260 On the Agriculture of the Netherlands. 



and sometimes a little raised, but always with a gentle fall from 

 end to end, to allow of sweeping and washing, which is a daily 

 operation, if not repeated after each time of feeding. As straw 

 is scarce, the cows lie on smooth bricks laid sloping, and slightly 

 hollow in the middle ; and their beds, if we may so call them, 

 are made of such a length that when the cows stand their tails 

 hang over a gutter to receive the dung and urine. The cleanli- 

 ness is carried to such a degree that in many cow-houses there are 

 pulleys and lines over them with a weight at one end, the other 

 being fastened to the end of the tail of a cow to keep it up, and 

 prevent its dipping into the gutter behind. No sooner has a cow 

 voided her dung or urine than the servant sweeps the gutter with 

 a broom, and the dung falls into a recess or cesspool which com- 

 municates with a tank or reservoir. The gutter is frequently 

 washed out, and the water, running also into the reservoir, serves 

 to dilute the dung, which after a time is pumped up, and either 

 carried in water-carts to the meadows, or mixed up with earth and 

 the litter of the horses into a compost. 



The cows usually come into their winter quarters in November, 

 and are put out to graze in May if the weather is mild. When 

 first the cows are let out into the meadows a piece of coarse cloth 

 is put over their loins and tied round their bodies, to prevent the 

 injurious effects of cold dews and fogs; when the air is warmer 

 this is discontinued. 



The milk-room, or rather cellar, is almost invariably vaulted, 

 and sunk somewhat under the level of the ground. The floor, 

 which is laid with porous tiles, is always kept wet by continual 

 washing, and the evaporation tends to keep the cellar cool in 

 summer. The milk is brought from the cow-house in large 

 brass vessels in the shape of the Etruscan water-cans. As the 

 cows are milked the pails are emptied into these cans, which, 

 when full, carry the milk without much shaking. When the 

 milk-cellar is very near the cow-house the can is dispensed with, 

 and the pails are carried at once into the cellar and emptied into 

 deep earthen pans. Tn some dairies the milk is set in shallow 

 tubs or pans, as in England, but in most of them this is not the 

 case. Each milking is kept separate ; and when the milk is 

 three or four days old, and becoming slightly acid, it is poured 

 into a large upright churn, of which the plunger is worked up 

 and down by means of a crank and machinery moved by a horse. 

 In some smaller dairies a dog runs in a wheel, and by his weight 

 causes the motion. In private families the servant churns the 

 butter by means of a lever which works like the handle of a 

 pump, and moves the plunger up and down, as is done with 

 the bucket in the pump. The butter is usually taken out of the 

 churn on a sieve or cloth, which lets the buttermilk run through ; 



