140 



^{)t laxma's illctntl)ltj bisitor. 



town of Bridgewater (now constituting a part of 

 Bristol) |ieiflies itself npon iui exteiiiled eleva- 

 tion several hundred feet above the river, unseen 

 from the old river road ii|.nn the west side : fo 

 also we look down for a <lozen uiiles of the way 

 upon abrupt mountains and hills of the larger 

 growth, from Bridgewater to the opposite side. 

 At the stirring little village of Bristol conies in 

 from the west the waters of the Nowfoinid lake 

 of so(ne six miles in extent, embosomed among 

 the mountains, of which the ele|ihant-back Car- 

 digan, seen at a long distance, is Ihe more prom- 

 inent. In the turn of a long bend against Bris- 

 tol, the main river breaks and finds its passage 

 down through the higher ridge at nearly right 

 angles. Above, on the west side, all the distance 

 to Plymouth, the rise from the river is generally 

 abrupt: on the opposite side, the valley of the 

 stream running out of Squani lakes lays in a 

 more extended level eastward, leading to the still 

 larger level bordering the waters of the Wiiini- 

 pisseogee valley. The control of the waters of 

 the lakes on the east side has recently been 

 purchased with the main water privileges near- 

 est their outlets, for the round sum of more than 

 two hundred tlwusand dollars, by the manufac- 

 turing companies at Lowell, at the distance of 

 nearly a liundred miles lielow. The purchase 

 already made gives only the right of flowage to 

 the highest point it has been previously kept. — ■ 

 Probably as much more money would purchase 

 the right to raise the water still more of the two 

 main lakes so as to forever assure an abundant 

 supply at the dry seasons of the year for the 

 present, and even increased fictory operations at 

 Lowell. The intermediate water power at Gar- 

 ven's fills, at Hooksett and al Manchester — all 

 owned by the Anioskeag company — will always 

 Dvail itself of the rc(piisite aid of the flowage 

 above ; for whenever this company at either place 

 wants any poinion of the water necessary at Low- 

 ell or the new city of Essex,tlie latter must use it- 

 It is not long since one could hardly have 

 4!ipanied that the endurable water power of the 

 Merrimack would so soon become of a magni- 

 tude in manufacturing operations at the obstruct- 

 ing falls much greater than its value might have 

 been for navigation had its whole distance been 

 without obstructions: this v:ihie is so increased 

 that within Ihe next leu years, if at the expense 

 of a million of ilollais, and the submerging of 

 much valuable land, the right of flowage of lakes 

 nnd low grounds at the sources of the main riv- 

 er and its tributaries will he bought up to in- 

 crease and make it more durable. 



We had no time to h^dt at llolikrnesci village, 

 nnd, in looking about, afterwards found we Iniil 

 entirely mistaken the valley down which the 

 Squatn river entered it, taking the larger valley 

 of a much more inconsiderable stream to lie the 

 the true one, and wondering that the Sqnam riv- 

 er which stole its way under cover through the 

 thickest part of the village, should be so small a 

 brook. This village is the seat of ipiiie coiisider- 

 nble mauutiiclures: iinicmg them tuo mills for 

 the mannliicliire of paper raise the cash value of 

 all rye, oat nnd wheat straw that the surrounding 

 counliy furnishes. An article of paper, the de- 

 mand for which the world over will not soon be 

 Buppliid, is made from straw, cheap and useful 

 for many purposes: tho most expensive ingredi- 

 ent in till! pii'jiaration of straw for paper is lime, 

 nearly hall' the cost of which at lloldcrni'ss vil- 

 lage is the price of transport forty miles over the 

 iiard travelled road above the railroad depot at 

 ConciOj'dl Straight through tho village at the 



first time of seeing It we took our way, afraid 

 that having already lingered too long with our 

 friends that morning might defeat the purpose of 

 the contemplated aliernoon's jaunt to Prospect 

 hill from Plj mouth. Passing it at a liirn of the 

 road which seemed to be leailing us again direct- 

 ly back to Concord, at no very great distance we 

 overtook on foot an old acquaintance, one of the 

 main men of the town and village following at a 

 distance, his teams of lusty oxen with the wheels 

 and chains for lumbering. Finiling ourselves on 

 the right roail, v.e were sorry to gather from the 

 man who had grown up with the village the im- 

 [iression of despondency for its prosperity in the 

 idea that its excellent water power might be ru- 

 ined by the control of the manufacturing dons 

 who now command the lakes above. 

 To be continued. 



Cultivation of Orchards. 



At a late agriculniral meelini; at tho State 

 House, Boston, Mr. Porter, of Danvers, stated 

 that a few years ago, he had an old orchard of 

 four or (ive acres, which had not been ploughed 

 for thirty years, which his neighbors said was 

 worthless. He plongheil it, manured it well, and 

 took off a good crop of oats. He [lursued the 

 same course the two following years. The third 

 year, he had seven tons of oats, cut before ripe 

 for fodder, and two liundred and eighty barrels 

 of apples. Previous to ilie ploughing, he did not 

 get more than eight bari'els a year. It may he 

 proper to add, that although sown crops with ma- 

 luu'e, do well for lijjl grown orchards, low hoed 

 crops, only, as potatoes, beets, and turnips, will 

 answer for young trees. — Albany Cultivator. 



