FARMERS' REGISTER— AGRICULTURE OF THE NETHERLANDS. 101 



heads, gave me satisfactory reasons, why the 

 methods they followed were preferable to what I 

 proposed doing ; and also why this would not suc- 

 ceed, as it proved in effect. Tlie general result 

 which I have been able to form, from what I know 

 of the Flemish agriculture, is, that they draw 

 from their farms the best crops, and the most food 

 for great and small cattle, fowl, &,c. w iiith the 

 soil is capable of producing. The quantity there- 

 of is certainly great, when compared to any ex- 

 tent of land in Germany, France, Spain, Eng- 

 land, or any other country I am acquainted witli. 

 The comparison, if made with due knowledge 

 and impartiality, will certainly turn in favor of 

 Flemish agriculture, whatever may be said in 

 preference of the neatness and elegance of the 

 methods used elsewhere, and of the usefulness of 

 the new-invented machines employed therein. 



What I have already said, is as much as this 

 essay will admit of, on the general nature of Bel - 

 gic agriculture. I shall now add a few words on 

 the principles which the legislature follows with 

 respect to it. 



These are chiefly confined to the following 

 heads : 1st, Permission for exportation of corn 

 in times of abundance, and restrictions in times oi 

 scarcity : 2dly, Ordinances for bringing corn to be 

 sold at the markets, and for preventing it to be 

 bought on the field, or at the farmer's : 3dly, Or- 

 dinances, in some provinces, lor restraining the 

 extent of farms, and prescribing a division of those 

 of too great extent ; also forbidding the destruction 

 of farm houses without rebuilding them. 



The ordinances for bringing corn to be sold at 

 market, are generally eluded : the corn is bought at 

 the farmer's ; he brings it to market, exposes it, 

 and his first answer is, that it is sold. This is often 

 the cause of murmurs among the people ; but I 

 know of no remedy found for it, except the prohi- 

 bition of all exportation, which takes place as soon 

 as a real scarcity is felt ; and this in its turn ex- 

 cites the murmurs of the farmers, who have seldom 

 any other view except their private interest, and 

 who, always having corn enough for their own 

 use, never see a scarcity ui the country. 



As to the methods of agriculture, or the nature 

 of crops, the government of the Low Countries 

 takes no cognizance of them, but leaves every one 

 to do what he thinks best ; and certainly private 

 interest and the love of gain are the best stimu- 

 lants on this head, and seldom fail to excite each 

 one to cultivate his ground in the manner, and 

 with the productions, which he finds most' profita- 

 ble. Experience thereon is his only rule and 

 guide. 



The most universal land-measure in the Low 

 Countries is the bunder or bonier. In Brabant 

 and Hainault it contains 400 square perches or 

 roods of 20 feet long ; so that the square rood con- 

 tains 400 square feet, and the bunder 160,000. — 

 The rood varies in different parts, as does also 

 the foot, which in general is less than the English 

 one. On an average the bunder may be reckoned 

 three English acres. In Flanders, land is usually 

 measured by what is called a ghemet, a measure 

 .containing three hundred square roods ; the rood 

 ibeing in some places twelve, in others fifteen, 

 jFlemish feet long : but, in some parts of this pro- 

 Ivince, a bunder or bonier is in use, containing 

 [400 square roods, as in Brabant and Hainault : but 

 Uhe rood varies in different cantons, from ten to 



twenty feet in length. The bonier contains four 

 journals of land. 



In the rest of this essay, I shall treat briefly of 

 the methods of agriculture in different parts of 

 Flanders, Brabant, and Hainault, distinguishing 

 them according to the different nature of the soil, 

 and confining myself to such practices as are gene- 

 rally established in each. As the difference of 

 climate is insensible within these limits, I shall 

 prefer the order which results from the soil, to 

 that of locality, as tlie practices of husbandry, in 

 an extent of flat country not exceeding one hun- 

 dred miles any way, are determined in a great 

 measure by the soil alone. 



The different soils I shall speak of are the fol- 

 lowing: 



1. The sandy heath of the Campine of Brabant. 



2. The parts of Brabant contiguous to the Cam- 

 pine. 



3. The strong clayey soil of Walloon-Brabant, 

 and the northern parts of Hainault. 



4. The soil of the middle region of Brabant, 

 being a mixture of sand and loam. 



5. The light sandy soil about Bruges. 



6. The rich loam of tiie districts of Ghent, 

 Courtray, and Maritime Flanders. 



7. The artificial soil of the Pays de Waes. 



TTie Cctinpim of Brabant. 



It is Avell known that the Campine of Brabant, 

 which is the northern part of that province, con- 

 sisted originally of sand covered with heath, in- 

 terspersed with lakes and extensive marshes, and 

 here and there with woods of fir. Tradition sup- 

 poses it to have been once a part of the sea. To 

 this day, where cultivation has not extended, the 

 soil of itself produces nothing but heath and fir. — 

 The sand is of the most barren and harsh kind, nor 

 can it be rendered fertile, but by continued ma- 

 nuring. As the property of this ground may be 

 acquired for a trifle, many have been tlie attempts 

 of private persons to bring tracts of it into culti- 

 vation ; every means have been tried for that pur- 

 pose, and government has given every possible en- 

 couragement to it. But I have not heard of any one, 

 however considerable might be his fortune, that has 

 succeeded in it, and many have been ruined by 

 the project. What is cultivated in the Campine, is 

 ow'ing to the religious houses established in it, es- 

 pecially to the two great abbeys of Tongerloo 

 and Everbode. Their uninterrupted duration for 

 five or six hundred years past, and their indefati- 

 gable industry, have conquered these barren harsh 

 sands, and rendered many parts of them highly 

 productive. The method they follow is simple 

 and uniform ; they never undertake to cultivate 

 more of this barren soil at a time than they have 

 sufficient manure for ; seldom more than five or 

 six bunders in a year ; and when it is brought by 

 labor and manuring into a state capable of pro- 

 ducing sufficient for a family to live on, it is let 

 out to farmers on easy terms, after having built 

 them comfortable habitations. By these means, 

 many extensive tracts of the Campine are well cul- 

 tivated, and covered with villages, well built 

 houses, and churches. The abbey of Tongerloo 

 alone furnishes about seventy of its members as 

 curates to these parishes, all of whom owe their 

 existence to that original stock. I may add here, 

 and that from the undoubted testimony of the his- 

 torians of the Low Countries, that the cultivation 



