16
AGKICUbTUKE OX THE KHINE.
planatory observations into which our desire to point out
the position which he occupies in society has seduced us.
We return therefore to the farm at Goch as a good
illustration of our problem.
The first study of every good farmer in Germany is the
local part of his task, the influence of soil and climate.
In the uplands of Cleves the climate is dry, and the sun
hot in summer ; the soil is strongly charged with lime-
stone ; cow-dung is found to answer better for winter
crops, or at least cow-dung mixed with horse-dung, than
the latter alone : for this reason oxen are kept as draught
cattle all along the Rhine. The dung-heap in the centre
of the farm-yard is the point on which the greatest care
is concentrated for good farming establishments. It
usually lies in a deep sloped pit enclosed by stone walls on
three sides, the bottom rising gradually to the level of the
yard on the fourth side, to allow of the approach of the
dung-cart : into this pit the drains from all the offices are
led, and waste of all kinds is thrown upon it. The plan
of stall-feeding, but especially the care taken to keep the
beasts clean (they are rubbed down every day like
horses), prevents their being allowed to tread the heap
down. Straw is likewise much economised, as it is used
to mix with the oats during the winter. The mixture of
cow and horse dung, with the flow of cold moistening
matter, prevents the fermentation that would otherwise
arise in the heap, and cause much of its value to evapo-
rate. After the fallow ploughing the manure is only
just ploughed in sufficiently deep to cover it ; top-dress-
ings are a good deal in use amongst good farmers for
grain crops.
At Goch, as well as in other well-managed farms in
AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE.
17
this district, compost heaps are to be seen in all yards ;
the substances used for one resembled a mixture we have
seen in some parts of Ireland. A heap of quicklime is
covered all over with turf-ashes, or with wood-ashes from
the house-stoves. Water is thrown over the heap, and
after a few days the lime, in fermenting, shows itself
through the ashes ; the heap is then turned over, again
covered with ashes and watered, and this process is
repeated until the lime is thoroughly slaked ; the mass
is then mixed with sand or earth, or other compost heaps,
and forms an excellent top-dressing. The use of turf
and wood ashes for manure, especially to prepare the
land for flax, has spread into this district from Flanders.
The advantage of keeping horned cattle for draught is
increased for the farmer who has his own distillery and
brewery, by feeding them on the grains. The number
of stock kept is large, even on those uplands where there
is little grazing ; one horse for twenty acres is the propor-
tion of the best farmers, but then fifteen to twenty-five oxen
and cows would be the smallest number of horned cattle
on one hundred acres, with one to two hundred sheep.
On a peasant’s farm of fifty acres, we have found four
horses, fifteen head of horned cattle, and seventy to eighty
sheep.
In following the use to which the farmer puts this
manure, we come to the distinguishing feature in Rhenish
agriculture. No peculiar crop is here prescribed by
legislative enactment, and the climate admits of a suffi-
cient variety to allow the landowner to draw all the help
he can from the nature of his soil. The uplands of
Cleves are particularly well suited to grow barley. In
the autumn the land of this description is well ploughed