NEW ENGLAND FAHMER. 



Jan. 



the statement. There is, however, every indica- I am now writing from the village of Irvmgton,. 

 tion of poverty. Beggars beset us at every step. "} Essex county, New Jersey. The soil of this 



Boys and girls, and even women, follow the car- 

 riage at every hill, holding out their hands and 

 begging piteously, seeming to be thankful for any 

 small coin, 



I know not whether I have before spoken of 

 the goitre, a horrible swelling of the glands of 

 the neck, which seems to affect a large proportion 

 of the people. It is a dreadful deformity, and I 

 am told sometimes produces death by pressure on 

 the organs of respiration. 



After a glorious ride till nine in the evening, 

 we arrived at Kendcrsteg, through magnificent 

 mountain passes, and are now in the wildest place, 

 I think, in all wild Switzerland ; and here for the 

 Sabbath day we propose to rest, preparalary to 

 crossing the mountain pass. And with best 

 wishes for you and yours, farewell. 



Yours, &c., Henry F. Frencu. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 FARMING IN NEW JERSEY. 

 Mr. Editor : — Having a little space for writ- 



ing, I thought to put a few ideas on paper and 

 send them to you. 



I left my home in the south part of Alassachu 

 setts on the 23d inst., via Fall Kivcr and New^.lso less substantial, and sell at a lowev figur 

 York, and arrived in New Jersey on the evening 



vicinity is very peculiar. The subsoil has the 

 redness of madder. Its adhesiveness in a rainy 

 time shows the presence of alumina. There are 

 similar lands in some parts of Bristol county, in 

 Massachusetts, South of the village of Assonet, 

 there are lots which receive the name of ''red 

 ground" and which present similar natural 

 characteristics to much of the soil in this 

 country. Yet one acre here is made to produce 

 more than twenty or even fifty acres there. At 

 the same time, these improved lands give a profit 

 to the owners and cultivators, and a large ]:irofit, 

 while they sell their products at a much lower 

 figure than they will at any time command in 

 the eastern market^. Much land in this vicinity, 

 now used for farming purposes, is under so high 

 a state of culture as to claim two or perhaps three 

 hundred dollars per acre. "While writing the 

 last two sentences, two gentlemen have been dis- 

 cussing the value of a small tract of land, only 

 used for farming, in this neighborhood, for which 

 the price of not less than $400 per acre is named. 



A very difi'erent system of cultivation, and o. 

 soil improvement, has been pursued here, than 

 ever obtained much favor in New England. 



Mechanic arts have unquestionably received 

 greater attention with the many, in the New 

 England States, than here. 



The agricultural implements, in the New York 

 warehouses, are, as a whole, more coarse and 

 clumsy than those made in Boston. They are 



of the 24th. The sail from Fall River was inter- 

 rupted by a thunder-storm, and a "right smart 

 gale of wind," as an Ohio Dutchman would call 

 it. The "Bay State" had to tie up at a Rhode 

 Island wharf, until the roughest of the weather's 

 sneezing was over. Then the sea had no little 

 swelling and roaring, like Jordan and the lions. 

 However, the Bay State is a pretty safe State, 

 and our morning arrival at New York happened 

 at 12 M. 



Visiting some of the agricultural warehouses 

 .n Gotham, one cannot fail to observe the differ- 

 ence between them and agricultui-al warehouses 

 in Boston. 



In New York, the sales of fertilizers far out- 

 strip the Boston trade. This suggests a thought. 

 If, as is generally admitted, the soils of New 

 York and New Jersey are so far superior to those 

 of the New England States, without the aid of 

 extra fertilizers, why should not the Boston trade 

 show a greater record of sales, if the farmers of 

 New England seek to supply the deficiencies of 

 New England soils ? The farmers and garden- 

 ers of New York and New Jersey find it to their 

 profit to procure vast quantities of plaster, phos- 

 phate of lime, poudrcttc, &:c., c&c, for their soils, 

 and then send their fruits and vegetables to sup- 

 ply our New England cities, at so cheap a rate as 

 to press upon our New England producers. Are 

 not the New England soils worth improving ? 

 Certainly, we must say, they are. And much of 

 the soil of New England, now condemned as 

 hopelessly sterile, is as good, naturally, as soils 

 here, from Avhich farmers and gardeners are mak- 

 ing great profits by the sale of fruits, vegetables, 

 and products of the dairy. 



I would trace out these peculiarities some far- 

 ther, but think I have "spun this yarn" long 

 enough. So perhaps I will write you again from 

 these regions, "in a few days." 



Yours, very truly, c. 



Depreciation of Property. — We hear of the 

 case of a gentleman of this city who was appoint- 

 ed trustee of the estate of a deceased person, and 

 guardian of some minors, and who thinking sqfe- 

 ty should be mainly consulted in the investment 

 of the funds thus committed to him, sold off" the 

 stocks of various corporations belonging to the 

 estate, and invested the proceeds in State and 

 city securities where he M'as sure of six per cent, 

 interest. The appraised value of this property 

 was about $150,000 two years ago. The diff'erence 

 to-day between the market value of the stocks 

 sold and the securities now held by the party, is 

 no less t\\m\ forty thousand dollars. 



It is reported in financial circles that the per- 

 sonal estate of an opulent merchant who died in 

 Boston less than four years ago, valued in 1854 

 at $1,800,000, and consisting mainly of railway 

 shares and bonds, has shrunk so much during 

 the two past years, that the depreciation is more 

 than a million of dollars. 



It is reported that the manufacturing stocks 

 owned by a single family have depreciated more 

 than a million dollars in value within two yoars. 

 The personal property of many individuals has 

 faded away during the present year "like dissolv- 

 ing views," and the surprise attending the change 

 is similar in many respects to that which usually 

 attends those novel exhibitions. — Transcript. 



