has been the growth of centuries, by a vast expenditure of capital, and by the application of enormous quantities of manure, that the agricultural class, whose rate of increase is slow,[1] and whose redundant members a flourishing manufacturing industry is ready to absorb, has been able, under peculiar advantages of climate, situation, and markets, to maintain an existence at all times considerably straitened, and daily becoming more difficult under the pressure of increasing competition. In Ireland these fostering conditions are as yet completely wanting, and years may elapse before they are created. How can we be justified then, in the expectation of so remote a contingency, in tethering down to the soil by artificial means, an agricultural population far in excess of the requirements and the system of husbandry best adapted to the present circumstances of the country, in the expectation of the ultimate introduction of a system of 'petite culture' which, even
- ↑ Leurs humbles mains mettent à profit la moindre touffe d'herbe oubliée dans les taillis ou le long des chemins, diminuent le gêne de la maison paternelle et donnent lieu à un mouvement d'exportation qui n'est pas à dédaigner, taut il est vrai qu'en agriculture il n'est rien qui n'ait de l'importance. Il s'exporte par Ostende seulement, 1,250,000 lapins par an, d'une valeur
de plus de 1,500,000 francs. La peau est conservée dans le pays pour la fabrication des chapeaux." — De Laveleye, Economie Rurale, p. 70.
The population of Flanders has actually diminished since 1846, in East Flanders by 16,000, and in West Flanders by 18,000. In all the other provinces of Belgium the population has increased
