THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



171 



much apparent increase in size. That venerable 



tree is probably near two hundred years of age — it 

 covers a great extent of ground, i-eaching nearly to 

 the wall on either side of the way — it is difficult for 

 either man or boy to reach its limbs without the 

 help of a Ion<T ladder, because human arms are not 

 of sufficient length to grasp an eighth of its cir- 

 cumference : of course birds of many kinds lodge 

 and build their nests annually among its extended 

 branches. 



The spot we have been describing is not that 

 where the Messrs. Hills have made their greatest 

 improvements. Immediately in the rear of this 

 ground is a low meadow, formerly producing but 

 little hay, and that very inditferent. This meadow, 

 with many other acres in its neighborhood owned 

 by otiicr proprietors, has been reclaimed by ditching 

 and by cultivation, and now yields an abundant 

 crop of the best of hay. Some of it is cultivated 

 and produces the finest melons and other garden 

 vegetables. 



The sons reside at the house we have noticed: on 

 other premises rome eighty rods distant, the elder 

 Mr. Hill resides.. His house here is new and ele- 

 gantly situated near the bottom of the de'-'livity 

 which separates the very rough from the very fea- 

 sible soil peculiar to this town, and fronted by two 

 ancient button-wood otherwise called sycamore 

 trees of the largest size within our knowledge. The 

 barns and other buildings upon the same side hill 

 are no less ample and convenient than those upon 

 the otlier spot. The larm runs upon the rough land 

 of the hills. Here the ground, cleared of innumer- 

 able stones and constantly supplied with the aliment 

 necessary to stimulate the growth of vegetation, 

 produces peas and other articles earlier for the 

 market than the culdei rich soil below it. Mr. Hill 

 has long been known as having furnished for the 

 Boston market the first green peas of the season, 

 and generally the finest melons. 



His farms arc not of large eitent, probably not 

 exceeding one hundred acres, including tillage, 

 mowing, pasture and woodland. Yet the quanti- 

 ties which these lands produce would seem to be 

 almost incredible. It was mentioned to us some 

 two or three years ago, that in ninety successive 

 days five thousand dollars in cash were taken in the 

 market for articles raised on these premises of Mr. 

 Hill. 



Grand farms upon *'the farm" 



The land adjoining Mr. James Hill's farm on the 

 south, belonging to the late Mr. Samuel Lock, by 

 way of eminence used to be called 'Hhe farm," be- 

 cause it was of much larger dimensions than other 

 "places" as they were called in the vicinity. Mr. 

 Lock kept oxen and horses, while his neighbors 

 with less land kept only a single horse to do every 

 kind of work. Yet in those days there was not so 

 much difference between the larger and smaller 

 farmers: some of the latter probably laid up more 

 money than the former, and gained m«re from the 

 better cultivation of their grounds. Mr. Lock's 

 farm has been divided among a portion of his de- 

 scendants into several parts, and now consists of at 

 least three first rate farms, with possibly detached 

 portions of some others. The spot where Mr. 

 Lock's ancient hip roofed house formerly stood is 

 oecupied by a beautitfiil new mansion fit for the res- 

 idence of a, prince, with furniture corresponding to 

 the beauty of the establishment. Its owner, a 

 grand son-in-law of the elder Mr. L. we found 

 mounted upon his ladder out of doors of a rainy af- 

 ternoon gathering his Baldwin apples, several hun- 

 dred barrels of vi'hich were produced by hin: the 

 present year. Along the declivity of the hill no 

 less than five farmers' handsome houses, each with 

 its great barn and other buildings, have been erect- 

 ed upon what was the farm of Mr. Lock ; and all 

 the occupants with farms in the highest state of 

 cultivation. In this neighborhood indeed there 

 appears to be no example of poor cultivation. Mr. 

 Isaac Lock, whom we recollected as our senior of 

 some five or six years when a small boj' at school, 

 and who discovered as well an easy disposition as 

 good living by fair rotundity of person, of the abun- 

 dance which his farm produced showed in one pile 

 some thirty barrels of quinces, four of which, weigh- 

 ing more than a pound each, we brought away and 

 afterv.ards exhibited at the Merrimack County Fair, 

 which were sold without removing them at seven 

 <lollars the barrel. These quinces were all gathered 

 from trees grov;ing by the side of fences in ground 

 ■occupied on some tarms by mere briars and thorns 

 — they interfered not at all with any other usual 

 growth of the land. 



