84 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



For Wheat, Two ploughings, with two harrowings. ; , For Oilettes, Two or three ploughings, with two harrowings. 



Rye, Two or three ditto, ditto. Tobacco, Four ditto, ditto. 



Oats, Three ditto, ditto. Hemp, Four ditto, ditto. 



Potatoes, Four ditto, ditto. Turniv f Three as a first crop, ditto, ditto. 



Carrots, Four ditto, ditto. ' 'lOne as asecond crop, ditto, ditto. 



Flax, Two ditto, ditto. Sourrv X Three as a first crop, ditto, ditto. 



" Buckwheat, Four ditto, ditto. V^ ^' (_ One asa second crop, ditto, ditto. 



Rave, Three ditto, ditto. Beans, Two, ditto, ditto. 



Barley, Three ditto. ditto. Fallows, Four or five ditto, ditto. 



509. Trenching is a feature almost peculiar to Flemish farming, and that of Tuscany. 

 This remarkable practice is confined to the lighter soils, and is unused where the strong 

 clay prevails. In the districts in which it is adopted, the depth of the operation varies 

 with that of the soil ; but till this shall have arrived at nearly two feet of mellow surface, 

 a little is added to it at each trenching, by bringing to the top a certain proportion 

 of the under stratum, which, being exposed to the action of the atmosphere, and 

 minutely mixed with a soil already fertilised, gradually augments the staple till the 

 sought-for depth be required. 



510. The live stock of Flanders, though good, is not so eminently exemplary as their 

 tillage culture. The cattle are the short-horned Dutch breed ; the color generally black, 

 or black and white. Little attention is given to the improvement of the form by selec- 

 tion. The sheep are long wooled, long legged, and afford a coarse fleece, and very 

 indifferent mutton. They are housed at night, and in the day-tivTie follow the shepherd 

 and his dog through pathways and along the verges of the fields and roads, picking up 

 a mere subsistence, and never enjoying the range of a sweet and wholesome pasture. In 

 winter they are let out but once a day, and are fed on rye in the sheep houses, and hay, 

 &c. A cross with the Merino breed has been tried ; but,, as might have been predicted 

 from the incongruous parentage, with no benefit. ITie swine are long legged, narrow 

 backed, and flat ribbed ; not easily fatted, but when well fed and long kept, making 

 excellent pork and bacon. 



511. The horse is the animal for which Flanders has long been noted for the excellence 

 of its working breed ; and that of England has been considerably improved by the 

 frequent importation from thence, of stallions and mares, previous to the French 

 revolution. The Suffolk punch horse comes nearest to the most prevalent variety in 

 Flanders ; the resemblance is strong not only in color, but in some of the essential 

 points of form ; however, though the prevailing color is chestnut in all its shades, yet 

 other colors are likewise to be met with ; and, with very few exceptions, the Flemish 

 horses are of superior strength, and of the true working character. The chief, indeed 

 almost the only defects to be observed in any are, a want of depth in the girth, and a 

 dip behind the withers ; for symmetry, perhaps the shoulder also, at the lop, should be a 

 little finer ; but in all other respects they possess the best shapes. 



512. Every farmer breeds his own workJiorses, and disposes of the redundance. Even the total absence- 

 of pasture is not suffered to i)revent it; and the foals are found to thrive remarkably well in a close house. 

 For this purpose, as well as for the general keep of the stock, a regular dietary is observed. The manger 

 is formed of well-cemented brick-work, and in summer, clover, and in winter, carrots, are usually 

 given; hay in very small quantities, but in all cases chopped straw mixed with com or beans, cr both, 

 and water aired by keeping in the stable, and whitened with a pretty strong proportion of barley-meal. 

 With every symptom of sufficient spirit, they are docility itself; and besides being obedient to the 

 word, are guided in intricate cases, in a manner surprising to a stranger, by a single cord ; this rein is 

 never thick, and, in some instances, is as small as a stout whipcord, and yet in the deeper soils 

 three powerful horses abreast (the bridles of the middle and off-side horses being connected with 

 that upon the near-side horse, to which this rein is affixed,) are guided by it at all the turnings, the 

 ploughman holding the rein in one hand, and his single-handed plough in the other, and performing his 

 work with the most accurate straightness and predision. Of corn to market, a pair of horses generally 

 draw two tons ; of manure to the field, one ton and half; and on the pavement in the towns, three tons, 

 without appearing to be overloaded. 



513. The shoeing of horses in Flanders is attended to with particular care, 

 and in that country has long been practised the mode of preserving the bars of the 

 hoof, and of letting the frog come in contact with the ground, recommended in 

 England by Freeman and Professor Colman. The use of cockers, or turned heels, is, 

 excepting in part, entirely abandoned. In two respects, however, the shoeing in Flanders 

 differs from any of the methods in use with us. In one, that to prevent ripping, the 

 hoofs of the fore-feet are pared away towards the toe, and the shoes so fitted, that the 

 fore part shall not touch (within three-fourths of an inch) the same level surface, upon 

 which the heel and middle of the shoe shall rest. 



514. This preparation of the foot is in general use ; the horses are not thereby in any degree injured, 

 and are particularly surefooted. The other point of difference is, that the shoe is nailed on fiat and close 

 to the foot, which, in depriving the iron of all spring, and all unequal pressure against the nails, may be 

 in part the cause of the durability of the shoeing. 



515. For shoeing vicious horses every precaution is taken by the use of the forge machine, a common 

 appendage to the smiths in Flanders. If the horse is not altogether unmanageable his hind foot is tied 

 to a cross bar, or his fore leg to a stilt and bracket ; but if he is extremely vicious indeed, he can be raised 

 from the ground in a minute, by means of a cradle-sling of strong girth web, hooked to the upper side- 

 rails, which, with a slight hand-spike, are turned in the blocks that support them (the extremities of the 

 sling thereby coiling round them), till the horse is elevated to the proper height, and rendered wholly 

 powerless. 



516. The Flemish and Dutch dairies are more remarkable for the abundance than the 

 excellence of their products ; owing to the inferiority of their pastures, and the cows 



