268 
population, and yet export nearly one-third of the produce ; 
and with a soil inferior to our own, can sustain nearly 
twice the amount of human existence ? It is by an extension 
of those principles which have been proved to be the founda- 
tion of English and Scotch agriculture ; by their judicious 
selection of green crops, so that every acre of land shall 
be in a constant state of production, — hence economy of 
land ; and in the management, application, and preservation 
of different kinds of manures, by which these crops are 
to be raised ; or in other words, by the repeated and per- 
petual growth of carrots, turnips, rape, spurrey, buck- 
wheat, clover, and potatoes, and by the most scrupulous 
care in the collection of every particle of manure. It is 
not the superior soil* and climatet of Belgium which give 
* " The fertility of the polders, and of some deep rich loams in the province 
" of Hainault, and in a few spots in Flanders, has given rise to the notion, that 
" the fine crops generally observed through the whole of Belgium are owing 
" chiefly to a very superior quality in the soil. Travellers hastily passing through 
" the country, and observing the abundant harvests, naturally adopt this opinion. 
" But nothing is further from the real fact. The rich parts of Flanders are but 
" few in comparison to the poor, as an attentive examination and analysis of the 
" soil will clearly show. The average fertility of the land in the provinces of 
" East and West Flanders, and Antwerp, will be found much below that of our 
" inland counties, leaving Essex and Kent out of the question. If a fair com- 
" parison were made, it should be with the poor light soils of Norfolk or Lin- 
" colnshire, where industry and capital have overcome the natural poverty of the 
" land, and made it highly productive." — f Flemish Husbandry, p. 9, Farmers' 
Series.) 
t The climates of Belgium and England vary not more than do the southern 
from the midland counties of England. According to Humboldt, the mean 
temperature of the year is 
At Carlisle 48. 0 
At Aberdeen 47.22 
At London 50.36 
At Brussels 51.80 
At Amsterdam 51.62 
According to Sir R. Phillips, (Facts, p. 5S5,J : — 
Winter. Spring. Summer. Autumn. 
Mean temperature of England, 40.6 ... 50.2 ... 64.3 ... 51. 
Ditto of Scotland, 37. ...44.2 ...56.4 ...47.7 
Ditto of London 39.56 ... 48.56 ... 63.14 ... 50.18 
Ditto of Brussels 36.68 ... 53.24 ... 66.20 ... 51.08 
So that in Brussels the winter is 4° colder; the spring 3°, the summer nearly 2° 
