^I)c iTarmcr's ilUnitljli) Visitor. 



155 



•iim()le sii(i|i«)n foe vvliicli is Knaniiitied in tl]e 

 jji-eat Imsiiicss I'mfiislied liy ilic iiiiuiuriicluiiiig 

 fj^iiililisliTiiciUs find viliaws uliicli lUrcady exist 

 ■oil titfit sfifinn. Aliove Won^nslKron tliis sirtaiii 

 tiiH K<iVf)-Lf (jictorft's; and a mile or two out of 

 liiwii, on a new «m<1 ntanT route cut tinougli the 

 rise of land which tiivides the waters of the 

 Blackstone iiiiming south, I'roni those of the 

 south liranrli of the Nashua I'lniniiifr north for a 

 road to West Hoylston, is a bcautjfid i iii'al <»Mno- 

 Jery rofenlly iaid oi« and eoustnicted lor ihe re- 

 )iose of tlie <le«<l. The Blaekstone stream cros- 

 ses the villu^i? or ratfier city of Worcester K-early 

 at right anjrSes, Irom the rail road tracks. The 

 stream is not liere i^lied on for water |H3wer : 

 but Worcester as a niannliicturin^ town oC the 

 various tiiachinery o-f wliidi iron is the prii«.'i|ial 

 «om).Kiiivn<; jiart is introducing steam power as a 

 suhstitiite. Jt is among the pleasant reflections 

 upon the aniiihilalioti of distance hy means of 

 riiilro;«ls, that siirli a town as Worcester should 

 «t once lie twriush'ed with all the advantages of 

 the city in <<!« «itiVi<i«ctioTi of almost every spe- 

 ■cies of manufacture. In the space of ten years 

 nfler the extension of a railroad to that place, her 

 tnacliiiiists, inaiuiliicturers and artisans have ()roh- 

 jihly inereased four-fold. [Jnildinj,' after hnildin^ 

 for difTereut estahlishnients has been con.stnicte<l; 

 at first the coiistrnclion is of wood — these turned 

 to other purposes are substituted hy spacious and 

 liii;h brick edifices of many stories. The great 

 inaiudju'turinj: esiablishnieuts increase the con- 

 tinued demand for all the difl'ereiit kinds of mer- 

 I'liandize — new cousiimers take up with avidity 

 all the surplus which the farmer i\iiscs. lie 

 ctjmes here li'oiii all directions as to a sin'e mar- 

 ket; for if the town have more than a sn|iply, 

 the railroad at once carries it to the point north 

 or south, east or west, wliere the article will sell 

 for the highest price. The growth of the an- 

 cient town of Worcester since its fust railroad 

 connected it a stdiurl) for business with Boston, 

 its prospiM-t of unlimilcti future growth from the 

 business flowing into it id all directi<j!is, is among 

 the undeniable evidences that the IJicilities of 

 lailroads arc a uiost povverfui iustriniieutc<nitril>- 

 nting to the growth and prosperity, am! the in- 

 crease of value to every kind of property in the 

 interior country ; and that every portion of the 

 rommunily brought nearer to the marts of trade, 

 to the means of speedy intercourse, to ii tiLiiket 

 <i!li<;r for sale or ptnchuse, derives lieiielit in its 

 due proportion. 



Ry til!' census of 1840 the population of Wor- 

 cester was 7,497: in the last lour years if has 

 probably so increased as n<iw to uuuiber 1(1,000. 

 its business is very large and c<iustaiilly iiicrea- 

 sing — its stores and trade have nearly doubled in 

 that time. Within the town there are tlu'ee wool- 

 len mills with tiiue sets of machinery, and two 

 cotton mills with 1500 spindles: these are carri- 

 ed hy water power, which on llie streams of the 

 town is not of great amounl. A paper mill wi;li 

 J4 hands pa\s freight lor 400 tons in a year: a 

 card wire munuljicttne employs 40 men and ]00 

 Ions of wire annually : 'JOO tons of iron and Ii.") 

 hau<ls are employed in the manul.iciure of 4000 

 ploughs and other iigricidtural insiiiiinents : 50 

 linis of leail are animally used iu the manufar- 

 line <d' lead pifie. t'ne manufacture of marhi- 

 nery lor wool uses 200 tons of iron, and makes 

 35 sets of machines. An iion foundry employs 

 120 hau<ls and uses 2100 tons of coal, iron and 

 moulding sand in a year. A paper and calico 

 maehiue maiuiliu'tory, with several de|)artments 

 and owners, niakc aboiu. 1};200,00II worth oi these 

 macbinis annually. Tlmleen other establish- 

 ments for the manuliiclure of machinery use 

 large quantities of iron, hmd)er and coal. The 

 linsiiiess ofone is ahoui i<ll.>,000 amniallv ; anoth- 

 er t!50,000 ; anollK.'r .820,000; another "j-l(i,000 ; 

 .and that of otheis in the aggiegate very large. 



