Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
55 
circumstances, such as the possession of grass-land, regulate the 
age at which the animals are bought, the length of time they are 
kept, and the profit they yield. As a rule, however, in Belgium 
it is considered that beasts should increase 50 per cent, in weight 
from the time they are put up to feed until they are sold to the 
butcher. Farmers who have the opportunity are generally glad 
to combine pulp-feeding with an allowance of distillery refuse. 
(c) Root-feedincj . — This is not so important as either of the 
systems already described, although its practice is attempted by 
most of the ordinary farmers in this division of Belgium. In 
treating of the rotation of crops we endeavoured to show that, where 
sugar-beet was not grown, a long course of 7, 8, or 9 years contains 
only one root-course, which is encroached upon by beans, oats, and 
flax, and a great part of which consists of potatoes for household 
use. The proportion of land in clover is, of course, equally 
small. Under these circumstances the feeding beasts must be 
few in number unless the soil and climate admit of the growth 
of large catch-crops of carrots or turnips. Probably we shall not 
be far wrong in estimating the proportion of beasts kept to be 
not more than 12 to every 100 acres. This estimate is obtained 
by a comparison of the information which we obtained on 
several ordinary farms in different localities ; that the proportion 
between this number and that given on beet-root farms is 
tolerably accurate will be seen by the fact that on the former not 
more than one- fifth or one-sixth of the farm is annually manured, 
on the latter the proportion rises to three-eighths and even two- 
fifths, according to whether the farm is worked on a four or a 
five course shift. The system usually employed is to keep the 
cattle on grass and clover during the summer. They go on 
the pastures in the morning and evening, and get clover in the 
stables during the day. About the beginning of November they 
begin to get roots, generally sliced, commencing with turnips 
and finishing with mangolds, swedes being a rarity. They also 
get cake or meal, in varying quantities up to 7 or 8 lbs. at the 
finish. Although there are good farmers who do not grow 
sugar-beet, and who feed off a good proportion of beasts, the 
generality of them find the winter a diflicult season to get over, 
and they are frequently compelled to sell their beasts lean, or 
not half fat, when they mostly find their way to the sugar- 
inanufactuvors. Many farmers of this class do not attempt 
leeding ; they keep cows and raise the calves, selling them lean 
as two-year-old heifers and steers. The amount of meat pro- 
duced in Belgium is not so great as we have been led to believe, 
as may be seen by the fact that although Belgians cannot be 
called a "meat-eating" people, and although England is prac- 
tically their only market for surplus meat, our imports of sheep 
