The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-05-01

sods to the garden from some other
section of the country. Large com
panies in Holland have fleets Of barges
that do nothing but transport soil
from one part of the country to an
other. Likewise, great barge loads Of
fertilizer are shipped doWn to the
bulbfelds near HARLEM from the
cattle-raising districts in Friesland.
This sort of fertilizer often sells as
high as 1885 per w~heelbarroW load.
Expert fertilization of the soil alone
has done more for Dutch agriculture
than protection yer did. 1t made the
earth yield large crops, which in the
aggregate brought greater returns,
and gave abundant labor for every
man, woman and child. The tide of
emigration from Holland ceased some
forty years ago; all farm hands are
needed now. Indeed, the Dutch farmer
known his soil like a lawyer should
know his Blackstone. Sometimes s.
600 pounds Of super-phosphate, 1000
pounds of kainit and 900 pounds of
nitrate are used one one acre Of
ground in a year, Such ground would
naturally produce enormous yields
then-perhaps 1000 bushels of pota-
toes or $50 bushels of oats per acre
Land in the best sections of Holland
sells at more than f.2500, and rents
at f1.87 per acre, and higher. f.5O
per acre annually for fertilizers is not
out of the ordinary.
Devices for Labor Saving.
Intensive agriculture in Holland has
brought into use many labor saving de-
vices. One. would have a very errone-
Gus picture of Holland today if he
imagined that the whole country is
worked with a spade, and that the Gull
tivation is more horticultural than ag-
ricultural. A characteristic mode OF
fast travel in the rural districts OF
the Netherlands is on a bicycle. The
country has the largest number OF
bicycles per capita of any country in
the world. In a town of 5000 inhab-
itants, there will be probably 1900 to
1000 bicycles. In many of the villages
the spectacle of SO large proportion
Of the population on wheels is really
comical. This is characteristic Of what
they do in other lines.
AS a further illustration Of the prac-
tical side and adaptibility Of the HoI-
land farmers, in the period from 1880
80 they grew 225, 600 acres of wheat
while by 1907 it was reduced to 125,00t
because they realized that this cror
was being grown in competition with
more advantageously situated areas
oversea, and other products wouiC
bring them greater financial returns: or
the same ground. So they chose tc
buy wheat n produce something else
in it's stead. The production of buck.
wheat was even more restricted. Or
the other hand, in response to new op,
portunlties, sugar-beets, carrots and 6
great variety Of other staples. have in.
creased in production.
Mississippi Of Milk.
The prosperity of the Dutch farmer
can scarcely be told except in figure:
or SMILES. When you get into certai,
sections of Holland you actually SCI
lakes Of milk and mountains of yellow
cheeses. Really, near Alkinaar, thu
great cheese market of north Holland
you see such, stacks of cheeses as. IL
the early days of Nebraska you saw
huge yellow corn piles on the prairie
in the autumn months. What was one,
sWamps is now drained land, pastur
ing fine herds of mich cows, which
produce great watts of milk. If. all thu
milk produced in Holland were pu
into n stream it mould make a grea
river like the Mississippi. If you e
to the different farm houses and dairie:
of the country o will hear such esti'
mates as "a ton of butter made her,
daily" 1000 cheeses made here every
day." $500 cheeses manufactured II
this factory weekly; /" 100000 gallon.
Of milk used in this factory yearly
to quote but a few.
The production of butter rose from
10000 tons in 1905 to $4,000 in 1910
Here are some figures Of the workins
Of a dairy in 1908, in which seventy
seven farmers had shares, with an ag
gregate of 1876 cows, making boil
butter and cheese from the milk: Mill
received 1,424,723 gallons; value abou
f.350,000 percentage of fat in the mil
3.14; average supply per COW $50 gal
Ions, (though much higher records ar
common). Each COW paid about f.211
The total quantity Of cheese made il
Holland in 1910 was $4,000 tons. 1t wa
exported largely to England, German,
and Belgium, the United States ais,
taking considerable. The establish
ment Of model dairy schools all owe
the country did much to help this caus
along.
Money in Truck Gardening.
Another flourishing branch of agri
culture in Holland is truck gardening
especially cabbage raising. Cabbag
growing land rents as high as f1.10
per acre annually. The farmers Wh,
II began this had sixty to seventy acr
farms, but they soon found that tel
acres was the profitablesa a,Abecaus
so much depends on personal atten