1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



479 



heavy growth of pines, while other portions are 

 of granitic formation, and now so filled with 

 rocks as to make it nearly worthless for purpo- 

 ses of cultivation ; the natural mowing and 

 swamp lands will only become valuable for cul- 

 tivation when they can be thoroughly drained 

 and reclaimed. 



I found the crops generally appearing well, 

 and, all told, there were a good many acres un- 

 der cultivation ; such as 19 acres of corn, 4 

 acres of fodder corn, 13 acres of potatoes, 10 

 acres of carrots, beets, and other roots, 3 acres 

 of beans, and 4 acres in garden, covered with 

 onions, cabbages and other vegetables. I also 

 found that the farmer has harvested 10 acres of 

 oats, 5 acres of winter rye, 2 acres of wheat, 1^ 

 acres of barley and 2 acres of millet, all of which 

 were of the first order of crops. One hundred 

 and three tons of hay, all weighed, has been cut 

 and secured, and there is a present promise of a 

 considerable second crop. The farm affords a 

 variety of fruit, and I have seen to-day in my 

 rambles over it, the finest crop of peaches and 

 pears that I have met with this season. The 

 high lands seem admirably adapted to the apple, 

 several varieties of the pear and strawberries, 

 and I am sorry not to see more attention given 

 to the cultivation of the apple, where there is 

 such a demand for them as is presented in the 

 watering mouths of five or six hundred boys ! 

 The institution on the farm is not a penal, but a 

 reformatory one, and I know not how a wild and 

 untutored boy can be brought under submission 

 in any better way than by the kindness he re- 

 ceives within those walls, accompanied with a 

 proper supply of wholesome fruit ! If the offi- 

 cers -of that institution have learned that kind- 

 ness is better than stripes, the progress of inqui- 

 ry would satisfy them that an abundance of fruit 

 in their hand would become first a tamer, and 

 then a civilizer! 



In looking at the stock belonging to the farm, 

 I found 12 noble oxen, 25 cows, 5 horses, and an 

 Ayrshire, Hereford, and Alderney bull, each be- 

 ing a full blooded animal, together with 8 head 

 of young cattle ; in all, 54 head. Among them 

 are the Hereford, Durham, Ayrshire, Devon and 

 Alderney stock. In the capacious and convenient 

 piggery, I found 105 swine, many of which were 

 of fine form, and most of them of Suflblk and 

 Mackay blood. Since the farm has been man- 

 aged by the Board of Agriculture many valuable 

 improvements have been made upon it, some of 

 the most important of which, such as draining 

 with pipes and stones, and the removal of vast 

 quantities of boulders and imbedded rocks from 

 the fields contiguous to the highway, cannot be 

 appreciated by the beholder unless favored with 

 the lucid descriptions of Dea. White or some one 



who witnessed the operations of improvement. 

 I saw one field containing several acres, origin- 

 ally one of the roughest and most forbidding of 

 our New England pastures, that had been trench- 

 ed to an average depth of 12 inches, and a large 

 portion of the rocks buried, so that the trench- 

 ing in many places was three or four feet deep. 

 This land is now covered with fine crops. The 

 intention is to appropriate it to apple trees. This 

 trenching, as well as a large proportion of the 

 other work on the farm, is done by the boys from 

 the school, v.'ho labor in gangs, or lines, directed 

 by overseers who work Avith them, and lead the 

 way. 



But what means that solemn peal from the 

 great bell in the East Tower? It is 



A FUNERAL FROM THE REFORM SCHOOL. 



The officers and ladies of the household, and 

 the boys from their avenues, all turned to the 

 Chapel in the centre of the vast pile of buildings, 

 and when I entered, were seated. In front of 

 the chaplain, and directly before the boys, was 

 the coffin containing the body of a little boy only 

 ten years of age, who had suddenly died of heart 

 disease. The silence of this impressive scene 

 was broken by the voice of the chaplain, who 

 said, "we will chant the 23d Psalm," and then, 

 led by an instrument and the firm and manly 

 tones of his voice, in subdued utterance they 

 chanted with touching pathos — 



"The Lord is my shepherd : I shall not want. 



He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: 

 • He leadeth me beside the still waters. 



He restoreth my soul : He leadeth me in the 

 paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 



Yea, though I walk through the valley of the 

 shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for Thou 

 art with me ; Thy rod and Thy staff they com- 

 fort me. 



Thou preparest a table before me in the pres- 

 ence of mine enemies : Thou anointest my head 

 with oil ; my cup runneth over. 



Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

 all the days of my life : and I will dwell in the 

 house of the Lord forever." 



A brief description of the deceased, his sick- 

 ness, and death, and a short and fervent prayer, 

 which seemed to find a beating chord in every 

 heart, closed this part of the service. The boys, 

 all barefooted, for the weather was hot, then 

 noiselessly filed by the coffin and took a parting 

 look at all that remained to them of their late 

 associate, so suddenly and unexpectedly taken 

 from their midst. Well might they exclaim in 

 the feeling language of Grey — 



■'One morn I miss'd him on the accuftomed hill. 

 Along the heath, and near his fav'rite tree : 



Another came ; nor yet beside the rill, 



Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he." 



Headed b;f the bearers, and bier, and followed 

 by the Trustees of the School, who happened to 



