Cattle barge Jisp

Modern times they may be, but in the polders of North Holland province cows still have to cross the water to get to the other side. Because there the grass stands proud and tall, so that the seven stomachs they each have can get to work. And that will boost their milk production. And so the farmer ferries them across on an old-time flatboat, just wide enough to allow the cattle to line up side to side. They gaze out over the landscape that has surrounded Jisp for centuries. These are historic lowlands that constantly had to be wrested back from the water. The forefathers of the farmer on the barge were traders and especially fishermen. In those days the Zuiderzee was still close by. The bravest fishermen tugged their woollen hats down over their ears and ventured out on whalers in the Northern polar sea. This farmer stays closer to home.