SOLON ROBINSON, 1850 417 



besides a few taverns, and other conveniences for con- 

 suming the alcoholic portion of Indian corn. There are 

 several respectable stores, and more churches than manu- 

 factories ; and a bigger custum house, in proportion to the 

 commerce, than New York or Boston can boast of. 



Watertown. — This is 10 miles east, the seat of justice 

 for the county, containing about 6,000 inhabitants, and is 

 altogether a very flourishing go-a-head sort of a place; 

 and since the great fire, that consumed the business part 

 of the town, several splendid blocks of stores have been 

 built, and others are building, equal to those of any inland 

 town in the state. In private residences, I will match this 

 place against any other in the Union, large or small, to 

 show as great a display of common sense in their arrange- 

 ment. I certainly never have seen so great a proportion 

 of remarkably neat, moderate-sized cottages, embowered 

 in lovely groves of ornamental and fruit trees, with 

 grassy lawns in front, (for all stand back from the 

 street,) as all dwellings always should in town or country. 

 The grove, surrounding the house of Mr. E. S. Massey,^ 

 whose hospitalities I enjoyed during my short visit, is 

 one of the most beautiful native growth, I think, I ever 

 saw. The trees are mostly sugar maple, for which and 

 their rich products, the county of Jefferson has long been 

 celebrated. 



An immense grapevine springs from one corner of the 

 yard, and extends itself upon several trees, and fre- 

 quently gives fifteen or twenty bushels of rich fruit in 

 return for the little plat of soil it occupies. Go, sluggard, 

 and plant a vine, and thou, also, shalt enjoy such luxury. 



Note. — The article in the November number, entitled 

 a "Jefferson-County Dairy Farm," would have been the 

 proper continuation of this. Solon Robinson. 



^ Edward S. Massey, born in Watertown, New York, October 18, 

 1806; died March, 1873. His parents settled in Watertown in 1800. 

 History of Jefferson County, 215. A portrait of Mr. Massey and 

 an illustration of his residence face page 152 in ibid. 



