Land Behind The Dikes : The Netherlands (1949)

The Roots but everywhere else we have had to construct barriers called D from flooding the countryside the name of our country tells why this is necessary Netherlands means lowlands over a quarter of our land lies below sea level and is somewhat higher behind the dkes are farmlands many square miles of the in the fields even in the winter month Although our soil is ex Holland is a very small country densely populated we cultivate every possible acre as thoroughly as we in order to raise larger crops we must find new land the only way to do this is by taking it from the sea for this purpose we have begun a tremendous Reclamation project in the shallow Gulf called the Z in the north of the country this gulf has been blocked off from the North Sea and made into a lake called the Isel m we have already recovered some land from the lake by pumping out the seawater we plan to reclaim much more this tremendous engineering project was begun about 30 years ago when a great sea wall 182 mil long was built across the mouth of the Zoda a monument has been erected at the place where the huge dke was finished finally cutting off the Z from the North Sea after the Dyke was finished the salt water behind the barrier was pumped into the North Sea in place of the salt water a fresh water lake was formed by the rivers flowing out of the Mainland section by section the land beneath the lake is being a dyke is built around each area to be reclaimed these dkes are built of Earth carried out into the lake in barges High Press pumps Force water into the Earth making a soft [Applause] mud then suction pumps draw the mud through pipes and deposit it on the bottom of the AEL M gradually the piles of mud grow High High until they are above the surface of the lake in time the piles of mud will dry into a wall of solid earth then the Water behind the wall can be drained off as the dkes are built they are reinforced with a matting woven of Willow branches and straw this matting prevents the earn wall from being washed away our landscape changes wherever the land is reclaimed Islands once surrounded by The Saltwater of the Z are now high and dry on some of them the old water line can still be seen the sections of the land that have been under the sea must be treated to remove the salt sometimes this takes years once the newly reclaimed Earth is free of salt it must be enriched with fertilizers before it can be cultivated at the same time the soil is being prepared for farming ditch are dug to drain off the water that runs down from Higher Ground these ditches are part of an elaborate drainage and irrigation system which makes it possible to farm both upholder lands and lowlands a cross-section of the countryside shows how this works holding back the sea from must protect the fields behind them the water from rain and rivers drains into canals and is drawn out of the region by pumps and windmills the polands are drained the same way and are further prodes although with the help of modern machinery we can now reclaim a great deal of land each year we have been making land for centuries in North Holland is a poer that is 300 years old on it is a farm called the Unicorn the Unicorn is the oldest Farm of the poer as on many of the farms in our country flowers are grown at the Unicorn it is one of the children's jobs to pick them for the house the owner of the Unicorn the Y like so many of our Farmers he has a herd black and white Holstein fan cows which give more than any other breed he takes very good care of them for he knows that when they are well cared for they will produce more milk than [Music] others our Dairy Farmers are always searching for new ways to make their milk production even greater manong tries out different kinds of fder on his herd the Dutch people have a reputation for being clean and neat we wear our wooden shoes only Out of Doors the cow barns are often almost as tidy as the houses we are very fond of flowers in the Netherlands Some Farms raise nothing but flowers and Holland sends quantities of bulbs and seeds to other countries the homes of many of our farming families are like the Dong's well furnished and comfortable the Dong's meals are substantial besides beef from their cattle they have pork and lamb and vegetables from the garden it is sometimes difficult for us to realize that where so many of our Farmers now live there was once nothing but the ocean our poer lands and lowlands are suitable for fruit raising harvesting the Apple crop is one of the jobs that the young children are given to do this helps their father who like all Farmers is busy all day long The Orchards and field which produce so much of us and SS but also PR them to keep them from being flooded By the Waters of the North Sea each farmer must by law look after the sections of the canals that pass through his land this is for his neighbor's good as well as his own so at least once a year Minong trims the banks and cleans out old grass and leaves the canals on each Farmer's land must be kept open so that the water can drain out of all the fields in the PO in a few places old-fashioned windmills are still an important part of our drainage and irrigation system they pumped water from the fers into the larger canals and rivers which empty into the sea for hundreds of years before we had gasoline and electric pumps all the farms in the Dutch lowlands depended on the windmills for protection from floods to start the windmill so that it will drive the pump the sails must