

570 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



vantage ; second, it saved the difficulty and trouble of a dairy 

 maid in the family a class of persons who are always difficult 

 to be procured ; and, third, it assured, the good quality of the 

 cheese, by its being made by a person of known and acknowl 

 edged skill. 



CXLIII. FARM-HOUSES. 



A Dutch farm-house is a remarkable object. They are seen 

 scattered and alone at considerable distances from each other, 

 over their extensive meadows, generally surrounded by a few 

 trees. At a distance they appear like enormous barns. They 

 are generally square, covering a large extent of ground, of one 

 story in height, and with a roof rising to at least twice the height 

 of the body of the house, gathering in from the four sides of the 

 house, and terminating in a central point at the top, like an 

 Egyptian pyramid. This roof is entirely devoted to the storage 

 of grain and hay. The lower part of the house comprehends a 

 dwelling for the family, sleeping-rooms, and a parlor or drawing- 

 room, which is never used but upon great occasions, such as the 

 death or marriage of some one in the family, and a kitchen, 

 adjoining which is the keeping-room of the family. Adjoining 

 this kitchen, in truth making a part of it, are the cow-stalls and 

 adjoining this a room for the storage of the cheese, for the milk, 

 the churns, the press, the tubs, and other dairy utensils, which, 

 whether of wood or of brass, are kept in the most polished con 

 dition. The cow-stalls are so constructed that two cows occupy 

 one stall together, tied by chains, with their heads to the wall, 

 and behind them is a deep trench or drain, into which all the 

 solid and liquid manure is received. The solid is immediately 

 conveyed away to the heap outside the door, and the liquid is 

 drained into a covered cistern at the side of the stable, on the 

 outside of the house. 



Into this cistern flow likewise all the slops of the house and 

 of the dairy, and the drain is kept constantly clean by water. 

 In summer the cows are kept and milked in the pasture ; the 

 stalls are then most thoroughly scoured and cleaned out, and 



