1847. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
79 
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY OF EUROPE. 
LETTERS FROM HOLLAND—No. II. 
Utrecht, Dec. 8, 1846. 
Editors Cultivator —In the sketch of my journey 
from Antwerp to Utrecht, commenced in my last letter, 
I had got somewhat beyond Breda. The country through 
which we now passed was lower than any we had yet 
seen, the fields being in many places below the level of 
the canals, so that the water was pumped up by wind¬ 
mills, and discharged into the nearest canal; upon this 
method of draining I will not enlarge here, as I may 
probably devote one or two entire letters to it when I 
have seen more of the practical working of the system. 
The Dutch, in this part of their country at least, 
have improved their advantages for the keeping of water 
fowl. Ducks seemed to be the favorites; every little 
cottage had a troop of them in its neighborhood. Du¬ 
ring the greater part of the year they support them¬ 
selves entirely. Oblong baskets, made of straw and 
reeds, leaving a hole in one end, are provided for their 
habitations. These are placed on four sticks so as to 
be elevated a foot or two above the surface of the water, 
and are reached by means of inclined planes, up which 
the ducks can waddle quite comfortably. There are 
generally two or three of these nests at different 
heights, so that the inhabitants can retreat from one to 
the other as the water rises in winter. 
We now crossed, at intervals of some miles, three 
branches into which the Rhine is separated in this part 
of its course. These are called severally the Old Rhine, 
the Lele, and the Wal. One of them is crossed by 
means of a bridge of boats, and the other two by ferries 
of a very primitive character. Much of the country inclu¬ 
ded between these streams is admirably adapted for cul¬ 
tivation; the soil is light in appearance but deep and 
mellow, evidently possessing great capabilities. A 
great portion of it lies so high that by means of tiles 
and careful levelling, it would be quite possible to tho¬ 
rough drain it. This appears scarcely to have been 
commenced yet; but it would without doubt be of im¬ 
mense advantage. Many large open ditches would 
still be necessary in order to carry away the water in 
winter, and into these short tile drains might discharge. 
I should think the soil of this district admirably adapted 
to the turnep culture; indeed, we saw some remarkably 
good crops. 
After crossing the last branch of the Rhine, we found 
the country between it and Utrecht, very low and wet. 
The river is considerably higher than this region, and 
vessels descend into the canal that leads to Utrecht, by 
means of several locks. By means of open drains at 
short intervals, the water stands a few inches below the 
surface of the soil, but little of which, in this section, 
seemed to have been plowed; the greater part by far 
being in pasture. Some of these pastures are very rich, 
covered with a fine, thick, dark green herbage, resem¬ 
bling in appearance some of the celebrated old pasture 
lands of England. In fact, they are doubtless much the 
same; as for the most part, they have not been plow’ed 
within a half century, if ever. If the water has always 
stood at its present level, three to six inches below the 
surface, plowing has always been out of the question. 
By the use of a few wind mills, all of these fields could be 
much more thoroughly drained, and the farmers ena¬ 
bled to grow grain crops over a large extent of a soil 
now almost untouched. The Dutch farmers think, I 
suppose, that these fields are more valuable in their 
present condition, as unfailing and rich pastures 
Prof. Johnston, in his lectures, has some interesting 
remarks upon the causes of the gradual improvement 
of pastures upon some of the stiffest clay soils of Eng¬ 
land; the same causes which he specifies there, probably 
have a certain influence here. 
We saw very great numbers of cows and bullocks 
during the day, but few sheep. The cows are almost 
invariably spotted with black and w T hite, and of large 
size. Towards Utrecht we observed a few of a red 
color, but still spotted with white. Almost all of these 
cows had on a kind of jacket , or perhaps it might better be 
compared to a horse blanket. It is made of coarse 
brown cloth which looks like sacking, and covers the 
whole back and shoulders. The owner ? s name, or 
some distinctive mark is frequently painted upon it. 
These coverings are of course intended to protect the 
animal as much as possible from the effects of the wea¬ 
ther; but it does not seem as if they would be of much 
use in so mild a climate as this. It is possible that the 
fogs and damp nights may be found injurious; but ani¬ 
mals in the lowlands of Scotland, exposed to exactly 
such weather, need no such covering; this may, how¬ 
ever, be owing to difference of breed. In the Highlands 
of Scotland, on the more bleak exposed farms, it has 
been found necessary to put jackets on the sheep, in or¬ 
der that they may endure the cold storms; but I do not 
know that even there, the black Highland cattle ever 
receive any such protection. 
The broad extent of pasture land, and the great num¬ 
bers of cows about Utrecht, show this to be mostly a 
dairy country. I am within a few’ hours of the most 
celebrated cheese and butter districts. The quan¬ 
tity of both these articles annually exported is immense. 
It is said to be somewhat difficult to obtain access to 
the best Dutch butter dairies in such a way as to tho¬ 
roughly understand their method of making; but I think 
that it may be managed when I have acquired the lan¬ 
guage. It certainly wdll be worth a trial. I cannot 
hope to accomplish much in this way before spring. 
I hear little of the potato disease here, and those 
brought upon the table are as good as I have ever seen. 
They grow a small kind here expressly for the table, 
which are not great bearers, but remarkably mealy and 
fine flavored. In consequence of the extensive failure* 
last year, a much less breadth of ground has this year 
been planted with potatoes than is usual, and the de¬ 
ficiency has been supplied by growing increased quanti¬ 
ties of buckwheat, turneps, cabbages, and the endless 
variety of other vegetables for which the Dutch are so 
famous. Yours, truly, John P. Norton. 
NOTES of a TRAVELER in ENGLAND— No. Ill 
Markets. —Markets are established and held at sta¬ 
ted periods, in every part of Great Britain and Ire¬ 
land. Some of these are for fat cattle alone; others for 
store animals, milch cows, sheep, horses, swine. &c. 
Purchasers are thus enabled to select the stock they 
may desire; the farmer finds a ready market for w T hat 
he has to dispose of, and can always receive the 
pay down for his stock, it being the custom, so far as I 
could learn, always to pay cash at thase fairs. Graia 
markets are also held, and the same rule prevails. The 
sales are usually by samples, the buyer and seller each 
retaining a portion of the sample, to prevent any ques¬ 
tion as to the quality of the grain sold. No writings 
are used, the purchaser and seller merely striking hands, 
as evidence of the bargain. I w’as told that a case very 
