On the Reclamation of Peat-Land in the Netherlands. 453 
peat lands, to be brought to as high a state of productiveness as 
Helcna-vcen. Eventually the Company will sell or let the 
reclaimed lands, and I was informed that now farms of 50 acres, 
on which tobacco, flax, and market-garden crops, as well as 
ordinary farm produce, can be grown, could be hired for a term 
of years at about three guineas per acre. 
The Veen-Colonien. 
Origin of the colonies. — In the province of Groningen are 
several large villages, such as Veendam, Oude Pekela, Nieuwe 
Pekela, Stadtskanaal, &c., which are situated on both sides of 
a series of canals, made for the most part about two centuries 
ago. These canals run through what was a district of peat-land 
similar to those already described, and the canals appear to have 
been made by the authorities of the city of Groningen for the 
purpose of transporting to a distance the town manure. The 
authorities purchased certains tracts of land to enable them to 
carry out their scheme. In some cases they purchased, or 
perhaps eventually retained, only a strip of land sufficient for 
the canal, a road on each side, and a house and garden beyond. 
In other cases they retained their proprietary rights over con- 
siderable tracts of land. The colonists of this wild and hitherto 
uninhabited region in many cases purchased land either inde- 
pendently of the authorities of Groningen, or more or less 
adjacent to small portions which they leased from the latter. 
Thus at the present day the farmers may be classified as 
follows : — 
Owners and copyholders. — (1.) Proprietors in fee-simple of the 
whole of their land, farm-buildings, &c. 
(2.) Proprietors in fee-simple of a greater or less portion of 
their farms, and Beklemde-meijers, or hereditary leaseholders, 
or copyholders of the land on which their house, garden, &c., 
are situated, with perhaps a portion of the farm. 
(3.) Tenants for a short term of years (generally six), the 
land being let by public tender at the expiration of the lease. 
The strips of land abutting against the road which runs 
alongside of the canal, are generally about 250 feet in depth, 
and the Beklemde-meijers pay an annual rental to the city 
authorities of about Aid. per running metre (nearly 40 inches). 
For agricultural land let on this peculiar tenure, the rent is 
about Is. 8</. per acre. In the case of a sale of the Beklemming 
(or copyhold), a percentage of the purchase-money must be paid 
to the city authorities ; generally this is 5 per cent., but at 
Veendam it is only 3 per cent., and it may also vary in the case 
of " colonies," with which I am not acquainted. On the other 
