Ill. Parts of Europe Similar to Southern 
New Jersey. 
. 
In Europe there are still immense tracts of waste-land, a large 
proportion of which has been robbed for centuries, until much 
of it is now in a state of extreme poverty. The majority of 
this land is worse, although similar, to the Plains of South 
Jersey. The system of removing not only the turf but the 
surface soil from these wild-lands is ultimately worse than the 
effects of forest fires. A forest fire in sweeping over a country 
leaves something behind it. The inorganic materials which the 
plant took from the soil are returned to it in the form of ashes, 
and although a part of them may wash away, something is left ; 
but in the heathlands of northwestern Europe the very surface 
.of the earth is scraped together, so that in the course of time the 
soil becomes bare and sterile. We usually think of Europe, and 
especially Belgium and Holland, as the places of all the world 
where every spadeful of earth has been turned over hundreds of 
times, and where every effort has been exerted to provide room 
for its swarms of people. One is surprised, therefore, to see a 
new settlement called “‘ America” in the midst of a great unset- 
tled plain in Holland. There are, in fact, in this little country, 
from four to five hundred thousand hectares* of waste-land, 
which consists of heath, moorland and morass. The Dutch 
prefer, and perhaps wisely, to grapple with the mud and water 
along their shores. They would rather farm into the jaws of 
the sea than work on their dreary heathlands. Mr. Schober, at 
Schovenhorst, has been striving for years, at great expense and 
with great perseverance, to show what is possible on the heath- 
lands of Holland by careful cultivation and improved methods. 
But just as the Swiss loves the steep mountain sides, so does the 
* Centare (x sq. meter)—1,550 sq. in. Are (100 sq. meters;=119.6 sq. yds. Hectare (10,000 sq. meters) 
=2,471 acres, 
(293) 
