58 
Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
"If you give Engllsli pork or bacon to a Flemish labourer, he 
never knows when to stop eating, and immediately he has stopped 
he is anxious to begin again; but with Flemish pork or bacon he 
eats about a pound, and it remains all day in his chest!" We 
thought of the traditional navvy, who condemned nutritious food 
because it had not sufficient "stay -by" in it, and we said no 
more. Doubtless, this remark, however absurd it may appear, 
contains the explanation of the fact that the ordinary Flemish 
pig is still a great brute. This is the more noteworthy, because 
great attention is given to pigs all over Belgium, especially in 
connection with their domiciles. We have already given (p. 11) 
a plan showing the most approved arrangement of pig-styes on 
small occupations ; but on large farms the arrangements reminded 
us more of one of the ruminant-houses in the Zoological Gardens 
than anything else we had ever seen. 
The following description, which is substantially true for many 
other piggeries that Ave afterwards saw, refers actually to that on 
M. Jacquemyn's farm in the Campine : — The building has a 
span-roof, and contains a row of styes on each side, with a good 
bricked walk in the centre. Each stye is about 6 feet square, 
and the sides and front are about 3 feet high. All the work is 
of brick, capped with a solid piece of timber, about 6 inches 
thick. A stone trough is fixed in the front wall of each stye ; it 
is fitted with a swinging door, by means of which the pig can be 
shut off from it while it is being cleaned or filled, and afterwards 
can be prevented from scattering the food over the path ; in each 
position the door is secured by a bolt. At the back of each stye 
is a door which opens into a small open-air paddock, about the 
size of the stye, and all these paddocks outside the piggery are as 
distinct from one another as are the styes within. The cleanliness 
and the absence of smell were remarkable, and were evidently 
due to frequent sweepings and scrubbings. The building was 
well ventilated, but, like all Belgian pig-styes, kept as dark as 
possible. 
The food given to pigs consists simply of boiled potatoes and 
meal, together with any refuse that may be available. When put 
up to fatten they get as much as they can eat, the proportion of 
meal in particular being increased. There is a great demand for 
young pigs, in consequence of the number of farm-labourers and 
small farmers who are always in want of them, and tliey find a 
ready sale, at from six to eight weeks old, at 20s. to 28s. each. 
Fat pigs, containing much English blood, are eagerly sought 
after by town butchers, and fetch very good prices. Moreover, 
they are generally bespoke some time in advance, so that, with 
good prices and a ready sale, such pig-feeding is found to be 
extremely remunerative. 
