THE CULTIVATOR. 
186 
more, which will be 53.33; then the cost of the beets 
will be only $4 per ton, one-fifth less than Mr. Bosson 
reckoned in his calculation on the cost of the beet sugar. 
If we reckon 50 pounds to the bushel, 13 li tons to the 
acre would be only 533 bushels which would be no more 
than a middling crop; not half so much as has been 
raised in a number of cases that have been named. 
flemish Husbandry. 
AN ACCOUNT OF SOME SELECT FARMS. 
The details of Flemish husbandry cannot be better ex¬ 
plained than by reference to a few of the best cultivated 
farms in different parts of the country. There is a 
greatuniformity in the general practice, but there are con¬ 
siderable variations introduced in consequence of the 
diversity of soil and situation. One of the first farms we 
shall notice is situated within a mile of Courtray, and 
is in the occupation of a man who has more theoretical 
knowledge of agriculture than most other Flemish far¬ 
mers ; he is a native of France, but has passed a great 
part of his life in Flanders; and his wife, who seems 
very active and well acquainted with the details of a 
farm, especially the dairy, is a Flemish woman. The 
place where the farm is situated is called Walle. The 
extent is thirty-six bonniers, each bonnier being about 
three acres. The soil is a good sound loam, which, al¬ 
though it is there called a strong soil, would not be rec¬ 
koned very heavy in those counties in England where 
the clay prevails. It is such land as may be seen in 
parts of Essex and Hertfordshire, which will produce 
good beans, withoutbeing too heavy for turnips, or even 
carrots. The quality of the soil does not vary mate¬ 
rially through the farm. It is not of so rich a nature as 
the clays of the polders, and, when washed, contains a 
considerable portion of silicious sand; but it has been 
enriched by repeated and ample manuring, not only by 
the dung and urine of the cattle kept on the farm, but 
by purchased manure of every description, especially 
the sweepings of the streets of Courtray and the emp¬ 
tying of privies. 
The farm-buildings are very conveniently arranged at 
a small distance from the high road, from which there is 
an approach by an avenue of trees. The farm house, 
which is substantial and convenient, and the stables for 
the horses, occupy one side of a square or rectangle of 
sixty yards long by fifty wide. Opposite the house stands 
a roomy barn, and another occupies two-thirds of the 
west side of the square. The east side is taken up with 
a cow house, ox-stalls, and other useful buildings. The 
entrance is by a gate-way with double gates, at the 
north-east angle of the yard. A paved causeway ten 
feet wide runs all round the farm-yard, raised about 
eighteen inches above it. The cow-stall, barns, &c. are 
on a level with this causeway: and the yard slopes gently 
towards the middle, where there is an oval tank sur¬ 
rounded by a brick wall, which rises two feet above the 
yard. There is an opening in this wall sufficient to al¬ 
low a cart to be backed into it: from this opening the 
bottom slopes to the further end, where it is three feet 
deep. This is the croupissior, into which all the liquid 
part of the dung runs, when it is washed by the rain, 
through openings left in the wall which surrounds it.— 
The urine is collected in another large vaulted reservoir 
immediately under the cow-house and ox-stalls. 
This description applies equally to most of the farm¬ 
yards attached to large farms; for one hundred and twen¬ 
ty acres is a large farm in Flanders. 
Thirty cows are constantly kept on this farm, and six 
horses, besides young heifers and colts. The cows are 
always kept in the stalls, and fed with green food in 
summer, and roots with meal in winter. Each cow has 
a stall in which she is tied up by herself, separated from 
the next by a large flat slab of stone about lour feet 
square set on edge. Theieis a low stone trough before 
her, and an opening in the wall to give her air. She is 
tied by a leather strap round her neck, with a chain fas¬ 
tened to a staple, which goes through the wall and is se¬ 
cured by a nut and screw on the other side. The cow- 
stable is forty yards long without any division, and six 
yards wide, so that there is much room behind the cows. 
