Westland is a region of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and lies in the western part of the Province of

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

. It consists of the municipalities of

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

and

Midden-Delfland Midden-Delfland () is a municipality (''gemeente'') in the Westland region in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It had a population of in , and covers an area of of which is water. It was formed on January 1, 2004, through the ...

, and also of the town of

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

(which is a part of the municipality of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

). Westland is well known for its

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

in glasshouses, hence its nickname the glass city.

Greenhouse Horticulture

Greenhouses were already in use in some country estates from the 18th century, but in the 19th century it was decided to place glass windows against the

grape wall A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

s to protect the grapes from bad

indian summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

s, which disrupted ripening. Moreover, this also allowed the ripening time to be shortened. This introduced the modern

greenhouse horticulture A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

. New inventions such as the lessenaarskas, the kopkas, the druivenserre, the broeibak and the agricultural warenhuis eventually led to the modern

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

. From the end of the 19th century, but especially in the period just after 1900, the greenhouse was introduced on a large scale in the Westland, which again completely changed its appearance: over time, about three-quarters of the horticultural area was covered with greenhouses. Grape cultivation increased enormously before the outbreak of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but collapsed after the war because the southern European countries were able to supply grapes much more cheaply. As a replacement for grapes, the cultivation of

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

es,

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds. Lettuce is most often used for salads, although it is also seen in other kinds of food, ...

and

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.

s emerged and few grapes are grown in the Westland. From the 1960s onwards, the cultivation of

cut flower Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut ( ...

s also became increasingly important. These products are all mainly intended for export. After the First World War, rail transport was supplanted by road transport, for which a large number of new roads were built to bring the products quickly to the sales markets. The Westland is a prosperous and innovative region, due to the fast-growing development in the field of

agribusiness Agribusiness is the industry, enterprises, and the field of study of value chains in agriculture and in the bio-economy, in which case it is also called bio-business or bio-enterprise. The primary goal of agribusiness is to maximize profit w ...

. Many new techniques are emerging to enable us to function better as a horticultural company, from the closed greenhouse to the

convertible greenhouse A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving expe ...

. The greenhouse horticulture area, the '' Glass City '', is largely limited to the municipality of Westland. The street name '' Laan van de Glazen Stad '' in Naaldwijk also refers to this. In Midden-Delfland (as argued above also part of the Westland region) livestock farming predominates. File:Druivenland Weeknummer 36-39 - Open Beelden - 29853.ogv, Grapes being picked in a greenhouse in Westland in 1936 File:De eerste verse groente Weeknummer 43-12 - Open Beelden - 14177.ogv, Harvest in 1943 File:Druivenfeest in het Westland-508328.ogv, Grape festival in westland in 1951 File:Tomato P5260299b.jpg, tomato growing

References

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