Evolution of Iborticulture 



tiers liad for various reasons expired, the 

 grant was open to the Huguenots, a great 

 proportion of whom, soon after their ar- 

 rival in Boston, removed to Oxford. The 

 location of the chosen settlement was 

 about a mile and a half southeast of the 

 present village. Mills for grinding grain 

 and furnishing lumber were first pro- 

 vided. Upon the eastern borders of the 

 plains, near the meadows and stream, 

 houses were erected. Upon an eminence 

 commanding their hamlet, a suitable fort 

 was built for protection against the In- 

 dians. ' ' From the evidences of their skill 

 in cultivation, it is easy to believe that 

 during their residence here these people 

 wrought a great change in the aspect of 

 the place, and by their well directed 

 labour, wide and fertile fields and fruitful 

 gardens were made to flourish where be- 

 fore existed only the unprofitable growths 

 of the original forests.'* 



" According to good authority, there 

 was a garden outside the fort on the west, 

 containing asparagus, grapes, plums, 

 108 



