184 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



cellars in many j)laces : llie country is level : and 

 the subsoil is tenacious, which in wet weather cau- 

 ses the cellars to fill with water, where it will stand 

 all summer if it is not bailed out. As it conies in 

 from the top of the ground, it might be kept out by 

 walls of brick or stone laid in a lime mortar, ajl of 

 which are scarce here except the brick. In this 

 country generally it is difficult to find stenes 

 enough to wall wells. 



"It is a ffiiod place for a merchant, mechanic, or 

 professional man, as the fees of all are from fitly 

 to one hundred per cent, higl'.er than in JScw Eng- 

 land when I left. Pliysici.ins' ti:'es are at least two 

 hundred per cent, higher than in New England 

 But for this reason many suller for wiint of them 

 before they will incur the expense of employing 

 them. The people here are more ignorant, more 

 vicious and more indolent than Yankees. It has 

 been said by some that the State is cursed witli la- 

 ziness ; and indeed I think this part of it is. Our 

 county and shire town are named tor the god of la- 

 ziness, and I thin]; in tliis town at least he has as 

 many faithful worshippers as I ever knew in a place 

 containing tlie same population. The country is 

 settling rapidly, however ; lately, with a moro in- 

 dustrious population, I hope. We are plagued with 

 insects here : w ?od ticks, as they are called are 

 very numerous — they resemble a sheep tick, the 

 most of any thing 1 can tiiink of. One cannot go 

 into the woods without gettingcoveied with tliern: 

 they will fasten themselves upon the skin in the 

 same way the sheep tick does, and make a sore on 

 most people wherever they bite." 



Fine wooled Sheep. More Saxons intro 

 duced into New Hampshire. 



" We have heretofore referred to the success of 

 Messrs. Stephen Sibley and Joseph Barnaud in 

 sheep husbandry. They live in the adjacent town 

 of Hojjkinton, about seven miles westerly of the 

 Merrimack river in this town, and their farms are 

 what are called hill farms. Their fine wool has 

 taken the ground of preeminence "a whole head 

 and shoulders" in advance of all others in the 

 country, whenever and wherever it has been ex- 

 hibited : first in the American Institute in the city 

 of New York in 1838 — afterwards in Boston, and 

 last of all at Lowell. A greater compliment could 

 not possibly be paid to the article of wool than was 

 paid to the wool of Mr. Barnard in a letter from 

 Sami'EL Lawrence, Esq. the proprietor of an ex- 

 tensive Woollen Factory at Lowell, and in the 

 price which he paid for the wool. 



Messrs. Sibley and Barnard began the wool- 

 growing business in the j'car 1622 : they then pur- 

 chased from an importation into Massachusetts 

 from Spain twelve full-blooded Merinoes, which 

 were divided and kept between them. Their at- 

 tentiont ot his business hss been such as every farm- 

 er must bestow to become preeminently success- 

 ful. Both gentlemen have probably exhibited an 

 equal share of personal attention and industry in 

 their business. J\Ir. Sibley has been an acquaint- 

 ance of ours years before he purchased the fannin 

 1831 on which he lives. Brought up to the fajm 

 when a boy and working out several seasons as a 

 hired man, he found his health not equal to the 

 pursuit for the time, and commenced trade in a 

 small store at the centre of Hopkinton. Continu- 

 ing this a few years in a safe manner, he settled up 

 with a gain sullicient to purchase his farm, leavini' 

 after that was paid for about one hundred d(dlars 

 to ffo and come upon. 



The second year of entry upon the farm, he com- 

 menced the sheep business, which he has so far 

 made a lucrative business as to become a man of 

 wealth, performing all his contracts without the 

 necessity of asking loans of n.-oney, and giving his 

 children, all of wlioni, saving a daughter, have de- 

 ceased, a good and liberal education. He infsrins 

 ns that his account e^diibit:; in about eighteen years 

 the payment of about $.5,000 for hired help upon 

 his farm. The sum must have been considerably 

 higher but for his own personal labor, rising in the 

 winter at half past four in the morning, and attend- 

 ing his large stock of cattle and sheep before d.ny- 

 light. In vigorous life he usually went to his 

 work in the coldest weather in Iiis shirt sleeves. 

 First thing the cattle were tuniL-d into the yard 

 and the stalls cleared : afterwards they weru fed 

 and prepared not to require further attention to 

 near the close of the day. The sheep were kept, 

 afler the falling of snow as described in a letter of 

 Mr. Sibley, published in the second number of the 

 Farmer's Monthly Visitor. The flock was driven 

 to the wood where temporary cribs were erected 

 into which were collected and placed bouo-hs of 

 hemlock, hard pine, spruce or fir in such a position 

 that the sheep might stand in rows and feed from 

 the tops. Mr. S, daily drove his sheep to tha place 



of browsing nearly a mile, e.Tcept in very tempes- 

 tuous weatiier ; and the fresh air, exercise and 

 green feed had the best eft'ect upon their health. 



