The record-union., 1895-05-02
FARM And ORCHARD.
How Dairying is Carried on in
Holland.
The Most Famous Breed of Cattle in
the World and How They are
Handled-Intensified Farmfng-The
Great Dutch Barns - Admirable
Cleanliness of the Stables.

Dutch cow, the objects of her original
breeding, and her especial value for
dairying purposes. brief review of the
country and people of Holland may
prove of assistance.
The whole country is full Of marshes,
divided by rivers, canals and lakes.
From this disposition of land and water
it derives utmost commercial advant-
ages. The small proportion OF fertile soil
to the large number of inhabitants rem
ders foreign trade necessity, and do
mestic industry is promoted by the fa-
cility of water communication. No part
of Europe of the same extent contains
half the number of beautiful cities, towns
and villages, all distinguished by an air
of neatnesS peculiar to Holland. Every
street, we may say every farm. is bor-
dered by canal; ships and houses are
almost everywhere blended together. and
half the people seem to live upon the wa
ters. The extreme hatness of the lands,
sunk below the level of the waters and
secured from foundations by vast dykes,
is due to the natural conformation. The
sea. rivers and canals are higher than the
land, and the dykes to hold back the
waters are from one to fifteen feet nlgh
and kept in repair by system OF general
taxation at prodigious expense.
OF the manners of the people, the his
torian, Basmage, wrote:
s'Like those of every other nation, they
are influenced by the climate and the ma
ture of the Government. Cold and
phlegmatic, they prosecute every meas
ure with indefatigable perseverance and
accomplish the most arduous attempts.
By the single virtue of patience they have
become protcients in science and the
arts. In WORD, invlnclble patience and
an invariable attachment to selt-interest,
are the hneaments that distinguish and
mark the character of Hollander."
The division of the land would appear
somewhat peculiar to an American &C.
customed to the square mile sections of
the United States Survey Corps. A three
cornered piece of land, containing some
times only a few acres, and hemmed In
by bitches, filled with water, represents
ofttimes whole farm. Though in those
parts where cattle-ralslng is the chief pur-
suit, notably in the province OF Fries
land, the farms increase in size. The
herds of sleek black and white spotted
milk machines. famous the world over,
find range on these flat grazing lands.
There is little room Tor modern farm
machinery except in extreme northern
portions. The spade, the hoe, the fork,
the sick le and scythe constitute the bulk
of the tools used on the farms. Women
reap and CLEAN and NOW, doing all classes
of work in the field, like men. DR.. Eel
ton, some years ago, wrote from Europe
on this subject:
II have heard a good deal of senti-
mental horror expressed at such barbar-
ism. Well. L have seen 1t constantly for
q couple of months, and, l confess, have
quite changed my opinion. Such peals
OF laughter as | have heard from groups
of merry maidens resting from their tolls
at midday! Such picturesque figures as
l have seen vigorously at work, with
their national costumes, their cheeks
brown and healthy and their eyes spark
ling with animation. One day L hap
pened 10 notice woman moving.
stopped, sat down and looked at her for
half an hour. She was apparently two
or three and twenty. Her head was
finely formed and set firmly on her
shoulders. Her hair was neatly braided
round it, her features were regular, COM
plexion brown a berry, eyes bright
blue. form vigorous, we'll rounded, like
that of Dorothea in Goethe's poem. She
was the picture of health and robust
beauty. She swung the scythe with an
inimitable ease and grace, and, as she did
so. there was placid expression on Ler
pleasant countenance, which spoke of a
good conscience, contented spirit and a
willingness to do the work which her
destiny pointed out, / examined the
swaths; the grass was cut as smooth as
velvet-you could not tell where one
swath ended and the next began. An
English lawn looked no smoother. 1t
was work of art, and American farmers
might have taken a useful lesson"
Holland, the little country which ex-
lists only by damming out the waters OF
the sea, is pre-eminently the dairy coun-
try of the world, producing annually a
much larger yield of dairy products. OF
greater value, in proportion to it's area,
than any other. AS early as the eighth
century 1t was celebrated for this. The
wealth of the nation depending some
what upon the immense production OF
these goods, the cattle and dairy indus
tries, filtered through hundreds of years,
have become its specially aud the main
dependence of it's agricultural class.
The farmers give more care and atten-
tion to their cows than to any other do
mestic animals. Cows, in winter, are 9
part of their family. occupying their as
signed portion of the house. W hen TAX en-
in for the winter they do not go out until
spring, and then remain on pasture
wearing a blanket for a month or more
Motley, in his history of the United
Netherlands, pauses in his recital of mo-
mentous events to pay a deserved trib-
ute to this breed of cattle. He says:
ssOn that scrap of solid ground, res
cued by human energy from the ocean
were the most fertile pastures in the
world. On these pastures grazed the
most famous cattle In the world"
Land is extremely high its valuation
runs from 1000 to $1,000 per acre. Enor.
NOUS rentals and the high rates of taxa.
ton. resulting from the building ano
keeping in repair of the vast system OF
dykes and canals, which are prominen
features in great part OF the country
create com biDation OF circumstances
and necessities which bring the culti'
vator to practice a strlctly rlglo sys-
tenn.
With the farmer of Holland it is a care
sui study to constantly maintain ana in.
crease the fertility OF his soil to carry al
the fertility possible TO his soil and sell as
little of it as may be. de is thoroughly )
disciplined in ali that pertains TO plan
ming well his work, knows full well the
value of a form and how to earn one
more and save part of 1t. He has learned
through his long line OF ancestry, the one
calling which ne successfully follows
He does not attempt to handle all breeds
of cattle nor raise any special crop exclu
siyaly His work Is devised on an al
most constant and very little varied scale
In North Holland he is dairyman above
ANYTHING else. The history OF the cattle
ma handles can, like his own, be traceC
back for centuries. He is satisfied 1t II
the best for his pocket, his health and bis
farm. The land under bis dairying sys
tenn yields him stores OF wealth. gladden.
ing his heart and growing his stock. He
works every dav and derives hourly
profit from his toll.
He is methodical feeder, careful tc
handle only such foods as are associated
with large milk production, a close OBJ
server OF the peculiar characteristics o
individual animals. kindly and cleanly
IN his treatment of cows and surround
:ngs. The Hollander is evidently of Lha
l,raed of improved daryman, for whicl