84 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I. 



Fox Wheat, two ploushinpi, with two hanowings. For Oilettes, two or three ploughlngs, with twt) harrowlngs. 



Rt/e, two or three ditto, lUtto. Tobacco, four ditto, ditto. 



Oals, three ditto, ditto. Hemp, four ditto, ditto. 



Votatoet, four ditto, ditto. Turnin i" three as a first crop, ditto, ditto. 



Carrots, four ditto, ditto. ^' (. one as a second crop, ditto, ditto. 



Flax, two ditto, ditto. Snurrv J three as a first crop, ditto, ditto. 



Buckrvheat, four ditto, ditto. ^ ^' 1 one as a second crop, ditto, ditto. 



Rape, three ditto, ditto. Beans, two ditto, ditto. 



Barley, three ditto, ditto. Fullons, four or five ditto, ditto. 



516. Trenching is a feature almost peculiar to Flemish farming, and that of Tuscany. 

 This remarkable practice is confined to the lighter soils, and is not used where the strong 

 clay prevails. In the districts in wliich it is adopted, the depth of the operation varies 

 with that of the soil ; but till this has arrived at nearly two feet of mellow surface, 

 a little is added to it at each trenching, by bringing to the top a certain proportion of 

 the under stratum ; wliich, being exposed to the action of the atmosphere, and minutely 

 mixed with a soil already fertilised, gradually augments the staple till the sought-for 

 depth be required. 



517. Tlie management of live stock in Flanders, though good, is not so eminently ex- 

 emplary as their tillage culture. The cattle are the short-horned Dutch breed ; the colour 

 generally black, or black and white. Little attention is given to the improvement of the 

 form by selection. The sheep are long-woolled and long-legged, and afford a coarse fleece 

 and very indifferent mutton. They are housed at night, and, in the daytime, follow the shep- 

 herd and his dog through pathways and along the verges of the fields and roads, picking 

 up a mere subsistence, and never enjoying the range of a sweet and wholesome pasture. In 

 winter they are let out but once a day, and are fed in the sheep houses on rye and hay, 

 &c. A cross with the IMerino breed has been tried ; but, as might have been predicted 

 from the incongruous parentage, with no benefit. The swine are long-legged, narrow- 

 backed, and flat-ribbed ; not easily fatted, but, when well fed and long kept, making 

 excellent pork and bacon. 



518. The horse is the animal for wliich Flanders has long been noted, with regard to the 

 excellence of its working breed ; and that of England has been considerably improved 

 by the frequent importation thence of stallions and mares, previous to the French 

 revolution. The Suffolk punch horse comes nearest to the most prevalent variety in 

 Flanders ; the resemblance is strong, not only in colour, but in some of the 'essential 

 points of form : however, though the prevailing colour is chestnut in all its shades, yet 

 other colours are likewise to be met with ; and, with very few exceptions, the Flemish 

 horses are of superior strength, and of the true working character. The chief, indeed 

 almost the only, defects to be observed in any are, a want of depth in the girth, and a 

 dip behind the wdthers ; for symmetry, perhaps the shoulder also, at the top, should be a 

 little finer ; but in all other respects they possess the best shapes. 



519. Evert/ farmer breeds his own work-horses, and disposes of the redundance. Even the total absence 

 of pasture is not suffered to prevent it ; and the foals are found to thrive remarkably well in a close 

 house. For this purpose, as well as for the general keep of the stock, a regular dietary is observed. The 

 manger is formed of well cemented brickwork. In summer clover, and in winter carrots, are usually 

 given ; hay in very small quantities, but in all cases chopped straw mixed with corn or beans, or both, 

 and water aired by keeping in the stable, and whitened with a pretty strong proportion of barley-meal. 

 With every symptom of sufficient spirit, they are extremely docile ; and, besides being obedient to the 

 word, are guided in intricate cases, in a manner surprising to a stranger, by a single cord ; this rein is 

 never thick, and, in some instances, is as small as a stout whipcord, and yet in the deeper soils 

 three powerful horses abreast (the bridles of the middle and ofl'-side horses being connected with 

 that upon the near-side horse, to which this rein is affixed) are guided by it at all the turnings, the 

 ploughman holding the rein in one hand, and his single-handed plough in the other, and performing his 

 work with the most accurate straightness and precision. Of corn to market, a pair of horses generally 

 draw two tons ; of manure to the field, one ton and half; and on the pavement in the towns, three tons, 

 without appearing to be overloaded. 



520. The shoeing of horses in Flanders is attended to with particular care, and in 

 that country has long been practised the mode of preserving the bais of the hoof, and of 

 letting the frog come in contact with the ground, recommended in England by Freeman 

 and Professor Colman. The vise of cockers, or turned heels, is, except in part, 

 entirely abandoned. In two respects, however, the shoeing in Flanders differs from any 

 of the methods in use with us. In ojie, that to prevent ripping, the hoofs of the fore- 

 feet are pared away towards the toe, and the shoes so fitted, that the fore part shall not 

 touch (within three fourths of an inch) the same level surface, upon which the heel and 

 middle of the shoe shall rest. 



521. This preparation of the foot is in general use ; the horses are not thereby in any degree injured, 

 and are particularly sure-footed. The other point of difference is, that the shoe is nailed on flat and close 

 to the foot, which, in depriving the iron of all spring, and all unequal pressure against the nails, may be 

 in part the cause of the durability of the shoeing. 



522. For shoeing vicious horses every precaution is taken by the use of the forge machine, a common 

 appendage to the smithies in Flanders. If the horse is not altogether unmanageable, his hind foot is tied 

 to a cross bar, or his fore leg to a stilt and bracket ; but if he is extremely vicious indeed, he can be raised 

 from the ground in a minute, by means of a cradle-sling of strong girth web, hooked to the upper side- 

 rails, which, with a slight handspike, are turned in the blocks that support them (the extremities of the 

 sling thereby coiling round them), till the horse is elevated to the proper height, and rendered wholly 

 powerless. 



523. The Flemish and Dutch dairies are more remarkable for the abundance than the 

 excellence of their products ; owing to the inferiority of their pastures, and the cows 



