442 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



increased as the supervisors increase the number of conferences and 

 courses and become better known throughout the Province, the 

 markets having furnished a fertile field for thus getting into direct 

 touch with the small cultivators. Courses in agronomy consisting- 

 of from 8 to 10 sessions are organized each year in about 25 communi- 

 ties, and relate to the soil, fertilizer, seed selection, feeding, and im- 

 provement of stock and sanitation. They are taken bj^ farmers from 

 20 to 35 years of age. More complete courses are given at Liers, 

 Aywaille, and Liege. Other courses are given in horticulture and 

 truck gardening, and special courses for fanners' wives have been 

 held dealing with such questions as the feeding of the family, the 

 care of children, and other subjects of special interest to the farmer's 

 home. 



Movable schools have been held lasting four months dealing with 

 domestic economy and the manufacture of cheese. Numerous societies 

 founded in the Province also flourish, such as societies for the in- 

 surance of the lives of stock, of agricultural credit, of cooperative 

 dairies, cooperative associations for the purchase of farm ma- 

 chinery, etc. 



PROVINCE OF LIMBURG. 



As in the other Provinces, the value of all agricultural lands has 

 greatly increased since 1885, and is now worth from $120 to $150 per 

 acre more than it was then. Likewise the total production of wheat, 

 rye, oats, and potatoes has greatly increased during the same period. 

 In round numbers the money value of this increase is $1,800,000. 



^^^lile the total production of sugar beets has fallen off slightly 

 during this period, the kind of beets formerly gi'own, yielding only 

 10 per cent sugar, are now grown only for forage, while the modern 

 sugar beets yield 16 per cent sugar. 



Likewise great imiDrovement has been realized in truck-garden 

 vegetables and in fruit, better varieties now having supplanted the 

 former, and the use of commercial fertilizer is now general and highly 

 profitable, thanks to the Avork of the extension supervisors and agri- 

 cultural engineers. In the Province of Limbourg the use of commer- 

 cial fertilizer is a repetition of the same story that has been told 

 regarding the other Provinces. 



Horses, cows, and hogs have greatly increased in number during 

 the past 12 years, and horses and hogs have been much improved in 

 quality during the same time. 



Dairying has also improved in the past 4 years, as is shown by 

 the fact that in 1891 there were only 2 cooperative dairies in the 

 Province, while in 1892 there were 42, and in 1907 a total of 155. 



The savings-bank deposits by farmers have nearly trebled during 

 the past 12 years. 



