82 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



you that it is impressive to go through the ])asin of this old 

 sea to-day, and find one hundred and thirty-three and one- 

 half miles of hard, smooth roadway, and seven hundred and 

 fifty miles of canals and ditches, large and small ; and to 

 think that only a few years ago this was the dwelling-place 

 of crabs and eels, where we now behold eight hundred 

 productive farms, each with its superb cattle and its com- 

 fortable home. 



Another map shows us how the bottom of the lake was 

 divided, according to the usual custom, by larger canals and 

 sub-divided by smaller ones, until each farm is completely 

 surrounded by a canal. A view shows us how the lauds of 

 the farm are divided by small canals into lots, and we see by 

 the photographs used how the dairy men and dairy maids go 

 to the pasture grounds, milk the cows, place the cans with 

 their milk in the boat and return to the house. No fences 

 are required around these lots, for the creatures cannot cross 

 the canals except when they are assisted by temporary' 

 bridges. The Hollanders, therefore, are not so accustomed 

 as our farmers are to go for their cows and drive them home ; 

 nevertheless they take good care of them. If the nights are 

 cool and stormy, they may go out with blankets which they 

 put over the cows after they have laid down upon the ground ; 

 and it is interesting to look out upon those broad, level lands 

 upon a frosty morning, and see the bunches of cloth with 

 cows underneath them. 



The Hollanders are now entering upon a still more stu- 

 pendous project of drainage. They are proposing to utilize 

 a large portion of the area which is now covered by the 

 waters of the Zuider Zee. The plan involves the construc- 

 tion of an immense dyke crossing the sea at its narrower por- 

 tion, which may serve the purpose of holding the waters on 

 the north in place, and also furnish a good foundation for a 

 highway and a railroad which shall connect the western with 

 the eastern portion of the country. It will be necessary not 

 only to surround the southern part by a large canal, but also 

 to establish and maintain channels of considerable propor- 

 tion for the streams which must necessarily run through the 

 district. It is estimated that the execution of this great 

 undertaking will require thirty-three years for its completion, 



