2 Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
Writers of such Reports as the following are always largely 
indebted to the assistance they have received in the country in 
which their investigations have been made. It is our duty to 
express the obligations under which we rest to several gentlemen 
who rendered us services of great value, in forwarding the object 
of our journey. The Director of the Department of Agriculture, 
M. Ronnberg, by giving us letters of introduction to several 
leading agriculturists, removed at once great difficulties from our 
path, for those gentlemen materially assisted us in our inquiries, 
often at great personal inconvenience. We must particularly 
mention M. le Baron Peers, of Oostcamp ; M. le Baron de la 
Fontaine, of Waremme ; M. Parrin, of St. Nicholas ; M. van 
Meldert, Burgomaster of Haeltert ; and M. Dumont, of Chas- 
sart. To M. Fouquet, the genial and talented Sub-Director 
of the State Agricultural College at Gembloux, we are greatly 
indebted ; and we have to thank M. von Schepdael of Brussels, 
an enterprising importer of English agricultural machinery, 
for several letters of introduction and much information. To 
M. Jacquemyns, the polite and accomplished President, and M, 
Tydgadt, the courteous and energetic Secretary, of the Agri- 
cultural Society of East Flanders, our warmest thanks are due, 
both for generous hospitality and prompt and accurate informa- 
tion on all subjects connected with la petite culture; through- 
out our journey we found them always ready to give us the most 
efficient help,* 
I.— Soil and Climate. 
In Belgium there are four descriptions of soil and as many 
kinds of farming, each soil having a culture peculiar to it. The 
distribution of the soils is shown on our map by colours, which 
roughly represent by their hue the relative strength of the land 
in the different regions. Each of these regions is characterised 
not only by its soil, subsoil, and mode of cultivation, but also 
by a variation in climate and a difference in the form of its 
surface, with the exception of the recently formed Polder-land, 
which has the same climate and surface-configuration as the 
adjoining districts. We may, therefore, regard these divisions 
as natural, and as affording a most interesting example of the 
dependence of modes of culture on natural attributes. 
The map illustrating this Report is compiled chiefly from 
M. Dumont's ' Carte Geologique de la Belgique ' and M. Hou- 
zcau's ' Carte Hypsometrique de la Belgique,' supplemented by 
* Since this report has been in type, Mr. J. Howard, M.P., has Isindly placed at 
our disposal some valuable information sent him by M. Leclerc, Chief Inspector 
of Agriculture in Belgium. We have added M. Leclerc's remarks as footnotes to 
those portions of our report to which they relate, more especially to the section 
treating of Kural Economy. 
