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On the Adaptation of Farming to Circumstances. Vol. XI. 



then, the place is in such proximity to the 

 city that vegetables can be gathered in the 

 afternoon and sent to market by daylight 

 next morning, a considerable portion of the 

 land and the industry of the inhabitants 

 should be diverted to the growth of such 

 articles as are now raised in the gardens 

 about the city, to be sold as green vegeta- 

 bles. 



I know that some will open their eyes in 

 alarm, and tell me at once that I will have 

 the market glutted and the produce all 

 thrown into the river. I will have no such 

 thing. A contingency of this kind may 

 happen, that if all were to enter upon this 

 branch of husbandry at once, the first year 

 might exhibit a glutted market, for the pop- 

 ulation of our large cities are not prepared 

 for a sudden expansion in the quantity of 

 any article of food. But as soon as it is as- 

 certained that the amount in market is 

 greater, and for sale cheaper, the demand 

 will be increased, and prices will again be- 

 come firm and profitable. The fact now is, 

 that far less of wholesome vegetables, in the 

 spring of the year, find their way to the 

 large cities than the health of the popula 

 tion demands, and with the health are im- 

 plicated still more important considerations, 

 of morals, &c. A vastly increased quantity 

 might be consumed, and would be, if it were 

 to become so plenty as once to become more 

 necessary than it now is. The city of New 

 York now depends for its usual supply of 

 fresh vegetables for its vast populace, upon 

 the few acres of ground cultivated for this 

 purpose in its immediate vicinity. It is ca- 

 pable, with advantage, of absorbing a much 

 larger amount, and it w^ould afibrd a profit- 

 able and endless market for thousands of 

 acres of land within sixty miles. 



Again, the supply of articles for winter 

 food, is gathered from all parts of the coun- 

 try. The production of these is not even 

 confined to the State, but they are brought 

 from the far West, and with all the appa- 

 rent abundance there is actual need for 

 more. When we see the single article of 

 potatoes alone, brought from all parts of this 

 country not only, but even imported from 

 Ireland and France, we ought to be stimu- 

 lated to greater energy in our agricultural 

 afluirs. If the fields in the Hudson valley, 

 now bearing a profitless and foolish harvest 

 of wheat and rye, were planted with this 

 great staple, as it may be called, the grow 

 ers would find their pockets heavier after 

 they send their produce to market this fall 

 But I have what appears to me a far more 

 important and profitable article to mention, 

 and that is fruit. The raising of fruit for 

 the supply of our great markets at home is 



a business of no little consequence, and it is 

 not half done. Half do I say"? The begin- 

 ning is hardly made. Look for a moment 

 at the quality of fruits with which the mar- 

 kets are supplied. They are by no means 

 of the best character. Thousands of barrels 

 of poor fruit are every year sold and bought 

 in the city of New York alone, because the 

 purchasers can get no better. Good fruits 

 are always saleable. The market is never 

 glutted with them. There is never enough. 

 I have heard Doctor Underbill, of Croton 

 Point, relate his experience in the cultiva- 

 tion of the grape for the New York market. 

 His friends endeavoured to dissuade hira 

 from going so largely into the enterprise, 

 for fear of glutting the market. But he 

 was too farseeing for that; and he has not 

 been disappointed, the fact being known that 

 good grapes could be had, and there are not 

 yet enough to supply the demand, though 

 the doctor sells many thousand dollars worth 

 every year. The people only want to know 

 that they can get good fruit, and it seems as 

 if the more you send to market, the more is 

 wanted. There is no such thing as glutting 

 the market now-a-days. Suppose our large 

 cities will not consume all : suppose such a 

 thing to happen; what will be the conse- 

 quence"? Simply this: the communication 

 with Europe is so speedy now, that many 

 fruits deemed now too perishable to send so 

 far, would be exported to England and other 

 countries in a fine state of preservation. To 

 some of our good fruits the market of the 

 world is open, and the quantity to be con- 

 sumed is unbounded. 



I wish therefore to call the attention of 

 farmers on the Hudson river, every one of 

 them, to the cultivation of the best fruits 

 they can raise. There is no sort of danger 

 of overdoing the matter. The whole river 

 valley would not grow more than can readily 

 be sold, and no crop can be raised which is 

 so profitable. The objection urged by many 

 tliat trees are slow in growing, and that it 

 will he a number of years before they be- 

 come productive, is no argument against me. 

 The difficulty may be obviated in many ways, 

 which will suggest themselves to the mind 

 of any thinking man ; as by going gradually 

 into the business ; by growing those kinds 

 which come soonest to maturity, and soonest 

 fail, in the intervals of those kinds which are 

 intended to form the permanent orchard ; or 

 by connecting with the business some other 

 kind of husbandry, which becomes immedi- 

 ately profitable. In any of these ways, and 

 in others which will suggest themselves, 

 the difficulties may all be obviated. 



I know of no branch of husbandry which 

 can be so profitably connected with fruit 



