sr©ii*ii^D ^am^^iBms, 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agricultubal Warehouse.) 



vol.. XVII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 12, 1838. 



[NO. as. 



AGRICULTURAL. 



Of the 



FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. 

 Cvltivalion of Roots, Potatoes, Turnips, 

 Beets, Cnirols, Parsnips, Chicory. 

 If we aro indebted to the Flemish for the intro- 

 luction of clover and turnips into our agriculture, 

 hey are equally so to us for the valuable potato, 

 rhisroot is now become a great substitute for corn 

 .hroughout all Europe, and its influence on the pop- 

 ilation cannot be denied ; when corn fails potatoes 

 ire o-enerally most abundant, and thus prevent that 

 iistress, which is so great a clieck to population. 

 ;n Flanders potatoes form a part of every rotation, 

 he lio-ht soils being peculiarly adapted to the growth 

 5f thrs root ; and as a great part of the produce is 

 jonsumed by cattle, and thus gives an adequate 

 -eturn in manure, the objection often made to its 

 jxtensive cultivation, that it e.vhausts the soil and 

 •eturns little to it, is not -n-oll founded. Were it 

 not for potatoes to keep the cattle, during the latter 

 Dart of the winter and beginning of spring, when 

 ;he supply of turnips fails, a much smaller number 

 :onld be kept; for hay is a dear fodder in most 

 aarls of Flanders. 



Piitatoes were at first only known as an esculent 

 root in gardens ; and it was a long time before 

 their reat value was found out. In 1740 they were 

 for the first time soid i:i the market of Bruges, in 

 consequence of the zeal of an individual of that 

 town, Mr Verhulst, who distributed some sets gra- 

 tuitously to the farmers in the neighborhood. From 

 that tiiiie the cultivation increased rapidly, and 

 spread all over the country. The varieties which 

 are mostly sold in the towns are the earliest and 

 best flavored, which are chiefly raised in sheltered 

 crardens. The plant being a native of a warmer 

 climate cannot bear the least frost. It is therefore 

 not safe to plant it in the fields before March or 

 April. The sets which are planted to produce an 

 increase, are not seeds but buds, and as such per- 

 petuate the qualities, good or bad, of the parent 

 stock. Each variety proceeds from some, original 

 plantraised from seed, and is subject to age and 

 decay with its parent. Hence varieties continually 

 degenerate or w€ar out, and fresh or new varieties 

 mu^'st be produced by sowing the seeds ; recent ex- 

 periments and observations fully bear out the truth 

 of this assertion. It is therefore not sufficient 

 merely to find a superior variety, the age of the 

 parent plant should also be noted. Some will last 

 lon^rer than others, but all old varieties sooner or 

 late'r show marks of decay ; and the sooner they 

 are exchanged for younger and more vigorous the 

 better. In''Flanders the principal crop of potatoes 

 is planted in April. Potatoes require much ma- 

 nure to give a great return, although those which 

 grow in poor soils are much pleasanter to the taste. 

 For cattle, however, quantity is of more conse- 

 quence than flavor. The soil in which potatoes 

 are to be planted should he well prepared by deep 

 and repeated ploughing, or what is still better, by 

 Uenching with the spade. In Flanders the sets 



are planted in rows two feet wide or more, and the 

 same distance between the sets, so that each jdant 

 may have the earth drawn up to the stem, and a 

 small hillock made round it. Sometimes the land 

 is ploughed and manured as for other crops, ex- 

 cepting that the quantity of manure is at least 

 double°the quantity usually put on for corn. T!ic 

 sets are then dropped into holes regularly made 

 with a blunt dibble, and filled up with earth. ^ These 

 sets are either small potatoes picked out for that 

 purpose, or larger cut into pieces, taking care that 

 there shall be at least two eyes or buds left in each 

 piece. When potatoes arc planted to any consid- 

 erable extent,' the method is similar to that which 

 we described for beans, the furrows being propor- 

 tionably deeper ; the -sets are dropped upon the 

 dung in every second or third furrow about eigh- 

 teen" inches apart, and covered by the return of the 

 plough. In this manner nine or ten bushels of 

 potatoes will plant an acre. The crop averages 

 about three hundred bushels, if the land is well 

 prepared, and the potato-plants have been well 

 hoed and moulded up. This is not a very great 

 return, considering the quantity of manure. The 

 quality of the potatoes depends on the nature of 

 the soil as well as on the variety planted ; in light 

 sands the polotoes are .'small, and mealy when boil- 

 ed ; in good loams they grow large and more juicy, 

 but are not so well flavored ; the latter producing 

 a greater bu'.St, are j)referred for cattle. 



