565 
stituted by an argillaceous loam, sometimes called the Hesbayan loam. 
The subsoil is in many respects of similar composition, permeable 
where a calcareous mixture is found, but impermeable where the clay 
predominates. The agricultural character of this region is very similar 
to that last mentioned. Its area is 696,425 hectares, or 1,720,936 acres ; 
its population is 1,404,499, or 525 to the square mile. . 
5. The Condrusian region, or Condroz.—The preceding regions form what 
may becalled the base of Belgium, and are considered as a plain. Across 
the line of the Sambre and its extension up the Meuse lies the Con- 
-drusian region, presenting a character entirely different. It is subdi- 
vided into two zones. The first, called the Pays de Herve, lying between 
the Upper Meuse and the Vesdre Rivers, has a compact loamy soil different 
from that of other parts of the country. Its difficulty of cultivation has 
diverted farming enterprise largely into dairying and stock-raising. 
The butter and cheese of this region have secured a European reputa- 
tion. Its area is 61,057 hectares, or 150,877 acres; the population, 
164,696, or 698 per square mile. 
The other zone of this region, or Condroz proper, occupies the angle 
of the Sambre and the Lower Meuse and a strip south of the Vesdre. 
The aspect of the country is one of picturesque wildness, presenting 
frequent geological upheavals, masses of rocks, in the clefts of which 
are found celebrated grottoes very attractive to tourists. The soilis thin, 
and varies in specific character with the underlying rocks, calcareous, 
schistose, &c., of the débris of which it is composed. At least a third of 
this zone is woodland or uncultivated. <A black schistose soil near Huy 
and Liege, in the coal formation, yields a very agreeable wine, which, 
though not equal to French wines, is quite profitable to its producers. 
The teasel is grown near Verviers to a considerable extent. At Glons, 
Roclenge, and other localities theré has grown up a considerable manu- 
facture of ‘tresses Belges,” a very beautiful fabric of fine straw for 
hats, which is much esteemed in foreign countries. Here also is found 
a considerable mining enterprise in coal, iron, lead, blende, iron pyrites, 
&c., besides very considerable quarries of marble, limestones, and other 
building-stones. The area of this zone is 487,274 hectares, or 1,204,103 
acres ; the population, 662,611, or 352 per square mile. 
6. The Ardennes region skirts the Condroz its whole length, the line 
between them starting at Momignies on the French frontier, passing near 
Givet and abutting upon the Prussian frontier at Eupen near Verviers. 
It includes the hilly portions of Hainault, Namur, Liege, and Luxem- 
bourg. The soil is almost everywhere the visible result of the decom- 
position of schistose rocks, the plates of which, more or less attenuated, 
appear on the surface of the highways, by-paths, and hill-sides. Some- 
times this decomposition gives rise to an impermeable clay retaining 
surface-waters in a state of stagnation. Peat-beds are quarried as a 
combustible, as litter for stables, and as a fertilizer. In some places the 
débris of the schist have produced a_ seed-bed which is amenable 
to cultivation. The land is treated in two ways. Near the cities, vil- 
lages, and hamlets, a class of lands called “ field-lands” are regularly 
cultivated, but the general system is called the “ Celtic culture.” This 
consists of several years of cropping intercalating with equal intervals 
of meadow and pasture. On the river-bottoms meadows are, in some 
cases, permanently maintained. The uplands aresubjected, every fifteen 
or twenty years, to two or three successive crops of oats or rye without 
manure; the summits are generally avoided. The leading crops are 
rye and oats, with an extension of spelt and flax culture during late 
years. The area of the Ardennes region is 420,171 hectares, or 1,038,284 
