322 
Flemish Manure. 
ture ; external circumstances must always modify the intentions 
of the individual. 
Mil Question. — To which of these crops can Flemish manure 
be advantageously applied in the largest (quantities ? 
From what has been said, evidently to tobacco, beetroot 
(when intended for feed), artificial grasses, rape, cabbages, and 
potatoes. We must mention also that all through the north of 
France Flemish manure is used in profusion in the cultivation of 
kitchen gardens, and yet our vegetables are certainly in no way 
inferior to those of other countries. Cauliflowers at Dunkerque 
are watered (ajjateles *) each Avith one or two quarts of this 
jnanure, and they have a wide reputation under the name of 
" choux de Rosendael." Our asparagus is as delicate, our 
green-peas as sweet as elsewhere, although they have assimilated 
chemical constituents which, from the combinations from which 
they are derived, inspire a foolish repugnance. 
bth Question. — What quantity is it thought most advisable to 
use in the cultivation of wheat ? 
As we have already said, it is more common to manure the 
crop of roots or pulse which precedes the wheat than the wheat 
itself. If the wheat follow oats, the soil is often dressed with 
about 1450 gallons of Flemish manure per acre, but this rotation 
is very rare. 
6th Question. — Is it best to use Flemish manure before sowing, 
or when the plant is up, and then by jet? Which is the most 
usual practice ? 
On this head we can only repeat what we have already sug- 
gested. The manure must be applied to the soil according to 
circumstances ; but if there be no practical objection, it is best 
done before sowing. There is no doubt but that the quality of 
the produce is improved by this means ; and, on the other hand, 
Flemish manure applied to plants in full growth, stimulates their 
development to an unnatural extent. Wheat tillers and runs to 
straw, to the injury of the grain ; tobacco and beetroot produce 
rank foliage, and the maturity of the plant is delayed bej'ond the 
natural period. 
The farmers of the North in general hold the opinion that the 
land must react upon the manure, and make it undergo certain 
chemical changes before it will be in a fit state for assimilation 
* The market gardeners in the north call a plant " apateld" when a little trench 
made round its root has been filled witli one or two quarts of Flemish manure. 
