THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



189 



much better tliaii they now are, as our cultivatiou 

 shall be better. 



While ou this subject, we cannot omit to notice 

 two other orchards wliich have recently come 

 to our kiiowledire. 



Rev. .loHis F. Adams of the Methodist con- 

 nexion, purcha^sed a small farm with buildings 

 ut Stratliam, N. H. a few years ago, the ])rice of 

 which was two thousand dollars. He com- 

 menced quietly and at his leisure grafting apple 

 trees upon the farm which bore cider apples of 

 iiifi'rior quality. The last fall, he sold the apples 

 upon these trees, without any trouble of gather- 

 ing, for four hundred dollars in cash, being a 

 profit of twenty per cent, in a single year upon 

 the whole cost of his farm. 



Mr. David Stevens purchased a few years 

 ago an orchard of six ao'cs a shoi't distance out 

 of the village of Haverhill, Mass. which had late- 

 ly been ingrafted with winter apples. For the last 

 lour years be has derived a profit from the ap- 

 ples alone of from $120 to $150 dollars each 

 year. Ijoing fiom forty to fifty per cent, upon 

 the investment. 



Farm Schools. 



We have ever been favorable to schools in 

 which farming business and mechanical trades 

 may be united with other objects of education. 

 Several years ago, in the excellent regulations of 

 the Asylum tor the Deaf and Dumb at Hartford, 

 Coun. we uitnesscd the process of instruction in 

 various liijids of labor. Particularly were we at 

 one tinje interested in the perlbriuance with the 

 needle of a young female fiom the State of New 

 Hauq)shire, who was both deaf and dumb and 

 bliuil. It is ail but inconceivable how any one 

 deprived of sight, of hearing and necessarily of 

 speech should bo instructed to do any thing. In 

 the absence of the greater faculties, the subordi- 

 nate senses are made to supply their place. The 

 touch enables the blind mute to distinguish not 

 oidy substances but color.' — to identify both liv- 

 ing beings and inanimate objects: the smell is 

 likewise an assistant which comes in coutiuued 

 aid to the operations of the mind. Ujider a 

 course of carefid instruction the deaf and the 

 blind are taught the puijiosesand the enjoyments 

 of life, and the utterly helpless how to become 

 their own helpers. To the deaf and dinnb at 

 Hartford the value of instruction in the different 

 kinds of labor by both males and females, has 

 been manifest in various directions. Matrimoni- 

 al connexions of the two sexes have there been 

 formed wiicre both v.ere deaf and dumb, in 

 which the parties entered on the business of life 

 witli all ilic alacrity and success of those who 

 could both hear and sjieak. There is a farmer 

 in Merriuiack County v.ho manages his concerns 

 with gieat prtidence and iliscretion, and who has 

 thriven in property, married to a mute who also 

 acts well her part in the drama of life; and this 

 jiair we have been told are rearing up an interes- 

 ting fi'iriily of c'lildrcn v.'ho are bright in the 

 faculties of vv'hich the parents are deprived. This 

 pair received their education at Hartliird, and 

 were taught not only the rudiments which open 

 to them all the advantages of language, but the 

 male was there instructed In the business of the 

 fiu-m, and the female in the rnanagenieiu of 

 hon.sehold affi.irs, in the use of the sj)inning 

 wheel and needle, and in the economy of the 

 kitchen. 



Among the charitable institutions thatnrepccu- 

 li;u-lj' charactcri.-ticof the city of Boston, where 

 tlicrois a commendable zeal to minister to the 

 Wiiuts of every destitute audaiHictedchildofAdam 

 our atlenliou has been called to the " Farm 

 School for Ind''i;X7it Boys" insiittited in 1833, for 

 "the education and reflirmation of boys, who 

 from the loss of their parents or other causes, 

 are exposed to extniordinary temptation, and are 

 m danger of b(?coniiug vicious and dangerous, or 

 seless members of society ;'' and v. Inch in 1835 

 .as united with another charitable institution lo- 

 afed within the city of Boston, for the purpose 

 f " relieving, instnicting and employing Indi- 

 ent Boj's" belonging to that lov<ii, which had 

 een in operation more than twenty years. 



