122 



^l)e iTanner's iHontl)lij faisitor. 



frienils as constant political foes. Brotlicr CooUc 

 liad lis at oiico in liis accomtiiodatiiij,' l)iiuj.'y, 

 drawn liy a falter, liecause not so liard-woikinj; 

 and old a horse as our own, showing us the new 

 streets and houses, and tasteful iniproveinents of 

 n town whose enterprise deserves just such an 

 openinjr to trade and corniiicrce, and quick com- 

 munication with every part of the country, as 

 the new railroad will give it. 



Although it was too hard a day's drive for the 

 generous and free, hut poor animal who has car- 

 ried us in the la.^t three years, many a shorter 

 trip, when unalile to walk of our own strength, 

 leaving Keene at half-past ei;,'li(, we made onr 

 way over the high liills, all the way along, fifty 

 miles to oin- own domicil on the evening of 

 Tuesday, August 18, A. D. 1846. As we went 

 down hy the easiest road in the ravine, which 

 conveys a southern liranch of the Ashuelot from 

 the high hills, so we came away up the ravine of 

 nnoiher lirancli, which more than once dividing 

 itself, has its commencement in a lake among the 

 hills in the town of Nelson. At the very month 

 of this lake, fed in an amphitheatre of hills, is 

 the water-power for a factory village. In the 

 same town, high upon the lulls, in another direc- 

 tion, has grown np the flourishing village of Har- 

 risVille, with a water-power supplied from lieau- 

 tiful lakes, whose waters flow in another <lirec- 

 tion down the Contoocook valley. The water- 

 ])ower, balanced helw<'en the streams flowing 

 each way, either to the Connecticut or Merri- 

 mack, is all used up in Nelson for various nian- 

 ufaclnring purposes, cotton and woolen dolhs, 

 wooden wares and furniture. 



Never did the highlands of New Hampshire 

 show to hetter a<lvantage than in this mouth of 

 August. The flowing green corn-fields contrast- 

 ing with the ripened golden fields of wheat, rye, 

 barley and oats, now and then chequered with 

 the " pepper and salt " buck-wheat — the unusu- 

 ally green pastiu'es over the smoother hills, and 

 the spotting of pasture and rocks with the woods 

 np and down the more abriitit ttionntains — the 

 quiet lake now o[)eiiing to the view upon the 

 higher ascent — the brook, the rocks, the noise of 

 the down-tumbling waters — the granite ho(dders 

 scattered many a mile " out of place " by a moving 

 of waters too long ago to be recorded — the moun- 

 tains in the f-u' distance, both east anil w (;st ; such a 

 day's view in such a day's ride, while every thing 

 conspired to make us f(^el bow little and fleeting 

 is the life of man, at' the same time enkindled 

 that holy enthusiasm which enables the mind to 

 " look through nature up to nature's God" — to 

 the hopes of a brighter futurity for that spirit 

 which, " immortal as its Sire, shall never die. 



To return to the things beneath: The last 

 few years have fashioned the roads in New Eng- 

 land so that we pass through the valleys and 

 glens of the hills, rather than pursue the first old 

 roads, which were made in some instances, over 

 the tops of the liigblaiuls, even going round about 

 to gain a long distance. Within the last twenty 

 years, the sliorlest travelled road from the centre 

 of the Stale to Keene has been shortened several 

 triiles, and otherwise made n passable carriage 

 road, by catching on eilher declivity of thi»high- 

 lands, the valley of the stream. lAen here, the 

 road-makers at first schemed not to nndi'rstand 

 the triK! principle, which is to preserve the in- 

 clined plane entire in every ascent: they iinide 

 the road with nnihilatiniis, which inigbt have 

 heen, and uhicli in the late constructed roads 

 are avoided, 'i'he true principle of road-making 

 wo take to be, that which sacrifices directness to 



the prevention of too high a grade. Experience 

 proves to us that the very best roads of the conn- 

 try have been, and continue to be constructed 

 among the highest hills of New England : these 

 are better and easier of tr.ivel than the long level 

 highways, because they have a footing substra- 

 tum more solid and sul)staritial. 



We came over the Keene road, looking east 

 and west, lilting eastward from the highest point 

 of one of the branches of Contoocook river, 

 at whose tnoiith, on the south line of Concord, 

 passes the line of the Northern railroad. Re- 

 flecting on the sources of this largest tributary 

 to the Menimack, we find that they extend fioui 

 the line of the State between Kludge and Asb- 

 liurnliaiu on the south, over the highest point of 

 the Monadnock, the high grounds of Nelson, 

 Stoddard and Washington, the whole extent of 

 '•Bald Sunapee" and the ridges of Newbury, 

 Sutton, around the westerly end of the bold 

 Kearsarge, by New London and Wilmot, to the 

 easterly end of the Ragged mountain, in the 

 county of Grafton — endiracing the upper level of 

 the backbone ridge, from the Massachusetts line, 

 over nearly half the distance of the whole length 

 of New Hampshire, Of the waters supplying 

 this stream, it is remaikable that the greater por- 

 tion is at the highest point among the hills: here 

 are the lakes and swamps which send down the 

 water-power in a never-liiiling stream. The 

 town of Kiiulge, farthest to the souih-west, has 

 some twenty considerable ponds, which in other 

 counties, would be called lakes, most of which 

 issue waters, running by a southerly branch of 

 the Contoocook. A more northerly branch unit- 

 ing with the main stem at Hillsborough, was 

 that down which the Keene road travels. Be- 

 yond some of the liighe.''t liills west, lies north 

 and south, in Stoddard and Washington, an ex- 

 cavation of pond, brook and swamp, indicating a 

 lowland country, extending nearly twenty miles : 

 that part of the Contoocook called " the Branch," 

 has the sole and exclusive use of the waters col- 

 lected ill this upper valley. The water-power 

 upon this u|i|ier branch is hut now begun to be 

 used, with the extensive growth of spruce and 

 other timber, which lies along the water course. 



