Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-06-02
The Farmers of Holland.


Of the manufacture Of the round Dutch, or
Edam," cheese, considerable quantity Of
which is imported into this country, aud
sold in the cities at a high price. The ac-
count Of the Dutch barns and farm build
ings, and Of the cattle and methods Of feed
ing, etc, are also very interesting though
being written for the entertainment Of the
general public, they are not given in such
detail as would be appropriate in an cxclu
.ively agricultural journal, or as we would
be glad to see.
But one part Of the installmcnt before us,
giving an account Of the farmers Of the prov
ince Of Groningen, in Holland, is SO particu-
larly interesting that we make the following
extract
1.-THE farm-budngs, especially In the northern
| provinces arc OF an uncqualed szo, and sur
rounded with evidences Of wealth and taste BE
tween the road and the dwelliug-house there is q
pleasure garden planted with exotic trees, and
whose lawns are interpreted with groups Of flow
ers At one side. vegetable garden aud fruit or
ehard furnish a good variety for the table The
house is imposing, with The great extent of It's a-
cade and the large number Of windows 10 ihe two
stories Within, the embroidered curtains, The
furniture Of American (blacl,) walnut. the piano,
the books Of the library-thcso an indicate large
wealth and habits Of life that imply superior
condition. Behind the dwelling Of the farmer,
but attached to it, rises building o. high as
church and long as a covered shipyard Here
are found the constable, the horse-stable and
barn, all under one roof on egering, one first
sees an enormous space, sufficient to shelter the
harvest Of two OF three hundred acres, and large
collection Of improved implements next some
sixty or seventy cows in a single row and again
from ten to twenty superb black horses.
" The farmers Of Groningen have preserved The
simple manners of their ancestors. Although
often possessed Of several tons Tone hundred
thousand guldonl Of gold, they put their own
hands to the pillow, and take the immediate dircc
ton Of all the work Of their fields Their SONS
are educated at universities and it Is estimated
that each son while at college, costs two thousand
gulden $500 per annum.
"Ihese farmers are the leading men of the
country there is no class elevated above them.
| From their ranks are chosen nearly all the NOM
bers Of the different elective bodies and even those
who go to represent the province in the States
| General equivalent TO our Congress-. The care Of
their farms does not prevent them from taking
an active part in political life and in the duties Of
public administration, They follow not only the
progress OF the art Of agriculture, but also the
movement OF modern thought. They maintain
near the city Of Gronngen, an excellent agricul-
tural school, with fifty pupils and perhaps no.
where else is education universal in country
districts. In fact, Groningcn passes for the most
| al rod NJ Np Nptharluu1a IL IA
sort Of republic, inhabited by rich and enlightened
peasants completely emancipated from the spirit
Of routine The fine houses Of the farmers are
the only castles and they all resemble each other
Property is quite evenly distributed, and almost
all the land produces remains in the hands of those
who cultivate it, Wealth and work arc every
where associated idlencss and opulenco nowhere.
The mode Of life Is simple and inexpensive;
and since, Of late years, butter and cheese have
doubled in price, prosperity is greatly increased
Many farmers, not content TO have table service
Of silver use this metal even for heavy kitchen
utensils. There those even who arc only sat
isfied with table service Of gold. Aside from
this, the aecumulations Of Dutch farmers are
very large source Of the investment fund with
which Holland is well supplied for all manner
| OF foreign stock buying One is surprised every
| where in the smaller towns with the number and
richness OF the jewellers shops with sumptuous
silyer-ware and especially coral necklaces Of the
finest quality, and worth hundreds Of dollars
although Holland took It's first Impetus from
commerce, this has sadly fallen away, but agrl-
culture has all sides filed the gap Many
towns, formerly thriving with commerce, have
been destroyed by the sitting up Of the rivers and
bays; but the roclaiming Of the overlooked lands
has given them another and frmer hold upon
| prosperity.
Agriculture In this country grew up only Ms
| an incident 10 the life Of its commercial people
The application Of tariffs and the competition Of
England combined, lcssencd very much the inn
| portance of Dutch commerce, while the agricu-
ture has steadily increased Little by little with
out the knowledge OF the rest Of the world and
almost without the knowledge Of Holland itself
the Netherlands have gone silently and quietly
forward, until they have become one Of the most
advanced agricultural nations Of Europe export
ing more Of the products Of the soil than any
other; while the prudent, domestic habits Of their
ioreiathen still prevail among the people, and
cause their wealth TO accumulate to much
greater degree than among any other agricultural
people"
We have given this extended extract from
Col. Warnings article land we wish our space
would allow of more) because we believe it
contains useful lesson 10 the farmers of
Vermont especially, Here is the little king
dom of Holland, but trine larger than our
state (area twelve thousand six hundred and
twenty square miles; Vermont's ten thousand
two hundred and twelve), where the dairy
farmers live like princes, on farms of two
hundred TO three hundred acres. They pro
duce butter and cheese so do we. 4 part
of the land of the kingdom is very rich, a
part very poor. That which is rich has
been rescued from the sea by costly ombanlx-
ments, and is maintained against the force
of the ocean only by costly and continu-
Gus system of pumping by wind and steam
power. Some of these farms are sixteen
and eighteen feet below the sea-level. The
average natural fertility of Holland is not
superior to that of Vermont. The climate
is fully as rigorous, the winter as long and
nearly as cold and the summers less pro
pitious to every crop, except perhaps 10
grass. With our innumerable mountain
streams, at a 1.-THE of the expense that the
liollander is put 10 for drainage, We could
make our meadows more productive than
theirs. The most productive meadows in
the world are those of Lombardy, where un-
der the warm Italian sun, with irrigation,
five, six and seven tons of hay to the acre
arc obtained each year.
Proper care and selection, with proper
feeding, would soon bring the product Of
our dairy herds 10 level with those of IIol.
land. The same market exactly is open to
us, and at the same prices if we make as
good an article, as is open 10 them. They
supply their home market and send the sur
plus to England So do we, but our butter
and cheese bring the lowest prices in Eng
land, while the Dutch bring the highest.
at is not in our fates but in ourselves that
we are underlings." Not one fifth of the
dairy products Of Vermont is frsH class.
Our cows do not average more than half as
large product as those of the Dutch herds.
Bring up the product, and the quality and
wealth would flow in upon us as il does upon
the Dutch farmer. But we cannot do that
without more intelligence. See the differ
ence. The little province Of Groningen,
about equal in size 70 one of our counties
eight hundred and eighty-six square miles,,
supports an agricultural school of fifty stu
dents. Vermont, after having $3.50, 900 given
TO her to found an agricultural college, don't
care enough about agricultural education to
make any use Of the fund. We have had il
eight years, and half the farmers in the state
know nothing about il, and few care any
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