148 



THE FAMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



to the membors, we trust, but in sonic good de- 

 cree have spread throtigb the length and lireadtb 

 of the conininnity. Of tliis let us not eoniiilaui, 

 but rejoice that it is so. If our iathers were in- 

 duced to plant themselves in the n ilderness, and 

 labor and toil to sulxlue a new country, that their 

 descendants niiglit "cat the fat of the laud ;" if 

 ihev were willing to jeopard lilii and fortune for 

 that country that those that come after them 

 might taste" the sweets of liberty, shall not we 

 leave behind us some memorial that we lived not 

 for ourselves alone? If our best eflorts have 

 been consecrated to the promotion of the peace- 

 ful arts of life, the thought of it may yield us sat- 

 isfaction when 



" Victor's wreaths and Monarcli'a gems 



Shall blend in common dust." 



i:\tract to the Editor, Dated 



Otisco, JV. Y., Oct. 1, 1840. 



I intended at once to have acknowledged the 

 receipt of the corn (cue bushel) you Ibrwarded 

 me, but a multiplicity of matters caused a delay, 

 and I finally coucluded I would wait tmtil 1 could 

 give you sonie informatiou respecting its success 

 or failure with us. Owing to unexplained delay 

 the corn did not reach us until the last of May, 

 aiul as we had given up receiving it in season to 

 plant this year,\lio ground prejiarod for its recep- 

 tion, by the gentlemen who had ordered it with 

 me, had been planted to other corn, and the 

 Brown corn was put in on land hastily and imper- 

 fectly fitted or manured. By ;ill three of ns, 

 (Messrs. Marks, Cummings, and myself) the 

 corn was planted on the 'iSth of May, at which 

 time much of the earliest planted corn was large 

 enough to hoe the first time, and some liirmers 

 had actually commenced. On the gromul that 

 was in the best condition, the corn came up well, 

 indeed I much doubt wliether there was a Iterncl 

 in the bushel that would not have germinated; 

 but a wet, unfavorable, spell oi' weather prevent- 

 ed its coming forward as rapidly as it woidd in 

 ordinary circumstances, or ii it had got tirnily root- 

 ed before such weather had set in. Still in forty 

 days from the time of planting, some of it had 

 tasseled, and in fifty diiys it was silked, wliich 

 shows that its character for (piick growth has been 

 sustained. All corn has been umisually fine 

 with us this vcar. The Dutton, which is a beau- 

 tiful corn, biit which in some of the past years 

 has not ripened, has this year given a great crop, 

 and all of every variety, even the Chinese may be 

 considered as perfectly soiuul : but there is uone 

 with which the Brown corn, even with all its dis- 

 advantages, will not well compare, b'ome of it 

 will yield at the rate of eighty, or perhaps more, 

 bushels per acre. The Brown corn is clearly of 

 the original King Philip, or eight rowed corn, 

 cultivated in New England wiien the ]iilgrinis 

 landed at Plvniouth, and is the kind A. to I. in P. 

 A. Browne's" excellent essay on varieties, origin, 

 culture, &c., of this valuable grain. The yellow 

 corn mixed with the darker or flesh colored kind, 

 is I think evidenly the residt of a cross with some 

 of the twelve, or sixteen rowed varieties, the Dut- 

 ton most probably, as the ears very much resem- 

 ble that grain, both ui the size and shape, as well 

 as color." 1 think I have never seen a variety with 

 so large kernels on so small a cob, two qualities 

 which speak a large product. In short we are 

 much gratified with the corn, and deem it n great 

 acquisition. 



The crops generally in this part of the State 

 have been nbundant." Wheat v>»ry good, corn 

 never better, barley and oats of I he best quality, 

 roots generally better than middling. Potatoes 

 in snme instances have failed, o-,\ inj; to the curl 

 or loo great drouth. That tHie curl is a disease 

 of the varictij, and not caused iiy the soil, or by an 

 insect, I have long supposed, and the observa- 

 tion and experience Oi' this year has confirmed 

 that impression. The cause I am inclined to at- 

 tribute to the decay of vegetative povier in the 

 varietv owing to its age. 1 have never seen one of 

 the new seedling kinds aflected with the disease, 

 and they show a vigor and strength in their 

 growth of which most of the old kinds are desti- 

 tute. The disorder called in your quarter of the 

 Union the black rust, is a disease iud<nii\vn here, 

 at least I have never seen any thing that agi-ecd 

 with the description given in the Visiter and other 

 eastern jiapers. 



