is contented to live, and bring up his family. The proprie- tor is satisfied if he gets some return, either in rent or produce, adequate to the value of his:estate: but the speculator who embarks his capital ^qpects to have a fair interest, which will cover his outlay and his risks. Agriculture has not often presented advantages sufficiently tempting to induce mere speculators to embark in it, yet considerable fortunes have at times been made by improving land, and no doubt may be made again. The fail- ures have been owing to want of prudence, as well as to the want of a practical knowledge of agriculture. A man who would em- bark his capital in Cuming should have served an apprenticeship : he should have managed a small farm before he attempts a large one. But if he has acquired experience, and expects no miracles, he w ill find that, by attention, perseverance, and skill, he may not only gain a decent livelihood by cultivating the soil, but that he may invest a capital in agriculture, so as to pay him a very hand- some interest without much risk. hare the 1 acres of feed one ) great a id. It ia >f labour, smaller thefiunn, rying the ig several different troduced ; B occupier regularly A largo jT accurate fork done, ur of men je or error, no induce- e Flemish be proprie- >r produce, ilator "who L will cover iulators to been made The fcU- to the want would em- entieeship : ipts a large lo miracles, he may not but that he I very hand- ANALYTICAL IN'DEX. rAOH. AhIim wici as manure, Analysis of». 37 Aitsoa loliluni mot with in Pliuidora lOt Atmospherical iiiuiiuring 3'j ISi).r2cjr, (Jiiltiviiliou of 49 " Favourite sortMof 40 IVaiu, Cultivation of. 61 " Improved mithods of sowing Ba Ut!t;l-root, AvcniKi) crop of. 60 •• Company cstabliHhod for the cultivation of. 60 * Cultivation of. ^ CO " Introduood ii^ Flandors undnr Bbnapurte M •' SuKar nianufffitories •...'•..V flO nravor, Cultivation of »»..* M Introduced into Great Brit)^ fnom Flandorrt 6.') *' Soed sown amouKHt flax '..'. C6 " " Whence obtained M " Value of 54 t'oJ^a, Average produce of an aero of 74 " Cultivation of 7J ('uinpaiiaon between Irish and Flemish Husbandry 120 rondusion 138 <'onsumption of food by cattle 88 (/(trroot calculation in English money, of the produco of an aero of land in Flanders 117 • ;«W8, High value of 89 «;rops. Attention to secure a proper rotation of. 40 Necessity of a i*otation of 41 " Of grass sold at auction 84 CiiHiration of land by the spado 105 Distribution of labour in the cultivation of 15 acres of land 114 ilitohus, how male 108 Domestic consumption of food 110 Dung of fowls, how used 36 Hnbankmonts, Manner of making 11 I'iwcMkept for the sake of their lambs 134 Farias in polder, Size of. 15 142 Fwra-bulldlng* IR Farmi of »K(x>dqimHty, Division of 411 Kenoos, IIsu of, nml how coniitruuk'd 103 IflM, Cultivation of tR " DifTontnt inistluMlfi of oultlvoting— about Courtray tt " Mi'tiMMl of Htwpinff (M ." " " wtvdiiiK W " 8oni Kigft «A •' Valuo of (0 " Wlimi IwHt raised M (!» " Soil iM'Ht NiiiU'd for if\ .(jiunlcns attachod to ftirniH lOl (i«n«nil principles of FUmiish Husbandry 24 Onuwland, Maniifi^i^inent of iS " " Modo of Improving deteriorated M Hack, Docriptiou and u«o of tho 108 Harrow, Deseription and use of the FIuniiHh J7 Hay costly in Flanders »...?.j M " ilakinB in Flandent .