There is a potato called Schelde JVindekc potato, 

 from the name of a village near Alost ; they grow 

 in a strong soil and are remarkably mealy and 

 good ; but°they rapidly degenerate when planted 

 in a difi'erent soil. The potatoes which are pre- 

 ferred for cattle are called £/s«:n Molten and Katten- 

 hollcn, both very large. A variety was introduced 

 fiom England into the neighborhood of Ghent some 

 years ago, by a gentleman of the name of Lank- 

 man, which are in great repute, and goby his name. 

 It would be difficult to point out the variety from 

 which these sprung, as the soil in which they are 

 transplanted has, no doubt, had a great influence on 

 their present quality. A few small Flemish pota- 

 toes, which we once sent to a friend at Kenilworth, 

 produced in that rich soil some of the largest po- 

 tatoes we ever met with. None of the original 

 potatoes were so large as a hen's egg. 



When we were on the subject of manures, we 

 mentioned the pond weeds as highly useful in plant- 

 ing potatoes. Long litter and even old thatch is 

 e.xl-ellent to plant the sets in, if the soil is not very 

 lioht. Potatoes are usually taken up in the end of 

 September ; this is done by means of a three- 

 pronged fork, which is less apt to cut the roots than 

 the s'liade. The ground is at the same time cleared 

 of the roots of coutch grass, and other perennial 

 weeds ; and when the harrows have gone over the 

 field, and all the potatoes are picked up which had 

 escaped the fork, no other preparation is required 

 to sow wheat, or winter barley. When the seed 

 is sown, the stitches are marked out by the plough, 

 the intervals dug out, and the earth is spread over 

 the seed, after the urine cart has deposited half the 



usual quantity of liquid manure in these intervals. 

 This is sufficient on land which has had a double 

 manuring for the potatoes. 



Turnips are not often cultivated as a main crop, 

 or a substitute for the old fallows, as it is in Eng- 

 land and Scotland ; but mostly as a t^^oond crop 

 after barley or rye, which we call eddiati turnips in 

 England. But as the barley and rye harvest are 

 early in Flanders, and not an hour is lost in getting 

 tlie turnip-seed sown, they are often of a very good 

 size before winter.* The crop liowever can bear 

 no comparison, in point of weight, with a turnip 

 crop in Norfolk, still less ini Berwickshire and 

 Northumberland ; but it is obtained at a small ex- 

 pense, and does not interfere with any other crop. 

 In a farm of twenty acres, if five acres were set 

 apart every year for turnips, the remainder would 

 scarcely give sufficient occupation to the fanner 

 and his family, and produce sufficient corn to feed 

 them and to pay the rent It is by the quick suc- 

 cession of crops- that a small farm is made 1o pro- 

 duce much more in proportion than a large one, 

 and that every member of a family is constantly 

 and busily employed. As soon as the corn is cut, 

 the portion of the field which is cleared is ploughed 

 and harrowed, liquid manure is poured over it, and 

 the seed is sown ; so that in twentyfour hours an 

 acre, which was but just cleared, is again producing 

 a fresh crop. The ploughing and sowing goes on 

 every day, and follows on the heels of iha reapers ; 

 of siich consequence may be the -delay of txo or 

 three days, that the seed sown first willbe -tiuit and 

 in the rough leaf, when that which was two or 

 three days later is only just coming up, and is sub- 

 ject to all the depredations of insects. When the 

 turnips are fairly up, they are watered with diluted 

 urine ; and their growth is rapid beyond belief. 

 We have seen turtiips sown in the middle of July, 

 after barley harvest, which in the end of August 

 already showed very promising bulbs. If it were 

 not for this acceleration of the growth, no crop of 

 any weight could be raised by the end of Septem- 

 ber, when they are usually pulled up. 



The cuhivation of the beet-root had been intro- 

 duced into Flanders under the dominion of Bona- 

 parte, for the manufacture of sugar ; it was then a 

 forsed cultivation, and was abandoned as soon as 

 peace had restored the usual supply of sugar from 

 tlie colonies; and although the revival of this man- 

 ufacture in France, where considerable fortunes 

 have been lately realized by it, has induced several 

 speculative individuals, and also a company with a 

 large subscribed capital to re-establish manufac- 



* Mr Van Aelbrock sowed some turnips in May, 1837^ 

 and .hey Wfire of sufficient size in August to be given to 

 the cows. Large turnips are not thought so sweet as the 

 -iiialler which do not give that disagreeable taste to the 

 milk, which prevents many farmers m England tr.nm giT- 

 in- tliem to milch cows. The introduction of early tur- 

 nips in Flanders mi?ht be of great advantage. II winter 

 tares were sown to l)e cut in May, and turnips to follow 

 immediately, these two crops, with the intermediate 

 plougliino-, would prepare the land admirably for wheat 

 or colza,'and not only give two useful crops but navp „,| 

 tlie meliorating and cle.iiising effect ol a lallow. 



