Conducted by ISAAC HILL, 



Published by WM. P. FOSTER. 



** Tliose icho faliOT in (he earth are the chosen peopJe of God, zchose breasts he has made his pecuHar depositefnr substantial and i^enuine rtViws. "-Jefferson. 



VOLUME 1. 



CONCORD, N. H., AUGUST 20, 1839. 



NUMBER 8. 



THE VISITOR. 



Our "Agricultural Survey," 



From tlie fifteenth to the twenty-seventh day of 

 July inclnsivc, we liave jimrncyed between tlire? 

 and four hundred miles in tlie- vehicle drawn by a 

 faithful beast which has done much service in the 

 family and farm use, and performed many journeys 

 daring the last three year?, having no other com- 

 pany than the youngest of our trio of sons, a boy 

 of twelve years of age, who really considers iiis 

 own opinion on matters and things worthy of ob- 

 servation to be as good as that of grown men, and 

 who yet has to learn much by experience which 

 he fancies he has already gained by sight and intu- 

 ition. The course of this journey was almost ex- 

 clusively along the plains and valleys and over and 

 through the mountains and hills of the Granite 

 State. A more satisfactory and gratifying journey 

 we have never taken. While on our way the mind 

 through the eyes lias been feasted not only with 

 the most charming and delightful scenery — noton- 

 ly with the grandeur of nature in the stupendous 

 mountains and fissures of rock and earth which 

 surrounded us — but in the abundance of vegetation, 

 of food for man and beast, which every where 

 jiresented itself. 



The season, thus far, has been more prolific than 

 any other season recollected ; and, to the credit of 

 the farmers of New Hampshire be it recorded, that 

 there never was a year in which preparation was 

 made for producing so much, as the present. We 

 have had nn wheat bounty offered by the Legisla- 

 ture to spur on our.fariners ; yet many towns, and 

 the whole northern region of our State, will pro- 

 duce, if the season shall be carried out in the same 

 success in which it has progressed thus far, suffi- 

 cient bread stufia for the consumption of the whole 

 resident population. The rye, sonic of whichhas'al- 

 ready been reaped and other fields nearly fit for the 

 sickle, has spread and grown to a magnitude al- 

 most unsuri)assed : we have passed many fields so 

 thick and so tall, the heads of unconnnon length 

 bending down,witl) the great weight of the kernel 

 and much of it growing on soil comparatively 

 lieht, that tlw growth seemed to be almost an illu- 

 sion of the f incy. Then every where meets the 

 view file abundant grass crop. Uncounted fields 

 of tall herdsgrass and clover presented themselves 

 in siglit of the travelled rjad : hundreds of acres 

 of ground recently cleared, on which no particle 

 of artificial manure had been ajiplied, were cover- 

 ed with tliis growth, yielding two and three tons 

 of hay to the acre. The numerous cattle and hors 

 es, young and old, which fed or gamboled upon the 

 pastures, all looked fat and thrifty : even those 

 which were turned upon the highways had no in- 

 ducement to break into tlic adjacent fields, for they 

 were really 'Hio to the car.s."' in honey-suckle. 



Sucli incidents upon this journey as were inter- 

 esting to us we will endeavor to put into a shape 

 that shall not be disagrcealjlo to the readers of the 

 Visitor If we can succeed in interesting them so 

 much as to n ako theyiiattcr worth tlie perusal, we 

 will satisfy ourselves, because we think we may do 

 the State some service. 



Phenomenon of the atmosphere. 



Within one hour from the time of leaving home 

 on Monday, July l."), a phenomenon of the atmos- 

 phere occurred which is. worthy of notice as hav- 

 iug taken place in other positions during the. pres- 

 ent season. It was not exactly the bursting of a 

 water spout— but it was a local deluge of rain for 

 a short time such as we have seldom witnessed. 

