THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



351 



distinct divisions : wbere the laud is a stiff clay, the farms are 

 large; where the soil is light, Bilicious, easily worked with a 

 spade, what may properly be called garden cultivation prevails, 

 from the size of the farms and the character of the crops. 



We coudeusc the following account of an interesting peoi'je 

 and district from aa admirable paper recently contributed by 

 M. Emile de Laveleye to a French periodical (" Revue dca 

 Ueux Moudes "), which occupies the position in the French- 

 speaking countries of our two leading (luartcrly Reviews. 



" We are in Waesland, in Eastern Flanders, on the north 

 of the river Scheldt, between Antwerp and Ghent. The first 

 appea'unce is of being in the midst of a forest ; all the roads 

 are planted, all the fields are surrounded, and all the 

 ditches are bordered with trees, w'.iich, driving their roots 

 into the one side, and the muddy water of the great 

 drsius on the other, display a most refreshing appearance 

 of fresh growth. There are no hills to break the mono- 

 tony of the flat, fertile, peaceful plain. At intervals along, 

 and parallel to the road, the farmhouses rise from the 

 midst of orcliards of great apple-trees. Tacitus observed that 

 "the Germans lived in detached dwellings, unlike the Latins, 

 whose villages are formed of rows of houses," and his picture 

 is here to this day. The farm-house is low, of one storey, built 

 of bricks carefully painted white or of some bright colour> 

 with the shutters of a deep-green. The roof is thatched. A 

 path paved with bricks leads up to the door through a garden 

 gay with dahlias and gilliflowers, and through the white cur- 

 tains of the windows may be seen the bright colours of the 

 pot-flowers, which the latest horticultural shows of Ghent 

 have made the fashion. The cottage generally consists of 

 four rooms, the largest being used as the living-room ; in the 

 second butter is made and the food of the cattle cooked ; the 

 two others are bedchambers. Scrupulous cleanliness and 

 neatness prevail not less in the hut of the poor labourer than 

 in the house of the rich farmer. The ancient furniture — the 

 oak-cased clock, the wardrobe, the white wood dresser — all 

 show the care of the housewife. Plates gay with flower- 

 pictures adorn the luantel-piece of the grate of the huge fire- 

 place and the shelf of the dresser. The iron-work of the 

 churn and the copper vessels shine brightly in the sun. The 

 walls are whitewashed every year before the fair (kermesse). 

 Iq the farm-yard everything is equally neit; the dunghill and 

 liquid-manure pit are under the roof of the cow-house. There> 

 too, five or six huge cows with swelling udders are sedulously 

 attended on by the farmer 'a wife. la summer they get plenty 

 of green cut fodder; in winter, straw, hay, and a sort of hot 

 soup of turnips, carrots, beet-roots, oilcake, bran, and rye 

 flour or malt. The agricultural implements in use are a Hght 

 swing-plough, drawn by one horae ; harrows of a triangular, 

 rectangular, and parallelogram form ; barrels mounted on 

 wheels for distributing liquid manure. But the special im- 

 plement of the Flemish agriculturists — the implement with 

 which he has fertilized sands, drained marshes, and reclaimed 

 thousands of acres from the sea— is the spade. They have a 

 proverb which, as written, is almost English — " De spa is dc 

 goudmyn der boeron " (the spade is the gold-mine of the boor 

 or peasant). The spade of the Waesland, intended to work in 

 a light, well cullivatsd soil, is of wood, with an iron casing oa 

 the blade. Even on very small farms the plough is used as 

 well as the spade ; but the spade is employed to give the last 

 finish to the preparation of the soil, to throw it into heaps for 

 winter's frost to soften it, or into beds two or three yards 

 wide divided by narrow channels. The fields are invariably 

 of a regular shape, square or a right-angled triangle, and sel- 

 dom more than 2^ acres in extent. The arable land is thrown 

 op ia the centre, and slopes to the sides, so that water 



may flow from it evenly. Ou each side of the arable 

 land, but a foot lower, is a border of turf ten or 

 twelve feet wide; still lower is a plantation of under- 

 wood, which is cut every seven years. Lastly, the field is 

 enclosed by a ditcli, bordered with forest trees. The arable 

 land is on an average seven feet higher than the ditch. This 

 helps to make it perfectly dry. These ditches are indispen- 

 sable, in a low flat damp country, to receive the rainfall. In 

 cutting them, the " spoil" is used to raise the level of the 

 arable land. Thus each enclosure supplies annual crops — 

 grass, which is watered by the overflow of liquid manure 

 from the arable land — fire wood every seven years, and timber 

 fit for building every thirty years. The arable land is usually 

 worked with the plough; but every six or seven years it is 

 dug over, the subsoil being carefully spread over the surface 

 which has borne the last year's crop, the subsoil being sup- 

 posed to have had the benefit of a fallow and the filtration of 

 the manures applied to the surface. The consequence is, that 

 arable land acquires a greater depth than even that of vegc- 

 table gardens. The chief produce is not grain, but flax and 

 butter. The best farmers do not sell any corn— they give it 

 all to their live stock. 



Rye and potatoes are grown on the poorest land, and form 

 the principal food of the u<jricuUv,ral classes in the greater 

 part of Flandcis. The Germans arc so fond of rye, that 

 they cultivate it in preference to wheat, even on strong clay 

 land. It also yields in Flanders, where the soil seems parti- 

 cularly favourable to it, upwards of ten per cent, more than 

 wheat ; it ripens earlier, and thus leaves more time and room 

 for the stolen crops, which form a leading feature of Flemish 

 peasant agriculture; and the straw is preferred for thatch. 

 Wheat requires much manure, and often does not pay the ex- 

 pense of cultivation. Wheat, therefore, is chiefly confined to 

 the district of strong land and large farms. Barley yields an 

 excellent crop, and beer is the drink of the country. Potatoes 

 occupy ten or twelve per cent, of the arable land. Oats are 

 a favourite crop. Buckwheat ia liked, because it requires uo 

 manure. In the sandy and small farm regions, 35 or 40 per 

 cent, of arable land is employed in growing green crops, 

 either as a first or second crop. These, with the natural and 

 artificial meadows, give a return of more than half the land 

 devoted to crops which yield meal and manure. Without a 

 liberal application of these, lands would soon return to the 

 condition of waste heaths. Artificial fields of lucerne have 

 not succeeded. Common clover mixed with rye-grass, and red 

 clover, are used instead. The damp climate suits permanent 

 pasture ; but the soil is generally too poor, in the region we 

 are particularly describing. Formerly the cottage farmers not 

 only grew flax, but spun it with distafi', and wheel, machinery 

 has absorbed that employment ; but the retting, the stripping 

 the flax plant, weaving the thread, distributes a considerable 

 sum in wages amongst the labouring population. The decline of 

 the linen trade has been recently compensated by a great ex- 

 port of linen thread to England and France. The cost of 

 flax growing, in manure, labour, and seed, is calculated at about 

 £13 an acre. Every farmer grows tobacco for his own con- 

 sumption. But in certain districts a very fine quality is 

 obtained. 



Hops are cultivated with great care and success. They 

 water with liquid manure as soon as the leaves begin to grow 

 yellow. Unlike our hop districts, where everything is sacri- 

 ficed to one plant, the finest crop of wheat and roots are found 

 in the hop districts. Amongst other crops, chicory, used in- 

 stead of coffee, rape, and other plants, are grown, to mske oil 

 and cake. The number of stock maintained per acre is large, 

 but mere figures convey a very imperfect impression on this 



