No. 11. 



Dutch Husbandry. 



335 



high conditioned stock to be travelled by 

 land, they would inevitably sink under the 

 attempt, while by steam any degree of con- 

 dition may be conveyed with comparative 

 ease. The time, too, spent on a land jour- 

 ney is of consideration, when a more expe- 

 ditious mode of travelling is in your option 



Dutch Husbandry. 



The foundation upon which the agricul- 

 ture of Belgium rests, is the cultivation of 

 clover, which seems indigenous, since none 

 of the most ancient records notice its intro- 

 duction, but speak of it as familiarly as of 

 hay or oats. It is probably from this coun- 

 try, that the plant in question has been, 

 though but recently, slowly, and hitherto 

 only partially, introduced amongst the farm- 

 ers of Germany, France, and Great Britain. 

 The clover in Flanders is sown in every 

 sort of grain, in wheat, rye and winter bar- 

 ley, in the spring of the year, when the 

 blades of those plants have acquired a growth 

 of three or four inches; and with oats and 

 summer barley at the same time with those 

 seeds. It is also often sown with flax; and 

 in general, the crops grown between those 

 plants are more luxuriant than when sown 

 with the cerealia. It frequently happens, 

 when sown with flax, that clover yields a 

 heavy crop a few months after it is sown ; 

 two still more abundant crops the next year, 

 and sometimes even three; and if, as it oc- 

 casionally happens, it be suffered to stand 

 another year, it will yield one heavy crop, 

 and afterwards good pasture for cattle, till it 

 is ploughed up to receive the seed of wheat, 

 which usually follows it. The original 

 strength of the plants which yield such 

 abundant nourishment, is undoubtedly due 

 to the care taken in pulverizing the soil by 

 frequent ploughings and harrowings, to the 

 careful extirpation of all weeds, and to the 

 copious stores of manure laid on the ground, 

 and its complete amalgamation with the 

 soil ; but the successive harvests which the 

 plants yield are attributed, and with appa- 

 rent probability, to the top-dressings which 

 are bestowed upon them. The top-dressings 

 administered to the young clover consist ei- 

 ther of rotten yard-dung, lime, pigeons' dung, 

 coal, or native turf-ashes, and are laid on as 

 soon as the plants begin to extend them- 

 selves over the ground. Sometimes the 

 plants are refreshed with liquid manure. 



These manures, though administered to 

 the clovers, as far as they can be obtained, 

 are found far inferior in powers of fertility 

 to that substance which is most generally 

 used, and the effects of which, form the 

 theme of the praises bestowed by all who 



have witnessed the Belgian husbandry. The 

 turf ashes of Holland are sown by the hand 

 on the clovers, in quantities varying from 

 eighteen to twenty bushels to the English 

 acre. 



This small quantity produces a most sur- 

 prising and almost magical effect. Within 

 a few weeks after it is sown, a field where 

 none, or but slight straggling plants were to 

 be seen, becomes covered with a most abun- 

 dant herbage. The parts of a field sown 

 with these ashes, at the first mowing, show 

 their efficacy in a most striking manner; the 

 clover being frequently a foot higher on such 

 parts, than on those where its sowing has 

 been omitted. These ashes are found supe- 

 rior in efficacy to such as are made from the 

 turf commonly used for fuel in Flanders, in- 

 somuch that one-third of 4he quantity is 

 deemed sufficient to afford a great produc- 

 tiveness. 



These ashes are brought from Holland by 

 the canals to Brussels, whence they are con- 

 veyed by land carriage to the different farms 

 where they are applied. Long practice has 

 so convinced the Flemish farmers of their 

 benefit, that a common proverb in the patois 

 of the country, may be thus translated: "He 

 that buys ashes for his clover pays nothing, 

 but he who does it not, pays double." They 

 are frequently fetched from the canal by 

 persons who have to carry them forty, or 

 even fifty miles by land. 



The abundance of the clover produced 

 from the soil of Flanders, enables the culti- 

 vator to maintain a great number of cattle, 

 principally cows, the dung of which is man- 

 aged with an attention and care which are 

 highly worthy of imitation, and contributes 

 to maintain in a state of high fertility that 

 soil which yields the most exhausting crops. 

 "The farmers," says the Abbe Mann, "sup- 

 ply the want of straw in the following man- 

 ner: The peat or sods which are cut from 

 the heath, are placed in the stables and cow- 

 stalls as litter for the cattle. The ground 

 under them is dug to a certain depth, so as 

 to admit a considerable quantity of these 

 peat sods, and fresh ones are added as the 

 feet of the cattle tread them down into less 

 compass. These compose so many beds of 

 manure, thoroughly impregnated with the 

 urine and dung of the cattle. This mixture 

 produces a compost of excellent quality for 

 fertilizing ground where corn is to be sown." 

 — Encyclopedia Britannia. 



A Hasty Pudding. — Three pints of scalded 

 milk, 7 spoonfuls of fine Indian meal; stir 

 well together while hot, let it stand till cool- 

 ed; add four eggs and half a pound of but- 

 ter, spice and sugar; bake four hours. 



