708 CATTLE AND DAIRY FARMING. 



An architect in Verviers recently prepared an exceHent plan of a stable for 24 head of 

 cattle; it is 22 meters long by 6 wide (66 by 10 feet). Iron rafters support the vault; 

 four rows of cows are accommodated in it with ease, and there are two passages, one for 

 two rows. The animals that form the two nuddle rows are placed back to back. A 

 stable of this kind costs but little, and unites iii itself every hygienic advantage. 



Care, is taken to build the bake-house of each farm at a sufficient distance from the 

 other buildings to avoid fires. The hog-sty is generally built close to the bake-house. 



No litter is made; the cows lie on the hard floor, which is kept in a state of constant 

 cleanliness. The droppings of the animals are taken and piled up in a manure ditch, 

 which adjoins the buildings. The ordinary causes of waste of fertilizing matter are not 

 to be feared here, as the manure is firmly piled. 



The part of the farm where the cattle are kept usually consists of land somewhat 

 higher than the orchard; the rain water that falls from the roof on the manure heap, 

 some elements of which it absorbs, is led through small trenches to the orchard, which 

 is irrigated by it, so that nothing is lost. 



At a short distance from the buildings there is a pond of water which is collected from 

 the roofs or from the little springs, ivith which the district is abundantly supplieA. There 

 is not a ineadow without its pond, this being one of the first requirements on a farm con- 

 sisting entirely of permanent meadows. 



There are, we think, 1,000 farms in the district of Herve-Aubel. The orchards which 

 surround the buildings are planted with walnut, apple, and pear trees, but very seldom 

 with stone-fruit trees; according to statistics, there are 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of 

 orchard or of wooded meadow land. There figures must be accepted as correct, for there 

 is, at most, for each farm one hectare and a half planted with fruit trees at the rate of 

 80 trees to the hectare. The district of Herve-Aubel, therefore, has 128,000 fruit trees 

 in full bearing; yet, although they are cared for and trimmed with the utmost diligence, 

 and although the cattle deposit an abundant supply of manure about them, there is an 

 abundance of fruit not oftener than once in three years. The value of the average yield 

 of each tree, in years when the crop is abundant, is estimated at 10 francs, which makes 

 an income for the district of 640,000 francs ($108,000) every three years. 



Although these figures appear high, the number of orchards is not increased, because 

 the experience of more than a hundred years shows that the milk of cows pastured in 

 meadows without trees is richer than that of those which graze in orchards. The latter, 

 being shaded, do not receive the sun's rays. Another reason is that, if meadows in- 

 tended to be mown were planted with trees, the grass, being deprived of the heat of the 

 sun, would need several days more than it does now for drying. 



Many farmers sell their fruit to dealers, who resell ttie good qualities in the towns. 

 Others convert them into sirup and vinegar, of which they lay in a stock in years when 

 the yield is abundant. 



Drunkenness is unknown among the great majority of the farmers in this district; 

 consequently a state of comparative affluence prevails, which is the result of industry, 

 order, and economy; morality and uprightness are the main characteristics of the inhab- 

 itants. 



Refinement, moreover, is not lacking; one needs only to be present at the conclusion 

 of high mass on Sundays and feast days in order to see and admire the elegance of the 

 young people of both sexes. 



This district is abundantly supplied with means of communication ; in addition to the 

 main roads which intersect it, first class minor roads have been built between the vari- 

 ous villages and hamlets. 



The subject has been somewhat agitated of late years of a railway from Battice to 

 Bleyberg, via Aubel; there is no doubt that this plan will be carried out, either by the 

 state itself or by a company to which a very low rate of interest on the amount is guar- 

 anteed by the state. What is called the network of railways of the plateaus of Hcrve 

 would not be completed if Aubel were allowed to remain isolated; it is, therelore, a 

 matter of strict necessity that the burgh of Aubel and the neighboring localities should 

 be connected with Verviers, their shiretown; this district, moreover, ofiers great advan- 

 tages to a railway, since it does not produce any grain, and all its cereals are brought 

 from other places. No potatoes even are raised here; all that are used are brought Irom 

 Ardennes and from Holland. 



FRANCOIS FLECTRET. 



St. Jean Sart- Aubel, October 17, 1883. 



