444 



NEV» ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



LETTER FROM MB. BROWK". 



Newport, N. II., Aug. 12, 1858. 



Dear Sir: — Descending from the Frances 

 town range of hills, I passed through portions of 

 Deering, Antrim, Hillsborough, Washington and 

 Goshen, to this place. Newj^ort is the shire town 

 of Sullivan county, has its Court-House and other 

 public buildings, and is a pleasant and flourish- 

 ing town. The New HampsJdre Argus and Spec- 

 tator is published here by Messrs. Carleton & 

 Harvey, and the "Sugar River Bank" issues its 

 handsome notes for value received. This town 

 was the residence of Gov. Metcalf during the 

 time he occupied the gubernatorial chair, and is 

 so now of the Hon. Edmund Burke, a member 

 of Congress for two terms from this district, and 

 subsequently Commissioner of Patents at Wash- 

 ington. The village nestles among the hills which 

 surround it, and is skirted on its southwest bor- 

 ders by beautiful meadows through which flow 

 the waters of three distinct streams, each bearing 

 the name of Sugar River. These streams unite 

 near the village, and then the waters go on their 

 way through the town of Claremont to the Con- 

 necticut river. 



The soil in this town is of three kinds ; alluvial 

 on the borders of the streams, forming rich and 

 fertile meadows ; back of these more dry and 

 gravelly, and 7noist and cold on the hills and more 

 elevated parts. Some of these lands arc cultiva- 

 ted by skilful farmers, and afford all the substan- 

 tial comforts of life. Fine horses, working oxen 

 and beef cattle are raised here, while other pro- 

 ducts in various portions of the town, are mutton, 

 wool and butter. Farmers in this region have 

 not yet introduced the culture of roots for feed- 

 ing to stock, and most of them, I think, do not 

 appreciate their value for this purpose. I once 

 had strong prejudices against the use of roots for 

 cattle, unless it were for a period during the pro- 

 /cess of fattening, a'nd it was only by careful read- 

 ing and observation, added to actual experiment, 

 that I became convinced that my prejudices were 

 not well founded. It is my opinion, that the far- 

 mers of New England, with little or no more labor 

 than they now bestow upon their farms, can 

 double their capacity for keeping stock, by the 

 gradual introduction of root crops, — and that when 

 the stock is doubled in amount, their j^rofts will 

 be equally increased ! I have often expressed this 

 opinion before. 



Nicholas Biddle, distinguished as he was as 

 the chief engineer of the aff"airs of the U. S. Bank, 

 was a better farmer, than financier. He was a 

 man of great personal beauty, of the most acute 

 observation and of versatile talent. His manners 

 were winning, his voice full, rich and melodious, 

 and he ])ossessed such ajust combination of grace- 

 fill ease and dignity as to attract persons of all 



classes to himself, without any apparent effort on 

 his part. Such is the account of him given me 

 by the widow of the late Commodore Stewart, 

 who knew him intimately, boy and man, during 

 the whole of his life. In England, such a person 

 would not only be competent to judge of what he 

 saw, but would be at once favored with every 

 possible facility for investigating any subject of 

 his inquiry. 



In an address of his delivered before the Phila- 

 delphia Agricultural Society in 1842, he made 

 the following interesting and important remarks : 

 — "It is strange hoW things so lowly acquire 

 national importance. The best farming is that 

 which will give the greatest mass of sustenance to 

 animals — since the less land required for animals, 

 the more can we give for the maintenance of 

 human beings. That fine farming region, Eng- 

 land, had reached the limit of its power of sup- 

 porting animals — since it turned to the root cul- 

 ture it has more than doubled or quadrupled its 

 power, and now, odd as the mingling of such dis- 

 similar notions may seem, it is scarcely an exag- 

 geration to say, that England's jjower is based 

 upon its iron, its coal, and TURNIPS." I am 

 aware that the English farmer possesses advan- 

 tages that we do not, in the mildness of his 

 climate, which saves to him most of the expense 

 which we must incur in harvesting and housing 

 roots. Still, however, I am confident that an in- 

 telligent and certain progress in profits, will re- 

 quire us to resort to the cultivation of root crops. 

 The expense heretofore attendant upon it will 

 undoubtedly be materially lessened by imple- 

 ments better adapted to their culture, and by the 

 experience to be gained in the production of a 

 succession of crops. The opinions expressed by 

 Judge French on this matter, since his agricul- 

 tural tour in England, strongly confirm those 

 which I had formed. A portion of the soil here, 

 as in all the towns of New England, is well adap- 

 ted to the common flat turnip, the ruta baga, car- 

 rot, red and white beet, parsnip and mangel wurt- 

 zel, and the climate is also favorable to each. 



The country through which I travel presents 

 quite an unusual appearance now in consequence 

 of the great amount of grass remaining uncut. 

 The cloudy and damp weather, rather than a large 

 amount of rain, has prevented the cut grass from 

 drying, so that nearly one-half of the upland or 

 English crop, and most of the meadows, are now 

 standing, while much that is secured was out from 

 three to ten days in the process of curing. The 

 haying season has been one of care and anxiety 

 to the farmer ; he could not secure the crop, and 

 he could not leave it to engage in other labor, so 

 that the cost of securing what he has got has 

 been double of that necessary in good weather. 

 Hay will bei abundant, but the quality inferior 