be spread out and trimmed so that they will catch the breeze when the wind is caught and the canvas sails the big blades rotate this drives a gear wheel which in turn moves a large wooden screw which thrusts the water forward from the fields into the canal the old and picturesque windmills which once dotted our Countryside have almost all been replaced by motor driven pumps the pumping stations can do the work of dozens of windmills [Music] the drainage ditches and canals that have been built to prevent floods can be used to irrigate the land when the season is very dry our canals connect with one another and with rivers and lakes they form a system of inland waterways our farm waterways to take their produce to mark dkes boats are carried Overland by a cradle car a cable TOS the car out of the water onto the drive barges passing from one Canal into another where the water is either higher or lower must pass through locks as the lock fills or empties the barges are raised or lowered when the water in the lock reaches the same level as the canal ahead the gates are opened and the boat goes on its way in our country more freight is HED by Canal boats and barges than by railroads hundreds of barges take the products of our Farms to the markets every day in some towns the canals run right through the market buildings as the boats pass by the dealers can look at the produce and decide what they are willing to pay for each load an electric indicator registers the prices as they are Bid in front of each dealer is a button which controls the indicator once a week the farmers who live in the same part of North Holland as the dong family go to the market town where livestock is bought and sold when a buyer and seller come to terms they clap hands this is the same as a contract the food the dealers buy from the farmers of North Holland feeds many of the people in our crowded cities in addition to meat animals farm horses are also bought and sold at the market half of the farmers in Holland are Dairy Farmers the cattle market is always crowded like most Farmers Min dong is always interested in buying new cars which have good milk producing records in this way he improves his herd in the Netherlands the manufacturer of dairy products is an important industry large quantities of milk go into making butter and cheese for export many dairies are owned by groups of farmers who share the costs and profits of the plant the government insists that we keep the highest standards of Purity and quality in our Dairies all the milk is purified by heating it to a high temperature this process is called pasteurization it destroys germs which might cause disease after the milk has cooled it is poured into Vats to be made into cheese substances are added to curdle and thicken it at every stage sandles are taken out and tested although with modern machines we produce more cheese than we did years ago we make sure that it tastes just as good as or better than our famous old cheeses the dairy men's Cooperative meets regularly so that its members may know everything about the business which they own and so that all them together and they decide how to run the plant in the most profitable way is a member of one of these cooperatives the dairyman here reports on the new farmlands we are reclaiming on new methods of cattle raising and feeding and on farming conditions in other parts of our country as well as abroad they discuss many other matters of interest to Farmers a few miles away from where the dong family lives in North Holland is alar the center of the Dutch cheese trade the clock of the old Del Tower in alar is famous throughout our [Music] country from all over North Holland cheese is shipped to alar for sale and expoes both here and abroad is the round Edan cheese named after another city in North Holland despite the great care with which cheese is made it is once more inspected when it arrives in Amar all cheese must be examined and weighed before it is stamped by the government as fit to be sent abroad the same kind of uniform has been worn by cheese Porters for hundreds of years occasionally the children of alar help roll the Edom cheeses down the loading shoots into the boats some of the newly Made cheese goes to warehouses for ripening much of it is shipped directly to foreign markets while life goes on in our busy cities and on our Farms our great project for reclaiming more land continues behind the dkes of the Isel one poer has already been reclaimed and is now being used for farming work is being done on another the mud which was once at the bottom of the lake has dried out and is being improved with fresh top soil brought from other parts of the country as the years go by the streams from Higher Ground carrying grains of rich soil will make this land more and more fertile for the families who will someday settle on this poer workmen are constructing a whole new Village the project has been planned so that the houses will be finished by the time the fields are ready for their first planting the boulder reclaimed from the Asel mayor several years ago is already yielding large harvests when the entire project is finished there will be four such Boulders containing in all nearly 900 square miles of Rich Earth then we will have a great deal more land on which to raise food for our people but the work of preventing the sea from flooding our carefully farmed country will never be finished for us who live in the Netherlands the Low Country which lies where Western Europe slopes to the North Sea