THEF 



Conducted by ISAAC HIIiL. 



" Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, whose breasts he has made las peculiar de.positcfnr substantial and genuine virtue."-} efttlrsov. 



VOLUME 1. 



CONCORD, N. H., DEC 20, 1S39. 



NUMBER 12. 



A New Hampshire Farmer. 



In a late number of the Farmer's Monthly Visi- 

 tor we introduced to our readers a g'entlejnnn of 

 Jafirey, N. H. whoso premises we lately visited, 

 Tiz. John Conant, Esq. The farm of this sjentle- 

 man is situated near the foot of the sublime Monad- 

 nock : it is composed of about two hundred acres 

 of the soil peculiar to that region — the higher cul- 

 tivated ground more or less rock}', some of it too 

 full of rocks to be turned up with the plough, and 

 all of it having with lonm at no very great depth a 

 gravelly, hard and tiinty pan and subsoil : the low- 

 er ground consisting of tVesh peat meadows, the 

 bottoms of former ponds of water which Iiave be- 

 come drained by the lowering of the channels of 

 the streams flowing from the fountain head towards 

 the ocean. 



One of these fresh meadows has been made the 

 subject of an interesting experiment bv Mr. Co- 

 nant, in which he has been amply remunerated and 

 gratified for expensive labor. It is a bottom of sev- 

 eral acres nearly surrounded by the hard hills, with 

 a single outlet : in this area for many hundred years 

 vegetable matter had evidently collected at first 

 covering the surface of the water on which at 

 length grew trees, and subsequentl}- the ingenious 

 operations of the beaver erecting a dam to aid in 

 the construction of his own safe dwelling had kil- 

 led the growth of wood and converted into natural 

 grass tlie ground where the waters flowed off. The 

 meadow, when Mr. Conant begun upon it, was lit- 

 tle better than a quagmire, shaking for many feet 

 Around under the tread of a man, and yielding a 

 crop of ^v'ild grass scarcely wortii mowing. His 

 operation commenced with a main ditch near the 

 centre and the digging of minor ditches in a trans- 

 verse direction communicating to and with it. The 

 Bmaller ditches were generally filled with the su- 

 perfluous small stones which were found in the vi- 

 cinity, and their surface covered over witii the veg- 

 etable mould of the reversed sods taken from the 

 top of the ground. Piece by piece the surface of 

 the ground wus dug ever, the roots and logs of wood 

 extracted, and many hundred loads of hard gravel 

 taken from the adjacent high land placed upon the 

 ground. The palpable surface of the meadow seems 

 to be swimming on water below ; and to give it hard- 

 ness r.nd consistency, and enable the cattle and 

 carts to pass over it in the summer season, it be- 

 came necessary to cart upon it many tons of rocks 

 and pebbles. The carting of these and the prepara- 

 tion of the ground was generally done in the win- 

 ter or early spring, before the frost had entirely 

 broken up the crust. After the first clearing, pota- 

 toes were planted, and this crop, pulvCiizlng and 

 softening the ground, was followed the ne.xt season 

 by oats, stocking down to grass, after having spread 

 upon the loam and gravel stable or compost ma- 

 nure to the amount of eight or ten ox loads to the 

 acre. Thus prepared, the cr.Tp of Timothy or 

 herdsgrasa and red top vras tufned out for several 

 years at tlie rate of about tiiree tons to the c.^rQ. 

 When the better grass runs out and becomes less 

 in quantity, I\Ir. Conant's practice is to plant again 

 with potatoes and stock down to grass with a crop 

 of oats, repeating the sa:.:ie quantity of manure. — 

 This renovation is better to take place perhaps as 

 often as once in six years. A finer crop of potatoes 

 we no where snv/ growing the present year tiian 

 upon I\Ir. Conant's meadow; and these were plant- 

 ed directly upon the surface without ploughing, 

 only striking the hoe far enough into the sod to 

 procure material for the covering of the seed. — 

 Such was the nature of this ground -a fine rich 

 black vegetable mould — that after a second hoeing 

 the whole potatoe field was as clear as a well- weed- 

 ed garden ; and the tread between the hills was 

 Bofl and sinking like that upon an ash-heap. The 

 ground itself was rich beyond that of our best allu- 

 vion upon the rivers, and required only the peri- 

 odical stimulant of a small quantity of manure to 

 bring the vegetable growth to full perfection, and 

 in the greatest quantity. 



