34 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
AGRICULTURAL TOUR IN GERMANY.—No. 5. 
BY COUNT DE GOURCY. 
Translated for the American Agriculturist from the Journal 
cl’Agriculture Pratique. 
The day of my arrival at Basle being Sunday, 
that town had a deserted appearance. At five 
o’clock in the morning of the following day, I 
set out for Mulhouse and Thann. I had reason 
to regret having extended my journey to the 
latter town, for after passing Mulhouse, the 
country crossed was little else than a desert. 
I visited the extensive nurseries of Messrs. 
Baumann & Brothers, at Bohviller. Among 
other attractive objects, I observed there a spe¬ 
cimen of Araucaria lanceolata, still very small, 
though thirty years old. I distinguished So- 
phora pendula among other ornamental trees, 
the habit of which is very pleasing. A willow 
with large and very glossy leaves attracted my 
notice by its splendid aspect. A linden, with 
extremely broad foliage, and a fern-leaved maple, 
(Acer asplenifolia,) struck me as very fine or¬ 
namental trees. These nurseries contain a col¬ 
lection of the choicest varieties of fruit trees, 
of large size and vigorous growth. 
The country which I have traversed during 
m} r present journey appeared to me inferior to 
that lying on the right bank of the Rhine, which 
I had lately visited, equally in regard to it.- 
natural beauty as to its culture. On my ap¬ 
proach to Colmar, there appeared to be an im¬ 
provement in the latter particular; but from thi.- 
town to Schelestadt, where I passed the night, 
there was no opportunity of judging of the 
appearance of the country. The following day 
a carriage conveyed me to Villerhoff, an estab¬ 
lishment for the reception of orphans and pool 
children, founded by the Mertian family, ol 
Strasburg. 
The first portion of the country that I crossed 
on my way hither was covered with vineyards; 
or, to speak more correctly, a species of market- 
garden culture, interspersed here and there with 
single or double rows of vines. 
When I arrived at Villerhoff, I did not find 
the director of the establishment; one of the 
children conducted me to him. This personage, 
known by the name of Father Nil, has been a 
Trappist for a number of years. He had con¬ 
ducted, in this capacity, the husbandry of a 
monastery in the vicinity of Lille, but he relin¬ 
quished his vow’s to Rome. He is a very active 
man, about fifty years old, the son of a farmer, 
of the neighborhood of Gand, in Belgium. 
I found him surrounded by his workmen, of 
whom eight are Flemish Belgians, whom he in¬ 
troduced to teach the Alsatians the improved 
husbandry of their native country. Along with 
these eight Belgians, there are three country¬ 
women who have taken vows ; they work with 
the day-women, teaching them hoeing and othei 
common farm operations commonly intrusted to 
women and children. They wear their religious 
habit only on Sundays. 
Father Nil has been four years at Villerhoff, 
and its management has been intrusted to him 
within two years. Judging from what I have 
seen, I think that, so far, the cultivation is in 
good hands. After his arrival at Villerhoff. 
they tried to rent or sell out an old cleared 
wood, entirely waste, adjoining a common where 
tobacco is cultivated on a very large scale, and 
where land sells at $500 per acre. No tenant, 
however, offered for this land, wasted by the 
frequent overflow of the river, which spoils the 
entire country, besides being full of creeks and 
inequalities formed by the floods, in which 
stagnant water remains for a long time after. 
Father Nil opened large trenches, the soil from 
which served to form dikes, shutting the floods 
completely out from this tract, eighty-three 
acres in extent. The available soil that remained 
was not sufficient to make up the inequalities of 
the embanked ground; he then took off a por¬ 
tion of the surface soil from a high part, and 
spread it on all sides. The subsoil, frequently 
turned over, furnished material which was re¬ 
moved either in a cart or barrow, according to 
the distance, for the purpose of levelling the 
whole ground. This piece was worked five 
times in succession; it consequently consists of 
five beds of soil fit to be turned up; thus the 
whole tract is found in a state to be operated 
upon by the cultivator, from one end to the 
other. Wherever a portion has been removed, 
fctafi soil deposited on one aide is apread 
over it again. With these careful labors, and 
the application of a good supply of manure, it 
has produced fine crops of all kinds. In its 
present state it is worth $400 per acre, and 
could be rented easily at from $12 to $15 per 
acre. This is black soil, not very heavy, being 
from two to three feet deep, and resting on a 
bed of excellent marl. 
The rotation followed at Villerhoff comprises, 
the first year, tobacco, hemp, beans, carrots, 
beets, maize, and haricot beans, flax and clover, 
Italian rye grass, or perhaps rape; the quantity 
of manure used is in proportion to the wants of 
each of these crops; all are sown in rows, and 
carefully cultivated free from weeds. Second 
year, wheat or oats; the latter is cultivated 
only for consumption by the four horses of the 
establishment. I have observed two varieties 
here; one is the potato oat and the other the 
white Hungarian. In 1849, the latter produced 
143 hectolitres on five acres, but it weighs only 
10 kilogrammes to the hectolitre, while the hec- 
olitre of potato oats weighs 50 kilogrammes. 
