276 NORFOLK SOCIETY. 



shade trees about our houses of worship show a marked im- 

 provement in the public mind, while the churchyard, once so 

 dreaded, especially by the young, affords a pleasant retreat for 

 all, and the children of the living are induced to spend their 

 leisure moments in the garden of the dead. 



On the 6th of September the committee finished the exam- 

 ination of this farm, when all our previously formed good im- 

 pressions were strengthened, and we unanimously recommend 

 the award of the first premium of twenty-five dollars to Aaron 

 D. Weld, of West Roxbury. 



Your committee examined the farm of Mr. French, on the 

 31st of July. His farm and outlands contain one hundred and 

 eighty-five acres. His homestead, about ninety acres, is com- 

 posed of strong soil, originally abounding in rock ; much of it 

 is thoroughly subdued, drained, and enclosed with heavy stone 

 wall. It is situated on each side of the Monatiquot river, and 

 is occupied as follows : mowing and orchard united, twenty- 

 nine acres ; tillage and orchard united, ten acres ; nurseries and 

 orchard united, eight acres. His outlands consist of salt marsh, 

 fresh meadow, swamp for muck, plain pasture, and woodland. 



In his mowing and tillage, his first object has been to get rid 

 of surface and spring water, by under drains, drains under 

 walls, and open drains ; next, to free the soil of stones, and put 

 them in deep trenches to receive the wall. The lots to be en- 

 closed are intended to be no larger than is necessary to require 

 all the stones on the lot. As the land is stony, some of the lots 

 are small. After the stones are removed, the land is ploughed 

 deep and cultivated one year. The second year it is subsoiled, 

 and all the stones then found, removed from the field. The 

 soil is thus put into the very best condition for cultivation. 

 His grounds are well laid out, and are easy of access by broad 

 avenues and gates. Within the last thirteen years he has made 

 and relaid thirteen hundred and fifty-one rods of wall. 



His orchards generally appeared to be in a healthy condition. 

 He has spared neither trouble nor expense in procuring the 

 choicest varieties of fruit trees, which he has been planting 

 yearly since 1818. His collection is large and select, including 

 eighteen hundred and fifteen apple trees, seven hundred and 