South of Mr. Isaac Lock is the fine situation of 

 his brother-in-law, Mr. Charles Wellington, 

 nearly of the same age, whom we also remember 

 -when a boy, but have never seen since. Mr. W's 

 house is upon the declivity of the same hill near 



the linn of Watertown, where the Watertown road 

 meets at right angles with the turnpike road lead- 

 ing from Boston to Concord, Ms. This farm, from 

 all appearances, is principally made from a most 

 rocky portion of the rough ridge of hills, near the 

 base of whicii the house stands. Over the land 

 composing it in years gone by we several times ram- 

 bled to gather pig nuts ; this was before the turn- 

 pike was made or the farm was begun. The place 

 was not exactly a forest, for the trees had been 

 thinned out, as was then said, by the wood being 

 cut down for the use of the British army ji»st prior 

 to the war of the revolution. The land was terri- 

 bly rough; and finding a large excavation into 

 which had been thrown loose stones, in the simplici- 

 ty of youth recollecting that verse in the book of 

 Samuel which relates, after he had been slain by 

 Joab, that "they took Absalom and cast him into 

 a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap 

 of stones upon him : and all Israel fled every one 

 to his tent" — we felt as strong an assurance as our 

 belief in the story that this was the precise spot 

 where the body of Absalom was disposed, looking 

 about and readily discovering tlie oak in which he 

 was suspended by the hair when overtaken by his 

 adversary. On this ground and near this spot is 

 the well cultivated orchard of Mr. Wellington, 

 which produced in the season of 1833, a thousand 

 barrels of picked apples from engrafted trees. The 

 orchard ground is kept in constant cultivation with 

 alternate crops of the garden vegetables, grain and 

 grass, and has been made feasible by being di- 

 vested of stones, which have been disposed of 

 by the side of the way and covering the spare 

 ground, in enormous piles. The land thus prepar- 

 pnred by the hand of industry brings to its owner 

 no less profit, and in its present state is nearly of as 

 easy cultivation, as the richest free soil of the coun- 

 try. Every inch of it, with the fruitbearing orch- 

 ard, is of equal value to its owner per acre as a 

 cash capital of from three to five hundred dollars. 

 We had in view one or more other improved 

 "places" or farms in West Cambridge for further 

 mention ; but to describe them would he to repeat 

 much of what we have already said ;, and, lest we 

 should tire our readers and say more than shall be 

 profitable of the great farming operations of a town 

 of very small dimensions, we will stop short. 



NcAv England Agricultural Fairs for 1839. 



A better spirit, a more animated dtsire to improve 

 the cultivation and to insrease tlie products of tlie 

 ground, has appeared this year throughout the 

 country than we have ever before seen. But a 

 small portion of this interest is embodied in the few 

 agricultural associations that exist. We often find 

 a strong desire for improvement in men who have 

 never thought of joining an agricultural society ; 

 and we may be taught more by the lessons which 

 are inculcated in the theory and practice of some 

 ot these than we can learn by attending any agri- 

 cultural fair and witnessing an exhibition of fine 

 cattle, swine and sheep, or fine specimens of butter 

 and chet'.-e, or great vegetables, or beautiful cloths 

 or other articles of fancy. Still the usual annual 

 fairs, which are held in many counties of New 

 England, come much in aid of the best individual 

 experience. "The whole need not a physician, but 

 those who are sick." So if the good farmer needs 

 not emuhition, the indilfen^nt farmer may look up- 

 on his own neglect, and from the success of others de- 

 termine that he will not he hereafter outdone. He will 

 see that it needs not cap*acity,but only industry and 

 perseverance which he can well supply, £o enable 

 him to take a stand with the best of his ncighbuvs; 

 he may and often does learn the art of their suc- 

 cess. To such a man neither time nor money is 

 lost, which he shall expend in attendance upon ag- 

 ricultural societies. 



In New Hampshire, no more than three of the 

 eight counties which compose the State have this 

 year had exhibitions ; and these are Strafford, Mer- 

 rimack and Cheshire. 



The first was at Meredith Bridge on the same day 

 as that in Merrimack at Corser Hill in Boscawen : 

 of cnurse it was not i>y us attended. The most that \vr 

 have heard of this was the notice contained in anoth- 

 er portion of this paper of premiums for three most 

 extraordinary crops of corn, to wit ■ 131 bushels 7 

 quarts, 130 and 116 bushels on three different acres 

 of land upon islands in the Winnipisseogee lake. 



The meeting in Cheshire was on theiJoth Septeni- 

 teraber; and although no premiums were ofiered, 

 the specimens of cattle, sheep and swine antl of va- 

 rious agricultural products were such as reflected 

 honor upon the excellent soil and li-iisbandry of that 

 county. More farmers attended than ever before 

 attended in that county on any similar occasion. A 

 spirit of pride and zeal in the calling was awakep.- 

 ed ; a determination ta go forward and try, w j,s 



manifested ; a conviction that agriculture is the 

 foundation stone of the nation's growth and pros- 

 perity has there become general, and will not here- 

 after be turned by any other "wind of doctrine." 



