THE FARMER'S iMONTHLY VISITOR. 



crop of rye or wheat (and there is scarcely a chance 

 ofsuch a crop failing on the ncw]yburntgiound)will 

 pay for tlie labor of chopping and clearing, we shall 

 be a greater gainer than to have purchased a pas- 

 ture already cleared. 



The town of Wilinot, in the north-west section 

 of Merrimack county, is situated on the north- 

 west side of Kearsarge, and embraces a part of that 

 with several other hills of high elevation: that 

 town was created about thirty years ago from a part 

 of Kearsarge Gore and au unsettled and rough 

 portion of jVew London. Within our recollection 

 there were not thirty ratable polls in the town ; and 

 whoever has passed through tlie turnpike road be- 

 tween Concord and Lebanon cannot fail to have 

 marked this as one of the most forbidding places 

 from its extreme roughness and the apparent ster- 

 rility of its highlands. Including mountain, hill 

 and dale, tiie town is considerably less than a six 

 mile townsiiip. An enterprising and now wealthy 

 farmer and trader in Aadover, who has resided on 

 the borders of Wilmot eighteen years, informs us 

 that when he came to that place there were scarce- 

 ly ten persons living within the limits of the town 

 who could be safely credited for the sum of ten 

 dollars ; but that at the present time, of a popula- 

 tion numbering more than two hundred and fifty 

 legal voters, tiiere were hardly ten persons who 

 might not safely be trusted to any amount they 

 might ask. The truth is, that the most of these 

 inhabitants who have either been born in or remov- 

 ed to this rough town, have cleared their lands and 

 made good farms, and made their way to compe- 

 tency by industry a,nd frugality, producing in many 

 instances a surplus beyond their own consumption, 

 and obtaining from the preparation and manufac- 

 ture of lumljer and tlie produce of the land mone}' 

 sufiicient for all tlieir purposes. Such a population 

 as this town has reared is a real honor to our land 

 — it speaks volumes in favor of the occupation of 

 clearing, improving and tilling the soil which pre- 

 sents the roughest exterior. The wealtli of solita- 

 ry individuals in our commercial cities may be 

 swelled to hundreds of thous:iuds and even mil- 

 lions ; but it is even questionable whether, with all 

 the advantages of our cities, any one of them can 

 present an aggregate population as truly independ- 

 ent, as moral, as intelligent and happy, as can the 

 rougli and forbidding township which we have been 

 describing. 



A new Theory from Old Facts. 



The earth every where upon its face carries evi- 

 dence of previous submersion ; excavating it at 

 almost any point, tlie proof, in the rounded stones 

 and pebblet- and filtrated sand, is before us that wa- 

 ters rolled over or settled upon the different strata 

 for myriads of ages. Tliere is nothing in this, in- 

 consistent with the Revelation of tlie Sacred Scrip- 

 tures, when we consider that the days of creation 

 might eacli have embraced periods of thousands of 

 years prior to the existence of man. 



But if, in the time when "tlie earth was without 

 form and void ; and darkness was uj)on the face of 

 the deep; and the Spirit of God moved upon the 

 waters," tlie present continents and islands were 

 moving or stationary amidst the chaos for uncount- 

 ed years ; long subsequent to tifis, while the wa- 

 ters retired from portions of the earth, other por- 

 tions which are now dry land, still remained the 

 tract of some wide sea, or lake, or smaller body of 

 water. 



The distant or recent formation of the earth es- 

 sentially contributes to the peculiar qualities of the 

 soil, to its hard or easier cultivation, to its greater 

 or less fertility. 



The country west of the ridge dividing the wa- 

 ters of the Connecticut from the Merrimae.k river, 

 is evidently more recent than that on the east side 

 of that ridge. Passing over this ridge at several 

 points, we immediately discover a change of soil 

 — the cast side has primitive rocks and hard soil ; 

 the west side is more like alluvion and the rocks 

 iesp primitive. 



Our theory is, that the waters, at least as far down 

 the Connecticut as the gorge breaking through be- 

 tween Mount Holyoke and Mount Tom below 

 Northampton in Massachusetts, were a series of 

 lakes ; and that tin.' only waters " of those lakes 

 which went to the ocean were discharged through 

 the valley of the Merrimack. 



There is all along the valley of the Merrimack a 

 second plane elevated some seventy-five feet above 

 the present bank of the river at the intervale ; and it 

 is remarkable that this plane above and below for 

 the distance of many miles preserves a level, show- 

 ing clearly tliatthe flowing of waters produced it. 

 This plane or level has the marks of much greater 

 age than any levels on the Connecticut which cor- 

 respond to it. 



