260 



F A R M E R S ' REGISTER, 



[No. 5 



and the many rich sunimils every where ecuttered 

 in the background of ihe picture, their tops and 

 sides fringed with the chesiiul and the rocif maple, 

 and the noble pile ol" .Saddle-Mountain lying in 

 the distant perripective like a contemplative giant 

 in his repose, is among the most beautiful of those 

 enchanting views, which are constantly opening 

 upon the traveller, in this picturesque region. 



The principal object of their liirming, at Ty- 

 ringhani, is the raising of stock : neat cattle espe- 

 cially. Their dairy is well managed ; and they 

 have a garden of lour or fi^'e acres, devoted to the 

 raising of garden seeds and medicinal herbs, un- 

 der skilful and successful cultivation. Their an- 

 nual sales have sometitnes amounted 10^3,100; 

 and they allow to their agents twenty-five per 

 cent, commission on sales, and take back what is 

 unsold. They produce some wheat, corn, and oals ; 

 and they are now ellecting with great labor and 

 admirable skill the redemption ofextensive alluvial 

 meadows on Hopbrook, by draining, rooting out 

 the stumps, and cultivating the soil, which will 

 bring these lands under a course of most produc- 

 tive itnprovement. 



Of the religion of this peculiar people, it is not 

 for me in this place to speak. A religion which 

 holds the severest restraint over appetites and 

 passions ever liable by their excess to lead men 

 astray, which encourages industry, frugality, mu- 

 tual love and kindness, and that which is certain- 

 ly not lowest in the scale of virtues, the most ex- 

 emplary neatness and order in every thing, is so 

 far entitled to respect and commendation. Under 

 whatever aspect we view it, we have at least oc- 

 casion to congratulate ourselves, that we live un- 

 der a government tolerant to every honest dilTer- 

 ence of worship and opinion ; and to remember, 

 that the same principle, which secures treedom to 

 ourselves, should guarantee to others a like boon. 



2. The establishment of the brethern at Pitts- 

 field and Hancock, consists of about seven hun- 

 dred acres, lying together; and is possessed by 

 three large tamilies, containing upwards of three 

 hundred individuals. They are united for all the 

 the general purposes of their society ; but in their 

 financial concerns are as families separate from 

 each other. The land is not of the best descrip- 

 tion, being low, cold and wet ; and their attention 

 is mainly directed to the cultivation of grass and 

 garden seeds, and the keeping ot cows and sheep. 

 Their llisi purpose is for their own supply. They 

 raise the best ihey can, and they eat the best they 

 raise ; and though from their temperate and care- 

 ful habits their thrift is remarkable, yet the accu- 

 mulation of property is evidently not a principal 

 object with them. They have various mechani- 

 cal contrivarices by which their labor is abridged 

 or lightened. They have made the best use of 

 water-power which their place (lirnishes, and hus- 

 band it with care and economy. They have an 

 extensive saw-inill carrieil by water, and all their 

 fuel is cut in the same way. A simple arrange- 

 ment which it may appi^ir trifling to mention, im- 

 pressed me by its shrewdness and good judgment. 

 Ordinarily, lire wood is piled liorizoiitally, and 

 when exposed to the wetuher, becomes water 

 soaked and mouldv. Their billets of wood, being 

 sawed, were stacked up in convenient piles, the 

 sticks being placed upright on the end, so that 

 any water which fell upon the pile was immedia- 

 tely drained off". Alter being sawed, they were 

 fieatly put up under cover. 



I have already referred to their magnificent 



barn, built of stone, of a circular form three stories 

 in height, ninety-six feet in diameter, and capable, 

 as well as may be calculated, ol" containing from 

 three to four hundred tons of hay. The carts enter 

 in the second story ; the floor or drive-way is con- 

 tinued round by the wall for the whole of the cir- 

 cle, so that the cart passes round the entire dis- 

 tance, and when the hay is discharged, goes out 

 at the same door at which it entered. All the 

 hay is deposited in the centre. Several loaded 

 wagons may stand on the floor, and be sheltered 

 and unloaded at the same time. The roof is a 

 beautiful and curious specimen of carpentry, and 

 appears to be most securely supported. !n the 

 centre of the floor, there rises to the apex of the 

 roof a single column as large as an admiral's mast, 

 around which a hollow frame of slats is fixed, and 

 which serves as a ventilator or chimney to dis- 

 charge the steam of the hay. It is open at the 

 top. and protected by a small cupola against the 

 rain. At the same lime the bay is raised from 

 the ground, about a foot, by an open floor ol" slats, 

 so that there is, while the hay is new, a constant 

 circulation of air up this chimney; and one of the 

 li-iends informed me that the steam passing from 

 the hay in this mode was oftentimes so dense, 

 that, to use his own expression, "you could wash 

 your hands in it." The arrangements lor the cat- 

 tle are in the lower story, where every animal has 

 iis place and number, and where every cow is 

 designated by a label on the post as in milk or 

 otherwise. In this circular form, there is of course 

 a considerable loss of room ; yet the method of 

 feeding is easy; the place is kept clean; the whole 

 arrangements are convenient ; and the kindly 

 treated animals standing around this huge mass 

 of hay, have at least the pleasure of seeing the 

 good things in store lor them. These friends have 

 singular advantages, in the amount of labor which 

 they are able at any time to command, and apply 

 to any object which they have in view; and their 

 establishment presents a beautiful illustration of 

 advantages of well-directed industry, neatness, 

 and order. The great rule ol" domestic economy, 

 '•'a place for every thing, and every thing in its 

 place," is nowhere more strikingly exemplified; 

 and though they make no pretensions to the fine 

 arts, and have little of what is called taste, yet ail 

 their arrangements, and the products of their 

 labor, exhibit the proofs of thoroughness, perma- 

 nency, utility, and substantial comfort. 



Their dairy is exquisitely neat in every part of 

 if. Their piggery is the exclusive concern of a 

 single individual; and illustrates the utility in a 

 large concern of a division of labor and of indivi- 

 dual responsibility. They have attempted an 

 improvement of their neat stock, by the introduc- 

 tion of some of the improved breeds, and the 

 young stock which they were raising from this 

 cross, promised extremely well, though no oppor- 

 tunity had been had to test its qualities for milk. 

 Their land is considered in a great measure unfa- 

 vorable to the production of grain ; and a large 

 portion of their bread-stuff" therefore is purchased. 

 They have likewise occasionally hired extensive 

 tracts of meadow on the Mohawk river in the 

 state of New York, which they have cultivated 

 by colonies, in order to obtain brush for the man- 

 uf"acture of brooms, a branch of business which 

 heretofore they have carried on to a considerable 



