476 



Belgian Agricultural Inquiry. 



crops" are those occupied as market gardens (103,414 

 acres in 1895 ; 98,118 acres in 1880). Nurseries have increased 

 by some 1,400 acres, and now comprise 7,472 acres ; parks 

 and pleasure-grounds accounted in 1895 for 38,843 acres, as 

 compared with 29,126 in 1880. Osier beds — 8,269 acres — 

 have diminished by just a quarter; while the 500 acres of 

 vineyards reckoned in 1880 have been reduced to a bare 170. 



The inquiry extended also to second or catch crops, which 

 are of importance, as most of the roots appear to be con- 

 sidered in this light. The area devoted to catch-crops, and 

 already included in the total as producing some or other 

 of the above-mentioned plants, was 473,776 acres in 1895. 

 Nearly three-fourths of this (338,296 acres) was devoted to 

 turnips; another 41,496 acres to carrots, and 65,589 acres to 

 spergula. These areas exhibit little change since 1880. The 

 yield of roots is lower than when these varieties are grown 

 as main crop, amounting to 2,526,095 tons of turnips and 

 189,505 tons of carrots, or at the rate of 7 tons 9 cwts. and 4 

 tons 1 1 cwts. per acre respectively. Of spergula the yield was 

 325)513 tons (just under 5 tons per acre). 



The minor catch-crops exhibit considerable increases since 

 1880, there being in 1895 over 11,000 acres utilised for rye 

 cut green, 6,600 acres for lupins and other plants for green 

 manuring, besides about 10,500 acres of miscellaneous 

 crops. All these were included in 1880 under the one 

 heading of miscellaneous, then accounting for about 12,000 

 acres ; but there were in addition at the earlier date some 

 33,000 acres under Trifoliujii incarjiatumy and it appears 

 possible that this variety has in 1895 been transferred to 

 the main crops, so that the apparent decrease of about 

 10,500 acres in the total land under catch-crops during the 

 period may be more than accounted for by a change in 

 classification. 



The table on the next page shows the number of live stock 

 in Belgium at the last three enumerations. 



It appears that there is in cattle an increase ; due, 

 apparently, to a large stock of young cattle, while oxen of 

 tw^o years and over show a decline. The diminution in the 

 flocks of sheep is large, and follow^s a heavy fall in the 



