38 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1894. 



A walk through the principal streets of one of the large Dutch 

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

 all the main streets. These canals 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 boats, on 

 which the owner and his family live a great part of the time. The 

 canals afford the boatmen almost as good an opportunity 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, vegetables, and fruit. A 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 hand-carts pushed before the owner. 

 One of the first sights which met our eyes after landing was a hand- 

 cart full of magnificent heads of cauliflower. 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 the work of two large 

 dogs yoked to the axle. 



It is a strange sight, but throughout Holland, particularly in the 

 country, women are seen taking a hand with men in many kinds of 

 out-door farm work, such as hoeing, weeding, ploughing, boat hauling, 

 and so forth. As a consequence they are strong and healthy in 

 appearance, but far less refined and intelligent than those occupying a 

 corresponding station in New England. Passing along towards the 

 suburbs we note everywhere the beautiful deep-green color of the grass 

 and foliage. Roses, pansies, geraniums, and yellow herbaceous cal- 

 ceolarias are seen in perfection of color in well-kept gardens. Among 

 vegetables we particularly note the excellence of the cauliflowers. It 

 is a sure crop in Holland ; the cool climate and a soil which is always 

 moist, but rarely or never too wet, seems to suit it exactly. 



But Haarlem and its bulb gardens interest us chiefly at present, so 

 we leave the city with its quaint buildings and old churches. The 

 road over which we are driven is paved throughout with dressed stones. 

 The ever present canal runs alongside, wide enough for large boats to 

 pass on their way to and from town. One of these passes every now 

 and then laden with country produce, and is pulled along by a horse 

 walking on the roadway. Occasionally the owner or his wife does the 



