260 HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



hornbeam, elder, or willow, frequently trained to a coarse 

 trellis. In some instances the situation of these farm-stead- 

 ings was so low, that only a few feet of soil appeared on 

 the exterior of either house or barn : the rest was, at this 

 rainy season, a dreary expanse of water ; but the water was 

 shallow, and the bottom firm ; for we sometimes saw cows 

 grazing, while they were wading up to the knees. These 

 animals were large, and always either of a black, or black 

 and white colour. The boors are provided with flat-bot- 

 tomed boats, for passing to and from their homes on such 

 emergencies. 



For a great way, the massy dike along which we pass- 

 ed supports, on the east side, next to the higher land, a 

 body of water like a narrow lake, which had now risen to 

 a considerable height against its side. On this account 

 the westward slope of the dike, next to the lower country, 

 presents a much larger dry surface than the other; and 

 of this circumstance the industrious Dutch have availed 

 themselves. They have carefully planted fruit-trees, espe- 

 cially apples and pears, on the west slope. These have be- 

 come exuberant and fruitful trees, affording, at this time, 

 both the most abundant crops and the largest fruit which 

 we have seen in Holland. We easily recognised the Red 

 Bellefleur, Dutch Paradise, Red Calville, and Courpendu, 

 as among the varieties most commonly here cultivated. 

 I Jut there were several others, the appearance of which was 

 not familiar to us : of these we could only pick up the 

 names of the Hinneber-appel, the Tarv, the Westland 

 Bellefleur, and the Zwiebel ; the last bearing a consider- 

 able resemblance to the Stoup-Leadington of Clydesdale, 

 or the Cat'fl-head of England. The trees we agreed in 

 pronouncing to be the largest and finest of the kind we had 

 yei wen in our journey; their horizontal branches extend- 