 The atmosphere had been filled with light clouds 

 driven up stream from the south, during the fore- 

 noon ; no great addition to the cloudy atmosphere 

 was observed when leaving the main street in Con- 

 cord, at two o'clock in the afternoon. Our course 

 was over the ferry at tlic south end of the street, 

 and by the Branch turnpike, over the pine plain, 

 on the east side. Before proceeding two miles, it 

 thundered, and it commenced a sprinkling of rain 

 from the tine we left the turnjiike, on the road to 

 Loudon Village. All the way keeping at a brisk 

 trot with an angry cloud at the south-west pursu- 



ing, we came to a turn in the road, which np the 

 Soucook river looks upon Oak Hill on the easter- 

 ly line of Concord. On the side of this hill rested 

 a cloud of angry, blackness, and to this oloud con- 

 verged rising from the stream itself and from the 

 surrounding woods a volume of under-cloud of fog 

 increasing with frightful rapidity the hiackness of 

 the main body. Tiiere was no shelter within a mile, 

 and the approaching black cloud seemed to he 

 scarcely that distance. The horse was hurried 

 over an uphill road, and the moment the carriage 

 was drawn undercover of a shed, the torrent came 

 down. The timely escape saved the concern from 

 as complete a drenching as could have taken place 

 if it had been immersed in a river. The shed stood 

 at the distance of not more than thirty feet from a 

 tavern house, to which it was attached.. Yet for 

 one hour the cloud continued to gather and the 

 water continued to pour down in such a torrent as 

 absolutely to forbid our leaving the shed with a 

 good umbrella, for a less penalty than a complete 

 drenching. In that space the falling rain slacked. 

 The wind changing its position to the east, con- 

 nected other clouds with that which had gathered 

 and partially discharged itself nearly over head ', 

 and a severe rain continued to fall during the whole 

 afternoon. We made a virtue of necessity, and 

 put up for the night only eight miles from home, 

 more than half inclined from the prospect of gulli- 

 ed and inundated roads to forego our purpose of 

 travel and return home the next morning. The 

 advice of our accommodating landlord, wjth whose 

 family and neighbors our time was passed pleas- 

 antly, and the fear that our own friends nearer home 

 might laugk for our want of resolution, induced 

 us to proceed. Next morning the Soucook stream, 

 rising in the adjacent town of Gilmanton, was 

 swollen so as to cover the grass upon the intervales. 

 A gentleman's garden near the tavern, which was 

 seldom covered in the highest freshets, was ten 

 hours after the rain completely under water. Pro- 

 ceeding to the north-co.st in a direction up tlie 

 stream, we found the small streams swollen and 

 the open ground inundated where the w'ater iiad 

 not soaked down or had a chance to run oft' — the 

 low grass lands were under water, and streams of 

 water were flowing wliere streams had not ofleii 

 flowed before. The tall and heavy grass on slop- 

 ing fields where the waters had opportunity to 

 unite, was swept down, indicating the extent of 

 the river on dry land which had passed over it. 

 This appearance of an unnatural increase of wa- 

 ters continued for the distance of about ten miles, 

 until the elevation between Soucook and Suncook 

 rivers was passed, where, according to appearance, 

 a much less quantity of rain had fallen in that 

 shower. 



In the arrangements of Providence, a wisdom 

 greater than that of man is indicated, that when 

 the elements conspire to produce such a wonderful 

 fertility as that of the present season, a general f\ill 

 of water like that which we have described as in a 

 local position should not overwhelm every thing. 

 If the same Amount of rain had fallen in Concord 

 street that fell at Loudon Mills, near the point 

 where the cloud on tho hill gathered from the 

 streams running near it, not only would hundreds 

 of loads of gravel and sand been swept from tlirec 

 or four points on the street, but it is our belief 

 buildings, some of them dwelling houses, would 

 have been swept from their foundations. Suppos- 

 ing the rain was more general, we expected to learn 

 at least that a freshet had covered the entire inter- 

 vale of Merrimack river, doing great injury to the 

 luxuriant growth upon it. Since our return we 

 have learnt that upon the west side of Merri- 

 mack river in Concord, there was no extraordinary 

 'rain on that day. Mr. Rolfc, who keeps the ferry 

 near the lower landing, remarked as within his own 

 observation, that while it rained comparatively lit- 

 tle on the west side where he was, the rain fell in 

 torrents on the east side of the river, la this case 

 it must be evident that the cloud which discharged 

 itself was supplied from the river itself,_ almost at 

 the moment the water fell to the ground'; and the 

 wind blowing from the west prevented any por- 

 tion of the water drawn into the cloud from the 

 river from discharging itself on tlie westerly 

 tide. 



