436 



READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



Galicia ships oxen by way of Vigo, across that dangerous Bay of 

 Biscay ; why cannot Ireland do the same ? 



Flanders exports prepared chicory to Germany, to Holland, to 

 all parts of the world, and chicory roots as far as Warsaw ; hops 

 to Paris, London, and Scotland ; flax to France, England, and 

 even to Ireland itself ; tobacco to America ; colza and poppy-seed 

 oils to the very south of France ; while, on the other hand, it im- 

 ports corn from Hungary by land, and from Iowa or Wisconsin 

 by lake, canal, railway, and ocean shipping. It is plain, therefore, 

 that produce worth three or four times as much might well be ex- 

 ported from Ireland to England. But there are manufacturers in 

 Flanders, it is said, and none in Ireland, or only in Ulster. Now, 

 on this point it is important to draw a distinction. Flanders pos- 

 sesses undoubtedly a number of small local industries, but they 

 are the consequences, not the cause, of her good husbandry ; 

 and any country possessing the latter would be in possession of 

 the former. The great industries of Belgium are situated in the 

 Walloon country, not in Flanders. Complete proof of this is 

 afforded by the following table : 



1866 



West Flanders . . . 

 East Flanders . . . 



Hainaut 



Liege 



Stationary Engines i Horse-power 



3,1 14I < 

 J ' * M 6,094 

 12,984; 



73 ' 157 l 113,086 

 39.9 2 9 J 



Thus the two industrial provinces of the Walloon country have 

 seven times as much steam-power as Flanders. Then, again, 

 Flanders has but one great centre of manufacture, Ghent, with 

 1 20,000 inhabitants ; whilst Belfast has a population of over 

 150,000, and is increasing much more rapidly than the capital 

 of Flanders. 



On the whole, for carrying farming to a high pitch of perfec- 

 tion, Ireland enjoys far greater advantages than Flanders, the 

 land being much superior, the climate equally favourable to the 

 growth of valuable crops, and the same markets being at hand. 

 Unfortunately, the Irish farmer has not the same agricultural 



