70 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2 



with kindness and respect; and who uniformly dine 

 with the farmer and liis family. In Flanders the 

 gentlemen are ail farmers, hut the farnies do not as- 

 pire to be gentlemen , and their serv^ants iijel the ben- 

 efit. They partake with them a plentiful and order- 

 ly meal, which varies according to circumstances. 

 The laborer is in general very well able to support 

 himself by his work; in a country where so much 

 manual labor is required in weeding, the laborer's 

 famil}' is occupied pretty constantly in summer; and 

 in winter they spin. Each day-laborer has, in 

 most cases, a small quantity of land, from a rood 

 to half an acre, for his own cultivation. In com- 

 mon times, a begger is scarcely to be seen, except 

 in the towns, and but few there. In the country, 

 habits of industry are kept up till health fails; and 

 to meet the infirmities of age, the poor possess 

 a revenue from pious donations, regulated by the 

 government, and vested by them in commissions, 

 of which the mayors of the different communes 

 are presidents respectively, in right of their 

 office. The Flemish farmer seldom amasses 

 riches, but is rarely afflicted with poverty: in- 

 dustry and frugality are his characterstics; he 

 never looks beyond the enjoyment of mode- 

 rate comforts; abstains from spirituous liquors, 

 however easily to be procured; never exceeds 

 his means; pays his rent punctually, and in case 

 of emergency, has always somewhat to com- 

 mand beyond his necessary disbursements. This 

 is effected too upon a soil naturally the reverse of 

 rich; and, in fact, a bad soil. Yet such is the ef- 

 fect of industry, sobriety, and skill, that there are 

 about five souls to eight English acres. Notwith- 

 standing this, one-third of the produce of the land 

 is annually exported! — than which no circumstance 

 can better mark the skill, the industry, and the 

 ii-ugality of the Flemish farmer. In England. 

 Sadler says there are about ten souls to every 

 twenty acres. In Ireland, thirty acres to ten per- 

 sons. What will the Malthusians and emi- 

 grationists say to this, who recommended the 

 transportation of our surplus hands, and, of course, 

 of our best and most efficient laborers! The soil 

 of Flanders, far inferior to our own, can sustain 

 twice the amount of human existence. The se- 

 cret of this is, that the work is done by the 

 spade and hoe. The farms are all small, though 

 "rent and taxes" are heavy; but the fiirmers 

 and laborers are sober, skilful, industrious, and 

 frufful. 



SALE OP FINE CATTLE. 



The following is an account of sales made in 

 Philadelphia, by Mr. John Hare Powell, of his 

 fine Durham cattle: 



A poor bull calf, 4 weeks old, sold for - $:120 



Cow No. 1, - - - ' - - - 600 



Cow No. 2, - 650 



Cow No. 3, 510 



Cow No. 4, 560 



A calf. No. 5, . _ . - . 300 



Bertram, No. 6, - - - - - 500 



Do. No. 7, - 4S0 



Thelo west CO vv sold for, - - - 1.55 



Mr. Powell's Durhams brought higher prices 

 than the stock cattle of the late Jeptha D. Gar- 

 rard, sold on the the 8th, at Cincinnati. The fi- 



nest two year old heifer, went off for ^575, a heif^ 

 er, one year old, ihv %510; a full-blooded Durham 

 bull, 2 years old, for $465, &c. &c. 



SOME NOTICE OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF THE 

 MAliqUIS DE TOURBILLY. 



Extract from Young's Travels in France. 



[The readers of the account of the labors and im- 

 provements of M. Turbilly, which was re-published 

 in the last two numbers ofthis journa], will perhaps be 

 gratified with the following statements and remarks of 

 Arthur Young. Though few will feel any thing of 

 enthusiastic admiration expressed by Young; many 

 may feel some interest in the private history and for- 

 tunes of a man, who like most others of the class of 

 agricultural improvers, labored much more successfully 

 to promote the public interests, than his own.] 



* * * * Letters from Mens, de Brousso- 

 net; but he is unable to inform me in what part 

 of Anjou was the residence of the marquis de 

 Tourbilly; to find out that nobleman's fiirm, where 

 he made those admirable improvements, which 

 he describes in the Memoire sur les defrichemens, 

 was such an object to me, that I was determined 

 to go to the place, let the distance out of my way 

 be what it might. * * # » * 



My first business here, as everywhere else in 

 Anjou, was to enquire for the residence of the 

 marquis de Tourbilly. I repeated my enquiries 

 tdl I found that that there was a place not ii.ir from 

 La Fleche, called Tourbilly, but not what I want- 

 ed, as there was no Mons. de Tourbilly there, but 

 a marquis de Galway, who inherited Tourbilly 

 from his father. This perplexed me more and more; 

 and I renewed my enquiries with so much eager- 

 ness, that several people, I believe, thought me half 

 mad. At last I met with an ancient lady who solved 

 my difficulty; she informed me, that Tourbilly, about 

 twelve miles from La Fleche, was the place I was 

 in search of: that it belonged to the marquis of that 

 name, who had written some books she believed; 

 that he died twenty years ago, insolvent; that the 

 father of the present maniuis de Galway bought 

 the estate. This was sufficient for my purpose; I 

 determined to take a guide the next morning, and, 

 as I could not visit the marquis, at least see the re- 

 mains of his improvements. The news, hovvever, 

 that he died insolvent, hurt me very much; it was 

 a bad commentary on his book, and I fliresaw that 

 whoever I should find at Tourbilly, would be full 

 of ridicule of a husbandry that proved the loss of 

 the estate on which it was practised. 



The 29th. This morning I executed my pro- 

 ject; my guide was a countryman with a good 

 pair of legs, who conducted me across a range of 

 such ling wastes as the marquis speaks of in his 

 memoir. They appear boundless here; and 1 

 was told that 1 could travel many, many days, 

 and see nothing else: what fields of improvement 

 to make, not to lose estates! At last we arrived 

 at Tourbilly, a poor village, of a few scattered 

 houses, in a vale between two rising grounds, 

 which are yet heath and waste; the chateau in 

 the midst, with plantations of fine poplars leading 

 to it. I cannot easily express the anxious inquisi- 

 tive curiosity I felt to examine every scrap of the 



