and its Rural and Domestic Economy. 277 



applying it. It is pumped into a barrel-shaped water-cart; and, 

 when brought upon the land, the plug is taken out, and the 

 liquid, flowing over a board something in the shape of a fan, as 

 the cart proceeds, is dispersed on both sides, over a space, per- 

 haps, of 4 ft. or 5 ft., the breadth of a fallow. The cart has 

 generally three wheels. The Flemish peasant is certainly a 

 hard-working man, but is by no means quick or active : he is 

 naturally more industrious than the Frenchman ; and, though 

 wanting in that restless activity which characterises the French, 

 is yet far superior as a labourer. 



A great drawback to the welfare and prosperity of the Flemish 

 peasantry is, the custom which the government has of lodging, 

 from time to time, the military upon them, instead of building a 

 cheap kind of barracks for the soldiers. In the winter months, 

 this hardship is not so heavy as in the summer ; but, during the 

 busy time of the year (for example, in spring and harvest), when 

 there is a great deal of out-door work to do, the burden is felt 

 most severely ; and the Belgic peasant is to be really pitied. 



Let an Englishman fancy to himself having a troop of horse 

 quartered in his and the other cottages in the village in which he 

 resides, for six months at a time; and being obliged to prepare 

 food and lodging, at about the rate of three quarters of a franc 

 {l^d. English), for each man that he is compelled to take into 

 his house. Nor is this all ; as, not to speak of the minor incon- 

 veniences, such as entering late at night, &c. &c., the soldier is 

 rarely content with his treatment, and behaves in a most insolent 

 and tyrannical manner to his host: and yet this has the Flemish 

 peasant been obliged, more or less, to submit to, ever since the 

 Revolution ; and that at a time, and in places, where there was 

 not the least necessity to quarter soldiers in the villages at all. 

 In the village where I reside, the first regiment of lancers has 

 been quartered from the 25th of Oct. 1834, to the present time 

 (March 8. 1835); and the peasantry, as yet, have not received a 

 penny for the soldiers' board : lodging they are always obliged 

 to give gratis. 



The Plant Structures in Belgium are, for the most part, of the 

 roughest description ; and put me in mind oftener of being made 

 for bomb-proof edifices, than as a defence against wind and 

 weather. But few are built with any degree of symmetry ; and, 

 as for a range of houses, the idea is, perhaps, unknown : at 

 least, I never heard of any gardener or amateur who had thought 

 of arranging his plant structures in an architectural manner. 

 Instead of this, the houses are placed here and there, in this 

 corner and that ; so that not one single house produces a good 

 effect : whereas, had the same sum of money been spent, and 

 the same number of houses been arranged with taste, so as to 

 form a handsome whole, the effect would have been good. 



X 3 



