10 
Report on the Agriculture of Behjium. 
where the country is not so densely populated, and where small 
larms are associated with considerable farms belonging to large 
proprietors, as well as with extensive tracts of pine-forest and 
heather, rents vary from lOs. to 35s. per acre, neither extreme 
being the rule. In districts where farms ranging from 5 acres to 
a maximum of 50 or GO are to be found in one parish, rents 
generally range from 28s. to 45s. per acre, the smaller farms 
being usually the most highly rented, because there is more 
demand for them. In the Pays de VVaes (the district round 
Lokeien and St. Nicholas) a common rent is 48s. per acre, near 
the Dutch frontier of the Campine it is not more than 20s., and 
in the Antwerp district 30s. per acre. 
2. The Farms. — A report on the agriculture of Belgium with- 
out a description of a Flemish farm and homestead would not 
give a complete picture of la petite culture. The Englishman's 
dictum that his " house is his castle," becomes a literal fact if 
applied to the complete homestead of a Flemish farmer. The 
farmhouse, the barn, the cowhouse, and all other farm-buildings 
are built together in the form of a hollow square, furnished with 
a large gateway and a pair of solid doors at one side. At night 
the plough, the harrow, the roller, the cart, and all other move- 
ables belonging to the farmer are brought within the precincts 
of the homestead, the large folding gates are shut and secured, 
and there is absolutely no access from the world without to the 
quadrangular court within. All the buildings, including the 
house itself, consist simply of a ground floor ; all the windows 
look into the quadrangle ; and generally there are in the outer 
walls but a few vertical loopholes, more for ventilation than for 
light. The buildings are nearly always of brick, and the roofs 
are usually tiled in the more modern steadings ; but there is 
always a certain breadth of thatching on the ridge of the house- 
roof, and sometimes also the barn-roof is either partially or en- 
tirely thatched. This plan is adopted because the threshed corn 
is kept in a loft over the living and sleeping rooms, and it is 
thought that thatching prevents injury to it from damp, and 
keeps the whole house warmer. The bricks are usually red, 
but sometimes they are white-washed ; and the outside shutters, 
with which all the windows are furnished, are painted a bright 
green. The court-yard is paved with bricks, and the whole 
"menage" is kept scrupulously clean. The condition of the 
homestead reflects that of the farmer, in mind, body, and estate. 
The farms also have their peculiarities. In the light-land 
districts the fields are little narrow strips, their surfaces frequently 
because tliey include so much unproductive land, as in the Campine, Hainanlt, 
and the Ardennes; and since the last statistics ^YeI•e collected (1856_), rents and 
prices of laud have risen from 30 to 40 per cent. 
