The Dutch by Richard E. Schultz

the farmers the advances and experimentations in agriculture that he and Lord Jacobus had witnessed in Flanders. He told the farmers that no field ever needed to lay fallow and that Lord Derick now demanded all fields be planted each year with a new, second crop planted earlier than the usual final crop. The new crop must be beans, peas, turnips or clover, in any combination as long as clover leaf made up a substantial part of each seeding. He went on to explain that planting clover enhanced the yields of the grain crops which followed. He promised each farmer would be given new seeds to plant, but must return the seeds following the first harvest. The good brother also told the farmers that until distribution, anyone who wished to plow and sow an additional field in the south or on the new islands, would be given transportation and the opportunity. The yield of one’s labor on the new temporary land would be used to supplement their productivity for the upcoming year and increase one’s opportunity for an allocation of a new farm or additional land.
    The very idea of judging productivity made some of the farmers angry-particularly those who habitually cheated on their taxes by hiding grain or put little effort into their farm work. Yet, a clear majority found the Lord’s plan equitable and fair. Every farmer welcomed the additional yield from the land usually left fallow as long as it did not deplete the soil. However all knew the Lord’s declaration on the issue of inheritance would cause turmoil in their own large families, many of whom had many sons. None, after hearing the Lord’s tone at this meeting and the call to end hunger, dared to challenge his right to make these judgments. These men of the realm, like previous generations, trusted their Lord’s decisions. That night, Lady Hester approached the Baron and said: “Had my father made such a speech to his farmers, his worries would not have driven him to an early grave.”
    Lord Derick, the mighty warrior, never again went to war. The lord used the land reclamation and his wound as an excuse to avoid the Regent’s ever-ongoing campaigns against the Frisians even as Albert learned to hold on to the land he captured. Derick laid his sword aside and with a pick in his hands, set an example for his subjects. Sir Wilhelm Wind, with Derick’s assistance, supervised the labor of farm families who began digging the canal from the north where the soil was becoming drier. The work was half completed when they found the way blocked by a layer of rocks which seemed impregnable to picks and bars. It was the Baron who suggested using a trick learned in siege warfare, literally burning through the stone. His workers would uncover each layer of stone and set a blazing fire on top. When the rock became really hot, cool water was poured on the stone which would crack allowing the top layer to be pried off. The process was repeated until the laborers reached the proper level for the bed of the canal.
    Lord Jacobus, with the help of the surveyor and a labor force of townspeople, made quick work of the additional dyke in the north, which now protected the drying salt deposits from flood. Lady Hester went with him each day to the work sites and demonstrated to all that she too was not afraid to muddy her hands. She suggested to Derick and Jacobus that they build larger grain silos and warehouses to store food for future use. Once her idea was accepted, Hester demanded the silos be constructed within the town or built near the castle where they could be protected. She did all this, at a time when she carried Jacobus’ son and Derick’s first grandchild.
    â€œBrother Clover” as Jarvis the Monk was affectionately called by the farmers, shared all he knew about improving production with the farm families, and learned some new tricks, himself, in the process of supervising farm production and distributing the new and better seeds he