mulberry leaf, or is even found upon it; I fpeak from my own obfervation, and from the experience of three years, in which, during the time I made ufe of the mulberry leaves, a bufhel at leaft have paffed through my hands in a day, and I never yet found a fingle infect amongst them, or a leaf which had the fmallest part eaten away. "Until the last rain feli, our fruit trees, and even the more lowly vegetables, were covered with myriads of infects; the mulberry alone remained facred from their depredations. At this circumftance is curious, Mr. Barrington, will perhaps thank you for the information. Indeed, every thinking mind will find new cau'e from it, to adore the goodness of the great creator, who in his wonderful œconomy of nature, has thus bountifully fecured food to the reptile whofe labours were to be of fervice

to man.

"I cannot agree with Du Halde, in thinking that noife is at all prejudicial to the filk worm. Mine were fo fituated that they were expofed to all the founds incidental to a country town, from the barking of dogs, up to a family concert; and I am fure they never were vifibly affected by either. They certainly have but one night and one day throughout the whole of their exiflence. They eat perpetually from their firit appear ance, until they become chryfalifes, which I imagine to be their only fate of reft. If properly fecured from birds and thole infects which make others their prey, they do not appear liable to any dan gers except that of lightning, and perhaps this they share in common only with other tender ani alcula. The effect which we commonly attribute to thunder ftorms, that of infects being wathed from the trees

by rain, has more probably its caufe in lightning, which on the principles of electricity, must deftroy millions.

"Mrs. Williams thinks that the filk worm waftes it filk by being moved incautiously, but a power of throwing out a fine thread, in its very early itate, is enjoyed allo by various other infects, and was given, no doubt, by providence, to prevent the extinction of the whole fpecies, by violent rain or wind: by this thread they will hang fulpended, and refift a torrent of wa ter, unless lightning fnap the web, together with their lives. The filk worm, however, lofes this property with its first coat; for it is then able to crawl with celerity, and provide for its own fafety.

I am very far from thinking it impoffible to procure two crops of filk in a season in this climate, the attempt, however, cannot be made wi h fuccefs, until the planting of mulberry trees has engaged the attention of the nation; and I fhould rejoice greatly to see that once more became a matter of royal confideration. So trifling a number as two or three hundred, may be reared almost in any season, but I allude to a manufactory of such extent as might afford other gratifications befides those of curiofity.

"I have fcarcely a more predominant wifh at prefent, than that of being able to produce the first quantity you propose, five pounds in one year; and I have actually preferved eggs to fupply me with thirty thoufand worms; this idea, however, i never could have entertained, had I not arrived at the certa nty of their living upon lettuce leaves for fo long a period : and circumftances muft ftill determine the completion of my plan.

"Hitherto I have been able to

conduct the whole myself, but if I

purfue

purfue my defign, I must call in atlistance, and devote much more time to the fuperintendance of the bulinefs.

"If my fcheme is carried into execution, the eventual fuccefs of

the enterprize fhall be communi cated to you, by Sir,

Your moft obliged humble servant, HENRIETTA RHODES."

Cann Hall, Aug. 24, 1785.

"C

OMMERCE and manufacture have declined in the Auftrian Netherlands, but agriculture is undecayed. The populoufnefs of the cities is diminished, but the number of inhabitants in the country is augmented beyond the parallel of past times. Even in the mott flourishing time of thefe provinces, under the dukes of Burgundy and the first princes of the Auftrian line, the appearance of the country in regard to culture and population did not equal its prefent

fate.

"The natives of this region betook themselves at an early time to the art of husbandry, to which they were invited by a foil well adapted to vegetation, and by the happy temperature of the climate. In ages when only a rude tillage was known in the neighbouring countries, agriculture had attained here to a great degree of perfection, and had gained that firm poffeffion of the foil which it has fince kept. The fertility of Flanders was not fubdued by the ravages of war itfelf. Even in the last century, in that most unprofperous period when the other arts of the Flemish provinces funk and fell into decline, agriculture still retained its vigour: But during the long tranquillity which the prefent century has af. torded, this art has acquired a new

activity, and has advanced these lands to a ftill higher ftate of improvement. Where the tillage was imperfect, a more complete hufbandry has taken place: large tracts that were formerly waste have been fubje&ted to the plough: the villages have increafed in extent and in number, and a degree of populoufnefs is found in fome of these provinces, that is not perhaps fur paffed in any part of Europe.

