THE GENESEE FARMER. 



199 



IMPORTANT TO 



FARMERS AND GARDENERS. 



FOR SVLK — ACOFT 3000 ACRES OF OOOP GARDEN 

 AND FARM LAND, in-tlio town of ISLIP, Long Island, 

 about 43 niilos from the city of New York, by the Long Island 

 Eailroad. Tins land offers great opportunities for Garleners and 

 Farmers who may wish to settle on Long; Island, the soil beincc a 

 fine warm'yellow loam, entirely free from stone or swamp f is 

 from 1> inehes to 3 feet deep, and will produce by ordinary cul- 

 ture all kinds of grain and fruits that can be produced in the 

 vicinity or latitude of New York. There is not much wood on it, 

 though fifteen years ago it was heavily timbered. The whole 

 tract is what may be called an elevated table-land, with a south- 

 ern asitect, sloping to the south about 20 feit to the mile, and at 

 the railroad, on the north side or north end of this tract, the sur- 

 face is 100 feet above tide water, distant 5 miles from the shore of 

 the Great South Bay. Good water can be had on any part of the 

 laud by wells, which on the north, ne?r the railroad, are 40 feet 

 deep, with never-failing water, and on the southerly parts from 

 r.' to 2ii feet deep. The water on this part of the island is of re- 

 markable purity, and the wells and streams never fail. This part 

 of Long Island is famous for its fine trout streams. The climate 

 is healthy and pleasant; meteorological records show that the 

 temperature is ten degrees milder on Long Island in winter, and 

 ten degrees cooler in summer, than the main shore in the same 

 latitude. The summers on Long Island are particularly pleasant, 

 .as the air is always tempered by the sea-breeze, and yet there are 

 more c\(:ht and suimv days in the year on Long Island than in 

 any other part of the State of New York. 



AVood and timber grow rapidly on the island. Every IS or 20 

 years will produce a growth of wood large enough for market. 

 The forest trees on this part of the Island are oak in variety, 

 chestnut, hickory, and locust, formerly in great abundance. Oa 

 rny land there is but little o.ak or chestnut, and but little or no 

 pine of large growth, as the timber and wood have been destroyed 

 by the axe, and by frequera burnings during the past W yelirs, 

 though there is a good deal of wood on portions, suitable for fire- 

 wood ; on some parts a new and thrlffy growth has started, and 

 in some places a change of forest, frcmi pine to oak, seems to be 

 taking place. The shrub or scruh oak' of Long Isl.ind, about 

 which so much has been said in connection with these lands, is 

 not a tree, nor ever can be made a tree, or become a tree, no 

 more than a lilac bush or quince, in any soil, no matter how rich 

 or f'Ttile. It is a distinct shrub or dwarf, called also the bear oak, 

 producing great quantities of acorns, and never grows more than 

 five or ten feet high, and on the Island it seems to perform the 

 pr;rt of a bramble to overrun the land. It is of very vigorous 

 growth, filling the ground full of its roots almost like a mat, and 

 where the forest trees have been destroyed by the axe or fire, 

 these little oaks soon take entire possession of the ground, and 

 grow so rank or vigorous that they smother and crowd out every- 

 thing else. When the ground is cleared or made clear of the"<e 

 roots, by the process of digging them out by the hand or grub- 

 bmg, as is the old and common mode on the Island, from 20 or 

 40 loads of these roots are often tnken from a single acre, in less 

 than 10 inches from thesurface, tliereby showing the large amount 

 of vegetable matter contained in the soil. Thelrue and econom- 

 ical plan of clearing this land, is to kill and decompose this large 

 quantity of these small roots in the ground, which can be very 

 easily done by cutting over and fallow-burning the land, and then 

 narrow in a crop of rye or wheat, with clover and grass seed, or it 

 can be plowed with a strong plow, made with a locked-ooulter, 

 with a sharii edge on both the coulter and share ; with such an 

 instrument, with two yoke of good oxen, the ground can be com- 

 pletely and thoroughly broken up. The large stumps are mostly 

 decayed or burnt out. The large, heavy " prairie plow " is not 

 required. There is an abundance of oak r.nd chestnut in the im- 

 mediate vicinity, where the wood lauds have been taken care of. 

