The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1871-10-06
Che a}lNietta guurnal.
Marietta, Georgia, October 6, 1871
DUTCH AaRrcuLTuRE.

of Gan American Farmer Abroad,
says of Dutch husbandry
GAS the stranger approaches Am
sterdam regiments of windmiils ant
battallions of tall chimneys rise on
of the green praire-like meadows anC
he at once remarks: What an indus
trious people! They are devoted t.
manufacture How much steam
and power they use p
"Yet the truth is, manufactures
are not the leading interest. Com
merce and agriculture pile up the
Dutch accounts at the worlds banks.
These ceaseless windmills and smoke
trailing chimneys are but aids to a
truly national agriculture. The theme
of the Dutch conquest of Holland
the bloodless capture of the country
from the sea-has been sung thread
bare. | do not propose to rehearse
it. Any guido-book will tell the tale
1t is sufficient to know that vast
tracts of water has been enclosed by
dykes, been pumped dry, ann now
smile in the richest green or load the
air with the fragrance of acres of hy-
acynths. Tho financial side of the
subject has never been noticed. In
brief, the process is something like
this
"The sea flows over certains hal
lows. The shore belongs to private
parties, or to the state, as the case
may be. Beneath the water is a
thick layer of fine black mud. In
its present position it is useless. -
Exposed to the air, it will make the
finest soil that can be imagined. A
company is formed and possession
taken of the tract of wator. At a
great expense an earthen wall is
projected into the sea, enclosing a
certain space. Powerful pumps are
erected. Steam or wind power is
applied, and the seemingly hopeless
task of pumping out whole square
miles of water is attempted. The
engineers take their places, and the
stockholders go to sleep or die, as
the fancy strikes them. Wait they
must, and years slip away before
the bottom oftheir lake appears. Il
their pockets were anything but
Dutch their bottoms would appear
before the land. At last a wet bog
takes the place of the sea, and ships
sail up and look over the banks upon
the new discovered country. The
main work of the pumps is done, but
months must pass before the owners
can even walk upon the soft black
mud. bitches must be dug through
it, and joined one to another, so that
the pumps may begin once more and
drain the last drop from the spongy
soil. In about two years after it ap
pears the land is ready for the pillow
Then comes the first dividend fol
the patient stockholders, the heirs
drag forth the forgotten wills to sec
who owns the new country. The
land is divided into farms of conve.
nient size, and sold or let at a hand
some profit Hereafter the only ex-
pense is to keep the dyke in order,
pump out the rainfall and collect
the rent. The happy shareholders
may go to sleep or travel. All is Sc
cure, unless the dyke bursts. They
need not concern themselves on that
score, Other men build houses with
chimney tops on level with the sea,
and risk their all on these sunken
farms, and the mere shareholders
may bide in peace. The details of
the care of these reclaimed farms, or
holders, as they are called, the gov
eminent of the pumping machinery,
and the regulation of the amount of
rain-water suffered to remain in tho
bitches, do not concern us. What
we want are facts concerning the
horticulture and agriculture carried
on behind these miles Of sea-walls.
"Can this sea bottom produce
crops that will repay both farmer
and dykeman Will it bear the
cost of culture and maintain the
steam pumps that must lift every un
desirable drop of rain that falls OF
hundreds of square miles of territory
A mere glance at Dutch agriculture
shows that money in abundance
comes from something. If not from
the soil, then the people are living
off the interest of their debts, or some
other unknown piece of property
Thousands of sleek cattle Craze over
the rich, level meadows vast gar
dens, crowded with unrivalled vege-
tables, lie fat and warm in the shel-
ter of the dams, while miles of nur-
series and bulb plantations stretch
along the artificial coast.
Concerning the soil few word;
may be in order. That about Am
sterdam and Harlem is the old sea
bottom. In other parts of Holland
we shall find both river deposits
glacial refuse and other qualities and
kinds. The poulder soil is a fine,
powdery mould, entirely composed
of vegetable matter in a state of de
cay. 1t is free from stones, Away:
two or more feet deep, and so porous
that water passes through it readily
For those Dlants To which II is adam.