In the middle against the wall is a pump to supply wa¬ 
ter for the cows and to wash out the stable, which is 
very frequently done, the whole being swept into the 
urine-tank below through an aperture, towards which 
all the gutters slope from the cows stalls. Under the 
pump is a stone cistern, which is constantly kept full, 
that the water may acquire the temperature of the air. 
In this cistern bean or rye meal is mixed, in the propor¬ 
tion of a large double-handful to three gallons of water, 
so that the cows never drink the water without this ad¬ 
dition. It is supposed to increase their milk and make 
it richer. Outside of the building is the pump, by 
which the urine is raised to fill the casks in which it is 
conveyed to the land. Another pump is in the centre 
tank, by which the dung water is raised, either to mix 
with the urine when rape-cakes have been dissolved in 
it, or to pour it over the solid dung to accelerate the pu¬ 
trefaction, The pens for fattening calves, are placed 
Along the wall behind the cows, and, being only two feet 
wide, take up very little room; there are only two or 
three of these, for, so near a considerable town, the 
fatting of calves is not so profitable as selling fresh but¬ 
ter. 
A few acres of crass are kept in permanent pasture 
near the house, and the cows are put there for a few 
hours every day in summer, more for exercise, and for 
the sake of their health, than for grazing. All the rest 
of the land is arable, and cultivated very strictly accord¬ 
ing to a regular rotation. Mr. Doutreluinge, the occu¬ 
pier, informed us, that he had several times made ex¬ 
periments by varying the usual course; at one time in¬ 
creasing the quantity of flax, and at another that of 
colza; but he found, by keeping very exact accounts of 
the expense and produce, that every deviation caused a 
loss in the end. The rotation is very simple. The 
whole of the arable land he divides into six parts—one 
part is half in flax and half in colza, one wheat, one 
rye and turnips, one oats (five-sixth of which with clo¬ 
ver-seed,) one clover, with a small proportion in pota¬ 
toes and carrots, one two-thirds wheat and one-third 
beans. 
The land intended for flax is ploughed soon after har¬ 
vest with a very shallow furrow, or only well harrowed 
to destroy the stubble ; rotten dung is spread over it, at 
the rate of twenty large loads per acre, about the month 
of September. It is left spread on the land for some 
time, and then rolled with a heavy roller: this is to press 
it into the ground, and make it fine. It is then ploughed 
in with a shallow furrow. When the plough has made 
a furrow, six or eight men with spades dig spits of earth 
out of the bottom of it, which they set upon the part 
already turned up, so that the ground is partially 
trenched. The plough on its return fills the holes thus 
made, and. when the whole is finished, it lies in a very 
rough state with large clods all over it; so it remains all 
winter. In spring, when the clods are pulverized by 
the frost, the harrows pass over repeatedly and level 
the surface. The land is then ploughed and harrowed 
several times, till it is thought sufficiently fine. Liquid 
manure is now put on. This consists chiefly of the 
emptyings of privies and the urine of cows, and also 
of rape-cakes dissolved in urine, and left to ferment for 
some time, which is done in the open tank in the yard. 
The quantity of rape-cake used depends on the supply 
of vidanges, which are preferred, the other being only 
a substitute. This is allowed to soak into the ground 
for a few days. It is then well harrowed, and the lin¬ 
seed is sown at the rate of about three bushels to the 
acre, and covered by the harrows reversed or the trai- 
neau. The only peculiarity in this process is the spread¬ 
ing of dung over the land and letting it remain some 
time before it is ploughed in. According to the prevail¬ 
ing opinions, we should say that a portion of it must 
evaporate and be dissipated. But the practice must not 
be hastily condemned on mere theoretical principles. It 
is well known that there is no manure so good for flax 
as that which is collected in the towns by poor people, 
who sweep the streets, and make composts of every¬ 
thing which is capable of putrefaction. This compost 
is sold, in a dry state, by measure; and we have re¬ 
peatedly seen the preparers of this manure spread it 
out in dry places in the sun to bring it to a marketable 
state. Probably the origin of this may have been that, 
by being dry, the carriage of it is lighter; but that the 
virtue of the compost is not lost by drying appears from 
the reputation it has amongst the farmers, who piously 
believe that its extraordinary effects are to be ascribed 
to a peculiar blessing of God, as it enables the poor and 
destitute to gain a livelihood. It must be recollected 
that this manure is so prepared by repeated turning and 
watering, and that the vegetable fibres in it are almost 
entirely decomposed. It is probably that in drying noth¬ 
ing is evaporated but simple moisture. This practice 
being peculiar, and not very generally adopted, renders 
it more deserving of notice. 
