Condnctcd by ISAAC HILL. 



Fublishert by WM. P. FOSTER. 



" Those to/io labor iti tlir. earth arc the chosen people of God, ichosc breasts he has watlr his peculiar dcpositcfor siilislantlal and ircnuine rirtue.."-}T.rrT.RSo«. 



VOLUMK I. 



CONCORD, N. Fl., MAY 15. 1839. 



NUMBEIJ 5. 



View of Kearsargc Monntnin from Patney's Hill in Ilopkintou, a <!is<ni;ceof twelve miles. 



3=558' 





(F.gu 



Tins mounlain covers an .ire.i equal probably to a township five- miles sqnaro, ' 

 or 1G,000 acres. It is silmted eatirely in the county of .Merriniaek and would I 

 be as nearly central in the territory of New iianipshiro as mig-lit be, ifiij 

 were removed due cast the length from its western to its eastern base. On 

 its northwestern side is the town of Wihnot — to the northeast, Ando\'er — 

 southeast, Salisbury — south, Warner — tlic line of Sutton cutting oll'the wliole 

 of its westerly end. The lines of Wilmot and Warner meet on the liigiieLt 

 point of the mountain — tiie westerly lino of vt>al!sbtiry strikes about -i mile 

 due east from tlje highest point — tiie soutliwest corner ot' Andovcr is 8'i.;.e 

 liundred rods further up tlie mountain on the north line of Salisbury' touch- 

 ing on Warner — and t!ie easterly line of Sutton hounded on Warner and Wil- 

 mot, crosses the mountain verv near the highest swell in the first curve to 

 the left of the top of the mountain. That part of tlie mountain falling- into 

 Wirner on tlie south and Wilmot on the nortli, was formerly Kearjarge 

 (iore. Wihnot was incorporated in 18U7, and embraces a territory of 15,1)00 

 acres, of v.'hicii G.OdO v,-ere taki n from the (_iore on the nortli si<le oi" the 

 mountain, and I), 000 from t!;e nortiierly end of A^ew London ; in the course 

 of twenty-two years the population of tiiis new town has increased nearly 

 ten for one. That part of the f lore left on the soutli side of tlie mountain 

 was anne.ved to Warner by an act of the Legislature in 1S18. 



We are induced to call the attention of our agricultural friends to this 

 mountain and its environs simiily for the reason that a recent personal e.^rani- 

 ination has entirely chanijed our ojiinion of tlie mountain region of New Eng- 

 land. Sonic of one ifry lic^t lu7ids arc to bcfound on these niGuntuitis. In rei- 

 orence to "Old Kearsargc" this remark is strictly the truth. The pasture 

 grounds about the sides and eKlending nearly to the top of this mountain are 

 far before tlie most valuable pastur." lands upon the plains. TiiecaiU.- and 

 plieep turned upon the pastures of Kearsarge seldom, if ever, come off lu tiic 

 fall but in the higijest liesli. Ee the sea:;jn wet or dry, if they ore nyt ever- 

 rttocked, these passtures always produce fresli feed. Tlie strenntli and stam- 

 ina of the soil, especially wllere tlie rocks appear to usurp the larger portion 

 of the surface, much exceeds tlic natural state of our low grounds. 



The farmers in Newbury, Massachusetts, and the vicinity, for many years, 

 duly appreciating the value of tln;se mountain pastures, have driven their 

 cattle through this town to be summered in the pastures of Kearsarge ; and 

 the farmers in Salisbury, Boseawen, Warner, &c. owning pastures here, ob- 

 tain from them an annual income, some of tliem greater than would be tlie 

 entire rental of decent firms in other places. All those who occupy these 

 pastures furnish the best cattle for the New England markets. 



Viewing the likeness of Old Kearsarge at the head of this article, we stand 

 on an elevated point of land in Ilopkintou, eight miles west of the village of 

 Concord on the Merrimnek river, and on an air line about ten miles southeast- 

 erly from the highest point of the mountain. Between the two points as will be 

 seen by close observation are several swells of land, whicli are of sufiicient 

 elevation to be called in other parts of the country, mountains. These swells 

 of land are generally cleared and partitioned off into farms of from fifty to one 



,e 13.) 



and two hundred acres eacli — the most of them with durable stone wall. Tlie 

 firm houses are usually well finished and comfortable, not the least useful 

 part being a cellar of ample dimensions f*r the preservation of every perish- 

 able article liable to injury from frost and the severity of our cold winters. 

 In the inclement seasons tiie farmers' houses of Nev.' England present within 

 dijors a resort of quiet and comfort such as may be souglit for in vain in the 

 dwellings of the gay and proud of the cities. The means of living are gather- 

 ed here, so tiiat the occupants are not dependent from day to day on the voli- 

 tion of others whose movements arc fiicilitated or retarded by the demand or 

 the price of the article furnished. The laborer.^ out of doors can enjoy their ease 

 within doors in the inclement feason without the reflection that their portion 

 of meat and bread must be stopped if they fail to continue their work. The 

 industrious and judicious farmer on these occasions, performing such me- 

 chanical work as may be neces.Hary and convenient, employs the remainder 

 of his time in procuring i uch useful information as may enlighten him in pnb- 

 i.c afi'airs, or perhaps in those devotional inquiries and exercises that may 

 the bet'or prepare him and his for that gnat change which awaits us all. 



The elevation at the extreme left hand point of our picture is much nearer 

 than the mountain, being about four miles from the hill in Hopkinton where 

 the view w.as taken. This is one of a series of hills called the Mink Hills, 

 extending on the south line of Warner five or six miles. To the south of this 

 ridge of hills is the meandering volley of tlie main or toulherly branch of 

 the Contoocook river, which has its source fifty miles southwest in the Mo- 

 nadnock mountain : a portion of this stream is visible to the eye at the dis- 

 tance of tv,'o or three miles. jNorth of the range of Mink liills and between 

 that and the mountain, is the valley of the Warner river, which has its main 

 source on the Sanripee mountain twenty miles west, and whicli runs within 

 half a mile of the Suaapei' lake itself which discharges its waters west into 

 the Connecticut river. \ beaiitiful village has grown up at Hill's bridge on 

 the v,-.ij 'Detv/een llopkintnn and Warner on the Contoocook, and within a 

 few miles distance on the Warner river is a continued village for several miles, 

 embracing alluvial farms, mechanics and traders in the town of Warner. 



At tlie base of Kearsarge on the extreme right is the valley of the Black- 

 water, having its sources some dozen. miles to the northwest: in the upper 

 part of this valley is the Fourth New Hampshire turnpike, built in 1803, 

 through what was considered the roughest part of the State, for the distance 

 of nearly twenty miles then without a settlement on its immediate track. 

 This turnpike leaves the valley on the cast near the west line of Salisbury, 

 To the south on the Blaekwafer both in Salisbury and Boseawen there are 

 many good farms: immense quantities of pine tiniber have been taken from 

 this valley from time to time and transported towards the seaboard on the 

 Merrimack. All the land is valuable, if not for cleared cultivation, for the 

 growth of wood .and timber, which is every year rising in value equal profcably 

 to the rate of six per cent, interest on the estimated price of the land. 



Within tlio limits of the town of Salisbury there is an alluvion track called 

 the Meloon meadow of remarkable fcrtility : it consists of several hundrea 



