Farming in Belgu m

Horowhenua Chronicle, 23 September 1915, Page 3

Farming in Belgu m

i. llliCU J.H.U|JULI».", * iL " 1.1-li-Jvllullii. Ulltwi' UU l|UvOtl«jlto iiiUJ <l«l uiUOiU iu LUv VyUiiLc.iix/oiaij. j.itvlc»V Oi. -.lit. I jiuy ui ujiiuii -uo ijivc-s lucjiuucuj ui luie tjiiiail UiCIS, niliCll, CiUSCIj CiilUVatCU, pruvKie iuiaieis M uoigniiu null a couiloiLable nviiiji. I'nuco iirupotiiin nicnt.oiib tnao tno ooil oi io naiuialiy very poor, tnu the tjvo yruv'Jiiccci ol wcotcru and eastern I , landers carry a population oi /02 per square mile. 'l'no population i& mainly agriculbiual, and Uio district not only produces all the food required by its inhabitants, but exports largo quantities. In the suburbs of Ghent the holdings aro very sunill and tfle farmers keep a cow or two and engage in niarkot gardening. One of tuese farmers was described as wealthy. He owned his farm 1J- acres, exclusive of ground occupied by buildings, and kept o cows, 1 horse, and a good many pigs. On thib land tho farmer, ills wife, hor old niuthor, ■& young labourer, and Uio girl servant found plenty to do all the year round, chiefly in .market gardening, vegetables producing about iXiU a. year lhe cons yielded a daily averago ot 'I'l gullous They were milked throe times a day. lhe early morning's milk was sold in U-henfc and tho rest made into butter. A typical farm of l(i acres, reined al JWU, was visited iJiits man also rented another plot of 2 acres and made hits living by taking- milk tu a creamery and fattening cattle. He had 12 acres, under the plough—4J acres under 'wheat, tour fields of Iji acres under oats, clov-ar potatoes, and carrots respectively, and 1J acres under uectroot. However, owing to catch crops, each held gavetwo crops a year. The stock was 4. cows, 2 heifers, 2 calves, 2 young bulls, 1 horse, 2 old pigs, and V 2 young ones Tho -1 cows gave 33 gallons of milk aday, as wa.s shown by the daily card receipts from.the tactory. Tho return for one week in January (mid-winter) was C 2 10s. and the annual return from •i cows was £130.