Messrs. Barnard and Sibley paid, about the year 

 1838, one hundred and twenty-eight dollars for 

 their first Sa.\ony buck. With this animal they 

 much improved on their merinoes. Since that time 

 they have continued to improve on the quality of 

 their wool. In I8:!8 the silver medal of the New 

 York American Institute was awarded them for 

 "THE best Ajiericas wool," much to their indi- 

 vidual credit and to the honor of the Granite State. 



In 1837 Mr. Sibley disposed of about one hun- 

 dred and fifty of his fine wooled sheep, which were 

 exported to South America and sold for a high 

 price. Anticipating that the "breeding in and in" 

 might depreciate the value of his own flock, he 

 has lately taken a journey to Hoosick, Renssalacr 

 county, New York, and there purchased fifty full 

 blooded Electoral Saxony sheep, of which forty- 

 one are ewes: of tliese forty-nine arrived safe at 

 Hopkinton, one being stopped on the way by inju- 

 ry. These sheep are of the flock of Henrv D. 

 Gr.ovE, Esq. and the race was imported by him 

 directly from Saxony. The sheep were valued at 

 the present season of depression in the price of 

 wool at ten dollars a head. The flock of Mr. Sib- 

 ley now numbers two hundred and eighty-eight : 

 Mr. Barnard probably has as many. Nothing dis- 

 couraged that w'ool at this moment does not bear 

 even a nominal price, these gentlemen will proceed, 

 as if it sold for a dollar a pound, to the keeping of 

 their fleck In that manner which will insure them 

 a profit at all events. The introduction of the full 

 blood Saxons from New York at great expense must 

 be a benefit to the wool-growers of Merrimack 

 county, for which the whole community should 

 thank the gentleman who patiently drove them a- 

 bout one hundred and forty miles. 



A valimhle emigrant. 



Henry D. Grove, Esq. the gentleman of whom 

 Mr. Sibley purchased his full blooded Saxony sheep, 

 is a native of Saxony in Germany. He is said to 

 have brought the first Saxony sheep to this coun- 

 try. Without property, he first engaged as a super- 

 cargo of a Dutch trading ship, and brought fine- 

 wooled sheep as an adventure. He disposed of his 

 first importation at Brighton, Massachusetts, of 

 which Hr. Sihley supposes was the Saxony buck 

 which Mr. Barnard and himself purchased twelve 

 years ago. Mr. Grove was pleased with thi.s coun- 

 try and determined to remove to it. He made a 

 second importation of Saxony sheep; and laid out 

 the profits oi both voyages in a further importation 

 for his own use. He purchased land and settled at 

 Hoosick, N. Y. in 18^7, where from that time to 

 this he he:! greatly prospered as a wool-grower and 

 raiser of sheep : he has made a large estate solely 

 by this business. When he first arrived in the 

 country he could speak scarcely a word of the Eng- 

 lish language : now he not only speaks that tongue 

 flu(;-ntly,but writes it correctly. Mr. Sibley refers 

 us to a report on sheep to the State Agricultural So- 

 ciety of New- York, which was published in the Al- 

 bany Cultivator nearly one year ago, said to be prin- 

 cipally the production of Mr. Grove, who was up- 

 on the committee on sheep, and which lie (Mr. S.) 

 requests we would transfer to the columns of the 

 Monthly Visitor. This we will endeavor to do in 

 tl-.e first number of the ne.it year. 



For ttie Fiiriiier'a .Munlljly Visilor. 



Grand crop of Viheat in a light soil. 



5Ik. Hii.L : — The ground on which Mr. Jame! 

 CniTCHET of Epsom raised his Blrck sea wheat 

 the past season, mentioned in a former number of 

 the Visitor, contains two hundred and twenty-five 

 square rods, precisely une acre and onefuvrtli. The 

 quantity of manure was about tweiity"loads to tho 

 acre, spread and ploughed in as soon as the ground 

 would admit in the spring. Just before sowing, 

 which was the £2d ilay, it was ploughed agam 

 with a horse and light plough. The quantity of 

 wheat sowed was_/ir« and a half pecks, which was 

 wet by about a pint of salt lhrov^•n into the water : 

 a little lime was afterwards added to make it con- 

 venient for sowing. When the wheat was about 

 three inches high a ca&k of slaked lime was sown 

 upon it. The crop was foTty-scien and a . hulj 

 bushch. 



RtmarU. It can hardly be doubted that the salt 

 and lime on the two diflercnt applications had an 

 excellent cfiect upon Mr. Critchet's crop of whest. 

