FLA 



FLA 



seems to produce the createsl effect. 

 A\'hen tlie stem is shot up, it may, 

 perliaps, too much encourage tlie in- 

 crease of green leaves, ami thereby 

 hinder tlie formation of the (lower 

 and tlie seed : experiments made 

 with liquid manure lead to this con- 

 clusion. 



" There are some very rich pas- 

 tures in Flanders about Furnes and 

 Di.vmude, where excellent butter is 

 made. A great many beasts are fed 

 in the summer, and a moderately- 

 sized ox, turned out in good condition 

 in April or May, will fatten on an 

 acre of land by August or September. 

 The best cows and oxen are of the 

 Dutch breed ; those which are bred 

 in Flanders are inferior. The butter 

 about Dixmude is churned from the 

 cream only, although the most com- 

 mon practice is to churn the whole 

 milk after it has stood some time and 

 begins to be acid. It is always set 

 in shallow pans immediately after 

 milking, and left so twelve hours. 

 The cream is then skimmed off, or 

 the whole milk is poured into deep 

 vessels till it is fit to be churned. 

 The churning is perforined in a bar- 

 rel-churn or a plunge-churn : in ei- 

 ther case, in the larger dairies, it is 

 moved liy a horse, which turns a 

 wheel connected with the churn. 



" The breed of horses in Flanders 

 is large and heavy, but deficient in 

 activity and clumsy in form. The 

 mares were once in repute for heavy 

 carriages, but at present, an equipage 

 drawn by Flanders mares would be 

 an object of wonder, if not of ridicule. 

 Many horses have been imported into 

 England from Flanders as cart-hor- 

 ses ; but they were preferred chiefly 

 on account of the price at which they 

 could be obtained, and of the a[)pa- 

 rent bulk of them. 



" The Flemish sheep are coarse in 

 the woo), and much inferior in the 

 carcass to the Leicester or South- 

 Do wn. Some good sheep have been 

 imported, which may much improve 

 the native breeds. The pigs are as 

 badly shaped as can well be imagined, 

 long in the neck and head, and high 

 on their legs. They are badly fed 

 292 



wlien young, and fatten slowly, al- 

 though in time they acquire consider- 

 able weight. A better breed has been 

 introduced, which will soon super- 

 sede the old. 



" The farm-buildings are very good 

 and convenient in general. The farms 

 are small, compared with those in 

 other countries ; 120 acres are consid- 

 ered a very considerable occupation. 

 In the Wacs country, where the 

 spade is extensively u.sed in the cul- 

 tivation of the land, the farms are 

 very small, fifty acres being among 

 the largest, and the average is not 

 above filteen. A farm of this descrip- 

 tion requires only one horse to cart 

 the manure and plough the land ; four 

 or five cows are the usual comple- 

 ment, with two or three pigs. The 

 cows are fed on clover in summer, 

 and on barley or oats cut green ; in 

 winter, on potatoes, beet root, tur- 

 nips, and carrots, which are chopped 

 up together and boiled in a copper. 

 This is given milk-warm three times 

 a day, and is called brassin ; when 

 grains can be procured from the brew- 

 ers, they are added to the mess. The 

 cows never move from their stalls : 

 after having had three or four calves, 

 a cow is generally fattened and sold 

 ofT; and a young heifer, of which a 

 couple are reared everv vear, supplies 

 her place."— (T^. L. Rham.) 



FLATULENCY. A diseased col- 

 lection of gases in the stomach or 

 bowels ; change of food, slight pur- 

 ging, and tonics are best to remove it. 



FLAX. Linum usitatissimvm (a). 

 An annual of the cruciferous family, 

 the stems of which, when turning 

 yellow, yield the finest staple, and a 

 coarser article when ripe. The per- 

 ennial flax (L. pcrennc) is coarser, 

 but sometimes cultivated {h). The 

 seeds, usually called linseed, yield 

 the valuable oil of that name by press- 

 ure, and are, when bruised and boil- 

 ed, one of the richest fattening fod- 

 ders for cattle. The cake, after press- 

 ing for oil, is also a rich provender, 

 scarcely equalled by any otlier for fat- 

 tening. An acre yields six to twelve 

 bushels of seed and 400 pounds of 

 flax, the former worth §1 25 to §1 GO 



