238 



Farming in Holland. 



Vol. XI. 



here, and some flourishing farms begin to 

 appear amidst the surrounding desolation, 



The Crown Prince has large possessions 

 on these moors, and energetically promotes 

 and encourages everything promising to ad- 

 vance cultivation there. 



I was not able to ascertain, except by a 

 hasty glance in passing, the system upon 

 which these improvements proceed. Each 

 one of the fields was enclosed by an open 

 ditch, that indispensable accompaniment of 

 a Dutch farm. In many cases, the turf, 

 bushes, &c., &c., were burned, being col 

 lected in heaps; and the ashes afterwards 

 spread over the whole surface. 



After passing Grootrunslert, the first tovvn 

 in Holland, we entered a fine agricultural 

 district. The crops were all tlirivmg, and 

 the fields bore evidence of careful ar.d labo- 

 rious attention. This district, North Bra 

 bant, seems to be all drained as thoroughly 

 as the nature of the case will admit. The 

 summer level of the water is generally not 

 more than 18 inches or two feet below the 

 surface, and there is scarcely any fall ; in 

 the winter the whole country is frequently 

 covered with water for months. The houses 

 placed on slight elevations, and the roads on 

 embankments, are alone visible. Such was 

 the case in January of the present year, 

 when I passed through this very district, 

 These circumstances all united, render it 

 necessary to make the drains large and 

 open, thereby interfering, of course, to a 

 considerable degree with economical culti 

 vation. These ditches become grown up 

 and choked with weeds every year; in all 

 directions we saw men cleaning them with 

 a species of rakes, drawing the vegetable 

 masses brought up directly into boats, or 

 forming heaps on the land. These clean 

 ings of the ditches must form an important 

 item in the Dutch farmer's list of available 

 and effective manures. In some places 1 

 have seen men dipping up the black muck 

 from the bottoms of the canals, and laying 

 it up in heaps on the banks. This mud, 

 from its black appearance, must be rich in 

 vegetable decomposing matter, and very 

 well fitted to form compost heaps, or even 

 to spread directly upon the land, after a 

 winter's exposure to fro.st and warmth alter- 

 nately. The large ditches on almost every 

 farm form a kind of canal, navigable by 

 boats carrying several tons; in these ma- 

 nure is often carried from one part of the 

 farm to another, and the products of the va- 

 rious fields brought home. On some of the 

 farms, horses would scarcely be necessary, 

 except for ploughing. Farm vehicles seemed 

 very few in number, and those few awkward 

 in shape, especially the wagons, with high 



and narrow bodies, grea.tly elevated from 

 the ground, and rising at both ends. From 

 the forward axletree a stick three or four 

 feet long turns upwards, and curls over to- 

 wards the front board of the wagon box ; 

 this is generally terminated by a brass knob, 

 which, in well regulated establishments, is 

 kept scoured to a great degree of brightness. 

 I had no opportunity of seeing any of the 

 farming implements. I expect to find the 

 Dutch far behind in this respect. 



About half way between Antwerp and 

 Utrecht, we passed through Breda, a large 

 and very strongly fortified town. It is en- 

 tirely surrounded by low, marshy ground, 

 and in winter the water in the ditches is 

 nearly on a level with tlie streets. After 

 leaving this place we came to a broad tract 

 of rich, fertile land, partly a rather stift'clay, 

 but afterwards becoming a fine light loam 

 in appearance. Both of these kinds of soils 

 appeared to be of great depth. The drain- 

 ing was as perfect as possible under the cir- 

 cumstances, and as I have described above ; 

 the water standing from eight to eighteen 

 inches below the surface. The crops on the 

 whole of this tract were remarkably luxu- 

 riant. Of course we could say nothing as 

 to the grain crops, but the grass and the 

 turnips parj;icularly arrested our attention. 

 The turnips seem universally to be sown 

 broadcast, and are not thinned out; and the 

 consequence is a great mass of leaves and 

 stalks. How large the roots were we had 

 no opportunity of judging. A large farmer 

 living in the neighbourhood of Breda, rode 

 with us some miles, and gave us much in- 

 formation as to his own farm and the prac- 

 tices of the country. I think the Dutch 

 farmers and proprietors in genera] can hard- 

 ly equal this gentleman, who spoke l"'rench, 

 German, and Italian, and read English with 

 ease. The learning of foreign languages is, 

 however, in so small a country as Holland, 

 a matter of necessity to any one who ever 

 goes a hundred miles from home. 



We learned from this gentleman that in 

 his section, at least, the Dutch are very de- 

 ficient as to rotation of crops; in fact they 

 have no rotation at all; they take as many 

 successive crops of grain as they choose, or 

 as they can. The land there is so good that 

 this system may be carried on for a long 

 time; but in many sections of the country I 

 should think that they would be driven to a 

 different course. 



Yours very truly, John P. Norton. 



Ulrocht, Nov. 20th, 1846. 



A vegetable seldom seen, and little known, 

 the Celeriac, was lately produced at our Hor- 

 ticultural Society. 



