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professor Norton’s letters.—no. 7 . —south-western agriculture. 
PROFESSOR NORTON’S LETTERS.—No. 7. 
Among the regrets which I feel in the prospect 
of leaving Holland in the course of a few days, 
none are more prominenyhan those which refer to 
the practical systems of cultivation. My chemical 
occupations have been so engrossing that these 
matters have of necessity been much neglected. I 
do not, however, think there is much here that 
it would be advantageous for us to copy ; but there 
is much that is both instructive and curious. 
I lately devoted a day to an examination of the 
sandy Dunes , or shifting sand-hills, which form so 
great a portion of the Dutch, Flemish, and northern 
French coasts. These sand-hills are in some in¬ 
stances several hundred feet in height, and the belt 
which they constitute between the cultivated land 
and the sea, is sometimes several miles in width. 
Their material is a very pure, fine, white sand, 
blown up from the sea-shore into this irregular 
series of hills. They are a defence to the coast, 
and those parts of it which are furnished with these 
bulwarks need no dykes. But while they are a de¬ 
fence from the sea, they at the same time cause, or 
formerly caused much damage on land. The 
winds which had brought up the particles from the 
shore, found them even more accessible in their 
new position, and raising them again into the 
air commenced their transportation further in¬ 
land. 
The march of these shifting sands was by no 
means slow, and a single gale often made most per¬ 
ceptible changes in the cultivated fields. In order 
to obviate this evil, a peculiar reedy plant (Arundo 
arenaria ), has been sown with much care upon 
these hills. I believe that this is not the only kind 
which is employed, but it is said to be much the 
most common. It is one of those plants which de¬ 
rive sufficient sustenance even from these barren 
sands. In some places it seemed to have been 
sown regularly in drills, but for the most part it was 
irregularly distributed in tufts, like the bent-grass, 
which sometimes infests our poorly manured mea¬ 
dows. These tufts are upon the very summits of 
these barren hills, and both by their shelter and the 
interlacing of their roots, prevent the sand from 
drifting. I am told that it dies down to the ground 
every autumn, but that the roots sprout again in 
the spring, so that it is not necessary to sow it each 
year. I think it probable that this plant derives 
much of its inorganic part from the sea-breezes, 
which are highly charged with saline matters dur¬ 
ing strong winds and gales. Cases have been 
known where at such times a saline crust has been 
deposited upon plants many miles inland. It would 
be interesting to analyse the Arundo arenaria with 
a view to this inquiry. 
I was greatly surprised to see potatoes planted, in 
many of the hollows among these sand-hills, and 
apparently quite flourishing. In our hot and dry 
climate they would be dried up in a few days, but 
here, where the sun is comparatively little seen, 
and where there is so much rain, they do much bet¬ 
ter. The crop obtained is not large, but the pota¬ 
toes are of a remarkably excellent quality. They 
are sold at a higher price than any others under the 
name of sand-potatoes. They are of a very small 
size, but remarkably fine flavored and mealy. These 
must no doubt derive a great portion of their inor¬ 
ganic constituents from the sea. The saline sub¬ 
stances deposited on the hills in heavy rains, are 
of course washed down into the valleys, thus 
making them a trifle more productive than the 
higher situations. 
Standing upon the top of one of these Dunes, the 
scene is one of singular desolation. As far as the 
eye can reach are huge rolling waves of sand, like 
a sea during a heavy gale, suddenly converted into 
sand. The land which is under cultivation inside 
the Dunes is also of a light, sandy character for a 
considerable distance, but I did not observe that any 
peculiar system of cultivation was pursued. 
Sandy land is found at intervals as far as Utrecht; 
after passing this place and proceeding by railway 
towards Arnheim, it becomes more and more abun¬ 
dant, and yet poorer in quality, and at last we come 
upon a broad, desolate heath, or moor, which 
stretches away towards the north, probably nearly 
200 miles, with few interruptions. As yet, little 
comparatively has been done towards its subjuga¬ 
tion and cultivation ; but I should think from a 
hasty view much might be done. Where trees 
have been planted, they look flourishing, and are of 
good size. Rye seems to be the most important 
crop in this section, and I presume that they follow 
the old system of cropping with rye until the land 
will not bear the seed, and then permitting it to rest 
for a few years. W e are not accustomed to think 
of such a tract as this existing in one of the most 
densely populated parts of Europe, which has so 
often been the battle-field of contending armies, a very 
small part of the labor and treasure expended by 
which to destroy each other, would have converted 
it into a garden. John P. Norton 
Utrecht , Netherlands , June 1 5th, 1847. 
SOUTH-WE STERNAGRICULTURE. 
The planter not blinded by prejudice or the ways 
of his father, will certainly receive any light that 
may be thrown on the subject of the cultivation of 
any staple article. I cannot at this day give 
any “ new light” of my own, but I can offer the 
result of experience—the opinions of others, who 
are either unwilling to see their names in print, or 
are reluctant to stem the tide of popular opinion. 
The general impression is, that all crops should be 
cultivated often, the earth kept fine and light, and 
“ no weeds or grass should be suffered to grow.” 
Other opinions have been advanced by working¬ 
men, and facts adduced ; and as an interested man, 
I claim of others equally interested, a right to ex¬ 
press mine. 
Two years ago, two of my friends, whom I will 
designate as Capt. B. and Col. D., living not over 
20 miles from me, rented a field for the culture of 
cotton. The field was planted with cotton, divided 
as near as need be into equal parts, and cultivated 
as each one was in the habit of cultivating, to 
wit:—Capt. B. kept his crop clean all the year, 
probably working it over every ten or fifteen days, 
and it was cultivated like a garden. Col. D., on the 
contrary, did not scrape his portion out, until it was 
like the crop that “ cousin Sally Dillard” was con¬ 
cerned with—“ right smartly in the grass.” About 
a month after, he killed lots and cords of grass and 
weeds, and never got into it, but to slay and to mur¬ 
der. The result—Col. D. made nearly double the 
