On the Reclamation of Peat-Land in the Netherlands. 455 
with clover, which stands two or three years. This is done 
when considered necessary, say once in ten years. Then 
potatoes are taken again, and perhaps twice in succession. 
Very few cattle are kept, but large quantities of street manure 
are bought in Groningen, at 100 guilders per last of 1600 kilos 
(equal to about 5 guineas per ton), and also stable manure from 
the Dollard Polder in North Groningen, at half the above rate. 
Manure to the value of between 6/. or 11. per acre is thus 
applied to the land once in the ordinary shift of three or four 
years, with the result that a good crop of potatoes is between 
6 and 7 tons per acre. Some kinds of potato yield 22 per 
cent, of starch, but the American kinds yield only 18. Mr. 
Borgesius and his neighbours sell all the straw that they do 
not require for their horses and cattle to the paper (carton) 
factories in the neighbourhood, at 25s. per ton, and in case of a 
glut or low prices, it is pressed and sent to England. 
Value of Land. — The value of land in this district, subject to 
the small payment to the town of Groningen, was until 1877, 50/. 
per acre, but since then it has fallen one-third. Labourers 
working on the farm earn from Is. Zd. to Is. ^d. per diem, and 
double as much when working the peat in the months of April, 
May, and June. Most of them hold their cottages and gaidens 
from the city of Groningen, on the same kind of tenure as the 
farmers hold their land ; but the authorities find great difficulty 
in collecting their rents from these small occupiers, especially 
in bad seasons and when work is scarce, so much so, that they 
have in their employment a procureur and an avocat, whose 
duty it is to enforce payment. 
The constant labourers receive, in addition to their money 
wages, from 40 to 50 or GO bushels of potatoes free of charge. 
Foul Fields and Clean Houses. — At the time of my visit to 
this interesting district (June 14th and 15th, 1880), the potatoes 
were very backward in appearance — the haulm having been 
twice frost-bitten, and some fields were very foul. Beans looked 
stunted, but oats were good. Much of the grass-land was in- 
fested with nettles, and altogether the farms did not present a 
strikingly fertile and well-cared-for appearance. On the other 
hand, the farm-houses, down to a certain size, were models of 
cleanliness and neatness, but the smaller ones (said to belong to 
labourers, who also cultivated a little ground) presented the 
reverse of the medal. 
Froperty held by City of Groningen. — It must not be inferred 
that all the land let under the system of Beklemregt belongs to 
the city of Groningen, for very many farms are held under that 
peculiar tenure from private individuals. It is not necessary 
here to enter more into this question, as it has already been 
VOL. XVII. — S. S. 2 I 
