Observations upon the Polders of Flanders. 



65 



The Polders were originally vast morasses, overflowed twice in the 

 twenty-four hours, and gradually elevated to their present level by the 

 depositions of successive tides ; a process admirably exemplified in the 

 neighbourhood of this city, along the shores of the Severn and Bristol 

 Channel. By degrees, as the level of these depositions became beyond the 

 reach of an ordinary tide, rank grass and weeds sprung \\\^ upon the soil, 

 and the neighbouring inhabitants surrounded it with a dyke, previous to 

 taking it into a regular state of cultivation. By such means, by the addi- 

 tion of manure, by being permitted frequently to lie fallow, and by being 

 carefully purified from weeds, the Polders annually increased in value, and 

 arrived gradually at the condition in which they are usually at present 

 found. 



The produce of the Polders of East and West Flanders is oats, barley, 

 hay, &c. afibrding excellent feed for horses, cattle, and sheep. 



The Polders are divided into three principal classes : — 



First, pasture and arable land, of the first quality, neither too stiff nor 

 too dry, and pulverising readily beneath the harrow. 



The second class includes meadows of an inferior quality, arable laud, 

 of a stiff clayey nature, breaking into lumps beneath the harrow, and form- 

 ing a hard crust, through which the seeds can with difficulty shoot ; this 

 class is therefore chiefly laid out in turf for grazing. 



Grass lands set for hay, compose, for the most part, the third class j 

 such lands sometimes, though very rarely, equal in produce the best pas- 

 ture, but usually they are inferior even to the meadows. The arable lands 

 of this class afford scarcely any return. Agricultural authors treat of a 

 fourth class, comprising lands of a dry sandy nature, almost unfit for any 

 kind of cultivation. 



Tiie proportion observed between the above classes, is exhibited in tiie 

 annexed table, taken from a recent authority upon the subject. 



The proportions for Western Flanders arc nearly the same. 



Lands of tlie third class are not unfrequently parcelled out in small lots 

 as potatoe grounds for the poor, at a rent of about ten cents per verge, or 

 nearly sixty-eight florins per liectare. As the ground on which the potatoe 

 grows requires a tiiorough digging, its cultivation is not found materially 



No. ].— Vol. J. K 



