THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



403 



success, and there are lew instances of improve- 

 ments being aliandoneil alter iliey are liiirly 

 be<'un, unless ihey were nniiertakeii on loo lar^e 

 a scale ; but tliea ilie land is soon divided niio 

 enialier portions, and ini|)rovemenls >^o on li'om 

 difl'erent centres, and wiih more ceriamty." — pp, 



II, 12. 



Trenching and levelling the surface is always 

 the first operation in bringing a barren soil into 

 cultivaiion. The Flemings and Dutch are very 

 expert in this optraiion. 



"The instrunienl they use is a light wooden 

 trenchin'f-spade, the en<l of the blade only being 

 shod with irt)n ; the handle of this spade is about 

 '2 leet long, the blade Iroin 12 to 15 inches. A light 

 pick-axe is used to breaU the pan where it ap|)ears. 

 A ditch is dug with the trenching spade 2 or 3 

 I'eel wide, and as deep as the trenching is mtend- 

 ed, generally 2 leei, or at least 20 inches; this 

 ditch is filled with the earth which is taken in 

 lono' thin slices from the edge of the solid side ol" 

 the" ditch. Every slice is distributed carelully, 

 60 as to mix the whole, and keep the best soil 

 at top, and likewise to fill up liollows and level 

 eminences. It' ilieie is inoie than can conve- 

 niently be spread level, little. heaps are made of 

 the superfluous earth, which are aliervvards carried 

 in an ingenious manner, to fill up more distant 

 liolloAvs, by means of horses and an instrument 

 which is called a mollebart. Wherever there is 

 a pan it is carefully broken, and the loam, which 

 is always found under it, is nnxed with ihe sand 

 duCT out. Draining is seldom required liere. ex- 

 cept that which i;^ efleded by making deep ditches 

 to carry off the superfluous rain- water, winch, 

 in a country almosi as level as a lake is no great 

 difficulty. 



" If there is no manure at hand, the only thing 

 that can be sown on poor sand, at first, is broom ; 

 this srovvs in the most barren soils ; in three years 

 it is fit to cut, and produces some return in fagots 

 for the bakers and brickmakers. The leaves 

 which have fallen have somewhat enriched the 

 soil, and the fihres of the roots have given a 

 certain degree of compactness. It n)ay now be 

 ploughed and sown with buck-wheat, or even 

 with rye without manure. By the lime this is 

 reaped, some manure may have been collected, 

 and a regular course of cropping may begin. As 

 soon as clover and potatoes enable the larmer to 

 keep cows and make manure, the improvement 

 goes on rapidly ; in a few years ihe soil under- 

 goes a complete change; ii becomes mellow and 

 retentive of moisture, and enriched by the vege- 

 table matter afforded by the decomposition of the 

 roots of clover and other plants. 



"If about 20 small cart-loads of diing can be 

 brought on each acre of the newly trenched 

 ground, the progress is much more rapid. Pota- 

 toes are then the first crop, and generally give a 

 good return. The same quantity of dung is re- 

 quired for the next crop which is rye, in which 

 clover is sown in the succeeding spring; and a 

 small portion is sown with carrots, of wfuch they 

 have a white sort, which is very productive anil 

 large in good ground, and which even in this poor 

 soil, gives a tolerable supply of lood lo tiie cows 

 in winter. Should the clover fiiil, vvhicli some- 

 times happens, the ground is ploughed in spring, 

 and sown with oats and clover again, ilut il' the 

 clover cornea up well amongc-t tf7e rye stubble, il 



I itj cut twice, after having been dressed with Dutch 

 ashes early in spriii!;. It is mostly consumed in 

 I ihe green stale. The clover-lay is manuied with 

 10 cart-loads ol' dung lo the acre, and rye sown 

 again, but not clover. After the rye comes buck- 

 wheat without any manure ; then potatoes again, 

 manured as at first, and the same rotation of crops 

 loilows. It is Ibund that the poor land gradually 

 improves at each rotation Irorn the quantity of 

 dung used. 



"For want of sufficient manure, broom-seed is 

 sometimes sown with the rye alter the clover. 

 The rye is reaped, and the broom continues in 

 the ground two years longer. It is then cut lor 

 liiel. The green lops are sometimes used for 

 litter for the cows, and thus converted into manure. 

 It is also occasionally ploughed in when young 

 and green, to enrich the land. Oats, clover, and 

 broom, are occasionally sown togeiher. The oats 

 are reaped the first year, the clover and young 

 broom-tops the next, and the broom cut in the 

 third. This is a curious practice, and its advan- 

 tage appears rather problematical. All these va- 

 rious methods of bringing poor sands into cultiva- 

 tion sliow that no device is omitted which in- 

 genuity can suggest to supply the want of manure. 



" After the land has been gradually brought into 

 a good state, and is cultivated in a regular man- 

 ner, there appears much less difference between 

 the soils which liave been originally good and 

 those which liave been made so by labor and 

 industry. At least the crops in both appear more 

 nearly alike at harvest than is the case in soils 

 of different qualities in other countries. This is a 

 great proof of the excellency of the Flemish 

 system ; for it shows ihat the land is in a con- 

 stant state of improvement, and that the deficien- 

 cy of the soil is compensated by greater atten- 

 tion to tillage and manuring, especially the latter. 

 The maxim of the Flemish farmer is, that, ' with- 

 out manure there is no corn ; without cattle there 

 is no manure ; and without green crops and roots 

 cattle cannot be kept.' Every larmer calculates 

 how much manure he requires for his land every 

 year. If it can be bought at a reasonable rate, 

 he never grudges the outlay. If it cannot be 

 purchased, it must be made on the farm. A 

 portion of land must be devoted to teed stock, 

 which will make sufTicient manure lor the remain- 

 der ; for he thinks it belter to keep half the farm 

 only in productive crops well manured, than dou- 

 ble the amount of acres sown on badly prepared 

 land. Hence also he does not reckon what the 

 value would be of the Ibod given to the cattle if 

 sold in the marker, but how much labor it costs 

 him to raise it, and what will be the increase of « 

 his crops from the manuie collected. The land 

 is never allowed to be idle so long as the season 

 will permit any thing to grow. If it is not stirred 

 by the plough and harrows to clear it of weeds, 

 some useful crop or other is growing in it. Hence 

 the practice of sowing different seeds amongst 

 growing crops, such as clover and carrots, amongst 

 corn or flax ; and those which grow rapidly be- 

 tween the reaping ol' one crop and the sowing of 

 another, such as spurrey or turnips, immediately 

 after the rye is cut, to be taken ofi belbre wheat- 

 sowing. These crops seem soaielimes scarcely 

 worth the labor of ploughing and sowing; but 

 the ploughing is useful to the next crop, so that 

 Ihe seed and sowing are the only expense; and 



