396 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



LETTER FROM MR. BROWN. 



COUNTRY EAMCLKS. 



Pelham, JV. H., July 9, 1857. 

 Dear Sir : — After two or three weeks of rather 



through tangled shrubbery or babbled over rocks, 

 until arrested and made to drive a rustic wheel. 

 Here the scythes, axes, &c., were ground with ease 

 and facility, and much hard labor averted. Huge 

 rocks were covered with grape »ines, thus convert- 



severe labor with the hoe and pruning tools, ling them into objects of beauty and utility, 

 have laid them down for a little season of rest and In the forest screened from the sharp rays of 

 recreation, before commencing that most impor- the sun by the overhanging branches of lofty pines, 

 tant part of farm duties, <Zie hay hai-vest. I feel we found a plat which had been sowed with the 

 more freedom in doing this, because I think the seeds of the arbor vitae, hemlock, and other ever- 

 grass, generally, is not yet in proper condition for greens, maples, birch, elm, Src, and thousands of 

 the scythe; the season has been wet and cool in young trees of the height of an inch were pleasan.:- 

 ell this region, and grass has grown rapidly and.ly growing under the protection of the noble pines 

 rankly, and now presents a heavy stand on lands which everywhere surrounded them. It seemed as 

 that are in good heart. It needs, however, a few| though every seed planted had germinated, for the 



days of our usual July suns to perfect its juices 

 and give it that sweetness and aroma which make 

 it so attractive to our stock. I believe the hoe 

 is generally neglected too much during the first 

 half of July. So with one of the steeds who has 

 performed his part towards perfecting the potato 

 and Indian corn crop, the four-wheeled chaise, to- 

 gether with her who has pulled an even yoke with 

 me for many years — no matter how many — I pro- 

 pose to amble quietly along through the green 

 lanes of the country, and tell you and our readers 

 something of what I may see or hear, if I can per- 

 suade myself that it will be either of interest or 

 profit to you or them. 



Crossing the boundary line of our good State at 

 Dracut, about four miles north of Lowell, I entered 

 Pelham, N. H., and called upon B. F. Cutter, 

 Esq., a gentleman well known to our readers by 

 the sensible and practical thoughts which he has 

 occasionally communicated to the Farmer. Mr. 

 Cutter is a self-taught man, having begun in the 

 world with nothing but his hands and an honest 

 purpose. Without capital to purchase lands and 

 stock, he applied himself earnestly to those pur- 

 suits which required no other capital than that al- 

 ready mentioned; whatever he earned, however, 

 was soon invested in land, and it was not many 

 years before he was a land-owner and cultivator. 

 His establishment is now a villa in itself, the house 

 being large and commodious, the out-buildings am- 

 ple and convenient. The farm consists of one hun- 

 dred acres, containing nearly every variety of soil 

 found in Hillsboro' county. That he is entitled to 

 the term o^ farmer, his broad and highly cultivated 

 fields attest ; he is also a horticullurisl, as there is 

 scarcely a shrub or tree indigenous to New Eng- 

 land but may be found growing in oeautiful luxu' 

 riance in his grounds. 



In walking over the estate with him we found 

 something attractive at every turn ; here a green 

 and smoothly-mown drive-way encircled a nursery 

 of trees including every tree known in the State — 

 there a charming brook gathered within the limits 

 of an artistic wall, while wiihin view it meandered 



young plants covered the entire ground, all in ad- 

 mirable confusion. Mr. C. stated that not one- 

 tenth of these seeds would have come up if they 

 had been planted in garden soil even with the most 

 careful attention. 



Mr. Cutter is also a florist; most of the wild 

 flowering plants common to New England may be 

 found transferred to his grounds, where they bloom 

 in such freshness and beauty as to draw expressions 

 of admiration from most beholders. One of the 

 ladies who rambled with us remarked, 'If these 

 were exotics, with some French or German names, 

 or had been boxed by the Chinese Expedition and 

 introduced by authority, how eagerly they would be 

 sought, and how quickly find a place in all our gar- 

 dens." It is questionable whether any country af- 

 fords a more varied or beautiful flora than New 

 England, but, as Mr. C. remarked, it is better 

 known in England than by our own people. Many 

 of the plants and flowers common in our boyhood 

 ornamented his pleasant grounds; the splendid 

 meadow pink, two or three varieties of laurel, the 

 leather wood, whose tough bark we made to supply 

 the place of an absent shoe-string, and the unique 

 and attractive alternate cornel, that loves to spring 

 up along the winding cow-paths in the thick woods, 

 — all these, and many more, the acquaintances of 

 our early youth, were welcomed as old and famil- 

 iar friends. His grass and corn, his sturdy oxen 

 and team horses, all attest that Mr. C. is a farmer 

 who understands his profession. He makes, an- 

 nually, about four thousand bottles of tomato ketch- 

 up, for which he finds a ready market at a remu- 

 nerating price. 



IMr. Cutter's practice and success emphatically 

 contradict the oft-repeated assertion tlmt farming 

 is nnprofltalle. It is true that he has possessed 

 an advantage not enjoyed by every farmer, that of 

 being quite near a good market, — but it is equally 

 true that his farm, when he took it, was an uneven, 

 very rocky and difficult soil to subdue. He began 

 with the idea that manure and skill are the true 

 capital of the farm, and with this at; his pole-star, 

 he has succeeded, as will nine out of ten every- 



