96 BELGIUM - MISCELLANEOUS 



low interest and that the work be carried out under the supervision of the 

 competent officers. For the purpose, it suggests the appointment of a Com- 

 mission, consisting of an employee of the Department of Waters and Forests, 

 a Government agricultural engineer and a representative of the conunune, 

 who shall divide the communal land into three classes: ist., land that can be 

 profitabh- cultivated; 2nd., land unsuited for agriculture by its nature or its 

 distance from inhabited centres, but capable of being cultivated as for- 

 est or in some other wa^^; 3rd., land unsuited for any kind of cultivation. 



The principal object of the Commission would of course be to collect 

 information so as to hasten the carrying out of the works. 



§ 5. Conclusions .vnd proposals for the cultivation 

 of waste land belonging to private owners. 



There is no doubt that the question of the cultivation of private landed 

 property is of still greater importance. 



As w^e have seen, out of a total of 169,329 hectares of uncultivated land, 

 according to the Census Returns of 1895, 104,365 ha. belonged to private 

 owners and 64,964 ha. to the State, the communes and other public instit- 

 utions. 



In the case of private land, the difficulties are certainl}^ more serious. 

 And in fact, in the first place, land tends to rise in value with the increase 

 of manufactures in the Campine, for farms require a larger investment of 

 capital. In the second place, labour, the most essential item in farming, is 

 being more and more attracted to the centres of industrial production and 

 is begirming to cost more and more. 



It is held, on the other hand, that as a rule, the cultivation of waste 

 land can only be entrusted to private enterprise, as, in this way alone, we 

 read in the report, can immediate and permanent results be obtained and 

 above all — it is said — the small land owner must be allowed the benefit 

 of it : for the large landowner, the work of clearing is often a mere financial 

 operation; for the small proprietor, it is on the other hand an occasion for 

 saving and an urgent incentive to work. But for the purchase of a piece 

 of land, the adequate preparation of the soil, its cultivation and the erec- 

 tion of the necessary buildings, considerable funds are required. How are 

 they to be obtained ? The Commission, adducing the example of what has 

 already been done in Belgium in behalf of the Societies for the building of 

 workmen's houses, proposes that the Government should intervene, — as 

 in this case also the undertaking is one of public utility — and lend the agri- 

 cultural credit institutes at low interest the funds they require for the pur- 

 chase and cultivation of the land, in addition to this, granting subsidies either 

 by way of encouragement to small landowners who make definite tender 

 for the work, or by way of reward for the results already obtained. With the 

 above loans on conditions of favour and the subsidies, there should be 

 also granted special fiscal facilities and finally by means of lectures, practical 

 lessons and prize competitions, a knowledge of the best systems of farming 

 should be diffused. 