For the purposes of this Institution, Thomp- 

 •nti's, one of tlie nianv islands tliat beautify Bos- 

 -ui harbor, was purchased at the price of $(J000. 

 c is four miles from tie city, and from one quar- 

 .'. t.) one mile und t; luiif from llie surrounding 

 viioies of the town- of Dorchester. It contains 



one hundred and forty acres of land ; and the 

 soil, which consists of a rich loam, with a light 

 subsoil, is well adapteil to the raising of all 

 the grains and vegetables usually cultivated in 

 New England. 



The establishment at Thompson's island is 

 situated on the highest part of the island, and 

 commands an extensive and beautifid view of the 

 city, its harbor and the surrounding country : the 

 main building is lO.*! by 36 feet fiom outside to 

 outside, \\ ith a projection 39 by 25 feet. The 

 dining hall, school-room and bed room, are 48 

 by 33 feet each ; and the family rooms are about 

 20 by 17 feet. It is a neat and substantial brick 

 edifice: the outside course of the entire building 

 is laid in Connecticut cement, and the inside is 

 plastered with the same. 



In the years of 1837 and 1838 the estimated an- 

 nual produce of the farm was $4500; and the ex- 

 penses incurred in farming operations, exclusive 

 of the board and salary of the superintendent, 

 and the board of hired men, was about $1000: 

 about $1500 each year was realized from the sales 

 of produce which was not consumed on the is- 

 land. 



The establishment is under the direction of a 

 board of Managers ; of whom the President, 

 Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary are 

 members ex officio : these reside in the city. The 

 immediate direction is under a superintemlent, a 

 matron and an instructor of the school. The ex- 

 penses of the institution over and above the in- 

 come from the proijerty at the island, and the in- 

 terest on $37,000 invested, amount to about 3000 

 per annum, lor which it dejiends entirely ou the 

 annual contributions of its members and such do- 

 nations as benevolent individuals may from time 

 to time contribute. The expenses of the Institu- 

 tion for the year 1838, including victualling, sala- 

 ries and wages of domestics, clothing, fuel, fiuni- 

 ture and re|)airs, expense of farm, with produce 

 of the farm consumed, estimated at $3000, a- 

 mounted in the whole to $9327, 73. 



With regard to disciidine, the object is to com- 

 bine moral and intellectual culture, with regular 

 labor upon the farm, or at other useful employ- 

 ments. 



A school is kept, both morning and alternoon, 

 for about six hours daily, in which reading, wri- 

 ting, geography and grammar, are taught.^ Dur- 

 ing the evening, especially in the winter months, 

 instruction is also given in the first principles of 

 agriculture, horticulture and botany — the differ- 

 ent kinds of soil, the most imijortant iirocesses of 

 cultivation, the names, uses and distinctive tpiali- 

 ties of seeds, plants and trees are explained and 

 illustrated. 



Sunday school and other religious instruction 

 is constantly kept up. 



During the season of farming operations, the 

 larger boys assist on the farm six to seven hours 

 in the day, under the care of the superintendent, 

 who is a practical farmer. In the winter season, 

 only a few boys are needed for out of door work: 

 these serving in rotation, the remainder attend 

 school. Tlio average of schooling through the 

 year is five hours each: the small boys more. 

 Besides laboiing upon the farm, flic boys knit, 

 mend and iiiake clothes, wash, iron, cook, and 

 [lerform much oi' the service about honse. The 

 object is to make them skilful, practical liu-mers: 

 and they are tai;iht to prepare the f round, sow 

 the seed, hoe and ^veed, and gaHiei' in grain and 

 vegetables. Much of the lighter work is done by 

 the boys. 



During the pa:it summer an extensive jiiggery 

 more than one luuidred feet in length, ivilli yards 

 for the deposit of malcrials and mamiliictiire of 

 manure, has been constructed. The cultivated 

 ground has been annually improved by the ma- 

 nure which has been made, or by the marine 

 manure which has been gathered on the shores of 

 tiie island : the carrots and other roots grow here 

 to unusual size. 



The persons at t'uis time employed at the Insti- 

 tution, are a superiutendent, a teacher, two fin- 

 mers, a matron, and lour female assistants. 1'here 

 are now eighty boys, whose ages average fbiir- 

 teeu years. 



