THE LAND SYSTEM OF BELGIUM AND HOLLAND 437 



traditions as the Fleming. And, of course, these wholesome tra- 

 ditions, being the work of centuries, cannot be acquired in a day. 

 In every country, the progress of husbandry is slow at first, on 

 the one hand, because the peasant has received little education ; 

 and on the other, because the processes resorted to elsewhere 

 cannot be simply copied in agriculture as they are in manufac- 

 tures ; they must be modified in accordance with the nature of the 

 soil and the climate, and that is an art. The knowledge and prac- 

 tice of that art in Flanders is of very ancient date, and it may not 

 be thought out of place to say something of its early history. 



The most ancient historical records tend to show that the cul- 

 tivation of the soil was always in a high state of perfection in 

 Flanders. As far back as the time of the Romans, inscriptions 

 on tumuli prove that the inhabitants of the borders of the Scheldt 

 used to resort to England for marl to improve their infertile soil. 

 From one of Eginhard's letters, it appears that in the ninth cen- 

 tury flax and vines were grown at the same time that cloth was 

 manufactured in the environs of Ghent. Numerous documents 

 in the Middle Ages, such as registers of monasteries, donations, 

 and leases, reveal the existence of processes of farming almost 

 as elaborate as those in use at the present day ; manure in abun- 

 dance, fields carefully enclosed with magnificent hedgerows, alter- 

 nate crops, forage and roots for cattle.^ Rural manufactures arose 

 from the progress of husbandry ; linen and woollen fabrics were 

 woven, which ere long became famous. The weavers first lived 

 in the open country, and subsequently flocked into towns ; and 

 exportation led to the development of urban manufactures and the 

 growth of a great urban population. It was wealth originating in 

 the good cultivation of the country which created cities, such as 

 Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, Louvain, Brussels, and Antwerp. In turn, 

 the wealth of the cities fostered the progress of agriculture and 

 rural civilisation. 



One fact alone is sufficient to show the degree of advancement 

 the Flemish villages of the Middle Ages had reached. As far 

 back as the year 1400, dramatic performances took place in the 



1 See the author's " conomie rurale de la Belgique," chap, i and appendix 

 No> I. 



