604 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Everything pertaining to dairying is kept scrupulously clean, even the 

 cows in many cases being washed before they are millicd. I have never 

 seen a place where the old adage, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," comes 

 in better, and I believe that the fine flavor of the Holland cheese is largly 

 due to their cleanliness. The slow, quiet customs of the people seem also 

 to have been transmitted to the cows. Dogs are seldom used to drive 

 cows. They, however, have their i)lace in Holland, but it is as a beast of 

 burden. They frequently take the place of horses when the loads are 

 not too heavy. It is quite a common thing when driving through the coun- 

 try to meet with carts that are drawn by dogs. They are used in the city 

 for peddling milk and other light work and on the farm for drawing milk 

 from the milkers to the dairy. Holland is certainly not a paradise for 

 dogs, as very few fat ones are to be seen. 



Good grass land or land in the dairy section brings a much higher price 

 than that in any other part of the agricultural district. In the dairy belt 

 of Holland, dairying is the chief occupation of the farmer, hence every 

 care is given to the production of milk and the care of milk. The farmer, 

 as a rule, does not try to follow any scientific minds in feeding. Roots, 

 hay and oil meal are fed. The oil meal is used only in the winter when 

 cows are on dry feed. They have no set rule as regards the proportion of 

 feed. This, they maintain, depends upon the judgment of the feeder and 

 the cows he is feeding. 



The Edam cheese as well as the Gouda cheese are made in two differ- 

 ent sizes. The most common size for an Edam cheese is about three and 

 one-half pounds when cured. The larger Edam cheese weigh about twice 

 that much. This cheese takes its name from the town of E'dam, situated 

 on the Zuyder Zee, near Amsterdam. The place has become famous as a 

 market for this kind of cheese. Every week markets are held at Hoorn, 

 Edam, Alkmaar and Purmerend for the sale of cheese. The farmers take 

 their cheese to market in a one-horse wagon, which is made of light wood 

 and has a deep panneled box. This Avagon is used almost exclusively for 

 hauling cheese to market. The farmer for this occasion dons a white suit. 

 The cheese are ready for market when about three weeks old. On arriv- 

 ing at the market, which is a large ojien space in the middle of the city, 

 paved with stones, straw is first put on the pavement, then cheese are piled 

 on it in a pyramidal pile like so many cannon balls. To protect the cheese 

 from the sun a heavy white cloth is spread over the pile. When market 

 is open the buyers pass among the piles, occasionally sampling a cheese 

 with a tryer. The most common test used is to take a cheese in the hand 

 and strike a sharp blow with the knuckles of the other hand, and if it has 

 a hollow or dead sound they know the size of the holes by the ringing 

 sound it makes. The prospective buyer buys or makes an offer 

 for the cheese, after he has examined them, and if the seller 

 thinks favorably of the offer, they strike hands. If he accepts the 

 offer, they shake hands very heartily. When the cheese are sold 



