THE CULTIVATOR. 
23 
to carry off the surplus waters. “Extensive woods have been created 
in this manner, converting a barren soil into a state of production, the 
least expensive, the most profitable, and most ornamental. Of six years 
growth there exist flourishing plantations, from five to nine feet in height. 
At about ten years from its formation they begin to thin the wood, and 
continue to do so annually, with such profit by the sale, as at the end 
of thirty years to have it clear of every charge ; a specific property be¬ 
ing thus acquired, by industry and attention merely, without the loss 
of any capital. When the timber, thus planted, -lias been all cut off, 
the land has been found to yield admirable crops, from a surface soil 
formed by the accumulation of leaves, which have, fallen for so many 
years. Cannot our patrons in Virginia and Maryland, and even on the 
western praries, profit from these hints ? 
In this division is grown a turnip, the Chou-rave , in density and sac¬ 
charine matter, though not in shape, (being of an oblong form) seem¬ 
ing to vie with the Swede, which is much prized both for the table and 
the cattle. 
To every cottage and farm house in Flanders is attached a garden, of 
some sort, well dug, manured and kept clean. The parsnip, carrot, tur¬ 
nip, scorzonera, cabbage, onion, leek, peas, beans, and all kinds of 
saladings, abound in them. Much as we hear of English cottage gar¬ 
dens, the author commends those of Flanders as excelling and as wor¬ 
thy the notice and imitation of his countrymen. 
Division No. 8 — Wheat soil —Silex 71; alumine 26£ ; oxyde of iron 
2 ; lime 4 —a strong soil, but till lately little esteemed, on account of its 
being flat, retentive of moisture, given to rushes, and yielding crops of 
corn and pasture so bad, as not to warrant a rent of $2 an acre. An 
enterprising farmer took a farm of this kind, and in three years im¬ 
proved it so far as to let it again at about $5 per acre. The improve¬ 
ments consisted in dividing the fields by furrows three feet wide, into 
distinct ridges of sixty feet wide each, and sloping them from the cen¬ 
tre to the sides, so that the rain water would run off', and be conducted 
to the boundaries of the field, and from thence conveyed off; The ele¬ 
vation of the centre was about two feet. This operation of ridging and 
dressing the sides was performed with the mouldebart, which is con¬ 
structed almost precisely like our road scrapers, and which was there 
worked by a man and pair horses. The experiment succeeded admira¬ 
bly, and others were led to follow the practice. Lime is here used, at 
the rate of 150 bushels an acre at a dressing. The retentive subsoil is 
in some cases broke through with the plough or spade, and once broken, 
it never unites, but the soil become dry, light and productive. The au¬ 
thor passes great encomiums upon the Hainault scythe, an implement 
for cutting grain, yet found in many of our old Dutch settlements, but 
which has in a great measure been superseded here by the grain cradle. 
Division No. 9— Rye soil —Silex 90 ; alumine 91; oxyde of iron |; 
quite sandy and unfertile ; yet from the facility of obtaining manure by 
canals, the lands produce excellent crops of potatoes, oats, clover, flax, 
rye, buckwheat, rape and carrots, and also turnips. There are many 
flourishing plantations of the Scotch fir upon the poor lands of this dis¬ 
trict, of various ages, and extensive woods, also produced from the 
seeds sown upon the pared and burned surface of the waste land, which 
is the most certain and usual process. Some experiments made here, 
showed, that potatoes of a moderate size, planted whole, produced one- 
fifth more than large ones planted whole, and fifty per cent more than 
those planted by sets; also, that beets, from which the earth was drawn, 
were better than those which were earthed. Salt was not found to pro¬ 
duce any benefit upon the flax crop. About twenty-five pounds of car¬ 
rots are here given to each horse per day, in lieu of hay, and with oats. 
Buckwheat is extensively cultivated, and is chiefly applied to the feeding 
of swine and poultry. 
Average seed in divisions 7, 8 and 9—rye 1 1-7 bushel; wheat about the 
same; oats 34; buckwheat 1 1-4; flax 24; clover 6 lbs.; turnips 5 lbs. 
Average -produce —rye 35 bushels per acre; wheat 23 ; oats 29; buck¬ 
wheat 23. 
Division No. 10— Oat soil —Silex 49; alumine 484; oxyde of iron 
2J—In the heavy soils, the rotation is potatoes, wheat, flax with clover, 
clover, rye, oats, buckwheat, and dung, ashes, or urine, with all the 
crops except the last. Where sand predominates, the order of crops is 
rye, oats, flax with clover, clover, rye, oats, buckwheat; all dunged 
as the other course, except the last. Potatoes follow clover, and tur¬ 
nips are taken as a second crop. For potatoes the ground is dug or 
ploughed to the depth of twelve to sixteen inches. Average seed —po¬ 
tatoes 28 bushels ; wheat 1| bushels ; flax 2 bushels; clover 9 lbs.; rye 
Ik bushels ; oats 2£ bushels ; buckwheat jj of a bushel. Average pro¬ 
duce —potatoes 350 bushels; wheat 32 bushels; flax seed 7 bushels; 
rye 324; oats 384; buckwheat 25 bushels. Rent about $5, taxes $2.22 
per acre. Price of land about $166. 
