WHAT TO DO WITH THE FARM. 3- 



an extensive and lucrative department in the business of 

 farming. 



I do not know that the soil and climate of New England 

 would prove favorable for the cultivation of hops on a large 

 scale, but judging from the luxuriant growth and fruitage of 

 single vines, here and there, in our neighborhood, tlie conclu- 

 sion seems reasonable that the ordinary kind of hops would 

 flourish in our old-fashioned fields, quite as well as another 

 variety of " hop " in our fashionable hotels, and prove much 

 more profitable to those engaged in " getting them up." 



Then we have the finer varieties of apples and pears, with the 

 smaller fruits — the strawberry, the raspberry, the blackberry, 

 and the cranberry — most of which require nice management, 

 and some little enterprise to secure success ; but which yield 

 most generous returns for the care and expense bestowed upon 

 them. Of apples I need not speak — though I am informed that 

 one of the members of your society has received /owr thousand 

 dollars for his crop of apples in a single year ! A few years 

 since, at the counter of the Brevoort House, in New York City, 

 I saw nineteen dollars and the express charges paid for five 

 pecks of pears ; and I was not more surprised at the price paid, 

 than at the remark of one of the proprietors of the hotel, that 

 the fruit came from Boston, and that the finest pears and most 

 of the hot-house grapes used in that establishment, were brought 

 from the same city. 



Those who are familiar with the facts, (and those who are not 

 should read the charming book, entitled " Ten Acres Enough,") 

 are aware that the cultivation of strawberries, raspberries and 

 blackberries, in large quantities, and in the neighborhood of a 

 large market, is exceedingly profitable, throwing into the shade 

 the gains secured by any of the ordinary farm staples ; while of 

 the profits afforded by cranberries I need not speak. And 

 where, we may ask, can a more favorable locality be found for 

 the ready and profitable sale of such fruits than our own county, 

 with its several cities and large manufacturing centres, and 

 withal so conveniently situated in respect to Boston ? 



I cannot leave this part of my subject without saying a few , 

 words concerning the vineyard cultivation of grapes. 



It is not every farm that presents the right soil and aspect for 

 this purpose ; but a person who owns a piece of ground which 