As for the young county of Merrimack we were 

 extremely fortunate in the selection of a place that 

 can turn out "bulls of Bashan" and oxen and cows 

 that will be no where excelled in the State. The 

 cattle of that neighborhood have been much im- 

 proved by several farmers uniting ten years since 

 to purchase a bull of an improved foreign breed. 

 Much however is due to the excellent pastures up- 

 on the high grounds ; and more probably to the at- 

 tention paid \o the rearing of their cattle. Fine 

 teams of oxen — some farmers with four, five and 

 six yokes each — were shown. In the ploughing 

 match, however, we did not admire the driving — 

 there were too many words and too free use of the 

 goad-stick and whip. We saw in another place 

 cattle working with spirit and the full exercise of 

 strength — not a word from the mouth of the driver, 

 not a blow, but only a motion of the whip-staff from 

 his arm. The exhibition at Boscawen was contin- 

 ued two days — it was late in October, being tlie 

 \>ii\\ and liUh of the month ; but two "sweeter days 

 of all the year" could not have been selected. Tlie 

 collection of farmers was numerous beyond that of 

 any former year. We had hoped th^t some of the 

 inieresting reports, as well as a list of the premi- 

 ums, would have been published. The report on 

 butter made by the elder Col. Kent of this town 

 was replete with that attick salt and elegant irony 

 which had been prominent in the young man and 

 will not be obliterated by age : hiscotemporary and 

 neighbor, whose poetry and whose wit had been ac- 

 ceptable on many siniilar occasions, should have 

 been present here and responded to the allusion 

 which must have brought him upon his feet, though 

 his xxndex standing had threatened him a failure. A- 

 bout forty new members joined the society : sutfi- 

 cient money was paid upon the spot to cover the 

 annual premiums ; and the prospect now is, that a 

 very good exhibition this year will be succeeded by 

 a better next for the county of Merrimack at Bos- 

 cawen Plain. May other counties having no exlii- 

 bitions "go and do likewise." 



In Massachusetts, the County Agricultural 

 Exhibitions have been more animated and better 

 attended than in any former year. The shows in 

 old Essex, Middlesex, Berkshire, Hampden and 

 Plymouth were never excelled in those counties. 



That at Worcester on the 9th of October we at- 

 tended personally, arriving in the latter part of the 

 day. In numbers attending, it probably exceeded 

 any thing of the kind in that State : it was thought 

 there were present some eight thousand people. 

 The locomotive, propelling the passenger cars on 

 the rail road from Boston to Worcester, loaded with 

 about eight hundred passengers, was powerless as a 

 cumbrous baggage wagon to move with its load up- 

 on the rise of an inclined plane until moved by the 

 living load itself! Every thing connected with the 

 Worcester exhibition is done in a style worthy of 

 the wealthy town and county bearing the name. 

 The town of Sutton bore ofl' the palm of horned 

 cattle in an enormous team of seventy-five yokes 

 paraded through the town. Many fine cattle of im- 

 proved breeds — swine enormously encumbered with 

 fat — sheep whose wool would make the most beau- 

 tiful cloth — represented truly the agricultural en- 

 terprise and wealth of that great agricultural coun- 

 ty : the butter and cheese corresponded with the 

 character of tlie cattle and the neatness of the best 

 dairy women. The ploughs and agricultural im- 

 plements exhibited were numerous, as were other 

 ma^iuiactured articles not directly connected with 

 agricultural operations. Beautiful specimens of the 

 finer cloths, of domestic silks, of fancy work of va- 

 rious kinds by ladies of all ages, were also pre- 

 sented. 



The Worcester Agricultnral Society, with its a- 

 bundant resources, having had various donations, 

 has a great and favorable effect upon the production 

 of the county ; and it is a good indication that 

 most of the men of the professions and others en- 

 joying public office in the county, take hold of ag- 

 riculture with zeal. The late Governor now Sen- 

 ator Davis made an interesting report on articles of 

 special improvement. Three sons of the elder Le- 

 vi Lincoln, who left his profession to cultivate his 

 farm, are a.nong the active patrons of the Worces- 

 ter Society. Ex-Governor Lincoln has for sever- 

 al years presided at the meetings of the Society ; 

 and no man can be betterat home than he is in that 

 cliair. This gentleman has done much upon his 

 own premises towards improving the breed of cat- 

 tle in New England, having introduced ihera from 

 abroad. The united efforts of tlie most enterpris- 

 ing men of all professions to stimulate the farmers 

 are attended with abundant success, as is demon- 