**,,.• M " Rioksin Flanders * * M If crap, Cultivation of .*..*,*.*• • •* ■* NamoH applied to ....,.,. 7« " i*roducoof an acre of >l " Separation of tho fibres fi"om tltebW.o«d 71 " Whoro best raiHcd .'..'.! «» lliH), Doseription and use of tho FleuiliiK'.:.. tn Hogs, Manner of rearing ,'.*.*..'. 05 " Method of fattening r.?.*.* 9tt Hops, Produeoof an aero of r 82 " "Wlien and how euUivated ••.!.•* fti ITorHo, Bre<>dingof tho ■,■*,'■!•» W " DoNcription of tho Flemish 97 " Manner of shooing ' « \(w " Provender of tho ,...«.♦,• 98 •* Valuo of the 1(H) Inundation, How to prevent ^T.'.t 11 Limo used as mauuro *Ar»* 35* Luoem little cultivated in Flanders (Hi Madder, Cultivation of 79 Manur**, Description of various kinds of 33 37 " Obje ,... Wi .. «* .... ni .. . »» 101 M M ... » TIandan H dsntoir, DotH^riptionofft , ^ FlMitH ouUivatod for thnir oily Hmsda f I FMouffhinR In Plandcru, Mitnnor of „ SI Clouf^h, Dctu^ription o'tho Flcinbh Id Voldcfn, AimlyrtiH of Hnvoral II " CotniKMitionor \^ OuHlvafcion of ...'.'". u " Formation of 10 Pond wotulu iwcd w maimru for potatoca , gy I'oppy, CuHivallon of tho 70 " Varietios of .1^.^'!. T& Fork, how prt^iiAred , yj fotatooM, AveraRo oropof. 67 " CuUivalion of.... 87 AK Flnjt sold at Hrugos in 1710 M " ProiMjr tlino for plautinj?. M " Hown for tho coiiiiumptlon of cattle. ;. m " Vai-iutio8 of 57 IVico of an aoro of Kmns... 84 Proportion of rattlo broil on farms 87 IVoduco per w.re, Valun of.. IIB RAbioUo, (800 Navettfl) 74 -Remody for hovon cattle 91 Hunt of land in tho poldnro... 10 RoUorH, DeMcription of Fluniish 87 dotation b(>giui3 and ands with lUx ti " Followed by small Npado farms 109 " For tho richest kind of light soil 48 *' Inap4X)r sandy soil 4i " In arich loam 44 " In a stiff loam, with tho quantity of manure to bo applied.. 44 " In a strong sol'. 44 " In good clay 45 " On barren lands 41 Rutabaga or Swedish turnips littlo cultivated flo I^e, Cultivation of. 4ff Sand, Analysis of grey 18 " " softyellow 19 ** Manner of reclaiming barren 20 Sohorros, How formwl 11 Scythe, Dcspcription of tho Ilainault 28 Seed, Attention to tho choice of. 48 Sheep, ver>' few reared in Flandor? Ot Select Farms, Account of Mr. Verpoorfs, near Roiilors iso " '• •• Graove's, Stuivcskenkerko, 127 " » " " Doutrtluingo's, Walle,Courtray, lai " " •' NearAlost, ISA » ' •• Mr. Spital's, Oraramont 13a " " " " l)e licyart's, llammo, u« " « •• " Evcrart's. Tamise, 180 " " " De Brubantor's, near Meuin, 12» Shovol,'De8criptlon of the Flemish 25 Sinapio cultivated by poor people 7tf Soil for different crops. Preparation of. 46 " Classiflc lion of. 19 " in Flanuors, Fertility of. 17 • " " Formation of. 17 144 Soil in Flindera, Variety of 17 " How to ascertain nature of W Kpadc, Description of the FUmislL.^ 25 Spurr}-, CiUtivation of. 65 SUll-feeding generally adopted in Flanders. 87 i»p»do liusbandry, Great advantages of. IM Tabic of expenses and produce in the cultivation of 15 acres of land 1^ the spade 113 T»««, when and how sown Kl TolvMMio, Cultivation of. 88 '• Preparation of 88 " l»roducc of an acre of.. 84 Where grown 88 Ti-H