Division No. 11— Carrot soil —Silex 84 ; alumine 13; oxyde of iron 
3—an alluvial deposite, of clay, loam and sand. The products and ro-- 
tation are as follow: 1 . potatoes heavily dunged; 2 . wheat without 
manure; 3. rye and clover, with five tons of manure to the acre; 4. 
clover with ashes ; 5. wheat or rye, with turnips as a second crop, and 
three and a half tons of manure ; 6 . oats, with four anl a half tons of 
manure; 7. flax or hemp, with eight tons of manure; 8. wheat, with 
turnips as a second crop, and two and a half tons of manure. In the 
lighter soils, rye is substituted for wheat. A striking feature in this di¬ 
vision is the round form which is given to all the fields, originally wet 
and low. The compartments are in acres and half acres, and the sur¬ 
face made to rise gradually from the edges to the centre, so that the 
latter is about six feet above the level of the water courses—carrots and 
turnips are uniformly taken as a second crop, and the product is com¬ 
paratively small, being about six tons of the former and three of the lat¬ 
ter. Carrots are much used for milch cows, at the rate of two bushels, 
tops and all, to a cow in twenty-four hours. They give great product 
in butter, and of fine quality. The farms are from two to thirty acres. 
Average seed —wheat 2 bushels the acre; potatoes 32 bushels; rye 14 
bushels; clover 8 lbs.; oats 24 bushels; flax nine pecks. Average pro¬ 
duct —potatoes 320 bushels ; wheat 204 bushels; rye 25 bushels ; clover, 
green for soiling, 12| tons ; oats 41 bushels ; flax, value of crop stand¬ 
ing, $45 per acre. The first quality of lands sell at $200 the acre ; se¬ 
cond quality at about $135, and the third quality at about $67. A good 
work horse about $100—a cow $35—a sheep $3.75. 
REMARKS. 
From our earliest recollections of agricultural matters, Flanders has been 
considered proverbial for fertility ; and it would seem from the examination 
which we have given to the work before us, that its agriculture justly merits 
the high charcter which it has acquired. And yet,, with partial exceptions, 
the soil is not naturally rich —it is poor, such as we should denominate very 
poor. It is mostly a flat, wet, cold, s indy district. Whence then its produc¬ 
tiveness ? The answer, which may be gathered from our notes, may afford 
useful lessons in American husbandry. Its productiveness arises, 
1. From the small size of farms, and keeping them constantly in crop—no 
man attempting to manage more than he can manage well. 
2. From a just estimate of the value of manure, the food of plants, and a ju¬ 
dicious husbanding and application of it, frequently for years in succession to 
the same field. The urine, sweepings, and other animal and vegetable mat¬ 
ters, which we waste or disregard, contribute more to the fertility of their soil, 
than all the manure we apply, does to the fertility of our soil. 
3. From a .rotation of crops, two of the same kind never following each other, 
found, from long experience, to be best fitted to promote the farmers’ ultimate 
profits. 
4. From the extensive introduction of clover and root crops, which amelio¬ 
rate the soil, feed and fatten the farm stock, arid make large returns in the form 
of manure. 
5. From the cutting the forage, ancl grinding the grain, for their cattle, there¬ 
by greatly lessening the expenditure. 
6. From the farmers giving their undivided attention to their farms—and from 
their industrious, frugal habits of living. No lumbering, no fishing, no specu¬ 
lation, no hankering after office. 
In the work under consideration, there are other matters irrelevant to our 
practice, as-an account of the forests which have been planted, descriptions of 
Flemish farm implements ; and there is one sentence worth quoting entire, for 
the good example it holds out to us, viz: No farmer is without a well culti¬ 
vated garden, full of the best vegetables, which all appear at his own table.” 
“ A beggar is scarcely to be seen, except in the towns, and but few there.” 
Manure is an article of commerce ; and the demand for it is so great, that every 
material for it is sought after with avidity, and the towns and pavements are 
"hourly resorted to, with brooms and wheelbarrows, as source of profit, and 
even the chips which accumulate in the formation of wooden shoes, are made 
to constitute a part of the compost dung-heap. Hence the towns and farm 
buildings are remarkably cleanly and neat. In winter, cows receive sixty 
pounds of turnips, sometimes boiled, with straw, per diem. 
There are also in-this work, directions for cultivating and preparing for mar¬ 
ket, madder and woad, which we may hereafter copy into the Cultivator, 
should any one express a wish to this effect. 
AN. ESSAY ON GRASSES.— (Continued.frontpage 13.) 
Sec. II. Lucerne—Medicago sativa, L. Diadel. Duan. L and Laguminosece, J. 
Lucerne is a deep rooting perennial plant, sending up numerous small 
and tall clover-like shoots, with blue or violet spikes of flowers. It is 
a native of the south of Europe, is extensively cultivated in Spain, Ita¬ 
ly, France, Persia and Lima, in the two latter, being cut all the year 
round,—and is partially cultivated in Great Britain and the United 
States. With us it is found to be as hardy as red clover. It was ex¬ 
tensively cultivated by the Romans, and commended by Calumella, as 
the choicest of all fodder. Three-quarters of an acre of it, he thinks 
abundantly sufficient to feed three horses during the whole year. 
The soil for lucerne must be dry, friable, inclining to sand, and with 
a subsoil not inferior to the surface. Unless the subsoil be good, deep 
and dry, it is in vain to attempt to cultivate lucerne. A friable deep 
sandy loam is excellent for it. No land is too lich for it. 
The preparation of the soil consists in deep ploughing and minute 
pulverization. Loudon recommends trenching for it. But a good pre¬ 
paration is a potato crop, heavily dressed with long manure, the ground 
ploughed very deep and the manure buried at the bottom of the fur¬ 
row, and the crop kept perfectly free from weeds. 
The season' most proper for sowing in the northern and eastern states 
is about the first to the fifteenth of May, when the ground has become 
sufficiently warmed to promote quick germination. 
Tie manner of sowing lucerne is either broadcast or in drills, and 
