Elizabeth-Town gazette. [volume] (Elizabeth-Town, N.J.) 1818-1821, 1820-05-16

In i2years, "a crops In I2 years, II crops
The immense difference in favor of The
produce of Flanders, does not arise, a.
might be supposed, from its possessing Z
better natural soil, or milder climate
Than England, but entirely frem the diff
ferent mode of cultivation pursued in
these two countries. AL no very distant
period, the fields Of Flanders, now SO
productive, were little else but loose sand
and gravel, whereas the soil of England
as always naturally fertile, and ID part
les under more southerly parallel than
Flanders.
The rich, abundant, and healthy crops
obtained by the Flemish farmers may be
traced to the following causes:
/. The abundance and iudicious appli
cation Of manure. III. Digging all the
lands on their farms withthe spade, every
six or every three years. III. The com
pIete extirpation of weeds and noxiols
roots. Nv. Regular and repeated hoeipg
v. A careful choice and alteration, Of
grain and seeds for sowing. vi. An i'm
proved rotation Of crops.
The whole secret observes Wander
straeten) 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 al
ready yielded their crops of grain, &c.
They keep the greatest possible number of
cattle, feed them in the stables plentiiully,
aud render their food palatable. They
collect the greatest possible quantity of
manure, of which they preserve the fer
tilizing salts by suitable process of fer
mentation. They weed their grounds
thoroughly, and repeatedly. They to-
tally 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 stratum of fresh soil, that for
or for 6 years has been absorbing the
salts of manure as they fiItrated to the
bottom of the roots; stratum Of soil
which has produced no crop during the
same period. They. moreover, dress
their grounds to the precise point of per.
feet pnIverization. These are inestima.
BILE advantages, which cannot be obtained
by any plough whatever: hence the drift
of the Flemish adage--s Never to let the
naked ground lie open to the sun ia sum
mer for more than three days."
{" 10 truth, TO say that there exists q
vast province, in which the price Of land.
has been quadrupled within fifty years
and which is neither placed under more
favorable climate. nor enjoys a create,
fertility fsoil, than England from which
fallows in general have been banished from
time immemorial; 10 which the greatel
part of the lands produce in 8 years a
least Is harvests, of which those Of graft
yield, one year with another, as high a
80 bushels Of wheat per acre those q
barley, go bushels (; and those Of oats, OF
bushels; and where the borders of IN,
fields are planted with trees, 10 such mum
bers, that by their sale the proprietor
acquire, every 40 years, sum Of money
equal to the soil; to say this, appears, L
other than English readers, to repeat :
tissue Of fables The less informed at
tribute this uninterrupted succession q
harvests to the inexhaustible fertility q
the soil; but intelligent and well informed
/ travellers attribute it. on the contrary, ant
with the best reason, to the indefatigabI,
Industry of the inhabitants, and TO high