The metliods pm-sued by our fiirmer-friends of 

 West Cambridge and its vicinity, in Massachu- 

 setts, in rearing and preserving their orchard.-s, 

 are worthy the attention and imitation of farmers 

 generally. Their fruit trees are cultivated with 

 eipial attention as the most tender garden vege- 

 tables. It is not generally realized that close at- 

 tention to the cultivation of the ground about 

 fruit trees, will not only improve the quality of 

 the fruit, but bring the tree forward to a hearing 

 stale in a lessoned number of year.s. Apple trees 

 in ten years from the seed may be made to pro- 

 duce better with due attention, than in twenty 

 years without it; and who in the short life of a 

 man would not desire the enjoyment of the pro- 

 ducts of his labor in the shorter rather than in 

 the longer period of time ? Our West Cambridge 

 friends will excuse the firqiienl allusions made 

 to them: they are always among the earlier and 

 most conspicuous in the great Boston market, 

 and they may not ex|)ect to escape that notorie'y 

 from which their modesty would excuse them. 

 One of them a few weeks since introduced us to 

 his orch.-ud of Porter apples. The cullivalion o( 

 this orchard was as clean as that of Ihe paper on 

 whii'h we write. Besi<le the trees themselves 

 there was no green vegetable growing. The 

 ground had been manured nnd kept in smooth 

 fallow, so that the whole strength was thrown 

 into the trees, whose extended branches were 

 sudicienl at some time of day to shade every pari 

 of the field. The owner of the ground said it 

 was enoii!;h for ihis land that it bore only apples. 

 The vigiji-ous health of Ihe growing trees, not less 

 than Ihe large size and smooth exterior of the 

 afiples, snfllcienl in numbers ami weight to re- 

 quire propping of the limbs, proved there was 

 no mislakc in the calcul.ition. A single tree ol 

 ihis orchard in one year may, and probably has 

 given the income of six per cent, on nn invesl- 

 ment of (iom three to Ave hundred ilollars. The 

 clean cullivalion of this orchard had the good ef- 

 fect of till almost entire expulsion of worms, 



which pre so common in most good flavored ap- 

 ples: this clean cultivation was probably aided 

 by the introduction of a new kind of barn swal- 

 lows lately brought to the farm. These swallows 

 had multiplieil to hundreds and thousands from 

 a single pair first introduced. They had been 

 taught to make their mud nesta under the eaves 

 of a roof extended npon the south side of a large 

 barn- These swallows differ from the common 

 barn, chimney or bank swallows, or the martin 

 swallow, which are all common : they build their 

 nests mainly of mud, in their own peculiar shape. 

 Protected as they are upon these premises from 

 all annoyance saving that of more voracious 

 feathered animals, they increase at the return of 

 each successive summer. They subsist almost 

 exclusively upon the mischievous insects and 

 worms which in their transitions are so destruc- 

 tive to almost every species of useful vegetable 

 growth. The well cultivated apple orchard un- 

 donbiedly comes in for its share of benefit from 

 the tiaily labors of the birds thus introduced. 



The cultivation of peaches has lately been ad- 

 ded to the other fruils in the vicinity of Boston. 

 The West Caudiridge peaches in the Boston mar- 

 ket, though not as early, have been decidedly su- 

 perior to the peaches brought from New Jersey 

 and Delaware. They are larger, of more lieauti- 

 ful color, and have more of life true flavor of the 

 ancient rareripe. The peach tree is of short du- 

 ration, lasting only some three to half a dozen 

 bearings. The yellows, a late common disorder, 

 someiimes destroys the tree after a single year of 

 extra bearing. Some who cultivate the peacli 

 say that the large crop of a single year will pay 

 the whole expense of a tree even if it should not 

 again bear. Well cultivated, the peach tree bears 

 upon the growth of from three to five years from 

 Ihe stone ; and such a tree may not be expected 

 to usefully outlive an existence of over leu years. 



A light warm soil is found to be best for the 

 growth of the peach. One genlleman at West 

 Cambridge showed us an orchard of one thous- 

 and tiees this year traiisplant<-il upon pine plains 

 land, which had Icir several years been manured 

 and cultivated for early garden vegetation. These 

 trees, not more than three years from the stone, 

 brought from New Jersey, were in vigorous 

 growth : some of them were expected to bear the 

 ensuing season. Uinil they commence bearing, 

 this year .uid next, the usual garden vegetation 

 was to be continued. Afterwards it was calcula- 

 ted lo give tho trees the exclusive use of the 

 ground. The owner of this orchard, from tho 

 ex|)erience of the last ten years, is of opinion 

 tliat peach orchards may thrive as well and last 

 as long in Massachusetts as they do in New Ji'r- 

 sey ami Pennsylvania. This gentleman, it is be- 

 lieved, has never yet f died in any experiment of 

 Horticulture : his cultivation has never exceeded 

 twenty acres in a year, and this of land which 

 fur more than a liundreil years had been treated 

 as ihe poorest of all land lying out of doors — 

 land which hail been thnnght incapable of hold- 

 ing manure and being fit for nolhing but to hold 

 ihe world together. From such small quanlily 

 of such land as ihis — giving employment nnd 

 hij:h waL'es to some half a dozen laborers — the 

 genlleman has contrived to rni.se the revenue of 

 hundreds and even thousands of dollars in a 

 yeai-. 



Kkki'ino Pi;Mi'KiN3. — Pumpkins for stock are 

 best kepi in a dry loft with the flooring limheis 

 (putiv open, so as to allow air to circulate as 

 IriM'ly as possible between them. Were it not 

 that they take so inin-h ropni wo should prefer 

 storing them in a single tier; but usually, for 



