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nificent results are secured by an unwearied struggle with natural diffi- 
culties, a constant renewal of the artificial conditions of production, and 
an intelligent use of the latest principles, processes, and implements of 
culture; steam-plows, grain-drills, horse-hoes, mowers, harvesters, 
thrashing-machines, and all other contrivances whereby the muscular 
force of man is supplemented and extended over nature, are of general 
if not universal use. Small cultivators of limited capital either form 
associations for the common ownership and working of the more expen- 
sive forms of machinery, or employ itinerant steam-plows, mowers, and 
thrashers, of which there is an abundant supply. The sterility of the 
soil is overcome by a liberal application of fertilizers. Every atom of 
domestic manure is saved with scrupulous care and protected from both 
rain and sunshine. The droppings of animals on the highways are 
swept up; the bones of dead carcasses are pulverized ; the sewage from 
towns and cities and the mud from rivers and canals are elaborately 
utilized. Incredible sums are also invested in imported fertilizers. 
FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 
The small territory of Belgium presents a remarkable variety of soil 
and climate, necessitating a corresponding variation of treatment. The 
Ardennes Mountains enter the kingdom from Franee, crossing it a little 
south of Namur, presenting a considerable amount of broken surface ; 
the maximum elevation, 2,000 feet, is found at Spa, near the city of 
Liege. North and northwest the surface slopes almost imperceptibly 
toward the sea, the minimum altitude being at Groenendyck, in Hast 
Flanders, about 5 feet above sea-level. 
CLIMATE. 
The climate varies with the altitude, and is remarkably free from 
extremes. Near the coast the clouds prevailing during the winter 
arrest surface radiation, and prevent a very low temperature; yet the 
climate is colder than on the opposite shores of England, which feel more 
strongly the ameliorating influences of the Gulf Stream. The aggre- 
gate rain-fall is not great, yet it is so well distributed as to give the 
impression of a rainy climate, while the slowness of evaporation keeps 
the soil moist. Hastward, these conditions change. The rain-fall re- 
mains nearly the same, but a clearer sky gives greater scope to noctur- 
nal radiation and evaporation. This causes a greater difference between 
the temperatures of day and night, giving rise. to more frequent and 
destructive frosts. _Upon the southern declivity of the Ardennes range 
the climate again becomes milder, and a more luxuriant vegetation 
marks the approach to the favored countries of Central Europe. 
SOIL. 
The soil presents well-marked variations, giving rise to seven distinct 
regions or zones, the statistics of which are carefully segregated in the 
official returns of the kingdom. Of these, beginning at the sea-coast, 
the first is: 
1. The region of the Polders, «zone eight or ten miles wide, stretching 
across West Flanders, the only maritime province of the kingdom. 
This portion of Belgium excels all the other regions in natural fer- 
tility, the soil being a compact clay of marine or partly fluviatile origin, 
mingled with lime from decomposed sea-shells. The alluvions which 
constitute this soil, varying from 2 to 6 feet in thickness, are underlaid 
by a bed of peat, which crops out in many places and supplies an ex- 
cellent domestic combustible, the ashes of which serve as a fertilizer to 
