96 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



[No. 2 



nnd the reports which appeared weekly in "The 

 Farmer's Journal," produced a conviction in the 

 minds of every one acquainted with the history of 

 the little farm, that its extra feriiiity arose entire- 

 !v from the great quantity of bones which had 

 been imbedded in it so many years before. And 

 it was Pirons proof of wiiat was asserted by the 

 bailiff, that their eflect as manure would last for 

 forty years. 



The ai)ove account is a corroboration of what 

 now appears to be a very general opinion respect- 

 ing the use of bones as a powerful and lasting 

 manure; and in this instance, the imperfect man- 

 ner in which the bones were broken, has caused 

 them to act more permanently than if they had 

 been crushed inio dust. 



Vkkitas. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE Rr^PORT ON TIIK AGRI- 

 CUI/rURK OF F.SSEX, MASS., 1837. ' 



By the Rev. Henry Colman. 



Essex county lies at tlie north-eastern part of 

 Massachusetts; and is bounded on the northwest 

 by New Hampshire ; on the east and northeast by 

 the Atlantic Ocean ; and southeast by P»Iassachu- 

 setts Bay ; and on the southwest by the county 

 of Middlesex. Ir embraces in extent 360 square 

 miles. Its population in 18.30 was 82.8S7: iis pre- 

 sent population 93,689 ; being about 260 inhabi- 

 tants to a square mile, it contains twenty-six 

 towns. It is intersected throucrh its whole width 

 by the river Merrimack, which empties into Mas- 

 sachusetts Bay at Newburyporr; and the rivers 

 Shawsheen and Agawam or Ipswich. Parker 

 and Saugus rivers are likewise found, but are in- 

 considerable in length and magnitude. 



The general surface of the county is uneven ; 

 but there are no hills of great elevation, and few, 

 which may not be cultivated to theif summits. 

 The county, for lis whole length on the eastern 

 side, is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. Cape 

 Cod, its eastern extremity, projects into the sea, a 

 distance of sixteen miles; and the coast is lined 

 with a rocky shore or extensive beaches ; and 

 pierced by innumerable inlets and creeks, on which 

 are extensive tracts of salt alluvial meadow. The 

 county abounds likewise in tracts of a greater or 

 less extent of iresh meadow or peat-bog. A con- 

 siderable amount of this land has been drained; 

 and by the application of sand, gravel or loam to its 

 surface, has been converted into profitable niowinir. 

 Much of this same description of land remains fo 

 he redeemed; and will fully compensate fijr the 

 expenditure, which this improvement may require. 

 There are considerable tracts on the Atrawam 

 river, the waters of which are forced back by the 

 mdl-dams thrown across it near its mouth, which 

 must be regarded as irreclaimable while those ob- 

 structions remain. 



The climate of Essex county is affected by its 

 maritime situation. The proportion of snow which 

 falls m the course of the year is considerably less 

 than falls in the interior and western parts of the 

 state ; the proportion of moisture in the form of 

 vapor, snow, and rain, is greater. The degree of 

 cold is sometimes as intense, but not as long con- 

 tinued. The spring is in advance of the interior 



of the state generally, from a week to a fortnight; 

 and the frosts, excepting in some particular locali- 

 ties, are not so early, nor severe. For healthi- 

 ness, as far as this may be determined by the ta- 

 bles of longevity, this county may be safely com- 

 pared with any part of the known world. 



The whole number of acres in Essex county 

 according to the report? of the valuation commit- 

 tee in 1831, is as follows: 



Tillage, 14,113 



English and Upland mowing, - 31,947 



Fresh meadow . - . . 15,471 



Salt marsh, 14,139 



Pasturao-e, 100,309 



Wood, ' _ - - . . 22,058 



Unimproved, _ . . . 34,281 



Unimprovable, _ _ . - 10,417 



Owned by towns and other proprietors, 3,604 



In roads, . - - . _ 6,606 



Covered with water, . _ - 17,176 



Total, 270,121 



The soil of Essex countv is of a primitive for- 

 mation; and of various characters. There is a lo- 

 cality of limestone mentioned by the geological 

 surveyor in Newbury and Bradford; but if is be- 

 lieved of small extent. There is little purely san- 

 dy land excepting on the sea-shore. There are 

 extensive tracts of peat-bog. The soil on the 

 sea-shore among the projecting clilTs and ledges, 

 on the peninsulas and islands on the coast, with 

 the exception of Plum Island, which is almost un- 

 mixed sand, is a deep rich loam, highly produc- 

 tive in grass, corn, oats, and potatoes. On the 

 main eastern road from Salem to the extreme line 

 of t'le country, there prevails generally a gravelly 

 loam from six inches to a foot in depth; not difii- 

 cult to be worked ; and productive under good 

 cultivation. The lands bordering on the Merri- 

 mack are much broken; but the hills are gene- 

 rally rounded, of not difTicult ascent, and com- 

 po?ed of a rich dark clayey loam. They ordina- 

 rily produce good crops of wheat, barley, corn, 

 oats, and potatoes. This variety of soil embraces 

 an extent of three or four miles from the river 

 on the south side. On the west side the land is 

 much more charged with sand, and is not so fer- 

 tile. With the exception of a considerable tract 

 in Haverhill and an island of fifty acres lying be- 

 low the bridge in Haverhill, there is no fresh allu- 

 vial meadow on the river. The towns in the in- 

 terior of the county are of various character, in 

 some places presenting long strips and high emi- 

 nences of rich clayey and gravelly loam ; and in 

 other parts a broken, thin, hnnfrry. and stony soil, 

 the cultivation of which is difficult and unproduc- 

 tive. The primitive forests have been long since 

 removed; but there are extensive tracts of' wood 

 in different parts of the country. The maritime 

 parts are principally supplied with fuel by impor- 

 tations of wood from Maine, or coal from Penn- 

 sylvania. The interior have a supply from their 

 own wood lots; or their peat-bogs, the value of 

 which is becoming more highly appreciated. 



The soil has in parts of the country liecome ex- 

 hausted; and in no part of it can it be advantage- 

 ously cultivated without manure. The stony and 

 rocky character of the soil is in some places an 

 impediment to cultivation; but a large proportion 



