76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the Rhine, the waters of which upon entering this plain seem 

 as if they are in doubt as to which way they should wander. 

 Soon after entering the country the river divides into two 

 parts, one channel known as the Waal, while the other, 

 flowing not far away, is known as the Leek. These branches 

 make the two-horned Rhine of which Virgil wrote, and 

 enclose the long, narrow island of Batavia, — the island 

 upon which the early Batavians first made their settlement. 

 Another branch turns northward to the Zuider Zee, while 

 there is a channel now known as the Old Rhine, through 

 which at an early time a considerable amount of water found 

 its way to the sea. Coming from the south is the Meuse, or 

 Maas, which, after meandering through the south-western 

 portion of the country, discharges its waters westward 

 through one of the mouths of the Rhine. While the Schelde 

 is chiefly a Belgian river, its branching estuary and the asso- 

 ciated islands constitute a considerable portion in the south- 

 west of the kingdom. 



If, now, 3^ou ask why I call j^our attention to these streams 

 in detail, my answer must be that it is because from them we 

 are to learn an early part of the physical history of the land. 

 Had it not been for these streams, Holland would not have 

 existed. In very early days a shallow sea occupied a very 

 large part of the area now constituting the central and west- 

 ern portions of Holland. At that time there were dense and 

 extensive forests about the upper waters of these rivers. 

 The decay of the fallen leaves, portions of bark, limbs, and 

 sometimes of the prostrated trees, produced a rich vegetable 

 loam which was light and easily acted upon by the tempo- 

 rary and permanent rivulets, and transported as sediment to 

 the larger streams. The rivers brought this material to the 

 shallow sea of that early time, where it became deposited 

 after the manner of a delta formation, which was built to the 

 seaward. Thus the soils of the forests which had been trans- 

 ported and deposited by the streams were here converted 

 into the early lands. All who are familiar with agriculture 

 know full well that when streams brine: such material as this 

 and deposit it on low ground it becomes a very fertile soil. 

 The progress which the Hollanders have made and the suc- 

 cesses which they have attained in agriculture have had an 



