Evening star., 1897-08-07

double line of piles along the route of
the outer dyke The lines of piles will be
fifty feet apart, and when they have been
sunk the water will be damned back on
steam pumps, placed at intervals of a thou
sand feet, will keep the space between
pumped out. The steam pump is a most
useful ally to the Hollanders, and during
the building of the canal it will supersede
the picturesque windmills which have here
tofore been used for this purpose, and
which are so prominent in every Holland
landscape.
When the dyke has been completed wind
mills will be used to keep the water pump
ed out and to dispose of the yearly inun-
dations. Those windmills will have towers
nearly Two hundred feet high. and a sweep
of seventy-five feet. They will be the larg-
est of their kind in the world. On the bed
of the land canal thus cleared away wall
OF solid masonry will be built thirty-five
feet wide at the bottom and tapering to
from eight TO ten feet wide at the top. ac-
cording to the depth of the water i'm differ
ent parts of the route. This masonry wall
VIII be backed up on either side by an
earthwork, and will have permanent pump
ing stations erected along its line. When
this first dyke has been completed another
one will be erected parallel to 1t on the
land side. and will be of the same con-
struction-masonry in the middle, defended
embankments will be protected against the
danger Of washing away is distinctively
Dutch. Strips of pliable wood will be wow
en- into a complete basket work, which will
be bound along the banks on each side
The water preserves the wood and makes
the basketwork most effective defense
Between the two dykes an open path will
be left for a canal for the canal every
where accompanies the dyke in Holland
and, as some one has remarked, every
house is port" This canal will provide a
channel for the flowing of the tides. an
outlet for the rivers, conducting them to
ready means of irrigation. Along the dyke
embankment will extend a railway line
connecting the towns which will quickly
spring up in the reclaimed district
Draining mn Ialand Lake.
When the great southern arm of the
Zuyder Zee is shut off the next step I'm the
work will be the drainage of the great in
land lake that will remain. For this our
pose maze of intersecting dykes and ca
nails will be built. each one fitted with its
pumping stations, and all conducting the
water to the sea by way of the main canal
There will then be exposed a broad basin
Of some 4S7.500 acres in extent, but the
work win be only half done.-for, while a
part of this surface win consist of the rich
alluvium deposited by the Yssel and smaller
streams, the greater part of It will be
sandy waste, Unfit for cultivation. This is
q condition with which the Holland farmer
As some one has said "All HOLLAND Is a
vast monument to the virtues of top
dressing" Half the present territory OF
the little country has been built up on just
such a sandy substratum as this. The pro-
cess of enriching the land is not unlike
that Of skin grating. Every district in
Holland win be called upon to contribute a
section of its rich surface and q portion of
its famous manures. Every Dutch ship re-
turning from the colonies will carry as tal-
last q load Of rich earth. and this patch
work process will be continued until the re-
claimed land. which at the start viii not he
able to grow even weeds. will take rank
along with the rest OF Holland rs one OF /
the most fertile spots I'm the world.
The present undertaking is ave timer as
great In its scope as the reclaiminE OF the
lake OF Haarlem, which was completed
twenty-five years ago. It VIII make a great
change In the map OF Holland and Will
wipe out The greater portion Of the Zuyder
Zee. Its effect on the commercial and In
dustrial conditions OF the country should
be even more important. ana the invest
ment, great as II will be. should return a
four-fold increase. besides its substantial
addition to the national wealth and do
main.