Evening star., 1922-12-31


like soldiers dressed in tho yellow
uniform Of Belgium. In places theJ
have been carried to the sides OF the
fields. SO as not TO interfere with the
/ plowing. which often results here IL
two crops year.
See how well-kept everything is
There are no weeds anywhere. There
are no tools lying about. and the
grain is protected in shock and ir
stack. Those oats shocks on oui
! right are each made UP of eisht
sheaves with cap sheaves on top. The
wheat shocks on our left arc capped
the same way. The sheaves are small
and the straw is long. Each sheaf i.
as big around as three-gallor
bucket. and when lean one againsi
my knees it reaches as high as m,
waist. The grain is exceedingly
heavy. for the production here Pc
acre of wheat. oats. barley. rye ano
potatoes exceeds that of any othe,
civilized country. The wheat yield !,
/ thirty-seven bushels per acre, while
our average is only fifteen. Before
the war Belgium imported abou,
! three -fourths Of her wheat, but heI
! production of other foodstufYs. in.
cluding meat, was sufficient for the
whole population, and she exported
sugar potatoes, draft horses frui'
and vegetables. she produced NOR,
than 66o.0o0.oo0 pounds OF ioct sugal
this year.
Turing the war the Germans car.
II ried away $1,000 horses. $4,000
cattle, 100000 pigs and 1890. 900 fowls
They have since brought back more
than $4,000 horses 10000 cattle and
$4,000 fowls. The country has now
more than 100000 horses, 10000
cattle and almost moo, 900 pigs.
| But to return to the crops through
which We arc passing. Here ana
there we see a wheat stack. II j.
beautifully shaped and the cap ie Sc
made that il looks almost like
thatch. II is tied on with Two row.
I Of straw rope. The same care j.
taken as to the fax. which is one OF
the great crops Of Belgium. its linen
/ industry being famous all over the
world. The fax is cut with sicklcs
and the little stalks. not much bigger
than knitting needles. are propped
up against one another So that the,
looks like so many yellow Ounce caps
After drying they are put up ir
! sheaves Of double story, like th.
wheat and oats. all carefully capped
and later are carried in huge caris
to the mills near the streams in which
the fax must be rotted to get out the
fiber. Belgium makes quantities OF
linen. and she exports more thar
s1o.000.0oo worth Of fax in one year
AS we go on we pass fields Of pota-
3 toes which are growing 200 bushel,
per acre. patches Of barley which
weld fifty bushels and great quaint.
I ties Of green hops trained on tall
poles. This is a land of good beer
which now costs about 10 cents a pint
/ II is greedily drunken. for so IA,
prohibition has not corked up the
thirsty Belgium throat.
But jules has stopped our automo.
bile at the side of the road TO allow
caravan Of teams dragging hug.
, wagons of wheat to pass by. Each
wagon holds from three TO five tons.
but two horses pull il with ease over
these smooth Belgium blocks. Some
teams haul two loaded wagons the
tongue of the second tied TO the back
of the first. The wagons themselve.
weigh half a ton. and some are SC
. heavily loaded that an American team
could not bulge them on one of tn.
rough country roads of the states.
The horses are enormous. They
look like elephants in horsehide, and
some of the best will weigh a tor
, each. see even bigger horses pull
ing the drays of the cities and ports
They still compete with the trucks
/ Before the war draft stations TO a
value OF s10.000.o00 per annum were
annually exported from here 10 Great
Britain. Oxen also are used, and even
cows, donkeys and some American
mules which were left over from the
world war. There are but few trac.
tors. although they are gradually
coming in to those parts Of the coun
try where the soil is heavy. and tc
farms of 100 acres or more. The
principal work for which they ar,
employed is in deep plowing.
!: i * x
0NE of the surprising features Of
~ our travel through Belgium is the
/ the intensive cultivation. Before the
war out of less than 100000 acres
of total area about 100000 acre.
were titled. Much Of the ground is
worked with the hoe and the spade.
and no less than one-sixth of The
people are classed as agricultural Ia
borers. Out Of every 100 persons en-
ployed on the farms only sixteen are
paid wages. The others are proprie-
tors or members OF the family. most
! of whom live in farm villages OF one
or two story brick houses. whence
/ they go out TO work their small
patches of land.
AS to the size of the holdings. the
average tract to each laborer Is only
! four acres. while in other lands il il
and as time goes on these farms viii
grow smaller and smaller unless there
! is a change in the inheritance laws.
II have discussed this subject with
one of the leading real estate lawyers
of Brussels. He tells me that a man
must leave one-fourth of his prop
erty to his wife, and that the balance
must be divided among his children,
according to the number he has only
| q fixed portion being left that he NAV
will away. II he has but one child,
half of the residue after his wife has
| her fourth goes to that child, and he
| may will away the remainder. II hs