SECRETARY'S REPORT. 1 



but, as soon as the thunder and lightning ceased, thej pushed 

 off their canoes to go and pick strawberries on the island ! 



After this cursory survey of the method of cultivating the 

 earth, in practice among the Pilgrims and their Indian neigh- 

 bors, we are better prepared to trace the progress of agricul- 

 ture down to the present day. It was, at first, the only pur- 

 suit of the settlers, and long continued to be their cliicf occu- 

 pation. 



We have seen that poor and miserable cattle, poor and mis- 

 erable implements — yet both as good, perhaps, as the time and 

 their means afforded — and poor and miserable ideas of farming, 

 characterized the agriculture of the first English settlers. 

 Nothing was done which was not forced upon them by the 

 pressure of necessity. Their wants were so many, that it 

 required their most vigorous exertions to provide what waa 

 indispensable, and they had no time to seek out new principles 

 of agricultural science or improvements in practical agricul- 

 ture. 



The first few years were spent in extending the settlement, 

 exploring the country, and seeking for new and better lands. 

 In the space of thirty years, no less than forty small towns 

 were incorporated, of which Springfield was the most western. 

 An attentive observer is struck by the restless disposition to 

 move from place to place, even in the early days of the settle- 

 ment. Land new and rich in mould, the accumulation of ages, 

 did not require very careful cultivation, to secure an abundant 

 return. But a few years of constant cropping exhausted its 

 productiveness. The proprietor could easily obtain other 

 lands, to, be subjected to the same process. He raised wheat 

 until the land became too poor, and then he raised corn ; and 

 when it would no longer produce corn, he sowed barley or rye, 

 and so on to beans. 



The number of intelligent cultivators was few, and for the 

 most part agriculture was in a state of extreme depression. 

 This state of things continued with little change, down to 

 the period of the Revolution. That it was so, will not appear 

 strange, when we consider that even in England, where land 

 was high, comparatively, and the demands for produce much 

 greater than here, there was, during the same period, none of 



