FARMERS' REGISTER— AGRICULTURE OF THE NETHERLANDS. 



103 



It has been found of o;reat use in tliis part of the 

 countiy , to divide the land into small fields, enclosed 

 with ditclies and quickset hedges, which sheltei- 

 the vegetation from the dry winds and frosts of the 

 spring; nor are they less useful in long droughts, 

 for the same reason. The ditches are receptacles 

 for the water which runs off in rainy seasons, and 

 contribute also to the growth of tlie hedges, which 

 are cut off for faggots every five or six years. Oak, 

 beech, birch, poplar, hazel, &c. are planted for 

 these hedges, the growth of which is kept down 

 by frequent cutting. 



Walloon Brabant, and northern parts of Halnault. 



The soil I shall speak of under this head, is in 

 general a cold compact clay, almost impenetrable 

 to rain, and in droughts hard and full of cracks. — 

 In ploughing, tlie furrows arc made from eight to 

 twelve feet in distance. Lime and marl are found 

 to be the best manures for this ground, which is 

 manured one year in three. Long experience has 

 shown, that the earth, after ploughing, must not 

 be too much broken ; for if it be, the rain forms 

 it into an even compact mass, wliich afterwards 

 dries and hardens, so as to become like one of 

 the barn floors of the country ; whereas, when 

 the earth is left in clods, these crumble away 

 insensibly during winter and spring, and thereby 

 cover gradually the roots and young stalks of the 

 corn. 



Culture of Wheat. — The ground whereon wlieat 

 is to be sown, is completely dunged, and ploughed 

 five times ; the first time in November, the second 

 in March or April, the third at Midsummer, at 

 which time the dung is spread on it, the fourth in 

 August, the fifth and last in September. Four 

 raziers, weighing 100 lib. each, are usually sown 

 on a bunder, which gives in its turn fifty raziers, 

 when the crop is good. When lime is used for 

 manure, four wagon loads are usually laid on a 

 bunder. 



Hye. — This is sown on land that has been dung- 

 ed and sown with wheat the foregoing j^ear. Two 

 ploughings suffice. The sowing is begun about 

 the 20th of September, if the weather permits : 

 and in the spring, clover is sown on it. The crop 

 is usually ripe in July. 



Meteil. — Wheat and rye sown together are call- 

 ed Meteil. This mixture is sown, like rye, on a 

 ground that has borne wheat the preceding year, 

 and which has been ploughed in the same manner. 

 The sowing and reaping time of meteil are a little 

 later than those of the rye. 



Oats. — They are sown preferably on land which 

 has borne clover ; and in this case one ploughino- 

 suffices. 



Clover. — Clover is sown along with wheat and 

 rye ; 20 lib. of seed are used for a bunder. An 

 artificial meadow of clover, remains good for two 

 years ; but in the spring of the second year, forty 

 tubs (cuvelles) of ashes, each weighing about 60 

 lib. are spread on a bunder : but this quantity va- 

 ries according to the season and the nature of 

 the ground. 



Potatoes and Carrots — Are great articles of cul- 

 tivation in these parts,, and used for both men and 

 cattle ; but the methods have notiiing peculiar. 



Turnips — Are sown on a well dunged ground, 

 about the middle of July ; and before the end of 

 September, if the season be favorable, they are fit 



to be given to tlie cattle, who feeil partly on them 

 as long as they remain good. 



Horse-beans, Peas, Vetches. — All these are cul- 

 tivated in these parts of the Low Countries, with- 

 out any material difference in the manner from 

 what is practised elsewhere. 



Colzat or Coleseed. — It is sown about the mid- 

 dle of July, and the young planis are transplanted 

 about the end of September. This is done with a 

 narrow spade, sunk into the ground, and moved 

 with the hand forwards and backwards, which 

 simple motion makes a sufficient opening to re- 

 ceive the plant : a boy or girl follows the laborer 

 with plants, and, putting one of them into each hole, 

 treads against it to close it up. If the plantation 

 is done with the plough, the plants are placed at 

 regular distances in the furrow, and are covered 

 with the earth turned up by the succeeding fur- 

 row. Sometime after the coleseed is planted, the 

 foot of the stalks are covered by means of a com- 

 mon spade, or hoe, with the earth near it, which 

 furnishes nourishment for the plants during win- 

 ter, by the crumbling of these little clods of earth 

 over the roots. The coleseed is reaped about 

 Midsummer, or later, according as the season is 

 more or less advanced : it is left on the field for 

 ten or twelve days after it is cut, and then thrash- 

 ed on a kind of sail-cloth, spread on the ground 

 for that purpose, and the seed carried in sacks to 

 the farm. When the crop is good, a bunder pro- 

 duces about forty raziers, of 80 lib. weight each 

 It is to be observed, that the ground whereon cole- 

 seed is to be planted, must be dunged, and twice 

 ploughed, the same year it is put in use. 



Flax. — The land for sowing flax, must be care- 

 fully cleaned from bad weeds, and well dunged. — 

 Some farmers, for the sake of getting better crops 

 of flax, sow it on clover ground, which they dung 

 towards the end of September, and plough after- 

 wards. One hundred and eighty pounds of seed 

 are sown on a bunder as soon as spring comes 

 on. When the flax is about four inches high it is 

 carefully weeded, without which precaution the 

 weeds would stifle the plants ; and this is repeated 

 as often as the Aveeds get head anew. When the 

 crop is good, a bunder yields about 400 lib. weight of 

 flax. The flax of this part of the country, is much 

 inferior in quality to that produced about Courlray 

 and Menin. 



In these parts of the Low Countries, the farms 

 are usually much greater than in Flanders, and in 

 the middle region of Brabant, where the land is 

 richer. In Hainault, all farms of above seventy 

 bunders have been divided ; but this has not ex- 

 tended to Walloon Brabant, where there are still 

 many great farms. 



A farm of seventy bunders* is usually distribu- 

 ted as follows: ten bunders of meadow, ten of 

 wheat, twelve of rye, three of winter-barley, one 

 of spring-barley, eight of oafs, four of horse-beans, 

 peas, and vetches, and eight of clover; which to- 

 gether makes fifty six bunder in cultivation, the 

 other fourteen lying fallow, in all seventy bunders. 

 For cultivating such a farm, eight horses are ne- 

 cessary ; and it is stocked with sixteen cows, 

 twelve oxen, and a flock of two hundred sheep; 

 besides hogs and fowls in proportion. 



The Middle Region of Urabant. 

 The land here is a mixture of sand and loam, 



* About 210 English acres. 



