FARMERS' REGISTER— FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. 



311 



CHARACTERISTICS OF FL,E3I1SH HUSBANDRY. 



From the Encyclopedia of Agriculuirc. 



To make a farm resemble a garden as nearly as 

 possible, was their principal idea of husbandry. — 

 Such an excellent princijile, at first setting out, led 

 them, of course, to undertake the culture of small 

 estates only, which they kept free from weeds, con- 

 tinually turning the ground, and manuring it |)lcii- 

 tifuUy and judiciously. Having thus brought the 

 soil to a just degree of cleanliness, health and sweet- 

 ness, they ventured chiefly upon the culture of the 

 more delicate grasses, as the surest means of ac- 

 quiring wealth in husbandry, upon a small scale, 

 without the expense of keeping many draught 

 horses or servants. After a few years experience, 

 they soon found that ten acres of the best vegeta- 

 bles for feeding cattle, properly cultivated, would 

 maintain a larger stock of grazing animals, than 

 forty acres of common farm grass : and the vege- 

 tables they chiefly cultivated for this purpose 

 were, lucerne, saintfoin, trefoils of most denomi- 

 nations, sweet fenu-grcek, (Trigonclla,) buck 

 and cow-wheat, ( Melampyram pratense,) field tur- 

 nips and spurry, (Spergula,) by them called ma- 

 rian-grass. 



7'he political secret of F'lem.ish husbandry ivas, 

 tlie letting farms on improvement. Add to this, 

 they discovered eiglit oi- ten new sorts of ma- 

 nures. They were the first among the moderns 

 who ploughed in living crops, for the sake of fer- 

 tilizing the earth, and confined their sheep at night 

 in large sheds built on purpose, whose floor v,as 

 covered with sand, or earth, &c. which the shep- 

 herd carted away every morning to the compost 

 dung hill. Such was the chief mystery of the Fle- 

 mish husbandrj'. 



Urine cisterns are formed in the fields, to receive 

 purchased liquid manure ; but for that made in the 

 farm-yard, generally in the yard, or under the sta- 

 bles. In the latter case, the urine is conducted 

 from each stall to a common grating, through which 

 it decends into the vault ; from thence it is taken 

 up by a pump. In tlie best regulated farmeries, 

 there is a partition in tlie cistern, with a valve to 

 admit the contents of the first space into the second, 

 to be preserved there free from the more recent ac- 

 quisition, age adding considerably to its etJicacy. 

 This species of manure is relied on beyond any 

 other, upon all the light soils throughout Flanders, 

 and even upon the strong lands, (originally so rich 

 as to preclude the necessity of manure,) is now 

 coming into great esteem, being considered appli- 

 cable to most crops and to all the varieties of soil. 



Fallows, according to Sir John Sinclair, are in 

 a great measure abolished, even on strong land ; by 

 means of which, produce is increased, and the 

 expense of cultivation on the crops raised in the 

 course of a rotation, necessarily diminished: and 

 by the great profit they derived from their flax and 

 rape, or colsat, they can alford to sell all their crops 

 of grain at a lower rate. Notwithstanding this 

 assertion of Sir John, it will be found that a fiil- 

 low enters into the rotation on all the clayey soils 

 of Flanders. 



Flax is^ cultivated with the utmost care. The 

 field intended for this crop, after two or three 

 ploughing.s and harrowings, is again ploughed, 

 commencing in the centre and ploughed round and 

 round to the circumference, so as to leave it with- 

 out any furrow. The heavy roller is drawn across 



the ploughing by three horses ; the liquid manure 

 is then spread equally over the entire surfiice, and 

 v.'hcn well harrowed in, by eight or nine strokes 

 of the harrow, the seed is sown,"which is also har- 

 rowed in by a light harrow with wooden pins, of 

 less than three inches; and the surface, to conclude 

 the operation, is again carefully rolled. 



Nothing can exceed the smoothness and culti- 

 vated appearance of fields thus accurately pre- 

 [)ared. 



The manure universally used for the flax crop 

 demands particular notice. It is termed liquid ma- 

 nure, and consists of the urine of cattle in which 

 rajje cake has been dissolved, and in which the 

 vidanges conveyed from the privies of the adjoining 

 towns and villages, have also been blended. This 

 manure is gradually collected in subterraneous 

 vaults of brick work, at the verge of the farm next 

 to the main road. Those receptacles are generally 

 forty feet long by fourteen wide, and seven or eight 

 feet deep; and in some cases are contrived with 

 the crown of the arch so much below the surface 

 of the ground, as to admit the plough to work 

 over it. An aperture is left in the side, through 

 wliich the manure is received from the cart by 

 means of a shoot or trough, and at one end an open- 

 ing is left to bring it up again, by means of a 

 temporary pump which delivers it either into carts 

 or tonneaus. 



7'he liquid is carried to the field in sheets or bar- 

 rels, according fo the distance. Where the cart 

 plies, the manure is carried in a great sheet called 

 a voile, closed at the corners by running strings, 

 and secured to the four uprights of the carts; two 

 men, standing one on each side of the cart, scatter 

 it with hollow shovels upon the rolled ground; or 

 where the tonneaus are made use of, each is car- 

 ried by two men with poles, and set down at ecjual 

 intervals across the field, in tlie line of the rolling. 



There are two sets of vessels, which enable the 

 men who deposit the loaded ones to bring back the 

 others empty. One man to each vessel, with a 

 scoop, or rather a kind of bowl with a h)ng handle, 

 spreads the manure so as to cover a certain space ; 

 and thus by preserving the intervals correctly, they 

 can precisely guage thequajitity ibr a given extent 

 of surface. For the flax crop they are profuse, 

 and of this liquid mixture, in this part of the coun- 

 try, they usually allow at the rate of 2480 gallons, 

 beer measure, to the English acre. 



fVith culinary vegetables the Flemish markets 

 are abundantly supplied. Most of these are grown 

 by the small farmers, and are of excellent quality. 

 To every cottage in Flanders a garden of some 

 description is attached; and according to the 

 means, the leisure, and the skill of the possessor, is 

 rendered more or less productive. The general 

 principles of management with all are, frequent 

 digging, careful weeding, ample manuring, and 

 immediate succession. 'I'he rotation depends on 

 circumstances. The chief vegetables in common 

 use are parsnip, carrot, turnip, scorzonera, savoy, 

 jettechou, cabbage, (Brussels sprouts,) onions, 

 leeks, peas, iieans, and all kinds of salading, with 

 another vegetable called feve haricot, a large spe- 

 cies of French bean, which has a place in the field 

 or garden of almost every farmer; and fieing sli- 

 cecl down, pod and seed, is made a chief ingredient 

 in all farm-house cookery. 



'J'he treatment of jJsparagus here, and generally 

 in Flanders, differs considerably, from our method: 