"The rural fcene prefents here pleafing profpects on all fides, fields crowned with fruitful crops, meadows covered with numerous herds, neat and commodious farm-houses fet fingly or in groupes, chearful and crowded villages embowered among trees, and divided from each other by fmall intervals. Between fuch fair landfcapes wind the rivers, or extend the clear canals of Flanders and Brabant. The bounty of the land is diffufed in decent competence through all the multitude that inhabits it; and the looks of the labourer, his wholesome fare and neat dwelling, exprefs that he has his fhare of that plenty with which his industry crowns the fields.

"Agriculture flourishes greatly in Brabant and Haynault, but it is in the province of Flanders that this art has attained its highest praife." Here were made the earliest im provements of husbandry. In thefe

rich plains, the plough, long held in veneration, has left the fewett fpaces wafte or unemployed; and the husbandman's art, aided here by long experience and purfued with conftant induftry, exhibits moft the extent of its power in the copious productions that it calls forth from the earth.

"The fields of Flanders never repofe or lie fallow, yet the rich foil fails not to repay the care of the farmer by a conftant fucceffion of fruitful crops. Nor is he fatisfied only with the crops that the fummer ripens. Soon as the harvefts are gathered, the earth receives again into its bofom new feeds or plants, and new crops of greens and vegetables arife, that cover the fields through the autumn and the winter months, till the fpring warns to prepare the ground for the enfuing feafon. Such is the fertility which thefe lands derive from the natural goodnefs of the foil, from the rich manure which numerous cities and villages beftow, and from excellent methods of agriculture; but above all, from the patient toil of the hufbandman, who labours in thefe fields with unequalled industry and pains;

Exercetque frequens tellurem, atque im

perat arvis.

The farms in Flanders are fmall, rarely exceeding fifty acres, and frequently contracted within a narrower bound. Set at a small distance from each other in the cen1er of their respective farms, as is often the cafe here, the farm-houses, when feen from fome eminence, prefent a continued village, and exhibit a picture of great popula tion. The fmall extent of the farms has been thought, and not without reafon, to have contributed much to the exact culture and

populoufnefs of Flanders. In a fmall farm, cach part feen by the eye of the matter has its due tillage: the work of husbandry is chiefly performed by the farmer and his family, who fpare no pains to cultivate that field which affures their fubfiftence; and the glebe, fubdued and manured with affiduous care, makes a large return to that labour which is bestowed on its culture. A vaft population fprings up, and the land is covered with the dwellings of a multitude of cultivators, who find each in the produce of that fmall farm which he tills, a decent and comfortable maintenance. It happens otherwife in a country where the farms are of a wide extent. In a large farm, many parts are overlooked or neglected, and a more negligent culture is bestowed by hired labourers, more remifs and less interested in the crop. The great farmer is placed in a state of higher plenty, and his dwelling, his furniture, and table exprefs his opulence; but while he enjoys this affluence, and while luxury gains admittance among a rank of men to whofe condition it is ill-fuited, the populoufnefs of the country decays, the number of induftrious cultivators is diminished, and extreme indigence is often found in the dwellings of the cottagers that inhabit around.

"The other provinces have re. marked the advantages which Flanders has derived from the fmall extent of the farms, and have imitated that example. The States of Haynault have, by an exprefs law, limited the extent of the farms in that province, and have ordained, that no farm fhall contain a larger space than a hundred and fifty acres. The good effects of this regulation, which was made about thirty years

ago,

ago, have been fenfibly found. Since that time, the fields in Haynault are more completely cultivated, the lands are not permitted to lie fallow, the country has become more populous, and the villages increafing, draw nearer to cach other. The States of Brabant and Namur meditate by a fimilar law to circumfcribe the extent of farms in thefe provinces. That part of Brabant which is called the Walloon Brabant, is a country caft into large farms, and from that circumstance is lefs populous, and more imperfectly cultivated, than other parts of that province where the fmall farms obtain.

