WINDMILLS - THE NETHERLANDS
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A popular expression goes, "God made the world but the Dutch made Holland." The lowlands of the Netherlands were flooded until the Dutch began building dykes (low dams) and draining the water out with windmill pumps for farmland. Because much of this land, called polders, is below sea level (the lowest is 6.7 meters below) they have to keep pumping continuously. Over the centuries, this process has increased Holland's total land area by an incredible 30%. Bud wanted to make his bedroom bigger by building dykes into the hall but I told him no.
When three or more windmills work together, it is called a "molengang". A "3-gang" or a "4-gang" is used when the difference between the water in the polder and the water around the polder is too much for one mill to handle. Then the water is removed from the polder in steps. These three windmills close to Leidschendam are wooden "grondzeilers" or "ground sailors", which means that the top part of the mill where the sails turn around to face the wind is operated from the ground. Another thing the Dutch excel at is making kaas, or cheese, as Bud discovered when he visited Gouda.
