52 



Clover is often sown in mixture with flax ; beet roots 

 are sometimes followed by wheat. 



Clover is often sown with turnips late in the season 

 when the turnips sown with oats do not succeed. As to 

 rape, it is frequently sown with wheat and rye or more 

 often after rye instead of turnips. 



The general rule adopted is that the ground should 

 never remain fallow. 



3 Intensive cultivation. - Nowhere, apparently, is 

 more care given to cultivation than in Flanders. The soil 

 there is heavily manured : dung being the principal manure 

 applied. 



During the rotation three applications of 4.0,000 kilo- 

 grammes of farm dung are given especially in the case of 

 rye, potatoes and oats. 



Besides this, liquid manure is applied four or five times 

 to wheat, rye, turnips and sometimes to beetroots and 

 oats. 



Chemical manures are given to all kinds of crops; lime 

 is generally used only for potatoes and wood ashes are 

 frequently used for clover. 



To till the soil, and to till it well, is a primary condition 

 of success in agriculture : it is by the numerous tillages of 

 the land that the Flemish farmer has obtained such 

 remarkable crops. 



4 Extension of catch cropping. By means of catch 

 crops the cultivated area in Flanders is increased by one 

 third. 



Turnips and carrots constitute the two principal crops 

 produced as catch crops. Turnips are used principally 

 for feeding in winter time, and are favourable for the 

 production of milk. In the spring, rye and crimson 

 clover are given as green fodder for cattle. 



5 Small holdings. - - As has been stated above the 

 land is divided into a very large number of small holdings 

 in Flanders. This fact has been a cause of progress for 

 the Flemish farmer : it is indeed on the small holdings that 

 we find the most intensive cultivation. These small 

 farms keep many labourers always employed on the crops 



