Report on the Agriculture of Behjium. 
73 
farms it will be as much, in some cases, as 12Z. or 15Z. per acre, 
of which ol. or 4/. per acre in some cases has been paid for 
manure in the ground, and another 3^. or 4/. for manure in the 
midden. What the actual value of the manure, estimated by its 
fertilising powers, really is, we should very much like to know. 
2. Labour. — In Flanders wages are very low, ranging from 9c/. 
per day in winter to l.v. in summer; in Brabant they are about 
2>d. per day higher ; but in the sugar-beet districts and the 
Polders they rise to 16rf. in winter, and 20rt. in summer for field- 
work. In the Condroz and the Ardennes wages for field-work 
reach their maximum in Belgium — about 2s. per day in summer. 
On most farms there is a certain number of boarded labourers, 
some of whom are lodged, and some not. A labourer's keep is 
estimated to cost from bd. to 6r/. per day, and his wages are 
therefore reduced accordingly. Female servants get from 4/. to 
6/. per annum, with board and lodging, in the small-farm dis- 
tricts ; and 2/. or even 3/. per annum more on large farms, 
especially if they can make good butter and rear calves, when 
occasionally as much as \0l. is given. Shepherds never leave 
the sheep, and cowherds never leave the beasts. The latter sleep 
in the cow-houses on a shelf-bed, or a kind of board-hammock 
swung from the roof or ceiling. Their wages will average about 
b/. per annum in Flanders, and from 10/. to 12/. in large-farm 
districts ; but good men occasionally get more on large feeding 
establishments. It is usual to give yearly servants a gratuity 
(God's penny) when the bargain is made, also at harvest time, 
and on one or two other occasions, the whole amounting to from 
16*. to 20s. per head in the course of the year. Women employed 
in weeding and other field operations get from l^d. to \s. per 
day in summer, according to the district; in winter there is little 
or no work for them. Belgian farmers are not in the habit of 
calculating their labour-expenses per hectare, and very few 
of them know what their labour-account is per annum ; but the 
mean result of several attempts which we made to calculate this 
item on large and well-cultivated farms is, that the labour of a 
good farm costs from 20s. to 24s. per acre annually, according to 
the rate of wages in the district. On small farms the labour- 
account will not bear calculation, as may be seen by referring to 
our description of " a farm of 10 acres," which kept three men in 
constant employment. 
The food of boarded labourers in Flanders and the Campine 
generally consists of rye-bread, lard, and buttermilk for break- 
last ; potatoes, buttermilk, haricot-beans boiled in their shells 
(when in season), or carrots or turnips, with rye-bread, and occa- 
sionally a little pork or bacon for dinner ; for supper they get 
rye-bread, lard, potatoes, and buttermilk. The small farmers, 
