other causes, we mast attribute the practice pre- 

 valent there of using small quantities of eeed, 

 and the beautiful, healthy, ami equal brairds 

 which cover the surface in sprins;. lu many 

 places they are not content with the mere use 

 of the plow for this purpose, bat resort to the 

 spade also, either in giving an additional depth 

 to the furrow, or in turning the whole soil over 

 ^vith this implement. In the province of Ant- 

 werp, ■we mentioned before that the spade was 

 far more used tliau the plow for agricultural 

 purposes. 



An operation seen daily at present is the 

 picking of the weeds from the young crops. Of- 

 ten the land is raked well before the workers 

 comraenoo their operations, for the ptirpose. as 

 the fanners allege, of separating the plants, that 

 the weeds may be more easily distinguished. 

 But there is evidently another and more benefi- 

 cial etfect, the raking will have upon the crops. 

 It will loosen any crust that may have been 

 formed on the surface, and thus admit of a more 

 ready access of the air to the roots of the plants 

 and the ipiantities of manure which arc covered 

 by the soil, thus aiding their action by a supply 

 of oxygen. Sonie may object to the raking, 

 from its cxpcsing the plants to the action of 

 drouth ; but the good derived from it, for the 

 rea.sons stated, is more than sufficient to coun- 

 terbalance any risk from droath. After the ra- 

 king, the workers go over the whole field on 

 their knees, picking out every u.sclcss plant. 

 This is perhaps re])eated several times in the 

 season, according to the state which the field is 

 Flax costs far more labor in weeding than 

 any other crop ; and the Flemings spend double 

 time on it from the importance of the crop. A 

 Scotchman, ignorant of Agriculture, in passing 

 tlirough Belgium at this season, and seeing an 

 extended row of -women creeping on their 

 knees among the young crops, and looking with 

 the greatest rare for injurious weeds, v\ oald be 

 apt to extol the industry' of the people, while he 

 would accuse his own countrymen of indolence 

 and carelessness in the minute, but no less im- 

 portant, points of husbandi'y. But he would be 

 doins his own countrymen an injustice, in as far 

 as he would condemn them for their non-per- 

 formance of what they do in a more economical 

 and as ettcctual a manner as is to be met with 

 in Belgium : we allude to the practice of drill- 

 ing grain crops, by which means the weeding 

 of the crop is far more expeditiously accomplish- 

 ed than it is by the plan resorted to in Flander.s. 

 This careful attention to -the weeding of the 

 grain crops is the more necessary in Belgium, 

 where tliey are all sown broadcast; the soil is 

 of that class which encourages the growth of 

 annuals, and summer fallow or green drilled 

 rrops form rarely a part of their rotations. 



The implements u.sed in Flanders are so sim- 

 ple and rude that they scarcely deserve men- 

 tion. There are two kinds of plows employed ; 

 one which is h<-ld by one hand only, and is of 

 the rndist constmction: .Tnd the other, called 

 the Walloon jilow. in which the body is attach- 

 ed, by me:nis of its beam, to a framework on 

 wheels, which connects it with the horses, and 

 regulates the ditforcnt depths to be plowed. In 

 this the mould-board is movable, and is changed 

 at the end of every furrow from one side to the 

 other. 



The next subject of which we shall speak is 

 the manures of Flanders; and some conception 

 of the importance of this subject may be form- 

 ed, when we mention that it regulates, not only 

 (827) 



the whole, but every individual part of the man- 

 agement of a Flemish farm. The first object 

 and great aim of a Flemish farmer is to make or 

 get manure ; and to can-y this into efl'cct, noth- 

 ing that can contribute in the least to increiusing 

 a dung-hill is thrown away. He cultivates food 

 for cattle, and ties them up all the year round, 

 that he m.ay not lose any of the manure. He 

 sows rape, and allows it to blossom and rijien, 

 that he may obtain ti;e seed for manure. His 

 aslies-cart and urine-barrels traverse eveiy street 

 in a town, every by-way in the country, to col- 

 lect this important necessary for his farm. It is 

 in their management here that the farmers of 

 Belgium excel those of cverj' other country, and 

 are thus enabled to extract more from the land 

 than any other body of farmers. They act up, in 

 short, to the true old adage that '• Muck is the 

 milher o' the meal kist." The principal ma- 

 nures used are farm-yard dung, urine or li.juid 

 manure, rape-cake, and ashes. Minerals arc 

 seldom, if ever used, and bones are almost un- 

 known. I alluded before to the comparatively 

 great number of animals kept by the Flemish 

 farmers on their few acres. This the}' do prin- 

 cipally for making manure, to enable them to 

 carry out their system of farming. On a farm 

 of d'-i acres, 3 horses and 1.^ milch cows, and 

 several heifer.s for supplying the stock were 

 kept throughout the year, besides 6 cows and a 

 few calves that were fattened yearly. In anoth- 

 er, of 77 acres' extent, 4 horses and 20 cows, 

 with a requisite number of heifers, were kept, 

 besides from 20 to 30 calves being fattened off 

 yearly : and in a third, of 88 acres. 5 horses and 

 20 cows, besides heifers and calves, were kept. 

 These fanns were all arable, and were situated 

 in one of the finest districts in Belgium. Mostly 

 every crop receives some of this/arm yard dung, 

 which is always well rotted before being appli- 

 ed. One of the peculiarities of the Flejni.-^h sys- 

 tem is, the extensive and various u.ses they 

 make of the urine from the animals kept on their 

 farms. Every one has heard of the iirine-tanks 

 of Flanders, which are to bo found all over the 

 country, at home, and in the fields. They are 

 built in a most substantial manner, and so far 

 under ground, that when they are covered in, 

 the fanner is enabled to cultivate the soil over 

 them. Contracts are generally entered into be- 

 twe'cn the farmers and tho.se in towns who have 

 mui'li of this at command, such as brewers, dis- 

 tillers, ice, ^vho fatten animals from the refuse 

 of tlieir works. £'2 ($10) is comvionly gireii 

 forthcvrine of one animal for a year. The 

 farmer, at stated periods, conveys, by means of 

 barrel-carts, what is collected in towns to his 

 subterraneous receptacles at the corners of his 

 fields, to be ready for the seed time. The crop 

 to wliich it is principally applied is flax ; and 

 then they dissolve in it rape-cake, whirdi ren- 

 ders it a most powerful manure. After the flax- 

 seed has been sown and covered in. and rolled, 

 so that the surface is made (piite smooth, they 

 proceed to apply this mixture. It is applied in 

 the following manner : — Five men arc enijiloy- 

 ed altogether, two to pr.mp, two to scatter it, and 

 one to drive it. A rectangular piece of ground, 

 thirty yards in breadth, is measured off across 

 the ridge ; this is sub-rlivided into six portions 

 of five yards each. The field was lai<l off in 

 ridges of ten yanl.s, 8ix wooden vessels are 

 filled, and placed in the middle of a ridge, at 

 a distance of five yards from one another; so 

 tliot the contents of each vessel, which is about 

 the size of a potato firlot, is the allowance for 