Such is the business poured into the lap of the 

 town of Worcester, iucreasirjg and extending at 

 «;veryslep: the railroads passing now in three 

 directions have been the means of iniioducing 

 the iargei- and heavier portion of the great ami 

 increasing business of Worcester — they have giv- 

 en a most extraordinary impetus to the manu- 

 facturing and |uoducing interest of nearly the 

 whole county. II' these great avenues were clo- 

 sed up, it would cause a stiignation of enterprise 

 !uid a d<'|ireciaiion of properly, not oLily in Wor- 

 cester, but ill all the towns within twenty miles 



of a railroad track that woidd drive away thou- 

 saiuls of its acimnuilaiing population. 



Ill this digression from tile objects of the Agri- 

 cultural Association, the reader will pardon us 

 for the description of that pioneer town which 

 fifty years ago was noted as the largest interior 

 village in New England, and second only in the 

 thirteen States to Laticaster in I'eiinsylvaiiia, 

 which was for several years the seat of govern- 

 ment for that State. 



It niay he set down ns a fact indisputable that 

 Worcester County owes its growth and prosper- 

 ity to its Agriculture and the early enterprise and 

 industry of its Farmers. Its Agricultural Socie- 

 ty has existed ibr twenty-four years; and al- 

 though probably less than a fourth part of its 

 tanners have been members of the association, 

 yet much more than has been supposed is due to 

 the Society for the high name it iiears as the best 

 improved agricnlliirid interior district of the Uni- 

 ted States. There are other districts of country 

 more feasible and fertile — others which have not 

 reijuired the same almost incredible expense and 

 labor for clearing — that tnay now go before it in 

 the production of sc many cultivated acres— such 

 may be the county of Lancaster and some of the 

 nearly alluvial counties of Pennsylvania — siudi 

 may be the bottom lands upon the western riv- 

 ers, the virgin fertiliiy of the western prairie re- 

 gions—the rich alluvial tracts n|ion the Connec- 

 ticut — such may likewise he the rich county of 

 Caledonia in Vermont, whose first deep fertility 

 lias not yet been exhausted ; but we say without 

 <lualification that no hill county in the United 

 States, so abrupt and rough, so stony and so hard 

 heiie;itb the surface, can be compared at this 

 time with the county of Worcester for the reno- 

 vation of worn-out lands and for every species 

 of agricultural improvement. 



As a sample of what may be done in the very 

 roughest part of this rough county, we instance 

 the little township of New Braiiitree in this comi- 

 ty. It was the early practice of the first settlers 

 to pitch for a town njion the more feasible land, 

 Wlien they went back into the inlerior, they se- 

 lected their land where they could find the best 

 spots. All around the town ol New Braiiitree 

 the best spots were located for towns, leaving a 

 rougli rocky ridge upon w hieli in its natural stale 

 the plough wouid be of little use. All the other 

 land being taken up, some individuals of the an- 

 cient jiniiiuree which iueludes that town, Qiiin- 

 cy and Ranilol[ili, silnaled some ten miles suulli 

 of Ijoston, sal down as a matter of necessity on 

 the sterile Worcester ridge, lo which they gave 

 the name of New Brain:ree. Will it surprise, the 

 reader to he told that this same toyvn is one iif 

 the best agricultural towns of its size in the 

 county!' We have never been there — but we 

 have been assured this is the lact. Every time 

 we have attended the Worcester annnul fair «e 

 have seen the greater rpianlily and better (|naiiiy 

 of cheeses ns having been made at New jjra'en- 

 tree: the best cows in the jiens also wer? those 

 from New Biainlree. Indeed if this rough ridge 

 be not of vwry great extent, jndg'.ug JVom what 

 we always find at the Worceslei' catllo show, it 

 may be set down as one of iho tiiosS valuetl ag- 

 rieiilliual towns of New luiglr.nd. 



As lUe town of New IJrain'.ree isiatiiO'.iS for iis 

 Cheese, souie Weslhorough, and Grafton noted 

 for their excellent Hotter. JJolb these lowiis are 

 near and almost in sight of Worcester; the hit- 

 ler has grown into a conspicuous village with a 

 city aspect from wliicli is presented a splendid 

 view lb the noithwani over the whole extent of 

 the county and beyond that into New Hamp'shire. 

