364 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



{No-.& 



land farmer in England and Scotland, for their 

 manure, are not kept in sufficient quanlities in 

 Flanders, nor well enou<jh kd to do much good 1o 

 the land. They are commonly housed every 

 night, and driven about in the day to gain a scan- 

 ty subsistence along the roads and sides of (he 

 fields. The manure collected in the sheep-fold is 

 carried out on the land, and its effects are duly ap- 

 preciated. A flock is occasionally folded on a clo- 

 ver-ley before it is ploughed up, but never on the 

 turnips, which are always given to the co\vs. This 

 is owing to the small extent of the farms, which 

 do not allow of a considerable flock of sheep 

 being kept by any one farmer; but a flock is made 

 lip of different lots of sheep belonging to several 

 proprietors, and put under the care of a common 

 shepherd, or it is sometimes the property of the 

 shepherd, who occupies no land, hut lets out the 

 sheep to fold, or sells the manure. 



But the great auxiliary of the Flemish firmer 

 is the URINE TANK, whereiu are collected not 

 only the urine of cows and horses, but also the 

 drainings of the dunghills. The urine tanks are 

 generally sunk below the level of the ground, and 

 have the sides built of brick, and the bottom 

 paved: theyareof various dimensions, according to 

 the numbers of cows and horses on the farm. At- 

 tached to the distilleries, where many beasts are 

 constantly kept to consume the refuse wash, there 

 are very large urine tanks of an oblong shape, di- 

 vided by partitions into difl^erent chambers, so 

 that the liquor may be of proper ace when it is 

 used, which some farmers think ousiht to be six 

 months. Each chamber is about eight feet square 

 and six or eight ieet deep; these are sometimes 

 vaulted over, but frequently only covered with 

 loose boards. As urine and the emptying of pri- 

 vies are sold wholesale and retail, there are many 

 large tanks near the rivers and canals, where the 

 dealers have sometimes great quantities in store. 

 Some of these consist of many square pits like 

 tan-pits, bricked round, and the inside covered 

 with a cement, which prevents loss by filtra- 

 tion. There is generally in a corner of each pit a 

 graduated scale, by which the number of barrels, 

 or tons of liquid in the tank may be ascertained 

 by observing the heiirht of the surface. These 

 tanks are gradually filled by boat-loads brought 

 from the large towns; and when the season "ar- 

 rives for sowing, in spring and autumn, the farmers 

 come with their carts and tubs, and purchase as 

 much as they may want. The price varies from 

 three to five francs (two shillino's sixpence to four 

 Bhillings) per hogshead, accordino; to the quality. 

 In a small farm of thirty to fori v acres the tank'is 

 generally about twenty feet lonif, twelve wide, and 

 six deep, with a partition in the middle,' and 

 arched over, leaving an opening for the pump, 

 and another sufficient to allow a man to go in to 

 empty out the earthy deposit which falls to the 

 bottom. A trap-door shuts over this aperture to 

 prevent accidents. Sometimes the tank is round, 

 like a well, with a domed top, and so deep in the 

 ground, that it has a foot or two of earth over it. 

 The situation of the tank is either in the farm- 

 yard near the entrance of the cow-house, or im- 

 mediately behind it; sometimes it is like a cellar 

 under the building; but this is apt to cause a disa- 

 greeable smell in the cow-house. We here de- 

 scribe those vvhich we consider the most conve- 

 nient: the Ibrm and capacity of the tanks vary 



greatly according to the means and notions of the 

 proprietors of the farms: but a tank of some kind 

 or other is considered as indispensable an appen- 

 dage to a fiirni as a barn or cow-house. The 

 farmer would as soon think of dispensiriir with his 

 ploutrh as with his tank; and no expense or trou- 

 ble is spared to keep this well supi^led. The nu- 

 merous towns and villages in Flanders afford 

 great help in the way of manure. The thrifty 

 housewife and her active substitute the maid, 

 know the value of what in our households is 

 thrown away or wasted and lost. A small tank, 

 or a tub sunk in the ground in some corner con- 

 tains all the liquid which can in an}' way be use- 

 ful; soap-suds, washings of dishes, &c., are care- 

 fully kept in this reservoir, until, once a week, the 

 farmer or contractor calls with his tub on a cart; 

 and this, mixed with the contents of privies, 

 vvhich are frequently emptied, he keeps in large 

 cisterns for use or sale. 



But this supply is not always adequate to the 

 wants of the firmer, and then he has recourse to 

 rape cakes dissolved in water, or in the tank, 

 which is expensive, and can only be profitable 

 where flax bears a good price, this being the crop 

 for which rape cakes are chiefly used as manure. 

 Every means, therefore, of augmenting the sup- 

 ply of urine is had recourse to, and the most effi- 

 cacious is the establishment of distilleries. These 

 answer the double purpose of consuming produce 

 and increasing manure by the number of beasts 

 which are fipittened on the refuse wash. It is cal- 

 culated that every beast produces at the rate often 

 or twelve tons of dung and twenty-six hogsheads of 

 urine in the year. A moderate distiller}' has fifiy 

 or sixty head of cattle constantly stalled. Here 

 then is a supply of manure for several hundred 

 acres of land every year. Formerly there were a 

 great many distilleries in Flanders, but the duty 

 on spirits and the interference of the government 

 has much reduced theirnumber; so that the farm- 

 ers complain of the loss of this manure, and the 

 consequent deficiency of their crops. 



The dung of piiieons and domestic fowls, 

 where it can be collected in any quantity, is highly 

 valued. The mode of using it is either in a dry 

 and powdered state, to which it is reduced by 

 thrashing with a ffail, when it is sown with the 

 seeds of leguminous plants, or else dissolved in 

 the urine tank, and thus spread over the land. 

 This manure is chieffy reserved for kitchen gar- 

 dens; it promotes the growth of vegetables and 

 produces no weeds. 



The solid dunar, fi-om which the liquid has been 

 allowed to run off' into the tank, must be careful- 

 ly attended to, that it may not be too dry and be- 

 come foxy, as it is called, or burn. It is therefore 

 mixed up with earth and any useless vegetable 

 matter which can be collected into a heap or com- 

 post; and when it appears too dry some of the li- 

 quid from the tank is poured over it, to excite fer- 

 mentation and accelerate decomposition, or it is 

 merely watered, when there is sufficient strength 

 in it to produce heat. 



In order to increase as much as possible the 

 quantity of solid manure, there is in most farms a 

 place for the general reception of every kind of 

 vegetable matter which can be collected: this is a 

 shallow excavation, of a square or oblong form, 

 of which the bottom has a gentle slope towards 

 one end. It is generally lined on three sides with a 