At the present moment our staple crop is lower 

 •than it tins l-ii>pn fcr: any lime Ir se\'eral yenr:;. 



Winter wheat, first quality, I luiderstand, is worth 

 75 cents, and Spring wheat (>G cents. The fiirm- 

 er.s, however, sell freely, and money is evidently 

 becoming more )denty through the country. Mo- 

 ney will always be had when there is any thing 

 to liny money with ; and fiirmers do their fnll share 

 in fm-uishing such means of ])in'chase. Farmers 

 as well as otjiers, who are out of debt, are doing 

 well ; it is debt — debt — debt, that nuns indivi- 

 duals, as well as nations; and happy will it be for 

 our country when that truth shall be universally 

 underslood and acted upon. 



Truly and respectfully, 



Yourti, &c. 

 WILLIS GAYLORD. 



MR. HILL'.S Address before the Agricultural 

 Association of Caledonlii County, Vermont, 

 Sept. 30, 1840. 



Whether we regard health and coudbrt, the 

 enjoyments of the mind or the body, there is no 

 section of this country or of any other country 

 more desirable than the niomitaiu region of the 

 United States. The fashions and the lollies, the 

 gilded palaces and the miserable hovels with 

 their inmates of the cities, destroy that acute mor- 

 al sense which gives the charm to life ; while the 

 azure of the distant nionntain, the contrast of 

 deep vallies with magnificent swells of laud 

 teeming with the richest verdure of nature, the 

 busy farmer sowing or tilling or gathering his 

 crops, the herds upon the distant pastiu-e, the 

 new mown cocks of hay, the stacks of hixnriant 

 grain, the cottage buzzing with the spinning 

 wheel or rattling with the shuttle — furnish tin- life 

 those views which never tire or fall upon the 

 sense. 



Passing through this Green Blouutain region, 

 who can ai-rive at any other conclusion than that 

 " Plenty liere a residence has found ?"' 



We who were born and raised in the older 

 States of New Englandnearer the sea — we, some 

 of whose fathers taking the journey thirty, forty 

 and rif'y miles in the interior from the abodes of 

 the first seltleis forty years ago, looked upon eni 

 igration to the then "New States" as an event of 

 more peril, and a farther remove from civilization, 

 than a present jom-ney and settlement in Wiscon- 

 sin or Iowa ; — we were early taught fiom the 

 magnificent products brought back alter a lapse 

 of two or three years, to look upon this as a 

 coimtry much exceeding by uatiu'e that from 

 \\hich they had removed. 



The emigrant, we found, had soon sought out 

 the means of obtaiuing abundance of food for 

 man and beast. The smaller growth was cut 

 down, and the large trees were "girdled" to ]Jie- 

 vent the rising of the scq>, the aliment to life ; the 

 fires ])assed over the prostrate growth ; and tlie 

 first crop of winter grain soon sprimg from the 

 ground under the influence of that genial sun 

 whose rays had hitherto been intercepted on that 

 ground for imcounted ages. Industry and dili- 

 gence, perlia])s after only a single year of priva- 

 tion, were soon rewarded with a competent sup- 

 ply for the year. Sometimes the yomig men 

 came alone or in pairs, \\ ith tneans suflicient to 

 carry out the season, while each cleared his lirst 

 spot, and took ample time to rear his log hut with 

 a view to the accommodation of the future help- 

 meet, leaving the ground and returning to the 

 hniiie of bis father on I he npiuoach of the in- 

 clement season. At other times, the new marri- 

 ed pair have reniovcdat once into the forest with 

 little preparation for even the shelter of some 

 humble shed. But either, and these not in frequent 

 cases were those where liarents with some half 

 a dozen ehilihen the oldest not of doidile that 

 number of years, journeyed at once over many 

 a hill, and through paths surrounded by the dark 

 wood which had never yet been traversed by car- 

 riage wheels, with hope reviving at eveiT cleared 

 si)ot which would let in the midday summer smi, 

 and braving the return of gloom at each new en- 

 trance of the forest; these last in many instan- 

 ces have arii\cd at their uncleared spot, with 

 neighbors none nearer perhaps than miles, and 

 found but the naked canojiy of heaven to cover 

 them imtil the log cabin of a week's labor sliall 

 be made tlie fit residence for one or more years. 