A little beyond Courtray along the Lys, towards 
Menin, is a farm particularly noticed by Mr. Radcliffe 
in his report of the husbandry of Flanders. It was 
then in the occupation of a Mr. Van Bogeart, who af¬ 
terwards retired with a competent fortune, chiefly ac¬ 
quired by farming. It is now occupied by Mr. De Bra- 
banter, who cultivates it very carefully, with seme 
slight deviations from the practice of his predecessor. 
This farm is called Vollander, and is one of the finest 
and most compact we have seen. It consists of about 
one hundred and forty acres, of which about twenty are 
fine meadows along the river, occasionally flooded in 
winter, but not irrigated ; about ten acres are rich heavy 
land, adjoining the meadows, in which beans and wheat 
thrive well; all the remainder, about one hundred and 
six acres, or rather more, lie in an oblong field bounded 
by a hedge-row, at one corner of which, nearest the 
river, stand the farm-buildings. A road or path, six 
feet wide, runs through the middle of the field, and the 
road which leads to the farm-yard skirts one end of it. 
The soil of this field is a rich light loam, which lies 
over a substratum of clay, but at such a depth as to be 
perfectly sound and dry. It is not extremely fertile in 
its own nature, but has been rendered so by many years 
of an improving husbandry. Every part of the land 
has been repeatedly trenched and stirred two or three 
feet deep; and the immense quantity of manure, chiefly 
liquid, put on year after year, has converted the whole 
into a very rich mould. The strength and vigour of the 
crops bear witness to the goodness of the husbandry. 
As we walked along the middle path, which is just wide 
enough to admit the wheels of a cart, the whole pro¬ 
duce might be seen at once. It was just the time when 
the flax had been pulled, and remained stacked on the 
ground. The colza had been beat out, but the stems 
remained in heaps where they had been cut. There 
were fifteen acres of most beautiful flax of a bright 
straw-colour, and the stems a yard long. This, besides 
the seed, was worth in the stack from 25 1. to 30Z. per 
acre; twelve acres of colza had produced about fifty 
quarters of seed ; eighteen acres of oats looked so pro¬ 
mising, that they could not be set at less than nine quar¬ 
ters per acres; eighteen acres of wheat, which stood 
well with short but plump ears, we valued at five quarters 
per acres; eighteen of rye, partly cut, with the straw 
above six feet high, would probably produce rather more 
than the wheat. There were six acres of white poppy, 
of which every plant was strong and upright, and the 
ground under it as clean as a garden; we are no judges 
of this crop, but we were informed that the expected 
produce would be about seven or eight hectolitres 
(twenty to twenty-three bushels)* per acre; six acres 
were in potatoes, expected to produce eight hundred 
hectolitres (two thousand two hundred and seventy 
bushels:—three hundred and seventy-eight bushels per 
acre.) A small patch, about an acre, was in carrots, 
which looked fine and large ; twelve acres were in clo¬ 
ver, nearly the whole of which was cut green to give to 
the cows and horses; it produces three good cuts in the 
year where it is not allowed to go to seed. The ten 
acres of heavy land were partly in beans and partly in 
wheat. 
Thus we have one hundred and sixteen acres all pro¬ 
fitably cropped, leaving four acres for the roads and 
farm buildings. Although this farm is within two miles 
and a half of Courtray, the greatest part of the manure 
is collected on the farm. Rape-cake is used more pro¬ 
fusely, and to this, as well as to the depth of the soil, 
the beauty of the flax is ascribed. Mr. De Brabanter 
usually sows his flax after oats, which, on this account, 
have been very highly manured. His urine-tank is very 
capacious, like a large cellar under his cow-house. The 
farm-buildings are arranged nearly as those of the last 
described farm; he has a large dry vault to store his 
roots in winter. His stock consists of twenty-seven cows 
in milk, five or six heifers, nine horses, and three colts. 
