AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 451 



liberal adventurers sought, and we find further confirmation of 

 their agricultural proclivities in the inventories of the supplies 

 sent by the corporation to the new colony. "Vyne planters" 

 are mentioned usually after " ministers " ; then come hogsheads 

 of wheat, rye, barley, and oats, unthreshed ; beans, peas, and 

 potatoes ; stones of all kinds of fruits ; apple, pear, and quince 

 kernels ; hop, licorice, and madder roots ; flax and woad seed ; 

 currant plants and tame turkeys. Cattle were imported by the 

 colonists, not only from various parts of England, but from 

 Holland, Denmark, and the Spanish Main, forming a noble 

 foundation for that " native stock " which, when carefully reared 

 and well fed, is at least equal to many of the vaunted imported 

 breeds. Horses, sheep, swine, and goats were also imported 

 from Europe in large numbers. Neither was horticulture neg- 

 lected, for we find that Governor Endicott had a vegetable gar- 

 den and vineyard in 1629, and two years afterwards he planted 

 the famous pear orchard of which one venerable survivor still 

 bears the patriarchal honors. 



The immigrants found that Boston had " sweet and pleasant 

 springs, and good land affording rich corn grounds and fruitful 

 gardens " ; but, as their numbers and the numbers of their 

 cattle increased, they formed colonies in various directions, 

 especially in " Wonne-squam-sauke " (now Essex County), for 

 amid its " pleasant waters" were unwooded meadows suitable 

 for pasturage and for grass-cutting, while the uplands were well 

 adapted for tillage. Squatter sovereignty was unknown, for no 

 individuals were permitted to establish themselves within the 

 limits of the colony. Each body swarmed out in community, 

 with a regular allotment of individual farms, based in extent 

 upon the wealth of the settlers, and a great pasture, a peat 

 meadow, a salt marsh, and fishing-grounds held in common. 

 These farms were so laid out that no house was over hatt a mile 

 from the meeting-house, and it was with astonishing rapidity 

 that agricultural communities sprang up, like the fabled war- 

 riors of Cadmus, into full-armed life. Like those mythological 

 knights, they were armed with weapons, not for their own 

 destruction, but for the defence of their liberties and their 

 homes. From these small farming hamlets have grown up 

 most of the towns and cities of our country, and from one of 



