564 
crops. The Polders, being generally below high tide, would be overflowed 
but for anatural dike of dunes. The area is stated at 97,304 hectares, or 
240,448 acres; the population at 106,003, or 282 per square mile. This 
rate, being far below the average of the kingdom,is explained by the 
fact that the great manufacturing populations are found in the eastern 
provinces. 
2. The regionof sands, skirting the Polders on thesouth, embraces parts 
of East and West Flanders, Antwerp, and Limbourg. To this class of 
lands is also referred the narrow dike of sand, between 300 and 400 
yards wide, interposed between the Polders and the sea. This region 
is subdivided for statistical purposes into the zoneof Flanders and the 
zone of Campine. 
The zone of Flanders presents a large plain of low altitude, scarcely 
averaging 160 feet above tide-water. The soil is a thin stratum of sand 
through which the clay subsoil frequently protrudes, greatly improving 
its character. This subsoil abounds in pebbles and iron oxides, which, 
in many places, harden into a tufa impermeable to vegetation. This 
soil, so little favored by nature, has been made very productive by en- 
ergetic cultivation, and by the copious application of pulverized and 
liquid manures, night-soil, &c. This zone is characterized by a great 
variety of cultivation and by the frequent recurrence of “ stolen” or 
second crops. The land is divided into a great number of individual 
proprietorships. The leading agricultural pursuit is grain-raising, 
which absorbs about a third of the total area. Rye is the favorite crop, 
then wheat, potatoes, grass and fodder crops, flax, &c. Those crops 
which are called in Belgium the “industrial crops,” such as colza, cam- 
elina, poppies, hops, flax, chiccory, &c., on account of being the base of 
local manufactures, are cultivated concurrently with the ‘alimentary 
crops,” e. g. cereals, beans, peas, potatoes, &c. The area of the zone of 
Flanders is 368,884 hectares, or 911,549 acres ; the population 1,003,458, 
or 704 to the square mile,a density greater than that of any other 
region. 
The zone of Campine is an immense sandy plain, rarely reaching its 
maximum altitude of 250 feet above tide-water. A large portion is 
covered with marshes, heathers, and dunes. The soilis generally a pure 
sand, often mingled with a varied proportion of iron oxides. The clay 
subsoil gives a fixity to this sand by mixture with it; it sometimes 
hardens into a tufa which defies even the pickax to break up. The 
fir is the prevailing form of vegetation, but annual plants are largely 
cultivated. Buckwheat and the spurry here grow almost spontaneously. 
Rye oceupies an acreage five times greater than that of wheat, and con- 
stitutes the staple breadstuff of the country. The area of the zone of 
Campine is 449,752 hectares, or 1,111,382 acres ; the population is 575,625, 
or 331 per square mile. 
38. The sandy loam region is developed almost exclusively in Brabant, 
and constitutes the transition between the sandy and the loam regions. 
The subsoil is generally sandy, but frequently mixed with lime or clay, 
and is often used, like marl, for the improvement of lands. All the 
cereals, except buckwheat, are cultivated on alargescale. The so-called 
‘industrial plants” here occupy a wide area. The area is 270,232 
hectares, or 667,770 acres; population, 680,486, or 652 to the square 
mile. 
4. The loam region extends from the Polders and sandy region south- 
ward to the French frontier, and to the Sambre and Meuse Rivers. It 
encircles the sandy loam region above mentioned, and the two together 
are frequently designated as the region of Hesbaye. The soil is con- 