As indubitable proof thai the water for many 



ages, and long since the revolutions in tlie bosom 

 ol' the earth which have thrown the prunai-y rocks 

 from the interior to the surface, flowed over the 

 ridge which separates the two rivers, the existence 

 of a well or basin at the highest point of land in 

 the town of Orange, evidently formed by the at- 

 trituration of rocks in the flow of the waters at 

 their fall, may be adduced. That artificial well was 

 formed like similar holes whicli may be seen at 

 low water on the present falls at Amoskeag and 

 other places. It is at the lower point of tlie ridge 

 wiiere tlie waters broke through the southern point 

 of Cardigan mountain. 



Traveling up or down the Connecticut, the ap- 

 pearance of the mountain barriers north and south, 

 through which the waters have broken to make a 

 continuous stream, are very striking. On the 

 western or Vermont side at Bradford and Fairlee 

 the mountain is cut oft" at two points coming near 

 to the river as with a knife. Proceeding farther 

 down, wherever there is a rapid in the river there 

 is a mountain that has been broken down, or a 

 transverse river running easterly or westerly tliat 

 has furrowed a deeper gorge into the earth below 

 the fall. 



On the banks of the Connecticut the soil is gen- 

 erally deeper and richer than on the banks of the 

 Merrimack. Logs of wood have been found at 

 Hanover and other places thirty and forty feet un- 

 der ground, but far above the present bed of the 

 river, which were comparatively sound. These 

 logs must have been covered with layers of soil by 

 the washing of the waters while that part of the 

 river was a lake, long before the river flowed to 

 the ocean in the whole extent of its present cha.i- 

 ncl. 



The more recent formation of the Connecticut 

 valley including all the land to the top of the Ver- 

 mont mountains, leaves that region with more of 

 the elements of fertility than that of the Merri- 

 mack. The v/aters coming down from a more re- 

 cent soil make the alluvion on the former more 

 productive than tlie latter. 



With the philosophy of the composition of soils 

 we are but little acquainted. The soil of the sec- 

 ond level of the Merrimack formerly was consider- 

 ed as almost too sterile for cultivation, and it then 

 possessed but little value, covered as much of it 

 was with heavy pine timber. The timber from 

 time to time was wasted by being cut and rafted 

 down the river, and sold at barely a price to cover 

 the expense of preparing and sending it to market. 

 Recently these lands have risen much in value — 

 those where timber had been left ten fold, and those 

 where timber liad been taken and a growth of wood 

 left generally four fold. It is also found that much 

 of this land which had been cleared of its timber 

 and wood is scarcely inferior to the bottom lands 

 on the same river for cultivation. Good farms are 

 made in some instances from the hard pine plain 

 levels. At short intervals there are beds of clay 

 which v/hen mixed with the light sandy soil of 

 these plains will be fonnd^ssentiallj' to strengthen 

 and invigorate it. A portion of tliese plains near 

 the confluence of smaller streams with the main 

 river is of a different character from the rest — a 

 liglit soil resting upon a subsoil of clay. A consid- 

 erable tract of this dead plain lies on each side of 

 Turkey river uniting with the main river just above 

 Garven's falls in Concord. Several farms of supe- 

 rior culture already exist upon this tract; and we 

 do not doubt the whole of it will ere long compose 

 a not less fertile district than the best farming dis- 

 tricts of the town. 



Merrimack river, from its splendid water-falls at 

 Lowell and Amoskeag and those of several tribu- 

 taries, the Nashua, iV.c. possesses advantages for 

 large manufacturing towns beyond her larger sis- 

 ter the Connecticut. We trust many of the pres- 

 ent generation will live to see her agriculture, as 

 well upon her alluvion as upon her pine plains and 

 the high hills near which she passes, advanced to 

 as high a degree of excellence a.-; the agriculture 

 of any part of tiie Cfjuntry. Kvery man needs 

 only annually to improve a single acre to the ut- 

 most means within his reach, to put an entirely 

 different face upon the whole region. Much 

 ground of the first rate fertility may be reclaimed 

 by ditching and draining; and the sure elements 

 of fertility for almost every kind of soil are to be 

 found very near. 



The Amoskeag farm attached to the extensive 

 company at the falls has been cultivated to great 

 profit ; it produced the present season three hundred 

 tons of the best of hay, wort h probably fourteen 

 dollars a ton and one thousand bushels of In- 

 dian corn. Most of tlie land where tliis hay grew 

 has within a sliort time been reclaimed from 

 useless bushes, fern and weeds. 



Education goes far, very far. towards determin- 

 ing and fixing characters. 