'I'he largest farmer, and I believe the largest 

 man in Vermont, who resides westward iqjon the 

 smooth shores of the beautiful lake upon your 

 borders, informed me not many years since that 

 be rommenc'Hl living in your Slate by trapping 



and hunting furs up the streams wliich he follow- 

 ed to the sources at the very back bone of the 

 State, passing over and down upon .some other 

 stream taking the contrary direction. This gen- 

 tleman (Hon. Ezra Mkech) is a fine sample of 

 that class of men who were the pioneers to our 

 prosperity. Where others culti\ate their lum- 

 dred, he cultivates his thousand acres — in the 

 ()lace of a dozen, he has his hundred milch kine, 

 producing tons of butter rud cheese, where oth- 

 ers raise their five hundred pounds, and raising 

 tenfold bushels of wheat or barley or other grain, 

 to those who in some parts arc denominated far- 

 mers of the larger class. 



The man who with the ;.'id of his o-ivn effort? 

 alone has made a fortune by the cultivation of 

 the earth, deserves the gratitude and tlianks of 

 all such as would imitato his example. Such 

 gains are not like the gains and thrift of those 

 who have obtained wealth wliich is but the fruit 

 of other men's labors. The latter camiot, ought 

 not to enjoy in the spending as that which came 

 from the toil producing substantial production. 



The virgin fertility of Vermont, similar to that 

 of the most beautiful agricultural region of west- 

 ern Massachusetts, exceeds the (c;rtility cither of 

 Maine, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, faitlier 

 east. Tlie consequence is, that- here has been 

 produced more fiit and large cattle, more pounds 

 of butter and cheese and pork, and larger dairies 

 than in any other county of New England of the 

 same extent. 



Virgin fertility, although it continues longer at 

 some points than others — and no where perhaps, 

 if we except the alluvion of some river over- 

 flowing its banks and leaving annually its ricli 

 sediment longer than upon the elegant swells of 

 land, some of them steep and high without even 

 a ledge, as precipitous mountains in Vermont, 

 must sooner or later wear out. .Vnd when they 

 come about, there is not so much diflerence be- 

 tween what is considered good and that estima- 

 ted poor laud, as many imagine. I have seen 

 liirms on the hills of Vermont at the south, not 

 many miles from Connecticut river, which were 

 soon after the first clearing, feasible, light and ex- 

 ceedingly productive, becoming hard of face, 

 their stinted crop of pasture grass mixed with 

 dry moss or tufted hardback, becoming annual- 

 ly less and less jiroductive. There was not, I 

 must insist, a very great difference between the 

 bald v,orn out lands on the more rocky hills in 

 New Hampshire to tlie east of Connecticut river 

 and those I have been describing; nor woidtl it 

 require much more expense and labor to reno- 

 vate the former than the latter. 



The exhausting system of agiiculture gener- 

 ally jirevails in the new settlements. The 

 ground, at first most fertile, ilien needs no ma- 

 nure or other artificial stimulent — the native soil 

 needs no extrinsic aid. The more fertile the soil, 

 the more gradual the deterioration. The richer 

 land of easier tillage, favors those habits of indo- 

 lence which are the more sun> to terminate in a 

 real or tiuicied inability to repair the evil. From 

 this cause we soniFtimcs see the farm whieh was 

 originidly the best, becoming the least valuable 

 among those which are worthless for all other 

 purposes than a dear ledemption by an improved 

 system of husbandry. 



The objects as well of agricultural associations 

 like that of your counly as of every individual 

 who desires to see a community of farmers flour- 

 ish, are or should be the continued increase of 

 the cajiacity of ilie soil to yield a larger, and yet 

 a larger crop. In no way can the foundation for 

 wealth and cenqjetence he so effectually laid as 

 by a course of cultivation which shall annually 

 turn out a greater product, leaving the ground ca- 

 llable of yielding more next year, than it has 

 yielded this year. May it not be possible, in a 

 time of encouraging prices, that the price of all 

 the labor and of aftording stimulants to the 

 ground can be jiaid in the crop, « bile it shall be 

 again paid in the addition to the value of the 

 land ? 



There ought to be encouragement of this kind 

 afibrded to some fanners, who, although of them- 

 selves unable to work advantageously, are still 

 anxious to promote the cause of agriculture by 

 their example, and who would find more "true 

 joy" in the conviction tliat they are able to pursue 

 the business of cultivating the ground to their 

 nwn ndvnnlHge and the pnltlic i^nrx], t]mn they 