The cases of local gatrhering and discharge of 

 water from the clouds this season have been much 

 more numerous than in ordinary years. In the 

 course of our journey, at several points we observ- 

 ed the wide difference between the quantity of rain 

 which had fallen in file catching weather of mid- 

 dle July. Travelling from Lancaster to Haverhill 

 on Monday the 2.iid, we found near sundown, that 

 while We had been passing in sight of a heavy 

 thunder cloud on the north a few miles behind us 

 in almost fair weather, it had rained hard in the 

 south nearly the whole afternoon, at the point of 

 termination of that day's journey. 



We have seen in the newspapers notices of sud- 

 den falls of water v/hich have done much damage 

 locally. While the President of the United States 

 was on his journey up the Hudson river, in the 

 State of New York a few weeks ago, in the county 

 of West Chester, the company was driven to ashel- 

 ter from the falling rain. A real water spout in 

 full view was seen to form upon the river, the rain 

 discharging itself in torrents as the water was rais- 

 ed to the cloud. 



An acquaintance was the other day at Bristol, N. 

 H. when one of these clouds formed and was dis- 

 charged, tearing up the very foundation of the road 

 and pouring d(.'wn a stream of immense power. At 

 a very short distance from the scene of destruc- 

 tion there was no uncommon fall of rain or deluge 

 of water. 



A most extraordinary instance of the effectg of 

 one of these water spouts on the premises and near 

 the dwelling of Perley Mason, liisq. of Lyman, N. 

 H. was shown and described to us by that gentle- 

 man and his son while we stopped with them an 

 hour during our late journey. In Lyman the high 

 grounds or mountains shut down on flic New- 

 Hampshire side against Waterford and Barnet in 

 Vermont, very near to the Connecticut river, which 

 divides the two States. The farm of Mr. Mason is 

 on one side of a valley or amphitheatre, extending 

 a mile from the river and opening in width into the 

 mountain as it recedes from the river : a small 

 stream, originating on the sides of this amphithea- 

 tre, communicates with the river. On the 6tli of 

 August 183(1, a small cloud almost in a naked sky 

 first appeared over the river, from whicti,as it grad- 

 ually spread, the rain commenced falling. The 

 water soon came down in torrents : presently the 

 brook, swelled to the size of a river, finding no pas- 

 sage in the ordinary channel, dammed up and over- 

 flowed the bridge and road passing across the val- 

 ley. In the naked field on ground a little sloping, 

 logs two or more feet over floated off as upon the 

 surface of water — rocks of many tons weight were 

 taken from their beds and carried down by the 

 force of the current — a new channel was made for 

 many rods, cut out of the ground where the grass 

 was growing one hour previous, and made deep in 

 the hard gravel pan below the upjicr soil. The 

 stream running into the river was an ordinary 

 brook covered and interrupted in some places with 

 decaying logs and other materials : the whole of 

 these were swept out bj' the torrent, and not only 

 cleared out, but an additional channel of several 

 feet ill width was cut through for the whole dis- 

 tance of more than half a mile in the low land 

 nearest the river. Above stood the saw mill ; and 

 this was saved by the mere accident of a large log 

 sweeping round so as to change the course of the 

 water and prevent its direct action upon the foun- 

 dations of the mill. Altogether this little cloud at 

 first no greater than a man's hand produced on a 

 spot within the distance of a single mile in diame- 

 ter such a change in the space of less than two 

 hours, as a host of the most potent of God's crea- 

 tures could not have accomplished in months. The 

 quantity of water falling within this space, togeth- 

 er with the logs and mud carried down, raised the 

 Connecticut river so much as to alarm the inhabi- 

 tants below. They had seen no indications of any 

 unusual or lengthy fall of rain above ; yet the riv- 

 er was swollen with muddy and turbid waters, and 

 the logs and trees and roots came floating along 

 with an unusual volume and force. What could 

 it mean ? The most ingenious mortal could have 

 scarcely guessed that the whole was caused from 

 a shower gathered and discharged within the 



