GO 
Report on the Agriculture of Belgium. 
at 5 or 6 years old at from 60Z. to 120/. each. On large farms 
in sugar-beet districts oxen do the ploughing and other operations 
connected with the cultivation of the land, so that horses are 
kept chiefly for draught purposes ; but, wherever horses are kep$, 
the farmer likes, if possible, to raise his own — hence the stallion- 
farms in Central Belgium are by no means unprofitable. 
The improvement of the breed of horses is encouraged by the 
State by the annual offer of prizes for mares and stallions in each 
province of the kingdom. Previous to 1865 a stud-establishment 
was also maintained by the Government, small fees being charged 
to farmers who availed themselves of its advantages. 
V. — The Polders and Kiver-valleys. 
1. Tlie Polders. — We have already indicated the nature of the 
Polder-land sufficiently to enable its culture to be understood ;. 
but before describing what is the mode of farming now practised, 
it may be desirable to give a brief sketch of the manner in which 
these tracts of land are first brought into cultivation. 
Formerly the Government granted " concessions " of unre- 
claimed polder-land (schorres) to Companies who undertook t» 
make and maintain the dykes, the ditches, and everything that 
was necessary to protect the land from the sea, and to carry off 
the surface-water. For this concession the Government gene- 
rally received a sum agreed upon, and the concessionaires 
obtained the lease of the land for a certain number of years ; but 
any polder abandoned to the sea for a stated period reverted 
again to the Government. The most recent polders, however, 
have been " endigued " by the State, and the land afterwards 
sold in small lots of from 12 to 20 acres at about 200/. per acre.* 
Under the old system new polders were almost invariably 
farmed by the concessionaires, who devoted the land to a most 
exhausting course of cropping. The usual practice was, after 
the lapse of a year, to commence with colza, ploughing not more 
than 4 inches deep. This crop would be so luxuriant that it 
would be necessary to hack off each stem singly ; the yield in 
seed is said to have been as much as from 50 to 55 bushels per 
acre, and the quality extremely good. The next year the land 
was ploughed a very little deeper, and every succeeding year the 
plough turned up a little virgin soil until a depth of 9 or 10 
inches was reached. The second crop taken was frequently 
winter barlej-, giving a product of 70 or 80 bushels per acre, or 
even more ; wheat or flax came next, and then 3, 4, or 5 crops. 
* The engineering and farming operations are -well described in detail, by 
M. de Hoon in liis prize essay, ' Me'moire sur les Polders de la rive gauche de- 
I'Escaut.' Mem. Couroiiues. Bruxelles. Coll. in 8vo. vol. v., 1S52. 