The stock of the farm is 4 oxen, 14 cows, 1 

 horse, 90 sheej) and 50 swine. The land under 

 cultivation by tlic [iloiigh is 52 acres ; of w hich 

 the present year fU v.'as rye, 7 Indian corn, 6 po- 

 tatoes, 1 beans, (which failed from blight) j acre 

 asparagus, 1 acre rutn baga, 1 acre &iigar beet, 



i acre carrots, k acre other garden vegetables, 1 

 acre round turnips being a second crop. Tlie 

 estimated mowing groijnd was 30 acres, exclu- 

 sive of marshes. 



The superintendent of the island farm is Mr. 

 James W. Locke, formerly of Peterborough, 

 N. H. 



In addition to the foregoing facts, the editor of 

 the Visitor has been furnished with the following, 

 which shows a pioduction rarely to be met with 

 on fiirms of the same size in tlie interior: 

 Produce of the Thompson Island Farm for Indigent 

 Boys in the year 1840. 



150 bushels Rye woi-th 68 cts. $97 ."iO 



400 " Corn 70 280 00 



2500 " Potatoes 40 1000 00 



1000 " Beets 30 300 00 



800 " RutaBaga, 30 240 00 



500 " Round Turnips 30 150 00 



10 " Beans 200 SO 00 



200 " Carrots 50 100 CO 



Consumed vegetables esti- 

 mated, 200 00 

 Asjiaragus 50 00 

 75 tons English Hay at $16 1200 00 

 10 " Marsh "" 10 100 00 

 15 " Straw 10 150 00 

 12 " Corn lops & butts 15 180 00 

 200 lbs. Butter 17 cts 34 00 

 4500 gallons Milk 25 " 1125 00 

 Increase in number and value of 



Swine, 300 00 



10 Calves weighing 1000 lbs. at 6 cts. 60 00 

 Profit on Poultry, 20 00 



6 bbls. Winter Apples at $2 12 00 



400 lbs. Citron Melons at 4 cts. 16 00 



300 " Musk Melons 2 6 00 



300 " Water Melons 2 6 00 



15 oxcart loads Pumpkins and Squash- 

 es estimated at 3 dollars jier load, 45 CO 

 1000 Cabbages at 6 cents per head, 60 UO 



Outlay for cuhivating, e,\clusive 

 of interest on value of fiirm 

 stock, tools, «S,:c. 



$5751 50 



500 00 



Balance. $5251 50 



[The estimated value which om- correspondent: 

 puts upon most of the articles raised, is too high 

 for the comitiy. But reduce the sum one-third 

 for any exaggeration, and the cash product of the 

 farm would be great in proportion to the amoimt 

 of land under cultivation.] 



l"or the F.anner's Monthly Visitor. 



Boseaicen, Oct. 15, 1840. 



Geo. W. Nesmith, Esq. — Dear Sir. — Agree- 

 ably to your request, I will give you an account 

 of my crops of corn and potatoes, and also of the 

 process of cultivation. My method has been, for 

 a number of years to plant sward land and, not 

 to turn it up but a few days before planting ; and 

 I will give you my reasons for so doing. By let- 

 ting it be till tlie grass gets started, and the worms 

 get into the sward, and then turning thnm under, 

 they are more likely to stay in the sward till the 

 corn gets up, and out of their way. And anoth- 

 er advantage is, the grass and weeds do not get 

 up before the first hoeing. 



The piece of corn you looked at first, was on 

 rather a dry [lieco of ground, and I spi-ead about 

 twcnt)'-five loads of barn manure u, tbo acre on 

 the grass and turned it under, and about ten load-s 

 of compost manure, (vviiich I consider better than 

 clear barn manure, lor it will notdry up so quick,) 

 in the hill. The produce of that piece was G7J 

 bushels to the acre. 



The jiiece on the meadow, I ploughed deep 

 and spread aliont tM enty-five loads of barn ma- 

 nure to the acre, and harrowed it well, rolled it 

 down sinoth, and furrowed it, and put about ten 

 loads of com|.ost luaiiure in the hill ; and the 

 produce was 1 4i bushels of shelled corn. 



In the piece of Kohan Potatoes you looked at, 

 there were (;4 rods of ground, well niamned; 

 only the niamiie that was put in the bill was 

 mostly strau-, and the drought was so severe, the 

 manure was dry when we dug them ; if it had 

 been conq^ost iriannrc I think 1 should have had 

 one fourth more potatoes. The produce on 64 

 rods was 146 bushels. 



Respectfiiliv yours, 



SAMUEL CHADAVICK. 



