434 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



so much is said and written at the present day. It is conceded 

 by English writers even that Flemish agriculture is now su« 

 perior to that practised in England. The English do not hes- 

 itate to say that the cultivation of a poor, light soil is supe- 

 rior in Flanders to that of the most improved farms of a 

 similar kind in Britain. We greatly surpass the Flemish farm- 

 er, say they, in capital, in implements of tillage, in the choice 

 and breeding of domestic animals generally, though it is con- 

 ceded that the Flemish excel in cows. The British farmer is 

 better educated than the Flemish; but in the minute atten- 

 tion to the qualities of the soil, in the management and appli- 

 cation of manures of different kinds, in the judicious succession 

 of crops, and especially in the economy of land, so that every 

 part shall be in a constant state of production, we have still 

 something to learn from the Flemish — not from an instructed 

 and enterprising peasant here and there, but from the great 

 mass of the workers of the soil. 



The most highly-cultivated portions of the country consist 

 chiefly of farms owned and cultivated by peasant proprietors. 

 Spade husbandry is either wholly or in part employed by them. 

 Whether the land is cultivated by the spade, or plough, all the 

 members of the family engage in it — children doing the lighter 

 work, such as weeding, hoeing, feeding the cows, and such like. 

 Suppose the farm to consist of six acres — which is a common 

 area for a farm in Flanders. One man and his family can man- 

 age it. If he has a wife and three young children, all of whom 

 are considered equal to three and a half grown-up men, the 

 family, according to the authority quoted, will require thirty- 

 nine bushels of grain, forty-nine bushels of potatoes, a fat hog, 

 and the milk and butter of one cow. An acre and a half of land 

 will produce the grain and potatoes, and allow some corn to 

 finish off the fattening of the hog, kept on the extra buttermilk, 

 <fcc. Another acre in clover, carrots, and potatoes, with the 

 stubble turnips, will more than keep another cow. Two and 

 a half acres of hind thus suffice to furnish this family with food ; 

 while the produce of the remaining three and a half acres may 

 be sold to pay the interest of the purchase money invested, 

 wear and tear of implements, extra manure, clothing for the 



