MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION 

 RELATING TO AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL. 



BELGIUM. 



AGRICUIvTURAIy TRAINING FOR PARTI.\I,I,Y DISABI^ED SOI^DIERS. — Communi- 

 cated by M. H. de I^appaient to the Academie iV agriculture en France, at the session of 



13 December 1916. 



«. 



In organizing technical training for the seriously wounded the Bel- 

 gian government has acted on the f)rinciple that an injured man should, 

 whenever possible, not run the risk of becoming a dead weight on the re- 

 sources of his country, but should still be an appraisable asset, even — in 

 some cases — an element of prosperity. It has therefore been decided to 

 compel the partially disabled to undergo a technical training, suited to the 

 nature of their injuries, the trade they have previously foUowed, and the 

 tastes and aptitudes which may be discovered in them. 



In August 1915 the work of instalUng the Belgian Mhtar>' Institute 

 for the Technical Training of the SeriousW Wounded on the land of Notre- 

 Dame-de-la-Mere, seven kilometres (i) from Vernon (Eure), was begun. 



Huts which can be taken to pieces and are of uniform pattern are dis- 

 tributed in three rows separated by well metalled roads. They cover an 

 area of 17,000 square metres (2) and accommodate more than 1200 men, 

 including the permanent staff of the school. The number accommodated 

 will be raised to 2,000. 



The work necessitates a variety of plant and of labour : for the roads 

 which have to be made a quarrj' has been opened, and its stone is transport- 

 ed by a Decauville way ; land containing too much clay has had to be ren- 

 dered sanitary ; a sj'stem of electricity', seventy kilometres long, has been 

 established to give light to 1,400 lamps and to feed thirty motor-engines 

 in the various workshops, furnishing altogether 158 horse-power. 



The site of the Institute, in the centre of a forest of 350 hectares (3), 

 made it possible to make a bargain with the owner for the purchase of the 



(i) I kilometre = 1093.633 yards. 



(2) I square metre = 10.764 square feet. 



(3) 1 hectare = 2.47 acres. 