Mr. Conant has done upon his farm, even beyond 

 what many of the best farmers have done. He 

 has not only constantly improved it and obtained 



from it an independent living, but he has contrived 

 to make more money on less labor. His farm is 

 not even now in that high state of improvement of 

 some farms which we have described near to the 

 seaboard — it is however peculiarly well adapted for 

 pasturage, and this is of the kind requiring no la- 

 bor. His improved meadows and his upland mow- 

 ing, consisting of a few acres laid down after being 

 highly manured, turn him cut a great quantity of 

 iiay in.proportion to the ground he goes over. He 

 keep; many young cattle, and cov.s sufficient for a 

 good dairy. lie also keeps from one hundred to 

 two hundred fine wooled sheep, to which kccpino- 

 his fine pastures and his abundant ho}' are v/ell a- 

 dapted ; and in the winter his ruta baga are fed out 

 to them. He had only a single yoke of oxen, an 

 enormous pair measuring seven feet ; and he show- 

 ed us a piece of rocky and heavy grass sward 

 ground of two acres which he had broken up with 

 these oxen alone, holding plougli and driving the 

 oxen himself. He generally jircparcd and planted 

 only between two and three acres of corn in ayear, 

 and as many acres of potatoes: his corn ground is 

 prepared by the application of from forty to fifty 

 !oad.s of good manure to the acre, tlie coarser part 

 spread and ploughed in,- and the finer part placed 

 in the hill at the time of planting. The corn fol- 

 lows a potatoe croj) planted on the broken up 

 sward land of the previous year. His ruta baga is 

 sometimes raised in the corn-field — sometimes on 

 land by itself well manured. Another source of 

 profit has been his extensive orchard, sufficient in 

 some years to produce one hundred and fifty to 

 two hundred barrels of cider; and when this would 

 not sell, the surplus was manufictuicd at his own 

 distillery into cider brandy, which could be con- 

 veniently kept on hand till it would sell well, or 

 be transported wherever it would bring a price. 



Year after year Mr. Conant with tlie aid of a sin- 

 gle hired man, except in the time of harvesting or 

 haying, has carried on this extensive farm, and ac- 

 complished his most important improvements. It 

 will readily be perceived that the greater portion of 

 his products, as well the growtix and increase of 

 his cattle and sheep as his apples and cider furnish- 

 ed for the market and his grain and p jtatoes raised 

 beyond his own consumption, were almost so much 

 clear profit. Such anian, so studious of gain, witlr 

 so much judgment and skill in bringing it about, 

 when he has once attained to abundance, seldom 

 spends'so liberally as does tliis gentleman. He has 

 no children, only a wife who in good calculation 

 and majiagement keeps along side of him; and in 

 seasons of leisure he is free t5 incur the expense 

 of travelling, either with or T>':thout her, for the 

 purpose of obtaining imformat'on and witnessing 

 the improvements and grovrth of the country. 



Such a man, so observant and so correct, in the 

 course of time, from self-instruction becomes ca- 

 pable of furnishing a mass of information toothers, 

 although lie may have received onl}' that meagre 

 education wliich the country schools afforded to 

 farmers" sons t'orty and fifty years ago. He is in 

 the habit of preparing and- delivering addresses 

 and lectures at lyceums and otiier places. Through 

 such a man, to give to our moiiihly intruder more 

 variety, we had rather speak tiian speak ourselves; 

 and in this number, having asked of its author the 

 manuscript, we have taken the liberty to jiublish 

 nearly the whole of his address delivered befort; 

 the Cheshi-e Agricultural S-e:cty in the yearl83S 

 Tiiis address, althougli before published and circu- 

 lated in Cheshire county by our bi>other Cooke, in 

 the Cheshire Farmer, is v.'ui'thy of more extended 

 circulation. Our readers every where will be pleas- 

 ed and edified by its perusal, because it comes from 

 a man the best part of whose agricultural knowl- 

 edge is obtained from his observation and experi- 

 ence while tilling the ground. Perhaps no practi- 

 cal farmer of the country has a better right to write 

 out and deliver his opinions ; and these may be of 

 quite as much use as the best lucubrations of those 

 who have written ten times as much as Mr. Conant. 



