DOI Artikel:
David, Johan: Spade cultivation in Flanders
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49002#0005
SPADE CULTIVATION IN FLANDERS
By
Johan David
In the 19th century the spade was considered
by some Belgian and foreign specialists as
the characteristic tool of Flemish agriculture.
People quoted the proverb “de spade is de
goudmijn der boeren” (the spade is the gold-
mine of the peasants). That conception
which already in the last century was quali-
fied as a “popular fallacy” (Burn 114; Ker-
vyn 53) must be adapted according to area
and period. Actually, one must probably as-
sume that the plough was proportionally
more used than the spade, however much
this tool was currently used. The extent to
which the spade was used must be systemati-
cally worked out, calculated and mapped
from the data in the archives. Before such a
long task can be undertaken - for example
by scholars preparing monographs-, before
comparative study can start to answer ques-
tions relating to whether people worked in
the same way elsewhere, whether Flemish
emigrants exported their methods, etc, it is
necessary to know what peasants did with
their spades and how and why they did it.
That is what will be discussed in this paper,
which limits itself to spade tillage in Flemish
agriculture. Other spade work such as level-
ling, digging ditches, constructing dams, or
planting and gathering, will not be consid-
ered.
The geographical limitation has nothing to
do with the linguistic frontier. The adjective
“Flemish” designates, as in the 19th century
literature, the North of Belgium, not more.
According to the aim, people were said to
dig the ground a half, one, two, three and
even four spades deep. Such a statement is
not very precise. The length of the spade
varies in Flanders between 20 and 45 cm, and
the depth of cultivation varies too, especially
since the digger sometimes took clods which
were shorter or longer than the blade.
When digging a half or one spade deep,
the clod was completely turned up, i.e. the
upper face (a) came underneath, and the
spade was pushed into the ground at an angle
of c. 45° (fig. 1:1 and sometimes 1:2); bascul-
ing the clod, fig. 1 (2:1 and 2:2) or under-
cutting it horizontally (fig. 1:3) as with the
Irish loy (Gailey 1971, 232) seems to be un-
known. The worker dug out a trench, into
which the clod could be turned. The upper
layer was often pared with the spade and
thrown into that trench (superficial plough-
ing and later digging, to encourage rotting,
as recommended by De Coster 19, was
rarer). The earth from the first trench was
carried to the other end of the field. The
worker then dug backwards; normally he
tilled the full width and then went back-
wards (fig. 2) but in some places, though
perhaps rarely, he tilled the full length and
only then went sideways. At the end, the
trench was filled up with the carried earth
(fig. 2.1). To avoid the laborious and long
carrying of the earth, the field was often di-
vided in two or more strips. The trench was
dug out in one of them and the earth laid in
the second one (fig. 2.a-3). The end of the
strips ti was filled with earth from t2
(fig. 2.2b) or the worker turned while dig-
ging (fig. 2.3).
By
Johan David
In the 19th century the spade was considered
by some Belgian and foreign specialists as
the characteristic tool of Flemish agriculture.
People quoted the proverb “de spade is de
goudmijn der boeren” (the spade is the gold-
mine of the peasants). That conception
which already in the last century was quali-
fied as a “popular fallacy” (Burn 114; Ker-
vyn 53) must be adapted according to area
and period. Actually, one must probably as-
sume that the plough was proportionally
more used than the spade, however much
this tool was currently used. The extent to
which the spade was used must be systemati-
cally worked out, calculated and mapped
from the data in the archives. Before such a
long task can be undertaken - for example
by scholars preparing monographs-, before
comparative study can start to answer ques-
tions relating to whether people worked in
the same way elsewhere, whether Flemish
emigrants exported their methods, etc, it is
necessary to know what peasants did with
their spades and how and why they did it.
That is what will be discussed in this paper,
which limits itself to spade tillage in Flemish
agriculture. Other spade work such as level-
ling, digging ditches, constructing dams, or
planting and gathering, will not be consid-
ered.
The geographical limitation has nothing to
do with the linguistic frontier. The adjective
“Flemish” designates, as in the 19th century
literature, the North of Belgium, not more.
According to the aim, people were said to
dig the ground a half, one, two, three and
even four spades deep. Such a statement is
not very precise. The length of the spade
varies in Flanders between 20 and 45 cm, and
the depth of cultivation varies too, especially
since the digger sometimes took clods which
were shorter or longer than the blade.
When digging a half or one spade deep,
the clod was completely turned up, i.e. the
upper face (a) came underneath, and the
spade was pushed into the ground at an angle
of c. 45° (fig. 1:1 and sometimes 1:2); bascul-
ing the clod, fig. 1 (2:1 and 2:2) or under-
cutting it horizontally (fig. 1:3) as with the
Irish loy (Gailey 1971, 232) seems to be un-
known. The worker dug out a trench, into
which the clod could be turned. The upper
layer was often pared with the spade and
thrown into that trench (superficial plough-
ing and later digging, to encourage rotting,
as recommended by De Coster 19, was
rarer). The earth from the first trench was
carried to the other end of the field. The
worker then dug backwards; normally he
tilled the full width and then went back-
wards (fig. 2) but in some places, though
perhaps rarely, he tilled the full length and
only then went sideways. At the end, the
trench was filled up with the carried earth
(fig. 2.1). To avoid the laborious and long
carrying of the earth, the field was often di-
vided in two or more strips. The trench was
dug out in one of them and the earth laid in
the second one (fig. 2.a-3). The end of the
strips ti was filled with earth from t2
(fig. 2.2b) or the worker turned while dig-
ging (fig. 2.3).