FLEMISH HUSBANDRY.
From the Plough Boy.
Sir—Much has been said in praise of English husbandry, though it is a well known fact, that this vaunted system is surpassed in many countries which do not possess equal natural advantages. In Scotland, agriculture has progressed at least half a century beyond that of England, where the soil and climate is far more congenial to the productions of the earth than the "bleak mountains of Caledonia." But no where in the world is the contrast so marked as that between the Flemish and English mode of cultivation.
The average produce of a crop of wheat, in England, is 24 bushels per acre. In Flanders, it is 32 bushels. In England, the system of fallows almost universally prevails. In Flanders, it has been unknown from time immemorial; two crops, in many cases three, being uniformly raised annually upon the same field. The following comparative tables, as exhibited in "Vanderstracten's sketch of the Flemish system," shew clearly and correctly its superior advantages over that of England.
Produce of the Flemish farmer from one acre, for 12 years. | Produce of the English farmer, according to the Norfolk course, for the same period. | ||||
| Wheat, 32 bush. per acre | 4 | crops | Wheat, 24 bush. per acre, | 3 | crops |
| Barley, do. do. | 4 | do. | Barley, 32 do. do. | 3 | do. |
| Flax, hemp, coleseed & potatoes, | 4 | do. | Turnips, | 3 | do. |
| Roots and vegetables for the food of cattle, | 10 | do. | Clover, | 3 | do. |
| In 12 years, | 24 | crops | In 12 years, | 12 | crops |
This immense difference in favour of the produce of Flanders, does not arise, as might be supposed, from its possessing a better natural soil, or a milder climate, than England; but entirely from the different mode of cultivation pursued in these two countries. At no very distant period, the fields of Flanders, now so productive, were little else but loose sand and gravel, whereas the soil of England, was always naturally fertile, and in part, lies under a more southerly parallel than Flanders.
The rich, abundant, and healthy crops obtained by the Flemish farmers, may be traced to the following causes:
I. The abundance and judicious application of manure. II. Digging all the lands on their farms with the spade, every six or every three years. III. The complete extirpation of weeds and noxious roots. IV. Regular and repeated hoeing. V. A careful choice, and alternation, of grain and seeds for sowing. VI. An improved rotation of crops.
"The whole secret (observes Vanderstracten) respecting the superiority of Flemish agriculture, consists in this; the farmers procure plenty of food for their cattle—food which, excepting clover, is raised from the same lands which have already yielded their crops of grain, &c. They keep the greatest possible number of cattle, feed them in the stables plentifully, and render their food palatable. They collect the greatest possible quantity of manure, of which they preserve the fertilizing salts by a suitable process of fermentation.—They weed their grounds thoroughly and repeatedly. They totally extirpate noxious plants and roots, every six or every three years, by digging all the lands on their respective farms—an operation by which they revert to the surface a stratum of fresh soil, that for three or for six years has been absorbing the salts of manure as they filtrated to the bottom of the roots: a stratum of soil which has produced no crop during the same period. They, moreover, dress their grounds to the precise point of perfect pulverization. These are inestimable advantages, which cannot be obtained by any plough whatever; hence the drift of the Flemish adage—"Never to let the naked ground lie open to the sun in summer for more than three days."
"In truth, to say that there exists a vast province, in which the price of lands has been quadrupled within fifty years, and which is neither placed under a more favourable climate, nor enjoys a greater fertility of soil, than England; from which fallows in general have been banished from time immemorial; in which the greater part of the lands produce in 9 years at least 15 harvests, of which those of grain yield, one year with another, as high as 32 bushels of wheat per acre; those of barley, 60 bushels; and those of oats, 90 bushels; and where the borders of the fields are planted with trees, in such numbers, that by their sale the proprietors acquire, every 40 years, a sum of money equal to the soil; to say this, appears, to other than English readers, to repeat a tissue of fables.[9] The less informed attribute this uninterrupted succession of harvests to the inexhaustible fertility of the soil; but intelligent and well-informed travellers attribute it, on the contrary, and with the best reason, to the indefatigable industry of the inhabitants, and to a highly improved mode of culture, of the details of which they themselves are ignorant, and which beside, from their complication, and the great variety of the productions of the soil, require a profound study, of many years duration, to which few of them have either the inclination or the leisure to apply."
This correct, though "bird's eye" view, of Flemish husbandry, merits farther amplification, in order to furnish distinct data to the intelligent and enterprising agriculturist. My subsequent communications will be directed to that subject.
Respectfully, yours,
GEO. HOUSTON.
New York, April 18, 1820.
From the Raleigh Star.