3 1 8 Foreign Notices : — Holland. 



miles from the latter place. It seems the soil in Haarlem is now worn out, 

 and no longer fit to grow hyacinths in sufficient vigour,* and the growers, 

 therefore, send their bulbs to be grown, by contract, on lands in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Overveen and other places, in the same manner as the London 

 seedsmen send seeds to be grown by country seed-growers in Essex and 

 Norfolk. Wherever the bulbs do well, he observed the soil to be of the 

 lightest description of sand, such as can be blown away by the wind ; and 

 the water stands under it not nearer the surface than 15 in., nor farther 

 below it than 2 ft. 6 in. This, it seems, is the level of the water in the 

 adjoining canals and ditches ; and it is owing mainly to the points of the 

 fibres going down to this water, that the plants are so fresh and vigorous, while 

 the dry sand above prevents their bulbs from being rotted. As a proof of 

 the exceeding lightness of the soil, immediately after putting in a crop in the 

 spring season, the surface is raked, generally thrown into beds, and, from 

 barrels, wheeled along the alleys between, cow-dung and water are thrown 

 over the surface with a scoop, so as to cover it all with a thin crust, through 

 which the finest seeds vegetate, and without which the entire surface would 

 be blown away : the cow-dung is taken fresh from the cow-house. In these 

 cow-houses no litter is used ; the cattle stand on a level surface paved with 

 brick ; immediately behind the cows is a gutter, from which the liquid part 

 of the manure runs off into tanks to ferment, and the remaining part is 

 taken from the gutter for immediate use, in the manner mentioned. The 

 cow is fastened by two ropes, one proceeding from each side through a ring 

 in a post, and with a weight at the end ; the two weights, as in the case of 

 horses so tied, tending to keep the cow in the middle of the stall. She eats 

 out of a trough, which is supplied from a broad passage in front of the 

 heads ; and there is also a broad passage behind the gutter. The points of 

 the cows' tails are all tied to the ceiling or roof, to prevent them from 

 dropping into the gutter when the cow lies down, or from whisking 

 about while the operation of milking is going forward. They are combed, 

 brushed, and kept covered with a cloth during winter ; and in spring, when 

 they are first allowed to go out and graze, they are clothed with a sheet 

 till the weather becomes decidedly warm. {See Encyc. ofAgr,, § 516.) 



Mr. Knight found forcing going forward in the manner which we have 

 described as practised at Hylands (Vol. III. p. 385.) ; raspberries ripe, and 

 cauliflowers cut, about the middle of April. He was much taken with the 

 standard fruit-trees generally trained in a pyramidal form ,• and with curious 

 dwarfs, some of them saucer-shaped, 10 ft. diameter, and not more than 3 ft. 

 high ; others in the form of a bowl ; others with a stem 1 ft. high, with only 

 two branches proceeding from it, perfectly horizontal in position, and in 

 opposite directions, with shoots covered with spurs rising perpendicularly 

 from these two horizontal branches, at equal distances ; those in the centre, 

 ■3 ft. high, gradually diminishing to 1 ft. at the extremities, and having, alto- 

 gether, a strangely artificial appearance. These trees occur now and then 

 in pleasure-grounds as odd ornaments, much in the same way as we graft 

 dwarf or drooping shrubs, such as Cytisus purpiireus, or some of the robi- 

 nias or caraganas, on the top of tall stems. 



Among domestic improvements, Mr. Knight noticed a foots era/per for 

 73 .^ss^s^^*-^ sandy soils (Jig. 73.), which consists simply 



of a small bridge, formed by fixing iron bars 

 in the circumference of two segments of 

 ovals. The sand drops between the bars ; 

 y^^^Trr-^^f^^ and, when the space is filled, the scraper is 

 removed. 



He also observed a machine in use for beating stair-carpets and long 

 covers for tables, (fig. 74.) This may be described as consisting of two 

 ladders, about 6 ft. long each, joined by hinges at the middle (a), and ap- 

 pended to shorter ladders (b c), also, by hinges. These hinges admit of 



