798 
The Dutch Agricultural Colonies. 
fai'ms without any obligation to work for the Society itself. 
This is a privilege ardently desired and diligently worked for. 
There are 225 of the small farms, each consisting of 2\ 
hectares (about 6^ acres) and a cottage. The rent, which is 
fixed by the Society, varies from about 2>l. to a year, accord- 
ing to the quality of the soil. The actual freehold of the farm 
cannot be acquired by the vrij hoer, but Le remains the tenant 
of it, with good behaviour, for the whole of his life. 
Upon becoming a free farmer the labourer receives from the 
Society a cow, maniu'e worth aljout 71., four bushels of potatoes 
for planting, a ton of hay, and a ton of straw, the cost of the 
cow and manure being repayable by a small annual cliai'ge. 
The free farmer is obliged to insure the cow in the Mutual 
Insurance Company of the colony, and has to pay 10s. lOd. per 
annum for medical attendance. Otherwise he works the farm 
for his own benefit and as he chooses, though under the general 
supervision of the Director, and subject to the restriction that 
hay, straw, and maniire must not be sold away from the colony. 
He may also work for wages outside the colony if he likes ; and 
in summer some go into Friesland for the hay-making. The 
rents are generally well paid, and whilst the lazy and improvi- 
dent are not encouraged, the administration is as lenient as 
possible with regard to arreai's. 
The dwellings and allotments of the farmer and labourer 
colonists are erected upon a uniform plan, very much upon the 
original pattern. Each allotment is laid out in a rectangle, 
having the house towards the road at one end, and the other 
reaching 50 feet into the allotment. The cottages are all built 
of brick, with glazed windows in the gables ; and, as is customary 
in Holland, attached to the opposite gable is a wooden ei-ection 
of the same breadth and height, under a prolongation of the 
same roof, and from 20 to 30 feet long. The wooden annexe 
contains a place in one corner for one or two cows, and serves 
both as a lobby to the house and a general store or barn. The 
houses consist of one living-room on the ground floor, about 15 
or 16 feet square, fitted with box beds, and floored Avith tile or 
brick, with an attic over it of the same size. Nearly all the 
houses are now provided witli a second small room floored with 
timber. 
Around each labourer's cottage is from a half to one acre of 
land, on which to cultivate potatoes and vegetables for the use 
of the family. The colony gives the family on arrival a sheep, 
which is kept for its milk. Tlie sheep is usually stalled in tha 
cowhouse, but when the weather is fine it is tethered to a rope, 
and allowed to graze on a small piece of grass-land ia the 
labourer's garden, or along the roads. 
