334 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



value of the lands rose in many instances, after one year's 

 cultivation, to three times their original cost. The expenses 

 for the amelioration of the raw soil are stated to have been 

 on an average of from $18 to $20 per acre. 



The present annual production varies in value according to 

 the quality of the lands, — from $30 to $120 per acre. About 

 one-half of the reclaimed lands is still kept in grass. 



There are at present from 9,000 to 10,000 people living 

 within the basin of the former sea, which, on account of its 

 high state of cultivation, engages the attention of visitors from 

 all countries. 



The surface-layers of the sea-bottom prove to be of recent 

 origin and similar in character to the material which con- 

 stitutes largely the sea-marshes of the Netherlands. The 

 lowest deposit consists of sand, — then follows clay, then loam, 

 and on the surface is turf. These various materials, however, 

 did not form continuous layers throughout the entire basin, 

 but were frequently broken up, and only in part represented. 

 In some places the turf was wanting, — in others the clay, — 

 leaving nothing but loam and sand. Even bare deposits of 

 sand were occasionally found. 



Variations in the price of the lands thus became a natural 

 consequence. In cases where the turf formed the surface- 

 layer, it was cut out, and the remaining soil subsequently 

 ploughed. In several instances the presence of iron pyrites 

 caused some trouble. Its speedy decomposition was effected 

 by a thorough draining and frequent turning of the soil. 



The spontaneous growth which at first sprung up, upon the 

 the still wet and soft soil, changed rapidly. Cineraria palus- 

 tris, a plant very characteristic for sea-marshes in that locality, 

 at first grew so dense, that the entire basin, during the bloom- 

 ing period, resembled a great field of rape in blossom. It 

 retired to the banks of the drain-ditches as soon as the soil 

 lost its strong saline character, and inland plants took its 

 place. 



The following course has been successfully pursued during 

 the first period of cultivating the lands of the Harlem Sea. 



For a few years, only those crops were raised which require 

 either very rich soil, or those which prosper better than 

 others in a raw soil, — rape, or rye and oats. After the soil, 



