86 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



527. The cuttings take place periodically with respect to small trees and fire- wood, so as to secure an an- 

 nual produce ; but reserves are always left to become, eventually, large and valuable timber. 

 ; 528. The cutting of the taillis or coppice, chiefly used as tiro- wood, takes place every eleventh year ; that 

 ,of the high and grosser coppice, every twenty-fifth year ; the felling of the half-grown forest trees every 

 sixtieth year j and that of the full-grown forest trees, once in a hundred years. 



529. In the management of coppices , it is considered essential to preserve the roots from 

 stagnant water; the trenches originally formed for that purpose are from time to time 

 cleared out ; and the sediment and manure from the falling leaves, which have accumu- 

 lated in them, is carefully spread upon tne ridge, or rounded set, which the wood occu- 

 pies. A second branch of regular attention is to remove all brambles and briars, A 

 .third, to replace the old and fading stocks by new plantations. A fourth, to thin the 

 stems with regularity and care. 



530. The sorts of trees ara birch, oa.y., service, ash, maple, elm, beech, poplar, aspen, wild pine, Wey- 

 mouth pine, plane, lirne, larch, Spanish chestnut, alder. A variety of pine, called the P/ms maritimum, 

 has been tried on the sea-coast, and found to resist the sea breeze. It is said extensive plantations 

 have been made of this tree on the coast of France, at Bourdeaux, and that it produces excellent 

 timber ; but whether it is a distinct species, or a variety possessing any particular qualities, or merely 

 the common wild or Scotch pine, in a favorable situation, does not appear. Most probably the latter 

 circumstance is the case. The pine is liable to the attacks of tlie Dermestes pint- i^ 

 perda, L. [fig. 68.) on the wood of the old branches, and the larva of a species of 

 moth, on tiie loading young shoots. The moth deposits its eggs among the buds at their 

 extremities : the turpentine or rosin which oozes from the buds, protects the eggs till the 

 insect is brought out by the warmth of the atmosphere, when vegetation commences ; ^ 

 it then inserts itself into one of the buds, which at this time begins to shoot, and lodging 

 itself in the centre of it, perforates the young shoot up and down, till it either breaks ofj; or withers. 



531. The domestic circumstances of the Flemish farmer and his servants are depicted 

 by RadclifF in a favorable point of view. " Notiiing," he says, " tends more to the 

 uniform advancement of good farming, than a certain degree of ease and comfort in those 

 who occupy the soil, and in the laboring classes whom they employ. Without it, an 

 irregular, speculative, and anticipating extraction of produce, always followed by eventual 

 loss, is resorted to, in order to meet the emergencies and difficulties of the moment ; 

 whereas, under different circumstances, the successive returns of a well regulated course, 

 become the farmer's object, rather than the forced profit of a single year ; whilst he him- 

 self is thus intrinsically served, his landlord secured, and his ground ameliorated. 



532. The laborious industrt/ of the Flemish farmer is recruited by intervals of decent 

 and comfortable refreshment; and the farm- servants are treated with kindness and re- 

 spect. They uniformly dine with the farmer and his family, at a clean table-cloth, well 

 supplied with spoons, with four-pronged forks, and every thing necessary for their 

 convenience. In Flanders, the gentlemen are all farmers, but the farmers do not aspire 

 to be gentlemen ; and their servants feel the benefit. They partake with them of a 

 plentiful and orderly meal, which varies accordmg to circumstances. One standing dish, 

 however, is universal, a soup, composed of buttermilk, boiled and thickened with flour, 

 or rye-bread, potatoes, salt pork, salt fish, various vegetables, and eggs : fresh meat and 

 fresh fish occur occasionally, though not for daily consumption ; add to these, a plen- 

 tiful supply of butter, or rendered lard, which is sometimes substituted; and when it is 

 recollected that those articles of provision are always made palatable by very tolerable 

 cookery, it will be allowed that the farmer's table is comfortably supplied. The potatoes 

 are always peeled, and are generally stewed in milk ; a particular kind of kidneybean, 

 as mentioned before, the feve haricot, sliced and stewed in milk also, is a frequent dish. 

 No farmer is without a well-cultivated garden, full of the best vegetables, which all ap- 

 pear at his own table ; and apples are also introduced into their cookery. The great 

 fruit and vegetable markets of the towns are supplied by gardeners, who make that their 

 subsistence ; but the gardens of the farmers, unless in case of redundance, are cultivated 

 wholly for their own consumption." 



533. The farm-servants partake of their master's fare, except in his refreshments of tea, coffee, and 

 beer. 



534. 77ie day-laborers are not so well provided : they have, however, rye-bread, potatoes, buttermilk, 

 and occasionally some salt pork. The laborer is, in general, very well able to support himself by his 

 work; in a country where so much manual labor is required in weeding, the laborer's family is 

 occupied pretty constantly in summer ; and in winter they spin. Each day-laborer has, in most cases, a 

 small quantity ot land, from a rood to half an acre, for his own cultivation. 



53.5. Beggars in common times are scarcely to be seen, except in the towns, and but few there. In 

 the country, habits ofindustry are kept up till health fails; and to meet the inlirmities of age, the poor 

 possess a revenue trom pious donations, regulated by the government, and vested by them in commissions, 

 of which the mayors of the difl'orent communes are presidents, respectively, in right of their ottice. 



538. The clothing of the peasantry is warm and comfortable, good shoes, stockings, and frequently 

 gaiters of leather or strong linen, which are sold very cheap ; their innate frugality leads them, however, 

 to economise in those articles, substituting on many occasions coarse flannel socks and wooden sabots, 

 both of which are supplied in all the public markets, at about eightpence cost. Their comfortable supply 

 of linen is remarkable; there are few of the laboring classes without many changes. In riding with a 

 landed proprietor through a part of the country in which his property was situated, a neat cottage pre- 

 sented Itself: the clipped hecige which surrounded the garden, covered with linen very white, suggested 

 an enquiry, " whether it did not belong to a washer-woman ?" The answer was, " That it was occupied 

 by a laborer and his family, and tliat the linen was all their own." It must, however, be observed, that 

 universally m proportion to the supply, is the postponement of the washing, which causes the greater dis- 

 play, and particularly at the beginning of May, which is a chosen season for this purpose. Any circum- 

 stance conncctcd^ith the cleanhness, health, and comfor^ of the lower classes, is interesting; and to 