 But is it not possible that the manure may have 

 had even a greater effect r Manure is not gener- 

 ally applied to a crop of wheat at the time it is sow- 

 ed, because it causes the vegetable growth to be too 

 rapid and to run too much to straw. The blade 

 probably bursts and the sustenance ef the grain 



oozes out through its pores. Ground that has been 

 well manured the previousyear will not commonly 

 be too rich for a crop of wheat. In the case of Mr. 

 Critchet's wheat crop, may it not be possible that 

 the application and ploughing in the manure five 

 or six weeks liefore the second ploughing and sow- 

 ing, was even a better preparation than the laying 

 of the manure in the ground a full previous year, 

 so that the crop had the benefit of the best streno-th 

 of the manure without being stimulated beyond its 

 natural growth ? 



The editor of the Visilor would be glad to be in- 

 formed whether any farmer has ever attempted to 

 raise Black sea wheat on pine plains ground whero 

 the loam is tolerable — the ground new cleared and 

 burned over, but the burnt surface turned under by 

 the plough-' The Black sea wheat, it is said, will 

 gro%v on ground where spring rye is produced — it 

 is less delicate than other common kinds of spring 

 wheat. Wi'have a dozen acres of this kind of land, 

 not so sandy as some, but of sufficient strength to 

 stand the drought equal to some kinds of river al- 

 luvion, prepared for a crop to be put in next spring: 

 a part of this we will sow with Black sea wheat if 

 any practical farmer who knows this land can as- 

 sure us of a crop. 



On burnt ground without the plough, of pine, 

 hemlock and some hardwood growth, near the mar- 

 gin of the above plain land, we have sowed for ex- 

 periment one bushel of winter wheat, which was 

 procured through the assistance of a friend on Con- 

 necticut river, none being raised onfclie Merrimack - 

 valley. It is on a styep declivity by the side of 

 a similar piece which last year produced a most 

 luxuriant crop of winter rye. Our greatest fear of 

 failure of this experiment is, that it was not sown 

 quite early enough to stand the winter frost, and 

 that our friend Glover's flock of sheep, which we 

 can see, but cannot reach over the river, will tread 

 up, pull up, eat up or otherwise destroy that and the 

 crop of winter rye which is sown around it. The 

 land, when the seed was put in, was in a most ex- 

 cellent state for receiving it. 



Consolidation of Bnel's "Cultivator" and 

 the "Genesee Farmer." 



After the month of January next, the two pa- 

 pers are both to be united and published at Albany, 

 N. Y. The present circulation of the Genesee 

 Farmer is stated to be 18,000— that of the Cultiva- 

 tor 20,000. We had feared that the character of 

 the Cultivator could not be kept up after the death 

 of the man who had infused into it an interest 

 greater than ever was directed towards any period- 

 ical publication of the country ; but the arrange- 

 ment now made is such as may give it even in- 

 creased variety and interest. The Cultivator is 

 hereafter to be conducted by Willis Gavlord 

 and LuTiiER Tccker, the Inte'editors of the Gene- 

 see Farmer ; audits proprietors are Jesse Bi'Et, • 

 and Co., sons of the late lamented editor of tho 

 Cultivator. Of tlie merits of Mr. Gaylord we. are 

 prepared to say, that he is an original practical ob- 

 server, and brings more learninj^ and science into 

 his lufcubrations than most other writers on the same 

 subject. He has excellent taste in the selection of 

 his subjects, and presents from month to month 

 that which is apposite to the times and seasons, 

 conve3'ed in language elegant and terse. Mr. 

 Tucker is a printer treading in the steps of his pre- 

 decessor. Judge Buel, having recently purchased a 

 farm and removed to it tliree miles out of the city 

 of Rochester. He was in the oflice of the editor 

 cf the Visitor in this town as foreman in the year 

 1825, and was then industrious and faithful. Af- 

 terwards he established himself at Rochester, N. Y. 

 and became in the course of j^ears sole proprietor 

 of a daily political newspaper of extensive influ- 

 ence. At the same ti.me he set on foot the Gene- 

 see Farmer, an agricultural paper which has been 

 published both weekly and monthly, and with the 

 assistance of Mr. Gaylord, has given it a character 

 and reputation which has extended it to an unpar- 

 alleled circulation in the State of New York and 

 throughout the northwest, extending into Upper 

 Canada. To the agriculture of that ciistrict of coun- 

 try both the Cultivator and the Farmer have been 

 pecuilinrly adapted. The Messrs. Buels, profiting 

 from the knov.ledge and experience of their de- 

 ceased father, will be able to add much to the val- 

 ue of the Cultivator under its new arrangement. — 

 The size of the new pajier is net materially differ- 

 ent from that of our Visitor. The price of that is 

 one dollar a year — the price of our paper is seven- 

 ty-five cents. V/e are free to confess that the su- 

 perior knowledge imparted by the united talents of 

 the managers of the Cultivator may lie of more val- 

 ue to its readers and subscribers than the additional 

 twenty-fivo cents which that journal will cost more 

 than ours. 



