438 READINGS IN RURAL ECONOMICS 



villages, the pieces being written, got up, and performed exclu- 

 sively by persons belonging to the country. 1 Most of the villages 

 had their societes de rhctorique, forming so many focuses of in- 

 tellectual life. In the sixteenth century, these societies adopted 

 most of the ideas of the Reformation, and on this account were 

 suppressed by the Spaniards. Industry was killed by war and 

 persecution ; and agriculture and civilisation were arrested and 

 even thrown back. Happily, the traditions of the past were too 

 deep to be extirpated, and to them Flanders is indebted for her 

 present wealth. 



The question arises, Can arts of such ancient birth in Flanders 

 be diffused throughout such a country without the same early tra- 

 ditions and training ? It is a problem fraught with difficulties. 

 Something, doubtless, might be done in the way of agricultural 

 instruction, were all persons in an influential position, such as 

 magistrates, landowners, clergymen, to exert themselves for its* 

 diffusion, and themselves to supply practical examples of it. But 

 examples of more weight with small farmers would be the spec- 

 tacle of some of the latter class enriching themselves by an im- 

 proved system of husbandry. Were two or three intelligent farmers 

 in each district in Ireland, having become landowners or heredi- 

 tary tenants, to borrow from Flemish agriculture such processes 

 as are applicable to the soil and climate of Ireland, a complete 

 transformation of Irish farming might ensue. In the Belgian 

 province of Hainaut, the example of a single farmer adopting 

 the Flemish rotation was sufficient to bring about the suppres- 

 sion of the fallow throughout the whole region. 2 Could nothing 

 be done to produce agricultural progress in the same way in 

 Ireland ? 3 



One most important fact in considering land systems is that 

 the country itself and not the town is naturally the chief market 

 for agricultural produce. It is a great error to suppose that agri- 

 culture, in order to thrive, must have a market in great cities for 



1 See Mr. Vanderstraeten's essay in the "Annales de la Societe historique 

 d'Ypres," Vol. IV. 



2 " Economie rurale de la Belgique," p. 148. 



3 I have hardly ever met with an answer to the important question, Does the 

 Irish small proprietor exhaust his land as much as the small tenant? 



