On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. 243 



teriorating effects of the rye ; as, in rich loams, beans do after 

 wheat, so that wheat and beans are raised alternately for a long 

 course of years without any apparent diminution of the produce. 

 There is no use in reasoning against facts; and whether this 

 system agrees with our theories or contradicts them, it cannot be 

 denied that, by means of effectual tillage and abundant manuring, 

 the poor sands in Flanders are made to produce all the crops 

 mentioned in the table of rotations. Rye comes four times in 

 ten years, whereas all other crops have a much greater interval 

 between them. A very large portion of manure of every kind, 

 especially rape-cake dissolved in urine, is incorporated with the 

 soil for several years in succession, to prepare for a good crop of 

 flax ; and it does not seem that there is any fear of reducing the 

 fertility too much by taking exhausting crops during the time that 

 this manure is accumulating in the form of humus. The great 

 object is to impregnate the soil deeply and uniformly with organic 

 matter, while it is kept free from weeds by careful hand-weeding 

 and hoeing. The effect of liquid manure on poor loose sands, if 

 not seen, would not be credited. If a portion of the unimproved 

 original soil were produced and compared with that which has 

 been many years in cultivation, it would be difficult to persuade a 

 stranger, not acquainted with the system of gradual improvement, 

 that the latter was originally as poor as the former. The organic 

 matter diffused through it alters its nature entirely ; from being 

 porous and drying rapidly, it now retains moisture as long as good 

 clay loams ; from a loose texture, which could scarcely be made to 

 adhere together when wetted and worked in the hands, it now 

 readily dries in clods, which require some force of the fingers to 

 pulverize them ; and, when thoroughly moistened, almost admits 

 of being moulded into any shape. This acquired property would 

 be lost in a very short time, if the organic matter which is de- 

 composed by the vegetation of the plants were not constantly 

 replaced by the addition of manure, both liquid and solid. In 

 loose sands the manure is chiefly cow-dung, mixed with very 

 little straw, and that in a decomposed state ; or composts formed 

 of the heaviest earth which is to be found, with refuse vegetable 

 and animal matter, repeatedly watered with tank-liquor, as we 

 observed before. The quantity of manure put on the land when 

 potatoes are to be planted is nearly double what would be thought 

 a good dressing in most farms in England ; and hence a very 

 great portion of it is left behind in the soil, and enriches it for the 

 next crop, which is either oats or flax, with clover or carrots as a 

 secondary crop. 



The sowing of carrots amongst a growing crop is peculiar to 

 the Netherlands. If it were not for deep trenching and a 

 thorough incorporation of organic matter with the soil to the depth 



