On the Agriculture of the Netherlands, 259 



clover, chiefly the latter. At first, when the clover is very yoimg, it is 

 given sparingly, and, if all the turnips are consumed, boiled potatoes 

 with a little hay are considered as a useful corrective; for clover, given 

 injudiciously, causes the cows to heave. By the time the clover is in 

 bloom it is their only food. Clover is not supposed to give the milk or 

 butter any bad taste, as many think in England; although nothing gives 

 so fine and rich a flavour as natural meadows. The butter made when 

 the cows eat clover does not keep so well when salted ; but there is so 

 great a demand for it in the numerous towns and villages, that there 

 never is any difficulty in disposing of it in a fresh state, that is, mode- 

 rately salted ; for as soon as the butter is made, a considerable portion of 

 salt is always added." 



In some parts of the Netherlands, as in Holland, the soil is 

 better calculated for meadows than arable land, being low and 

 flat, and necessarily intersected with many canals and ditches, in 

 which the water stands very nearly on a level with the surface, 

 and in some cases above it, being kept from overflowing the land 

 by dykes of earth. In these meadows, especially in North 

 Holland and Friesland^ a very fine breed of milch cows and oxen 

 is fed. The quantity of butter made for exportation^ and its 

 value in foreign markets, prove that the operations of the dairy 

 are well conducted. The rich soil, no doubt, gives a good quality 

 to the butter; but this is not the only cause of its superiority. 

 The extraordinary cleanliness of every part of a dairy, and the 

 constant and abundant use of water, the bright polish of the 

 utensils wherever there is any metal, and the whiteness of the 

 w^ood of the pails and churns, show the unremitted attention of 

 the dairywoman. But the cleanliness is not confined to the place 

 where the milk is kept. The stables, the cows, and even the 

 litter, are kept so clean that it is a pleasure to walk through 

 them ; and the family often make one end of the cow-house their 

 usual sitting-room, having a fireplace at one end, and always at 

 least one comfortable bed for a labourer or servant, who always 

 sleeps in the cow-house. 



The arrangement of a Dutch dairy is well known, and has 

 been copied wherever any pleasure is taken in having fine and 

 clean cows. It is the same in Holstein, from which much good 

 butter is also exported, and where a dairy establishment is called 

 a Hollanderey, which shows its origin. 



The building is generally like a large barn, with a roof coming 

 to within 7 or 8 feet of the ground, sometimes tiled or slated, but 

 more often thatched with reeds, which make it warm in winter. 

 Through the middle, from end to end, is a space 10 or 12 feet 

 broad, paved with hard bricks, which are always kept washed and 

 swept clean. The heads of the cows are placed towards this 

 middle space, from which all their food is given to them, some- 

 times in a shallow trough, made of bricks, level with the ground. 