L'he hectolitre is about 22 gallons, and the kilo¬ 
gramme a little over 2 lbs. 
The maize field at Villerhoff far surpasses 
iny which I have seen during my tour. The 
stalks are at least three and a half feet high, 
md many exceed that. The globe beets are 
very fine; so also are the red carrots of Flanders, 
which are of a blood color. This crop has pro- 
luced at the rate of twenty-four tons to the acre. 
The tobacco is also more vigorous, and furnished 
with broader leaves than that of their neigh¬ 
bors, considered hitherto the best cultivators of 
tobacco in all Alsace. Potatoes are also very 
good, but not entirely free from disease. The 
bean crop, grown in the meadows, which has 
reached a height of six feet, is full of weeds; a 
yield of about forty-five bushels per acre is ex¬ 
pected. Hemp, which is very thick, is of an 
equal height. The director has some very fine 
wheat, the seed of which he brought from Lille. 
He has sown also a small quantity of Smyrna 
wheat, a choice variety, the grain being of very 
fine quality in addition to its large yield. It 
only succeeds well in a very fertile soil. He 
sows as a second crop flesh-colored clover, maize 
for soiling, beans, and a large space of turnips. 
Che maize for soiling is sown broadcast. I 
Link more fodder is thus obtained than by sow¬ 
ing it in row r s, as is practised in Baden. 
[The Count is in error here—rows are the 
best.— Eds. American Agriculturist.] 
The land of this farm consists of 325 acres of 
meadow, of scarcely medium quality; 200 acres 
of good woodland, resting on a highly fertile 
bottom, 125 acres (about one fourth) of which is 
of a siliceous nature, and parched. 
Father Nil has arranged a part of these 
meadows for irrigation. He could rent them 
readily in this state, for about $15 per acre. 
To secure their permanent improvement, how¬ 
ever, the greater portion should be drained, and 
protection against floods provided. 
The following is the rotation commonly pur¬ 
sued by the farmers in the vicinity of Villerhoff: 
First year, tobacco or hemp, with an application 
of about sixteen tons of manure to the acre; 
second, wheat; third, barley; fourth, potatoes, 
clover, or maize: a little hemp is sown among 
the potatoes, the individual plants of which are 
cultivated for the seeds. 
THE GREAT CONVOCATION OF POULTRY. 
For the gratification of all amateurs of the gal¬ 
linaceous tribe, we copy the following amusing 
article from Dickens' Household Words, on a late 
Poultry Show’ at Birmingham : 
“ Dear me!” said a lady, journeying by rail¬ 
way tow’ards the capital of cocks and hens, 
“ w’hat a number of fowls they must keep in 
this small village! And yet, although I never 
heard such a crowing,” she continued, peering 
out at the carriage window, “ I do not see any 
of the crowers.” 
At the next station, another small place, the 
gallinaceous chorus increased, as if a horde of 
w’ild chanticleers, yelling the warwhoop of their 
tribe, had surrounded the train, with the fierce 
determination of putting every passenger to the 
spur. 
“ What a country for poultry!” broke from 
a bundle of green coat and scarlet comforter 
which was huddled up in a corner of the car¬ 
riage. 
“ Pretty well. But the cackling and crow’ing 
we hear are from Norfolk and Suffolk birds,” 
remarked a gentleman of strong agricultural 
aspect. “ Why, 1 ’ve got a matter of sixty of 
the Cochin-Chinese breed for the show; beau¬ 
ties!—some of ’em up to twelve or thirteen 
pound apiece.” 
A clerical-looking gentleman eagerly inquired, 
“ Indeed! How heavy ?” 
“A dozen pound, full weight!” 
The clergyman groaned, “ Then I shall lose 
the medal.” 
The glass roof of Bingley Hall, Birmingham, 
covers an area of an acre and a quarter. The 
hall is divided into five compartments, the 
largest being in the centre. To the separate 
space on the left, the Cochin-China and other 
cocks, (to the number of nine hundred and sixty- 
six,) together with countless heads of poultry 
from all parts of England, had converged, by the 
day follow’ing that on which we arrived by the 
train. The remainder of the hall w r as allotted 
to a show of cattle, sheep, and pigs. 
A little before nine, three or four knots of 
gentlemen, not exactly with Birmingham faces, 
and having something on their minds, knocked 
at the front entrance. The door was cautiously 
set ajar by a determined policeman; the stran¬ 
gers slipped in, and the official instantly bolted 
the door after them. Despite the policeman’s 
strongest precautions, however, your reporter 
slipped in with the last member of this secret 
society; wdiose secretary, the moment they 
entered, delivered to each a small purple-covered 
manuscript, inscribed with the words, “Judges’ 