A contrary practice has for fome time pat prevailed in England, where the number of fmall farms is diminished, and where the proprietors of elates have in frequent inftances adopted the plan of lay ing many fm ll farms into one large farm. Agriculture has not profited by this alteration. The glebe, ftinted in its tillage where a fingle mafter grafps a large extent of fields, has not yielded more abundant harvests; and the markets, lef amply provided in fome important articles, mifs that fupply which they were accustomed to draw from the fmall farms. The populoufnefs of the country has fallen. While the manfion of the great farmer has rifen more oftentatioufly, thofe numerous tenements that were fcattered through the fields, or that encircled the chearful green, have disappeared, and the defert d village has furnished a theme for the poet's fong. The ancient tenant, finding no occupation in the fields where he has fpent his youth, and not caring, as a mercenary, to plough that land which he formerly rented, forfakes his native fhore, and feeks with his family another 1786.

climate where his industry may be better requited. Other difadvantages may be numbered, that have flowed from this practice. Let it. be remarked as an article of fome moment, that the firm and independent fpirit of a bold peafantry is better nourished among that rank of men by whom finall farms are occupied, than among fervile la bourers who perform the tasks of husbandry in large farms.

The country of Wafs, a district lying along the northern bank of the Scheld below Ghent (the scene antiently of wars between the Counts of Flanders and of Holland, and through which in latter times the Prince of Parma, in the memor able fiege of Antwerp, drew a canal that itill remains), is the pride of Flanders in refpect of culture and population. Yet the foil of the county of Wafs is in many parts ungrateful, and equals not in general the goodness of foil of other parts of Flanders: but, divided into flender heritages, and parcelled out into fmall farms that often do not exceed twenty acres, fertilized by rich manure, and fubdued by the unceasing labour of the peafant, who here, imitating the gardener's skill, applies the fpade and the hoe, no lefs than the plough, to the culture of his narrow field, this diftrift furpaffes all the tracts of this fruitful region in the abundance of its crops. A vaft population is found in this territory, whose villages are equal to large cities. St. Nicholas, and Lockeren, villages of the county of Wafs, contain each not less than 10,000 inhabitants.

The Province of Flanders, now fo cultivated, wore anciently a far different afpect. The vaft forest of the Ardennes, of which there are yet fome flender remains here M

in

and other smaller woods, then overpread all that region: the first Counts of Flanders, on account of the deep forefts that covered their domain, were named the foresters of Flanders. Marfhes alfo and flagnant waters abounded. A moift Ly added to the natural humidity of the foil; and the Scheld and other rivers, as yet unrestrained by dykes, and keeping no certain bed, overflowed the level face of the country.

Agriculture and the art of man have wrought the mighty change that is now feen. The monks, who in early times united ruftic labour with contemplation and prayer, introduced the first rude tillage. Thofe fertile fields that furround the monaftic houses were in their original fate wild and favage tracts, that were cleared of their woods, and fubdued to culture by religious hands. The violence of a barbarous age refpected the labour of holy men: feudal lords beheld with furprize the effects of industry, and lands were bestowed on the monafterics, as the charters by which they are granted exprefs, that they might be rendered fruitful by the kill of the monks. The fathers of the convent, extending their lands and gaining new fields from the wilderness, affociated other hands in their toil; and around the monaftery rofe frequent cottages, the habitations of labourers, the beginning of populous villages, and fometimes of flourishing cities.

Agriculture thus introduced by the monks, made a rapid progrefs as the yoke of feudal oppreifion became lighter, and as the peafants acquired privileges, by which they were fecured from the violence of their Lords. The cities of Flanders rifing in trade and arts, afford

culture. The merchant, adventurous in commerce, by which he was enriched, exerted the fame enterprising fpirit in cultivation : the nobles, that they might procure thofe luxuries which the commerce of the cities prefented, turned their care to the improvement of their demefnes; and the husbandman, who in the large confumption of crouded cities found a ready mar ket for the produce of his fields, was tempted on that account to redouble his industry. The Princes alfo beheld the progrefs of this u'eful art with peculiar favour; and the Counts of Flanders, as it is faid bestowed rewards on those who excelled in agriculture. Already in the twelfth century, the deep forefts of Flanders were cut down, and the foil laid open to the rays of the fun: fpacious canals were form ed, which, whilst they drained the lands, opened the communication of the country. The Scheld, compelled to yield up fruitful fields that had long been hidden under his wave, was restrained by dykes, and obliged to keep a certain bed. Flanders became the most cultivated and moft fertile domain of Europe; and though the has fince been imitated by other nations her praife has not fallen. England, where tillage was long in an imperfect ftate, and which took from this country lef fons of hufbandry as well as f other arts, far furpaffing Flanders in commerce and manufactures, has not yet furpaffed her in agriculture.

Liberty, which firft animated the industry of the hufbandman in the fe parts, fill fuftains his labours. The prefent fovereign, by acts that add fignal luftre to his reign, feeks to promote agriculture in other parts of his wide empire, by the enfranchifement of the peasants from that

feudal