 Sutton, imolher exceJleut bill Sown in the south 

 part of the county, likewise bears a»v,aj l.be palm 

 in its superior oxe\i. The furmiert. of 'Worcester 

 county regard so muoh the a[ipearain:eof the an- 

 imals so useful 111 l.o-m labor ibat the ditleience 

 of fifty dollars in ibe price of the yoke is readily 

 paid lor limey where ihe owner is proud iii be 

 the ilriver of crealures which not only w.irk well, 

 bill a)ipear well. The exeelleiicc of the Worces- 

 ter cattle rcsiilis not more troiii the iMipoiled 

 breeds op. wliicli improvement has beeji diligent- 

 ly sought tbiin from the habit of rearing the best 

 olisprii' jr of those wliieb are considered the beisi 

 native breed. More than fifty years i',g» the late 

 Mr. V aiighan of llallowell, iMnine, imptirted suine 

 of lb e best English cattle ; and from the oftspiriiig 

 oi 'these be presented the late Goversior Gore at 

 Waltham somewhere about the year 1800 wiAh a 



bull. This creature afterwards became famoua j 



— bis ofli-piing were iniroduceil into Princeton .^ 

 by the late Lt. (Jov. Gill, and from his farm the 

 breed has been spread over this county. Not 

 more to the breed of cattle than to their keeping 

 is their superiority to be attributed : the hill pas- 

 tures of Worcester, as do the fine hill pastures 

 in northern Vermont, New Hamjishire and Maine, 

 would alone give them a decided advantage. Wo 

 have seen splendid cattle of improved breeds up- 

 on the Kennebec and upon the Sandy river in 

 Maine, as well as in Caledonia county of Ver- 

 mont U[ion the Canada borders; but the Sutton 

 teams of oxen called native in old MassHchiisetts- 

 we have never seen exceeded. It is said of that 

 town, by way of joke, or otherwise, iImI they have 

 a college or seminary there for the instruction ot' 

 their oxen, in which the degrees are eonlerrcd, 

 and that the animals come out of their schools 

 ipiitc as well ipialified for the subsequent busi- 

 ness of life as other orders of intellect which 

 rank above the brute creation. On a former oc- 

 casion we saw fourteen milch cows kept at the 

 Worcester Hospital, each of which yielded air 

 amount of milk two and three times as large as 

 the cows usually kc|it by farmers. These cows 

 were mostly of the native breed, and were far 

 superior to lots of imported cows kept by ama- 

 teur breeders of cattle who had procured them 

 at great exfiense: they were fed with meal in ad- 

 dition to the usual pasture and hay feeding as a. 

 nmtler of economy, it being ascertained that ev- 

 ery pound of meal would produce its addition- 

 al quart of milk. The superiority of these coWij' 

 as milkers was jiroduced in this manner: each 

 cow more inclined lo fatten thuu to give the due 

 quantity of milk was turned readily and to good- 

 advantage for bi.-ef, and her place was at once 

 siip|)lied by selecting a better cow without regard 

 to the small additional iirice asked. 



There is much more credit due to the ))iiblic 

 spirited men who have introdtieed and continue 

 to introduce into ihe country improved breeds of 

 cattle than many are willing to admit. They ask 

 great prices for their best breeder.s ; and even if 

 they get the priees they ask, they are often the 

 losers. And it must 1m; acknowledged that the 

 admirers of many of our handsiMiie native cattle 

 are indebted for the besl points to the gentlemen 

 who have imported the improved breeds, whether' 

 Ourbain, Devonshire, llolderness or Ayrshire: 

 into these the best judges of tattle peraeive more . 



or loss of all these cuttle have become inter- W 

 mixed. 



On our last visit to Worcester we were able to 

 nieasure the improvenient wliich five years had' 

 maile in the faille of Massachusells. lj;ist time- 

 Mr. John P. Cnsbiiig presented lo the Agricultu- 

 ral Socieiy of Massachusetts a choice Ayrshire 

 bull which he had imported: this animal has 

 since been kept in several counties for the gratu- 

 ilous use of the farmiirs: he was on the late an- 

 niversary returned to his old place as much ini-- 

 proved himself in the five years as were the oth- 

 er noble breeders vvliitb occupied the same 

 pens. 



If ihe obi,ects of the Worcester Agricultural 

 Sotiely had heim the improvement of cattle on-- 

 Iv, we believe ilial coimly has betn richly riqiaiil 

 lor all its etibris in the agricultural cause. It has 

 been ihe t'ashioM for the prolei!sion;Hl men in 

 Wori;ester coiiniy to come up to the aid of this 

 gooil cause. Foremost in Shis cause has been 

 the family of Lincoln fov ihe last forty years. — 

 Levi Lincoln the elder, who coMimcnued life as- 

 a workingHian, and afterwarda attained lo high 

 eminence at ihe bar, ended his ikiys while dili- 

 gently devoted lo ihe business of a farmer, per- 

 sonally exposhig himself in llie labors and cares> 

 i>f the field, like Jlie illnslrious Washington, as 

 the cause of thai st^vere atlack whieh terminated 

 his life. As the accomplished Iwad and leader 

 of ibis Society we have always met Levi Lincohv 

 llie younger, n ho since the demise of his linher 

 has been distinguished as a conn.^ellor, a jiidi:e 

 of ihe Ssiprejiie funrt, Governor of the Style and 

 now a nierjiher of Congress. The part he has 

 acted as leader of the agricuUnral- cause in his' 

 county for the last twelve years will redound not 

 less to his Kredil liian all he vyill gain as a lawyer 

 and a slasessnan. Anotheir son, the presenl sher- 

 iff of the couiiiy, a liirmey who has succeeded 

 better in those t'rifieriments w hi-ifh have henefit- 

 ted others than in making money from his farni- 

 iag snieratious. has long Lnjcn artive Iti ^iromo- 



