HELGIIM. 



The Belgians follow out their manufacturing and 

 mining pursuits with boldness and energy. Six 

 hundred feet was not long ago reckoned an extra* 

 ordinary depth to push a mine down into the earth ; 

 recently, the Belgian miners have penetrated above 

 thirteen hundred feet. Tin- Helgians are busy 

 raising structures for manufacturing industry, such 

 as fabrics for the reception of furnaces, plating or 

 boring machines, or forges. The establishment of 

 Seraing, near Liege, extends, in regular buildings, 

 for three quarters of an English mile. On the side 

 opposite the Meuse are situated the mines, from 

 which issue the mountains of coal, to be converted 

 into coke. Next to these are the great round 

 towers, sixty feet high, and fortified with iron, 

 from the mouths of which flames are continually 

 darted as from a crater. One of these furnaces has 

 been in action for several years, and during that 

 time there have been thrown into it, each day, 

 nearly one hundred thousand killogrammes of ma- 

 terials. The numerous other buildings attached 

 to this establishment are filled with steam-engines, 

 forges, refining places, &c. Almost ere the manu- 

 factured iron be cold, it. is delivered over to arti- 

 zuns, who make from it machines and tools of all 

 possible kinds, and, above all, rails for railways. 

 The whole neighbourhood of this establishment is 

 traversed by railroads and canals. The workmen 

 at Seraing are three thousand in number. 



On the 1st of May 1834, a law to the following 

 effect was promulgated by the Belgian govern- 

 ment : 



" Article 1. There will be established a system 

 or chain of railways, having Malines for a centre 

 point, and stretching to the eastward toward the 

 Prussian frontier by Lou vain, Liege, and Verviers 

 to the north as far as Antwerp to the west as 

 far as Ostend, by Termond, Ghent, and Bruges 

 and to the south by Brussels, and towards the 

 frontiers of France through Hainault. 



"2. The railways will be executed at the public 

 charge, and under the direction of the govern- 

 ment." 



The line from Antwerp to Brussels is completed. 

 The revenue derived from it has exceeded the 

 highest expectations. It is supposed the eastern, 

 western, and northern lines, the aggregate length 

 of which is 222 English miles, will be finished at an 

 expense of forty-five millions of francs, 1,875,000 

 sterling. The proportionate expense per mile 

 must, of course, vary according to the difficul- 

 ties or facilities of the ground. That portion of 

 the line which extends between Brussels and Ant- 

 werp, a distance of thirty-th-ee miles, passes over 

 ground naturally level, and cost 4350 a mile. 

 More inaccessible districts will cost much more 

 than this ; but it may be questioned whether any 

 part of the Belgian railways will approach near to 

 the expense of the line between Paris and St Ger- 

 mains, which is estimated at above 24,000 ster- 

 ling per mile. The abundance of iron in Belgium 

 renders all public works of this kind comparatively 

 cheap. In addition to the 222 miles of rail way- 

 first projected, nearly 100 miles additional have 

 been subsequently resolved upon, in order to per- 

 fect the internal intercourse of the country. 



The farms in Belgium very rarely exceed a 100 

 acres. The number containing fifty acres is not 

 great. . Those of thirty and twenty acres are more 

 numerous, but the number of holdings of from five 

 to ten, fifteen, and twenty acres is very considera- 

 ble, especially those of the smaller extent. The 



small farms of Belgium closely resemble the small 

 holdings in Ireland; but the small liish cultivator 

 exists in a state of miserable privation of the com- 

 mon comforts and conveniences of civilized life, 

 whilst the Belgian peasant farmer enjoys a large 

 portion of those comforts. The houses of the 

 small cultivators in Belgium are generally substan- 

 tially built and in good repair : they have commonly 

 a sleeping-room in the attic, and closets for beds 

 connected with the lower apartment, which is con- 

 venient in size. A small cellarage for the dairy, 

 and store for the grain, as well as an oven, and an 

 outhouse for the potatoes, with a roomy cattle- 

 stall, piggery, and poultry-loft. The house gen 

 erally contains decent furniture, the bedding suffi- 

 cient in quantity ; and although the scrupulous 

 cleanliness of the Dutch may not be everywhere 

 observable, an air of comfort and propriety pervades 

 the whole establishment. In the cowhouse the 

 cattle are supnlied with straw for bedding; the 

 dung and urine are carefully collected in the tank ; 

 the ditches are scoured to collect materials f<;r 

 manure ; the dry leaves, potato-tops, &c. are col- 

 lected in a moist ditch to undergo the process of 

 fermentation, and heaps of compost are in course 

 of preparation. The premises are kept in neat and 

 compact order, and a scrupulous attention to a most 

 rigid economy is everywhere apparent. The family 

 are decently clad, none of them being ragged or 

 slovenly, even when their dress consists of the 

 coarsest material. The men universally wear the 

 blouse, and wooden shoes are in common use by both 

 sexes. The diet consists to a large extent of rye 

 bread and milk ; the dinner being usually composed 

 of a mess of potatoes and onions, with the occa- 

 sional addition of some pounded ham or slices of 

 bacon. 



The contrast of the mode of living here de- 

 scribed, with the state of the same class of persons 

 in Ireland, is striking; and it appears important to 

 investigate the causes of this difference. 



In the greater part of the flat country of Bel- 

 gium the soil is light and sandy, and easily worked ; 

 but its productive powers are certainly inferior to 

 the general soil of Ireland, and the climate does not 

 appear to be superior. To the soil and the climate, 

 therefore, the Belgian does not owe his superiority 

 in comfort and position over the Irish cultivator. 

 The difference is rather to be found in the system 

 of cultivation pursued by the small farmers of Bel- 

 gium, and in the habits of economy and forethought 

 of the people. The cultivation of the small farms 

 in Belgium differs from the Irish 1st. in the 

 quantity of stall-fed stock which is kept, and by 

 which a supply of manure is regularly secured ; '2nd. 

 in the strict attention paid to the collecting of man- 

 ure, which is most skilfully managed ; 3rd. by the 

 adoption of a system of rotation of five, six, or 

 seven successive crops, even on the smallest farms, 

 which is in striking contrast with the plan of crop, 

 ping and fallowing the land prevalent in Ireland. 

 In the farms of six acres no plough, horse, or 

 cart is required ; the only agricultural implement, be- 

 sides the spade, fork, and wheelbarrow, being a 

 light wooden harrow, which might be dragged by 

 hand. The farmer has no assistance besides that 

 of his wife and children, excepting sometimes in 

 harvest, when he occasionally obtains the aid of a 

 neighbour, or hires a labourer at a franc per day. 

 The whole of the land is dug with the spade, and 

 trenched very deep; but as the soil is light, the 

 labour of digging is not great. The stock on the 