The rent of this farm, including land-tax and other im¬ 
posts paid by the tenant, amounts to 4880 francs, 1871. 
15 s. which is fully equal to 2701. in England, taking the 
value of agricultural produce in the two countries as a 
measure. 
There is nothing very peculiar in the practice of Mr. 
De Brabanter. He ploughs the land well, lays it in nar¬ 
row stiches with deep intervals dug out by the spade, 
puts manure with every crop, more or less, keeps the 
land clean by weeding, and adopts a long and varied ro¬ 
tation. 
The beauty of this farm consists in the equality of the 
soil of the great field and its depth. This is not so much 
owing to natural advantages, as to a long course of stir¬ 
ring and manuring, by which there is such an accumu¬ 
lation of humus, as to render a sandy loam, naturally 
of moderate fertility, equal to old garden ground, ab¬ 
sorbent and retentive of moisture, without being wet. 
The labourers on this farm were mostly lodged and 
boarded in the house, and they had all the appearance 
of being healthy and well fed. The farmer himself is a 
tall athletic man, with a good-natured, but shrewd 
countenance; he seemed very ready to give every in¬ 
formation respecting his farm. His wife, equally ac¬ 
tive, superintends the dairy, and took some pride in 
showing us in a cool vaulted cellar numerous pans set 
on the brick floor filled with the last milking, and deeper 
vats in which the milk of the preceding day had been 
put in its progress towards churning. The milk, even 
when it is not intended to be skimmed, is always set in 
shallow pans for twelve hours before it is poured into 
the vats, and the different milkings are kept separate. 
The next farm which we shall notice is somewhat difi 
ferent from the two preceding, and if the land is not 
quite so carefully tilled, it is made very productive from 
the quantity of stock kept upon it. It is situated be¬ 
tween Furnes and Dixmude, at a place called Stuives- 
kenkerke. It partakes of the nature of a polder farm; 
for the land may be considered as an old polder. The 
extent of the farm is considerable, upwards of four 
hundred acres, of which two hundred are in rich na¬ 
tural pastures, the remained is cultivated with the plough. 
The soil is here a good stiff loam, having the appear¬ 
ance of clay; but it approaches more nearly to a marly 
soil, which crumbles when moderately wetted. It con¬ 
tains a considerable proportion of calcareous matter mix¬ 
ed with sand and clay, and is decidedly of a superior quali¬ 
ty to that of the two preceding farms. It requires less ma¬ 
nure, but is more difficult to cultivate; both the ex¬ 
tremes of wet and dry in the weather rendering the 
plough useless. In the first case the surface is converted 
into mud, and in the latter it cannot be ploughed ; for 
if sufficient strength were applied, it would rise in 
large clods, which would harden in the sun, and remain 
so till continued wet or frost crumbled them again.— 
Wheat and beans are principal crops, and the latter are 
more carefully cultivated than we have seen in any other 
part of Flanders ; they are planted in rows, in imitation 
of kitchen-gardeners. A drill is drawn with a hoe, and 
beans are deposited in it three or four inches apart; the 
earth out of the next drill serves to cover the seed. The 
distance between the drills is about ten inches or a foot, 
which in rich land is too near. When the beans are out 
of the ground the intervals are hoed. The produce is 
from three to five quarters per acre, but might be more 
with wider intervals, and more effective hoeing. 
The rotation of crops on this farm is generally—1 fal¬ 
low ; 2, winter barley; 3, beans; 4, barley or wheat; 
5, beans, clover, potatoes; 6, wheat; 7, oats. The 
fallows are not ploughed before winter, but four times 
in spring and summer. Thirty cart loads of manure in 
a long state, without the straw being much decomposed, 
are put on before the last ploughing, and the winter 
barley is sown in October; the prod uce is eight quarters 
per acre. Wheat on the same preparation produces 
from four to five quarters, so that the land is better 
* A hectolitre is 2.837 Winchester bushels. 
