116 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



proportion of the settlers, and on the other side of 

 the street, fine lots for buildings and farms, and a 

 ■way to the rich grazin g lands farther back. The 

 water was pure, wood for timber and fuel aboimded 

 on the hills, while the prospect down the winding 

 valley of the river, or away upon the receding 

 mountains, was lovely in the extreme. 



But though the hills and the banks of the river 

 were covered with trees, there were none on this 

 plain, where the early settlement was commenced. 

 Houses had been erected, and the lands cultivated, 

 on either side of the broad road, but the sun fell 

 with unobstructed power, or the winds whirled the 

 dust into the traveller's face. 



At the period of this young man's settlement in 

 the town, these lands had been cultivated about 

 one hundred years, and thrifty farmers occupied 

 them, and were gradually increasing their worldly 

 goods, and drawing around them more of the com- 

 forts and elegancies of life. But even at this time, the 

 plain was still destitute of trees and shrubs ; not a 

 flower, planted by the hand of man, not even a rose, 

 could be found. No ornamental tree, or shrub, or 

 climbing plant, cast a shadow in the burning sun. 

 The road-sides were encumbered with cast off imple- 

 ments of husbandry ; the relics of an ancient log 

 house, or some dilapidated vehicle, and among 

 these, the burdock and thistle, the mullein, milk 

 weed and johnswort, were flourishing in rank luxu- 

 ance. 



Such was the general appearance of the jolace in 

 1813, about three years after this gentleman enter- 

 ed it, with the intention of making it his future 

 home. There was Avithin him a love of the beauti- 

 ful in rural life, which the scene before him aroused 

 into action ; and after arranging the whole matter 

 in his own mind, he called on some of the farmers 

 with whom he had become acquainted, on the min- 

 ister, the physician, and others, and proposed to 

 them to plant four rows of the American Elm, 

 hundreds of which, young and thrifty, were then 

 standing on the banks of the river, through the en- 

 tire length of the street ! By most, the proposition 

 was cordially received, and they were ready to lend 

 a helping hand in the work. But by others it was 

 fiercely opposed, and denounced as "a d d fed- 

 eral trick" — it being during the war, when parties 

 were strongly arrayed against each other, and when 

 burning jealousies were more common than a de- 

 sire to embellish and increase the comforts of 

 home. But a survey was made, the lines were 

 struck, and the work went on. The farmer came 

 with his team, the lawyer, and doctor, and minister, 

 and store-keeper came with their implements, 

 and in a ew days the noble work was accomphshed. 

 But here and there, in front of certain premises, 

 there was a gap ! and shot was threatened to be 

 thrown if these public benefactors broke ground 

 there ! An so they passed them by, and broke 



ground where no guns were charged, or threats 

 made, and the gaps stood as living remembrances 

 of the hostility to the work. The traveller, how- 

 ever, will find no vacant places now — they were af- 

 terwards planted with maples by the recusants, and 

 God's sun and rains have matured them into lofty, 

 spreading trees, along with the rest. 



There are now four roM's of trees extending the 

 whole length of the village, with a carriage-way be- 

 tween the two centre rows, and foot-walks between 

 each outer row and the ornamented grounds in front 

 of the substantial dwellings of the place. The once 

 barren plain is now a rich gem, whose surroundings 

 are the fertile hills, covered with verdure in sum- 

 mer, and dotted with cattle and sheep, or dark with 

 the forests which spring from their sides. 



And who was the enchanter that touched and 

 transformed the scene ? It was Thomas Power, 

 now, and for a long time, the efficient and kind- 

 hearted Clerk of the Police Court, in Boston, whose 

 sympathies know no limits wherever a kind word 

 or a good deed may benefit his kind. We have 

 little reverence for kings, or bishojis, or men of 

 high estate, merely as such ; but to a nobility like 

 this, we pay the homage of a grateful heart. He 

 has erected a monument more enduring than brass, 

 — for when the trees which he planted shall have 

 mingled with the dust, children's children will re- 

 peat in delightful remembrance, the name of Thom- 

 as Power. 



For the ISew England Farmer. 



MEETING AT CHELMSFORD. 



Mr. Editor : — On the evening of Monday, the 21st 

 inst., there was a public meeting of the Chelmsford 

 Farmers' and Mechanics' Association, in the Town 

 Hall. An interesting address was delivered by Hon. 

 Simon Brown. After the address, there was a dis- 

 cussion, in which Dr. Bartlett, Mr. Hodgman, Rev. 

 Mr. Bromer, of Chelmsford, Dr. Reynolds, and 

 Jacob B. Farmer, of Concord, and the orator of the 

 evening, participated. The speakers showed that 

 they were accustomed to the discussion of scientific, 

 as well as practical subjects — that they were in the 

 habit of thinking, and discriminating, and making 

 careful observations. The hall was well filled by 

 ladies and gentlemen, and the meeting was presi- 

 ded over in a very felicitous manner by Otis Adams, 

 Esq., a gentleman who has the right tact for a pre- 

 siding officer. He has much dignity and courtesy, 

 and a great fund of mother wit. The fact that so 

 large a number of the good people of this town as- 

 sembled on a cold evening, when the roads were 

 piled up with snow, shows a deep interest in the 

 subject, and an earnest desire to obtain knowledge 

 Such meetings cannot fail to be useful. They tend 

 to impress upon the young the importance of mak- 

 ing themselves acquainted with the various branch- 

 es of knowledge pertaining to agriculture. They 

 tend to elevate to a higher rank in their estimation, 

 the business of farming, and to give it that impor- 

 tance and dignity which intrinsically belong to it. 

 When men of learning, talents and enterprise, will 

 devote to agriculture the same energy which they 



