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 | _Produce of the English farmer,
from one acre, for 12 | according to the Norfolk
years._ | course, for the same period._
|
Wheat, 32 bush. per | Wheat, 24 bush. per
acre 4 crops | acre, 3 crops
Barley, do. do. 4 do. | Barley, 32 do. do. 3 do.
Flax, hemp, coleseed | Turnips, 3 do.
& potatoes, 4 do. | Clover, 3 do.
Roots and vegetables |
for the food |
of cattle, 10 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."
[9] In Flanders, wheat yields 20; rye, 26; barley, 26; and oats, 40,
for one.--Wheat holds only the fifth rank in value in the harvest of
Flanders. In England, wheat never yields more, on an average, than
10 or 11 for one; barley, something less than 10 to 1; and oats only
between 8 and 9 for one. In some highly ameliorated farms in the
county of Suffolk, Arthur Young reports a produce of 36 bushels of
wheat, and 64 bushels of barley to the acre; and that in the county
of Kent, soils of middling quality, equally ameliorated, yield per
acre 52 bushels of wheat, and the same quantity of barley. But in
Flanders, there are soils which yield much more than this--namely,
72 bushels of wheat, 120 of barley, 128 of beans, and 72 of
coleseed.--These, however, are extreme cases, which do not affect
the general question of comparative growths; while, however, they
shew that the amelioration of land, in any country, is calculated
greatly to increase its productiveness.
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,