Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/446

* NETHERLANDS. 396 NETHERLANDS. direction of tlie j;eiKMal slopi? ot the country from east to west. They are all international streams, important in the commerce of Western Kiirope. The Khiue is the great hij;li«ay between Western Germany and the sea. i^ntering HoUanil, it ili- viiles into numerous arms, the chief of which are the Waal, the Lek, and the Yssel. Four-fifths of the river trade of Holland is carried on the Rhine and the Waal, making Rotterdam a Rhine harbor. The Meuse (Dutch Maas) joins the Waal, thus mingling its waters with those of the Rhine, and is important in the commerce of Eastern Belgium. The Scheldt or Scheldt-, whose estuary is mainly in the Netherlands, carries ocean vessels to Antwerp, and small boats from the Netherlands ascend the river to the centre of Belgium. Lakes are scattered all over the coiui- trj-. Some of the lakes, such as the large Haar- lem Lake, have been drained, and their beds converted into arable land. The stupendous un- dertaking of draining a great part of tlic Zuyder Zee is in progress. Climate. The climate is moist and with small range in temperature. The summers arc not very warm, nor are the winters often very cold. With an average annual temperature of .50° F., the mean temperature is 4!l° in the spring and autumn, 64.4° in July and August, and 35. U° in January. The annual precipitation is about thirty inches, rain falling on about two days in three throughout the year. The fact that most days are misty and damp, a week of bright weather being a rarity, induces the diseases which characterize such conditions, ilarsh fevers are also prevalent in the lioggy districts: and though on the whole Holland is regarded as having a healthful climate, the annual death rate in the western lowlands is from 30 to 40 per 1000, which is about one-third greater than in other parts of the kingdom. Soil .Nn VF.iiET.VTiON'. The country is poor in vegetable |)roducts excepting cultivated plants. The most fertile regions are those with a stilf clay soil on the reclaimed lands of the niuthern and western provinces and on the fluvial clays along the large rivers. These are the chief agri- cultural anil grazing lands, though the zone of cereals and some other crops also extends over a large part of the diluvial sands and gravels of the central regions. About one-fifth of the area is unproductive. The country is almost destitute of timber, scarcely one-fiftpenth of the surface being occupied by woods. Pasturage covers about one-third of the country, and the arable lands, including the areas devoted to kitchen garden- ing, occupy rather less than a third of the sur- face. Fisheries. Fishing is an important source of wealth, the industry being divided into river and coast fishing and the <leep-sea fishing. The chief product of the coast fisheries arc sprats, which are packed for export, and the oyster, which thrives in the alluvial mud brought down by the rivers and is protected from high seas by the islands along the coast. The herring fishery is the most important branch of dee|i-sea fishing, the annual catch averaging about 250.000 tons. flEOLooY AND MiXKRAL Uksoirces. Nearly the whole surface is eoveri'd by very recent Quater- nary format ions, diluvium occupying 40 per cent, and alluvium 50 per cent, of the ari'a. The coal measures, chalk, and Tertiary sands and loams occupy only about one per cent, of the surface and are found only in the extreme east and south- east. The diluvium was spread over the coun- try during the lee Age from .Scandinavia in the north, while in a later glacial period the ilcuse and lihine spread coarse sand and grit over the south. The winds, sea, rivers, and vegetation cooperated in the formation of the alluvial strata. Most of the country being composed of water or ice-borne debris, the supply of min- erals is very small. ISuilding stone is imported from Norway; the lack of this material has stinuilated the production of brick and tile. which are made in abundance, chiclly from the Rhine clays, and are of superior ipiality. Some coal is mined near Limburg. but there is no iron, ex- cept a small <[uantity of bog iron ore obtained from the bog regions of the east. Turf or peat is cut in very large quantities. AcRicrLTURF.. Over 500.000 of the inhabitants are engaged in agriculture, which has reached very high development in the northern and west- ern provinces and along the southern rivers; but scarcely three-tenths of the surface is arable land, and the ]uoduction fails to meet the home con- simi)tion. Rye, buckwheat, and potatoes are the chief products of the sandy soils; hops, sugar beets, tobacco, and wheat, of the clay soils. Rye, vegetables, and beet sugar are the chief agricul- tural products. The beet farms are in the richer lands of the river valleys, the country ranking sixth in the production ot beet sugar. Wheat from the United States sup|)lemcnts the home supply, only a small [)art of the people eating l-j-e bread, as they prefer a mixture of rye and wheat. The cereal crops, in order of importance, after rye, are oats, wheat, buckwheat, and barley. Beans are also a large crop, and ])ot.;itoes are the most important product after rye. Large quanti- ties of vegetables are sent to England. The culti- vation of flowers has reached a very advanced de- velopment, Haarlem being the centre of the flower industry, and exporting luilbs to all quar- ters of the world. Owing to very careful and scientific methods of tillage, the yield of all crops is large. In 1890 the land in farm crops was 2.139.144 acres; pastures. 2.929,123; gar- dens and orchards, 153.440: and forests, 624,421. Large areas of tind)er land were long ago cleared for cultivation, and the country is compelled to import most of its timber supply from various parts of Europe and from America. STonc-RAisiNO. .s the moist climate pro- motes the growth of grass, animal rearing is the most important resource of the country. Cattle- raising has attained a development equaled in few other countries of the world. Cattle thrive best in the coast provinces. Dairy farming is also far advanced near the sea. and hundreds of thousands of the famous Dutch cheeses are sent to foreign markets, butter being also a large product. Horses are brc<l with great success in Kriesland. Gelderland, and Niuth Brabant. Sheep are reared more for their llesh than their wool, chiclly in North Holland and in the south. The poultry yards stipply large cpiantities of eggs to England, and many tons of honey are i)ro- duced. chiefly among the higher lands of the east. Mamfactires. The country is of inferior importance as an industrial State. Coal and iron, the bases of large mantifacturing devcbqi- ment. are lacking, with the result that manu- factures hardly meet the home demand, and only a few articles are exported. The metal Indus-