Ice. 



Fahranheit's thermometer, in the month of No- 

 vember, ranged below lero, and the cold was so 

 intense before the ground was slightly covered 

 with snow, after the copious and unusually warm 

 rain from the south which, if it bad continued for 

 one hour more with the extreme pouring down of 

 another single hour, would have overwhelmed and 

 swept every thing before it in many places, that 

 the highways at every short distance were cracked 

 from side to side. Up to the 20th of December 

 the ice had formed in the Merrimack river from 

 twelve to fourteen inches in thickness. At sun- 

 rise on tlie mornings of the last Friday, Saturday, 

 Sunday and Monday of the year the thermometer 

 was each morning below zero. The New Year 

 came in upon us like a lion : at day-light in tho 

 morning the thermometer at several places on the 

 Main street in Concord s'ood twenty degrees be- 

 low zero, and the degree of cold is stated to have 

 been greater than it had been for the last three 

 years. 



The deep freezing has enabled several of our 

 landlords, who know hov/ to cater for good living, 

 to put in their annual stock of ice in December 

 which is not usually done till February and March. 

 The chrystalline appearance of the blocks of ice 

 taken from tho Merrimack is beautiful — it is clear 

 as amber, and pellucid as the finest glass. 



Tho use of ice in the warm summer months as a 

 matter of economy as well as luxury may be an 

 object to farmers. It may bo made to preservp 

 fresh meats from putrefaction and butter I'rora ran- 

 cidness : a small piece of ice applied to butter used 

 for spreading upon new baked bread and cakes is 

 worth half of the price of the article ; and used 

 with discretion it makes a glass of water, either 

 sweetened or in a natural state, a, most grateful 

 beverage. 



Three years ago we were at the expense of con- 

 structing an ice-house which cost nearly thirty 

 dollars by digging deep in the ground and bricking- 

 up ; and it was a source of mortification to find 

 that other and better ice-houses than c^urs might 

 be constructed for less than one third of that sum. 

 — Anj' dry cellar will answer well for an ice-house ; 

 it need not even be stoned or boarded up on the 

 inside so tlie ground about it remain firm. A roof 

 is required turning off the rain. It is believed an 

 ice-house above ground may be made as sure for 

 its preservation as a cellar below. It should be 

 banked about on each side. Tan would be a little 

 better than earth as a non-condtictor of heat. But 

 in any common cellar where tho air can be kept 

 out, a considerable qua.ntHy of clean rye straw, 

 with the ice closely imbedded therein, will be a 

 sure preservative. The bottom of the cellar should 

 be supplied with pieces of timber of six or eight 

 inclics in width and thickness, placed about tho 

 same distance apart so as tn prevent the contact of 

 the ice with the ground. The covering need be no 

 more than to prevent the ingress of water and pre- 

 serve a uniform temperature. 



Fatting Cattle. 



The process of litall feeding oxen and cows in 

 the winter on corn or oats ground into meal or oth- 

 erwise, is expensive. Dear as it is, when stalled 

 beef sells from eight to ten and twelve cents tho 

 pound, it may still be a question whether the farm- 

 er will not do as well with his Indian corn or oats 

 to feed it to his fatting cattle as to sell it at one dol- 

 lar for the one "nd fifty cents the bushel for the 

 other. Moses C. PiUsbury, Esq. Warden of the 

 Slate Prison, who has a fine farm at Derry in this 

 State, and was an excellent farmer while he resid- 

 ed upon it, has in past years fattened hiso.xen, one 

 or more pairs each year, in this manner ; — He gen- 

 erally works them during the winter, feeding as is 

 commonly done with hay. Towards spring ho 

 commences feeding tliein, in addition to the usual 

 hay feeding, two or three times a week on raw po- 

 tatoes s.aJtcd in a mixture of Indian meal or bran 

 just sufficient to make the handful of salt adhere to 

 the potatoes so that the animal will eat the whole 

 with good appetite : he continues this feeding after 

 the oxen are turned out to pasture until the months 

 of June or July, when the animals will have gain- 

 ed in fatness that shall give tlieir greatest weight, 

 and at a season when they will bring the highest 

 price. 



Mr. Pillsbury mentions a fact of which we had 

 not been aware, and which we do not recollect ev- 

 er to have seen in print — that potatoes in the fall 

 aud early part of the winter are not as valuable in 

 fattening cattle or hogs as they are when fed out 

 as late or later than March and April. In their 

 raw state, when new, they scour the animal 

 feeding upon them, and impart but little nutri- 

 ment. They afterwards lose their eathartical qual- 



