278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



bulbs alone in one year, and a speculator in Am- 

 sterdam realized 68,000 florins in four months 

 from the sales of bulbs. 



I found that the staid Dutchman had some 

 characteristics in common with Americans. A 

 Dutch farmer's boy brought out his school atlas 

 that I might show him where I lived ; think of my 

 humiliation when I saw that the United States on 

 his map was pictured somewhat smaller than the 

 Netherlands! But our geographers treat some 

 foreign countries in the same way. In the course 

 of visiting various farms in order to purchase cat- 

 tle, I was able to eat and chat with the residents 

 and their families and to form some idea of their 

 home life and habits. It is enough to say here that 

 I formed a most favorable opinion of the Dutch 

 people. 



In England, the rural conditions were quite 

 different. The landowner usually resided in some 

 distant city or at his country home that was often 

 far away. The renter, the country gentleman, 

 usually resides on the land and operates largely 

 through a bailiff, who stands for a non-working 

 boss such as may be found on the ranches of 

 wealthy Americans, though, in some cases, the 

 landowner deals directly through the bailiff. Un- 

 der the bailiff may come still another, the sub-boss, 



