Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
11 
trimmed to a low arch like the beds in a well-kept flower-garden. 
They are divided by deep ditches, on each side of which is 
planted a row of alders. The roads are separated from the fields 
Fig. 1. — Plan of the Homestead of a Farm of 10 acres, near Haeltert. 
{See page 31.) 
by a wider ditch, or by a series of flax-pits, bordered on each 
side by a closely planted row of tall trees, frequently poplars, 
whose deleterious effect on the produce of the land is almost 
incredible. The alders are the property of the tenant, who cuts 
them once every seven or nine years ; the large trees are the 
