FLANDERS HUSBANDRY. 



" In the tillage of the land the Flcm- \ 

 ings use lew and very simple instru- 

 ments. The common plough for light 

 lands is a small, light foot-plough, so ' 

 called from a piece of wood inserted 

 in the heam, which is somewhat in 

 the shape of a foot, or, rather, of the 

 wooden shoe in common use in Flan- 

 xlers. It has no wheels, and is drawn 

 by one or two horses. It is the pa- 

 rent of the Rotherham plough, from 

 which most of the improved ploughs 

 for light soils are derived. It is the 

 most perfect plough for light sands, 

 acting like a shovel at the fore part 

 of the turn-furrow, which is concave, 

 and completely turns over the soil. 



" An instrument peculiarly Flem- 

 ish is the traiiicau. This is a wooden 

 frame of a triangular shape, covered 

 with boards, winch is drawn over the 

 ground to smooth the surface and 

 press in the seed. The harrows in 

 common use are also triangular, and 

 made entirely of wood ; the pins are 

 driven obliquely, and point forward, 

 so as readily toenter into the ground 

 when the harrows are drawn by the 

 angle. The blunt end of the pins 

 projects about an inch or more on the 

 side from which they are driven in ; 

 thus, by reversing the instrument, a 

 sliL'hter degree of harrowing is giv- 

 en^ which has an effect intermediate 

 between that of the harrows and the 

 traineau. 



" The moUebaert. another Flemish 

 instrument for levelling ground, has 

 been already noticed. The Hainault 

 scythe and hoolc are generally used 

 for reaping corn. The instrument is 

 held in the right hand and the hook 

 in the left : by a swing of the arm 

 the corn is cut close to the ground 

 towards that wluch is standing ; the 

 hook collects it and rolls it up into a 

 sheaf, which is taken up by means of 

 the leg and the scythe, and laid down 

 to be tied. It is better than a fag- 

 ginghook. and does the work more 

 easTly. These are the only instru- 

 ments in common use which differ at 

 all from those of other countries. 

 None of the more complicated modern 

 inventions liave been introduced, nor 

 would they be readily adopted, how- 



ever ingenious or useful they might 

 be ; for an adherence to old estab- 

 lished methods, and a repugnance to 

 what is new, are nowhere so firmly 

 rooted as among the Flemish peas- 

 antry. 



" The most important instrument 

 in Flemish agriculture is the spade, 

 which is used to a much greater ex- 

 tent than in England, and in some in- 

 stances is the only instrument of till- 

 age. The trenching spade is made 

 light and long, and is well adapted to 

 the loose sandy soils. The first step 

 to improvement is generally a com- 

 plete and deep trenching; and in the 

 Waes district a sixth part of the 

 whole farm is trenched every year ; 

 and where this is not done, the inter- 

 vals between the stitches in w'hich 

 the land has been ploughed are dug 

 out with the spade a foot or sixteen 

 inches deep, and the earth thrown 

 evenly over the beds in which the 

 seed has been sown. By shifting 

 these intervals a foot every year, the 

 whole of the land which lies in stitch- 

 es six feet wide is dug, and the upper 

 and under soil mixed regularly. This 

 process is extremely useful in produ- 

 cing an even crop, especially of flax, 

 the roots of which strike deep. 



"The rotations adopted in light 

 sands and loams are various. In the 

 poorest and least improved, buck- 

 wheat, rye, and oats are the chief 

 crops, with potatoes and clover, 

 which require more manure. Every 

 crop is manured except buckwheat, 

 which grows well in the poorest soils, 

 and becomes too luxuriant to give 

 much seed in rich and highly manured 

 lands. Bones have not been introdu- 

 ced except by way of experiment ; 

 but when their value on light soils 

 shall be more generally known, espe- 

 cially in raising turnips, there is no 

 doubt but they will be extensively 

 used. This may lead to the folding 

 of sheep to eat them on the land, and 

 thus introduce an important improve- 

 ment into Flemish husbandry. 



" On the better kinds of light soils, 

 which are not well adapted for wheat, 

 the usual course is, 1st, rye, with 

 turnips in the same year after the rye 



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