22<? 



Mr. Middleton on Flemish Js:ricuUure. 



is from 20 to 40 bushels. The row cul- 

 ture of boaus was found to 1)0 far supe- 

 rior to the broad casl mctliod (seepages 

 7 and 10) botl) as to the beans and 

 tlie crop of winter barley, which fol- 

 lowed the beans. 



Barley : the Flemings do not grow 

 much spring barley, as the four-rowed 

 (or winter sort) yields more corn to Ihe 

 acre by one-fourth. They grow much 

 barley, but it is sown like wheat ia 

 avitumn, from a bushel and a half to 

 two and a half. The produce is frora 

 45 to .50 bushels, though the extraordi- 

 nary quantity of eighty bushels is said 

 to have been grown, p. 15. 



Wheat: tiiey sow from six pecks to 

 two bushels, and reap from twenty to 

 thirty-two bushels. When a bad winter 

 kills much of the wheat, it is usual to 

 hoe in spring wheat among the remains 

 of the other, very early in the spring. 

 All the occupiers of the rich land dis- 

 trict, which has been embanked from 

 . the sea, use a pickle of salt aiul water, 

 with a proportion of Roman vitriol to 

 their seed; by which they profess to 

 escape the smut and every other malady 

 in the ens>iiug crop, p. 22, &c. In page 

 23, is an instance of the futility of 

 changing seed for a ^^'heat crop, during 

 at least so long a period as fourteeu 

 years. 



Oats: they sow from ten pecks to three 

 bushels, and reap from thirty bushels 

 to sixty. Tlie straw on their rich land 

 is so surprisingly large in the islands 

 and other places near the river Scheldt, 

 as to weigh five tons per English acre. 

 Hemp: the produce is nearly the same 

 in value as flax, but the labour and 

 manure for hemp are more than double 

 what they are for flax : therefore hemp 

 is much the less profitable crop, p. 179. 

 Flax: they sow two bushels or two 

 and a half, and reap in seed six or seven 

 jKiuuds (query this weight of seed) and 

 in flax, thirty-four stone of 14 lbs. 

 each. It is pulled in July, and the 

 land is immediately prepared for and 

 planted with rape, p. 22. 



Rye : they sow nearly a bushel, and 

 reap from 28 to 40 bushels. Rye bread 

 is thought to be superior to oats for 

 travelling horses, p. (iS. 



Buck-wheat: th?y sow from four- 

 sevenths of a bushel to one bushel and 

 a seventh, and reap from twenty bushels 

 to thirty-eight and a half. 



Turuips, carrots oi clover, are culti- 

 vated after every crop of corn. 



To destroy all the thistles in any 



[April 1, 



district, adopt and enforce ttie regula- 

 tions uumtioned in p. 106, &c. 



Manure: about two tiiousand gallons 

 of fetid liquid manure from the vault, 

 is showered per acre upon the growing 

 crops of oats, rye and rape, p. 96 ana 

 98. — For potatoes, ten tons and a half 

 of ftirm-yard dung, find 1,400 gallons 

 of the fetid liquor arc applied, p. 98. — 

 For clover and flax, ten tons from the 

 farm-yard, and 2,000 gallons from the 

 vault. The dung of cows, horses and 

 hogs, are mixed to obtain the most 

 desirable degree of heat and fertility. 

 They suppose horse-dung to be hotter 

 than that of cows ; the latter to be more 

 permanent; and hogs-dung to be richer 

 than either of the other, p. 184. 



Ploughing is generally done with 

 two horses a-breast ; but on some oc- 

 casions, on sand, by one horse, or two 

 asses; and on stony land, by three 

 horses. The furrrfw-slice is wide and 

 tinned flat, not lozenge-shaped, and 

 they generally plough more than once 

 foi' each crop. 



Harrowing is frequently performed 

 by the driver of the horses standing 

 upon the harrows. It would sometimes 

 be an advantage to provide the drivei 

 with a seat upon the harrows, as that 

 additional weight would increase the 

 eflect of the harrows. It may be re- 

 peated, that they generally harrow 

 after every ploughing, and alivnyn pick 

 up the root-iceedx after every harrowing. 



Horses: eight horses do the labour 

 on 200 acres of arable land, that is 

 twenty-five acres for every labouring 

 horse; which is equivalent to an ex- 

 pense of two pounds per English acre, 

 for the labour of horses. 



Cows, in Flanders, are uniformly 

 soiled in summer; at other times they 

 are sei^ve'l with turnips, potatoes or 

 carrots, and bean or other strawchaffed; 

 together with white soup to drink, the 

 same as for horses, and occasianally with 

 brewers grains, p. 261, &c. 



Sheep, Mr. Radcliff says, are housed 

 nightly all the year, but they would be 

 much better in yards, with sheds open 

 on one side. They are turned out in 

 winter, a short time, daily; and in 

 summer, they are attended by a shep- 

 herd and his dog, as in England : but 

 on the whole, in so miserable a way, 

 as to make the sheep look wretch- 

 edly. A skeep-house to contain 120 

 eWes and lambs (i.e. couples) is littered 

 for them to lie upon, and rye-straw is 

 put into racks for them to eat ; a trough 



is- 



