SUPPLEMENT. 705 



FARMING IN BELGIUM. 



(II. FRANCOIS FLECTRET TO CONSUL TANNER.) 



The system of managing cattle which is practiced by our farmers has been fn ns 

 among them from a very early period, and the neighboring cantons of Limburg, Ver- 

 viers, Dison, F16ron, and Dalhem have likewise adopted it; it is the only one of this 

 kind adopted in Europe; it is so arranged that all the cows calve from February 1 to 

 May 1. 



Any cow not with calf by August 15 is fattened and sold to the butcher in autumn. 

 Sometimes, if she is a first-rate milker, the farmer winters her, gets her milk, feeds her 

 with meal and good hay, and in the month of March she is in fit condition to be sold to 

 the butcher. 



Intelligent farmers take care that cows that have calved in March and April shall be 

 well fed with meal, oil-cake, and the best of hay, so that they may be in good condition 

 when they are turned out to pasture early in May, according as the spring is more or 

 less advanced. All who are able to appreciate the value of permanent grass will readily 

 understand how abundant must be the yield of good milch cows when allowed to graze 

 in our rich old green meadows. After they have been in pasture for some days, they 

 are no longer housed; they remain all night in the meadows until th month of Decem- 

 ber, or rather until the grass is entirely covered with snow. 



The cows are milked three times a day for sir months; the first milking takes place 

 at 4 o'clock in the morning, the second at 11 o'clock, and the third at 7 p. m. Dur- 

 ing the months of April and November, and a part of March and December, they are 

 milked but twice a day; the intelligent farmer always manages it so that each animal 

 has a rest of at least two months from the day when she is last milked until calving time. 

 This is done so that she may not be exhausted. 



Not only do the farmers' wives, daughters, and maid servants milk the cows; the 

 farmers themselves, their sons, and men servants are not ashamed to perform this task. 



The proper milking of a cow is a scientific piece of work; it requires considerable 

 strength in the wrist, for not a drop of milk should ever be left in the udder, for the 

 very good reason that the milk is in the udder as it is in a milk- pan; in the cream-pan 

 the cream is on top; it is, therefore, readily seen that the last tenth of the milk extracted 

 is the richest fraction that the udder contains. 



It is not long since many land-owners bought cows that were not with calf, in the 

 spring, and fattened them in their rich pastures. 



A farm of ten hectares (25 acres) afforded pasturage, early in May, for twenty-five 

 animals, some of which were fat by the 1st of July, especially those crossed with the 

 Durham breed; these cattle have always been found superior to the Dutch and native 

 breeds, as regards fattening qualities. It was considered that the land-owner made a 

 profit of 150 francs ($30) on each cow, which made a total profit of 3,750 francs ($750). 

 This practice has been given up since the price of butter has exceeded 3 francs per kilo- 

 gram. Two or three cows in process of fattening are still found here and there among 

 a herd of milch cows, but no farm is now entirely devoted to the fattening of meat-cattle. 

 The flesh of a cow from four to five years old, fattened in the rich pasture of Herve-Aubel, 

 is far more tender and succulent than that of a fat ox six or seven years old. 



The breed of our province, which was originally very good, has been improved by an 

 admixture of Durham and Dutch blood. A number of Durham bulls have been kept 

 at Battice, Teuven, Sippenaeken, and Wegimont, near Herve; thousands of calves of 

 both sexes, sired by these bulls, have been reared and disseminated throughout the 

 district. 



The farmers always select their cows with great care; they place a very high value npon 

 good milk-producing qualities, and it is not uncommon to meet with cows that give milk 

 enough in one day to make a kilogram (2J- Ibs.) of butter, and even more. The success 

 of the farmer depends, beyond a doubt, upon a. judicious selection of his cattle. 



The cows most sought after in the spring are those which have calved for the first time, 

 and whose age is about thirty months. These animals, if they have been raised in third 

 or fourth rate meadows, develop admirably in first-class meadows, and become splendid 

 milkers. Four thousand francs are not unfrequently paid for a cow thirty mouths old 

 that has had her first calf. 



There nre in the district magnificent animals of the pure breed of the country; their 

 form is highly symmetrical and their frame is in no way inferior to that of Durham or 

 Dutch cattle. 



These cattle of our district are usually excellent milkers. It is consequently much to 

 be wondered at that our farmers, who are so inteUigent, economical, and mindful of their 

 H. Ex. 51 45 



