66 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF CROTON, MASS. 



the price was about 10 cents a pound or $20 a bale, which gave to 

 the grower about $100 as the gross return per acre. This extreme 

 variation in prices led to speculation in hops both by the growers 

 and the traders Sometimes a farmer would hold his crop, when it 

 could have been sold at 12 to 15 cents per pound, with the idea 

 that some time in the future he might realize 25 cents, and not infre- 

 quently he was doomed to sell his crop for 8 to 10 cents per pound, 

 or even, occasionally, as low as 6 cents. For the purpose of the 

 trade in hops, Groton was the center for the product of the towns 

 of Pepperell, Townsend, Ashby, Dunstable, Tyngsborough, West- 

 ford, Littleton, Boxboro, Harvard, Shirley, and Lunenburg. 



The product of all these towns in the years when the culture was 

 largest may have amounted to 500 bales, equal to about 50 tons. 

 Mr. Henry Woods at Groton, who was a dealer in hops, in one year 

 bought and sold, either on his own account or on commission, about 

 350 bales, which may have been about seven-tenths of the entire 

 product of the towns named. 



Between the years 1840 and 1850 the growing of hops was trans- 

 ferred to the State of New York, where the crop could be produced 

 at less cost; and more recently it has passed to the extreme north- 

 west, largely to the State of Wisconsin. It is very doubtful whether 

 a bale of hops has been raised in the towns named since the year 



^55- 



Yours truly, 



Geo. S. Boutwell. 



MOUNTAINS SEEN FROM GIBBET HILL. 



Several years ago Mr. Edward G. Chamberlain, of Au- 

 burndale, in reply to a note, gave me some interesting facts 

 in r,egard to certain hills and mountains, as seen from Gibbet 

 Hill. Mr. Chamberlain is an enthusiastic member of the 

 Appalachian Mountain Club, and very familiar with the 

 heights and peaks of New England. By his courtesy in 

 the matter, he has placed me under obligations to him for 

 facts that could not be gathered from other sources. While 

 Mr. Chamberlain has never been on Gibbet Hill, his opinions 

 in regard to the distant range of mountains, as seen from that 

 point, are entitled to great weight. The following letter will 

 explain itself: — 



