On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. 



55 



the spade at once, it is much more effectual and less expensive. 

 About an inch only of the subsoil, whatever be its nature — if it 

 be not an indurated clay or gault, as it is in many places in 

 England, but nowhere in the Netherlands — is put on the sur- 

 face to cover the seed. It produces no weeds, and being soaked 

 with liquid manure, and exposed to the action of the atmosphere 

 for many months, it is mellowed aud assimilated to the soil before 

 it is ploughed in. An inch of earth thus improved every year, 

 and mixed with the soil, soon renders the whole of a uniform 

 quality to the depth of 16 or 18 inches ; after which every subse- 

 quent spreading tends to increase the uniformity in texture and 

 richness. 



Some plants do not require a great depth of soil, their roots 

 spreading near the surface. In this case the manure is ploughed 

 in with a shallow furrow, and none of it is buried below the reach 

 of the roots. But the most profitable crops, such as clover, wheat, 

 co\e, and especially flax, thrive best in a deep soil : the roots of 

 this last will strike down several feet into the ground, if it meets 

 with a very mellow soil ; and the crop will not only be more 

 abundant, but of a better quality, than it would in a soil, however 

 rich, which had but little depth. Potatoes also, which are culti- 

 vated to a considerable extent in every farm, thrive better in a 

 deep soil of moderate quality, than they do in a richer soil of 

 small depth on a barren subsoil. 



Another mode of deepening the soil and mellowing it at the 

 same time is worthy of notice. When the harvest is over the land 

 is immediately ploughed, and, where labourers are to be found in 

 sufficient numbers, several are stationed, with spades in their 

 hands, at regular distances along the line of ploughing. The 

 plough makes a furrow about 10 inches wide and 6 deep. As 

 soon as it has passed the first man, he begins to take solid spits 

 of earth out of the bottom of the furrow and places them on the 

 land to the right side. These spits are not taken in continua- 

 tion, but with a small interval between them, leaving so many 

 square holes. The number of labourers is proportioned to the 

 length of the furrow, so that each shall have finished his portion 

 by the time the next furrow is made, w^hich fills up the holes in 

 the preceding furrow ; and the whole field is laid in an extremely- 

 rough state : thus it remains for a considerable time, sometimes 

 all the winter, and the rain and frost pulverise the clods which lie 

 all over it. In spring the whole is repeatedly harrowed to make 

 it level, and is then ploughed flat, or in stitches to prepare for 

 sowing, the manuring being a matter of course. This will give 

 some idea of the importance attached to deepening and mixing 

 the soil, and will account for the uniform appearance of the crops 

 on soils of very different qualities. The worst soils require more 