From Mr. Cotiant's .iddress delivered before the 

 Cheshire Jig rieultural Society, Sept. 18-38. 



.Vgriciilture the first, the most important 

 and most sure and pleasant employment. 



One of the first employm»nt3 assigned toman 



was tillage of the earth. For we. read in Genesis 

 that "The Lord God took the man and put him in- 

 to the garden of Eden to dress and to keep it," and 

 that "Cain was a tiller of the ground, and brought 

 for an offering to the Lord Die fruit of the ground." 

 Cultivation of the earth may well be termed the 

 foundation of all other emiiloymcnts ; for on agri- 

 culture and its products the great human family 

 must depend. The ships of the merchant may lie 

 in the harbor, the labor of the mechanic may cease, 

 the din of the manufactory may be heard no more, 

 still the world would be comparatively little affect- 

 ed : but should the farmer cease to cultivate the 

 soil, all other em|)loyments would witlier and die. 

 Farming is, of all occupations, most pleasant and 

 independent. It requires not only physical abili- 

 ty, but mental exertion, and by these very requisi- 

 tions, creates a vigorous state of the body and mind. 

 An individual cannot bo placed in a more happy 

 and a more elevated station, than that of a cultiva- 

 tor of the earth. True, he has his cloudy days, 

 and the seasons are sometimes unpropitious. His 

 crops are cut short and his profits diminished. Yet 

 he has no cause for complaint, but much for thank- 

 fulness, as he depends for success upon his own 

 exertions and the blessings of his God. 



Advance in Education, Science, Arts and 



]1Ianufacture.s more rapid than in 



Agriculture. 



Withm the last half century, the inarch of the 

 human mind has been rapid ; and especially during 

 the last twenty-five or thirty years. 



In the United States, the means and facilities of 

 education have much increased, and new inven- 

 tions have been greatly multiplied. In New Eng- 

 land, a great revolution has taken place in the arts 

 and sciences. Thirty years ago, we had no rail- 

 roads, no locomotives, few manufactories, and very 

 {'ew canals; mechanic arts were in a low state, and 

 labor-saving machines rudely constructed, or whol- 

 ly unknown. The opportunities for obtaining an 

 education were then very limited. But how is it 

 at the present time ? The means of education are 

 abundant, and still increasing, and our modes of 

 instruction have been highly improved. In the 

 Now England States, the old school houses have 

 been replaced with new ones, or have been repair- 

 ed and altered so as to conform to the most improv- 

 ed plan of construction. A large amount of mon- 

 ey is annually raised by the several towns, and ex- 

 pended for the benefit of these schools. The ex- 

 isting laws which require such appropriations are 

 v.-ise and salutary ; for on the public schools the 

 great mass of the people depend for an education, 

 and it is to tlicco schools, perhaps, that the New 

 England character owes its peculiar distinctions. 

 Academies have sprung up in all the principal 

 towns, and many of them are well endowed. School 

 books have been greatlv improved, and new ones 

 prepared on almost all branches of knowledge. 



Our country is chequered in every direction 

 with rail-roads and canals ; and the facilities of 

 traveling are such, that the traveller reaches his 

 destination in the far west in a Ics number of days 

 than it formerly took weeks. Nearly every water- 

 fall on our largo rivers, as well as small streams, is 

 studded with manufactories and their villages, 

 which have sprung up as it were by enchantment. 



The mechanic arts have been greatly improved. 

 ExanijilcE mijfht be given in almost every depart- 

 ment, ii'om tlio mrunfacture of a cotton gin, down 

 to that o''an awl era button. Many new and use- 

 ful inventions have been sought out, and old^ones 

 improved, until abetter article is furnished, in nu- 

 merous instances, at one tenth of its fprmer ex- 

 pense. 



Large numbers of labor-saving machines have 

 been invented and brought into use. 



The old, ill formed, inconvenient houses, with 

 their large chimneys, are in many instances gone, 

 and in their place is the neat and convenient dwel- 

 ling, warmed by a cast iron fire place, or its more 

 economical stove. 



Education, science, internal improvements, man- 

 ufacturing, the mechanic arts have all advanced to- 

 gether. But has agriculture advanced in the same 

 ratio.' We think not, especially in New Hamp- 

 eliire. We now propose to point out what we be- 