Of vegetation most luxurious during the pre- 

 sent year upon the granite hills over which we 

 rambled, it may be observed, that the sweet feed 

 of the pastures has been most abimdant — the 

 crops of hay and grain, well got in, were never 

 exceeded — the [irospect of the grosving Indian 

 com is all that ought to be desired for the pre- 

 paration. Potatoes the present year, are a beau- 

 tiful crop, although much better in prospect than 

 the potato fields in other parts of the country. — 

 The rust anil the rot, which we consider synon- 

 ymous, have evidently stricken some fields, while 

 others, not yet ripened, niainiain the accustomed 

 green which indicates a healthy growth. 



Every where observing improvements in the 

 agriculture of our Stale, which we hope to see 

 re-doubled, we should too much extend this 

 "yarn" by dwelling on particulars, coming 

 through and by the towns of Stodd.inl, Windsor, 

 Antrim, Ilillsboroiigb, Deering, llenniker and 

 Ilo|ikiiitou, and a considerable portion of oin' 

 own town. The travel of this valley looks more 

 directly to our |ilace than it ever did before, 

 bringing here for a market, materials which, un- 

 til our railroad was in operation, would scarcely 

 pay for the expense' of transport. To facilitate 

 travel, the towns all the way, liave even improved 

 upon the best of roads. The noble granite arch- 

 ed bridge, several years since thrown over the 



Contoocook at Heiiniker, is followed by others 

 on the same river. We remarked a grand new 

 granite briilge over the Souhegan at Milford, an- 

 other, with lour arches, over the Ashuelot, enter- 

 ing the town of Keene, and another most beau- 

 tiful bridge of four arches, over the Contoocook, 

 in the new and improved roa<l in llopkinton. — 

 The enterprising biiihler of some of these bridges 

 is Mr. D. Read, of Keene. The covereil patent 

 wooden bridges are very fine, lasting many years: 

 the granite bridges, once laid on a permanent 

 foundation, are forever made. A partial contract 

 was made for a wooden bridge at Hopkinton for 

 $3000. Mr. Read offered the granite structure 

 for several hundred dollars less; so that after the 

 first contractor had been bought ofl^, the perma- 

 nent bridge cost not much over $'2.o00. The 

 sattie contractor has since bid oflf another bridge 

 in Hopkinlon, one mile lower on the stream, to 

 supply the [dace of Rowell's bridge, for about 

 $2000. Extending these granite structures to 

 longer and yet longer reaches, we do not doubt 

 a i'ew years will witness their coiistruclion over 

 wider rivers, where wooden bridges, often car- 

 ried away by high freshets, have to be supplied. 



In a late journey, animals remarkable for size 

 and fatness were pointed to our atlention. The 

 first were two monstrous elephant hogs, kept by 

 Mr. Shepherd of the Manchesler House : these, 

 at the age of thirteen months only, had grown to 

 the size which in the opinion of good judges 

 would w hen dressed come up to the dead weight 

 of nearly il' not quite six bundled pounds each. 

 Mr. Shepherd's swine serin to be a species of 

 larger bone and frame than the common hogs. 

 They are partly a cross of several breeds. An- 

 other fine animal shown nsat VVincbendon,Mass., 

 by Mr. Morse of the Centre Hotel, was a steer 

 of beautiful proportions, black, part Diirhaiti and 

 part native, reared by him, which weighed 2370 

 pounds the day be was four years old. When 

 arrived at his full growth, the owner believed this 

 steer might be made to weigh about 4000 pounds, 

 larger and more than one ox ever produced \a 

 this country. Mr. Morse had a pair of fine Dur- 

 ham oxen, which at the age of six years weighed 

 2300 poniids each. 



The British Aincrican Cultivator, printed at 

 Toronto, Upjier Canada, states the interesting 

 fact that the Indians on oni? of the i--landsof Lake 

 Huron made and sold the present year one hun- 

 dred tons of maple sugar. 



Neatness in Farming. 



We have somewhere heard the remark, that 

 with the good fiirmer, every thing gives way to 

 his busin>'ss — that utility is all, and appearance 

 nothing; hence yon are not to expect neatness 

 iihoiit iiis dwelling, bis door-yard beitig cut up 

 into mud by the farm wagon and tiie miinure cart, 

 contiguity of barns, pig pens and kitchen, such 

 as convenience, and no freedom Irom the pecu- 

 liar odors of hog yard and rii'h manure heap, 

 may dictate. 



Now to speak bluntly, this is all nonsense. It 

 so lia.p|iens, that in liirmiiig, neatness and thrill al- 

 most invariably go together. The same love of 

 order " liieli proiiipis the fiirnier to clear his yard 

 of broken b.-urels, old hoops, li-agments of boards, 

 and sticks of wood, and whatever else defaces 

 and defiles his premises — also prompts him to 

 have a place for every thing and every thing In 

 its place, which is calcuhiled to bear upon real 

 and snbstniitial prolit. 



Some of the very best farmers wiih whom we 

 are aecpiainted — whose eminent success and hea- 

 vy profits separate ihem in this respect in bold 

 distiiieliiess from the rest of their neighbors — are 

 paltiMiis of neatness; and the toneb of their 

 liand in the expulsion of every kind of nuisance 

 is visible all over their farms. Their door >«rd.s 



