96 MASSACHUSETTS HOUTICULTURAL SOCIETr. 



riant. Large herds of black and white cattle, windmills, and 

 here and there a canal boat moving slowly along, pleasantly relieve 

 what would otherwise be a very monotonous landscape. 



At length we enter the harbor of Rotterdam, which, for Hol- 

 land, is quite a large and stirring city. Its inhabitants number 

 about 150,000 and a thrifty and prosperous class of people they 

 are. Its shipping interests are of great importance and it is a 

 distributing centre for a large tract of farming country. Immense 

 quantities of rye, buckwheat, oats, potatoes, butter, and cheese are 

 annually exported. 



A walk througii the principal streets of one of the larger 

 Dutch cities is full of interest. As a rule, wide canals occupy the 

 centre of all the main streets. These are the chief highways of 

 the country. They extend in connected systems all over the land, 

 and most of the produce is conveyed to the city markets by large 

 boats, on which the owner and his family live a great part of the 

 time. These canals afford the boatmen almost as good an oppor- 

 tunity* of selling their products as our market streets do to our 

 farmers. Once in the city the boat is guided to its location, tied to a 

 convenient stake, and there it remains till its load is disposed of. 

 Firewood and dried peat in the form of bricks, for fuel, are brought 

 from far back in the country ; also hay, potatoes, cabbages, and 

 other vegetables, and fruit. A long line of boats extends along 

 the canal sides, and purchasers, as they pass along, can tell where 

 to find what they want, by the little piles of merchandise placed 

 on the wharf or street opposite each boat. Vegetables are hawked 

 about the streets on two-wheeled handcarts pushed before the 

 vender. One of the first sights which met our e^'es after landing 

 was a handcart full of magnificent heads of cauliflower, large, 

 white, and beautiful. The cart was in charge of a woman, who 

 pushed it along in a very business-like fashion, but her labors 

 were very considerably lessened by two large dogs yoked to the 

 axle who did most of the propelling. We frequently met similar 

 teams during our travels. 



It is a strange sight to American eyes, but throughout Holland, 

 particularly in the country, women are seen taking a hand with 

 the men at many kinds of out-door farm work, such as hoeing, 

 weeding, ploughing, boat hauling, and so forth. As a conse- 

 quence we find them very strong and healthy in appearance, but 

 far less refined and intelligent than those occupying a correspond- 



