▁of ▁G ron ingen . ▁ ▁The ▁Stad sk ana al ▁( City ▁canal ), ▁which ▁was ▁d ug ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 th ▁century , ▁largely ▁follows ▁the ▁S ems lin ie . ▁This ▁canal ▁played ▁a ▁significant ▁role ▁in ▁the ▁large - scale ▁pe at ▁har vest ing . ▁The ▁areas ▁that ▁were ▁cultiv ated ▁were ▁called ▁ve enk ol oni ën ▁( peat ▁colon ies ). ▁ ▁Due ▁to ▁pe at ▁har vest ing ▁and ▁d rain age ▁the ▁remaining ▁sw amp ▁became ▁a ▁lot ▁d rier . ▁This ▁was ▁bad ▁for ▁the ▁military ▁function ▁of ▁the ▁eastern ▁branch . ▁Therefore , ▁d ikes ▁were ▁built ▁near ▁Bour t ange ▁to ▁keep ▁water ▁there . ▁ ▁Also ▁colon ists ▁from ▁Germany , ▁who ▁grew ▁bu ck w he at , ▁arrived ▁in ▁the ▁Dutch ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁bog . ▁In ▁order ▁to ▁make ▁the ▁soil ▁suitable ▁to ▁grow ▁bu ck w he at ▁the ▁pe at ▁had ▁to ▁be ▁burn ed . ▁Because ▁of ▁the ▁incon ven ience ▁it ▁brought , ▁it ▁was ▁b anned ▁in ▁ 1 9 2 5 . ▁ ▁During ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ▁pe at ▁as ▁a ▁fuel , ▁got ▁competition ▁from ▁coal ▁and ▁pe at ▁har vest ing ▁became ▁less ▁prof itable . ▁In ▁the ▁second ▁half ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ▁de ▁another ▁important ▁canal ▁was ▁d ug , ▁the ▁Verl eng de ▁Ho oge ve ens che ▁Va art . ▁This ▁resulted ▁in ▁more ▁pe at ▁har