The Farmer 



BELGIUM 



Area of cultivated land, about 4,000,000 acres. 



Value of home-grown foodstuff, ^80,000,000. 



Average yield per acre, f^zo. 



Note. M. Vuyst, inspector general of Agricul- 

 ture, is the authority for the above figures. 



For years Belgium has far exceeded all other 

 countries in its yield per acre, yet it cannot be 

 said that its agricultural population is as flourish- 

 ing as that of Denmark. The principle of sub- 

 dividing the land has undoubtedly been carried 

 too far, and agricultural labour is still wretchedly 

 paid. 



Though some of the land is very rich indeed, 

 the soil of the whole province of Flanders is 

 poor ; and yet, from the great skill and labour 

 bestowed upon it, its produce per acre is equal 

 to that of the rest of the country. The fact 

 which the English agriculturist should most 

 take to heart is that while the proportion of 

 permanent grass in the cultivated areas of 

 Denmark and Belgium is very small, yet the 

 head of live stock per acre is much higher than 

 in Great Britain, or even in England and Wales 

 alone. In this comparison 8 sheep are taken 

 as equivalent to one beast or horse. This 

 number of sheep would be too high in the case 

 of the large Lincoln or Leicester sheep, but 

 taking the small Welsh and Scotch into ac- 

 count it is probably about right. 



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