 As to productions, white clover is indigenous; wherever the 

 ground is cleared of trees and bushes, it springs us spontaneously, 

 and any part or all this tract can be filled with red clover by .'^im- 

 ply putting the seed on the ground after the surface is cleared, 

 without a particle of any fertilizer. All kinds of small fruits are 

 natural and in great abundance, such as wortlebenies, black- 

 berries, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes Apples, pears, 

 cherries, quinces, plums, peaches, and apricots, grow well, and 

 most of these grow in great quantity and high perfection. Wheat, 

 rye, corn, clover, and timothy, and everything that grows or can 

 be raised on any farm, or in any garden on the Island, are pro- 

 duced in full crops on this land by ordinary culture, iind without 

 anv difficulty — it is easy to clear, and easy to till. 



The land near and adjoining the L. I. Railroad, is, or has been, 

 mostly covered with yellow pine; the growth was very heavy on 

 it formerly. It may here be remarked that the pine lands of Long 

 Island are differen't from and entirely unlike all and any other 

 pine lands in the State of New York or in New England, and in 

 this difference consists the great merit of these Islands for high 

 culture. The soil and subsoil arc not loose and porous — the soil 

 13 a fine, firm, compact loam, of suflScient tenacity to make sun- . 

 dried brick right out of the first 12 or IS inches of the surface soil, 

 on thousands of acres of these middle Island lands, and yet is not 

 wet, nor cold, nor sour. 



I am asked, "Does the land need underdraining?'' Answer — 

 No! It is the most completely and perfectly underdrained coun- 

 try in the world ; no art can equal it, no human power can make 

 anything like it. 

 After penetrating or going through the peculiar covering of the 



Island, the detritus or soil proper, which is everywhere sj^read 

 over the Island's surface like a crust or blanket,'to the depth of 

 from IS inches to three or five feet— in many places to a much 

 greater depth than five feet— after going through this, the fine, 

 hard, and compact gravel and sand are" reached, which every- 

 where form the main body of the Island. This understructure 

 consists in many places of beautiful sea-washed quartz pebbles, 

 intermixed with fine silicious sand, all firmly and hardly pressed 

 together, forming the most complete and perfect underdrain or 

 filter. In many places clays are found. "Sands and loams, in- 

 terstratified with beds of gr.avel, boulders, and clay, form the 

 strata of Long Ishind."— (See Thompson's History of Long Island. 

 In some parts of the Island clays are very abundant, from which 

 large quantities of brick are made. 



It may be inferred from this description, that the earth or soil is 

 leachy, or too porous. It is not so, and this is another peculiarity 

 of the Island. These under-sands and gravel are so firm and 

 hard, that it seems as though they had been under an immense 

 hydraulic pressure— (there are no quicksands)— thev are so firmly 

 placed together, the interstices so filled with fine" comminuted 

 sand, almost levigated, the water does not pass rapidly through it 



but percolates slowly and gradually after leaving the surface. 



After rain the water soon clisappears from the surface, so as' to 

 leave the soil in a condition to work very soon. This great un- 

 derground work forms a vast resen-oir of subterraneous moisture 

 of water, so far below the surface as to prevent anv injury to veg- 

 etation, or not to interfere with the temperature of the earth, com- 

 monly called "bottom heat." but which supjjlies the numerous 

 beautiful streams that arise near the central parts of the Island, 

 and flow to the shores. The waters of these streams are copious, 

 and clear as crystal, as sweet and pure as water can be, never 

 fail at any season of the year, are neariy or quite as full in July 

 and August as in April or May. Such a thing as a dry mill-pond 

 in the month of August, on one of these Island streams, is unknown.. 

 There is not a st.\gnant pool nor stream on the whole Island. 



Another remarkable feature is, that on lands or farms not sup- 

 plied with springs or streams, the miinner in whieh water is held 

 on the surface— the farmers adopt a mode of making "surface 

 pools,' or what are termed "watering holes," to afford" water for 

 cattle. They are made simply by excavating a sort of basin in 

 some place in the field or on the farm where there is a gentle de- 

 pression, by ^coopiini out the earth, two or three feet ("eep in the 

 middle, or 15 or 20 feet in diameter, and in some places puddling 

 the bottom with clay; in many places they need no puddlin^ 

 only pressing or treading the soil firmly in the- bottom. These 

 places being filled by the rains, retain the water the whole sum- 

 mer without change or putrescence, and which cattle will use 

 freely. It is seldom that one of these watering places fail, even in 

 the drycst season. They are made on the elevated parts of the 

 Island more than 100 feet .ibove tide-water, and may be called 

 " open " or " surface cisterns." I have never seen anvtiiinc of the 

 kmd in any other part of the State of New York that' would hold 

 water during the entire summer. Tornadoes, fioods, or freshets 

 .-ire unknown on Long Island, nor is the country infested with 

 deadly serpents or poisonous reptiles. 



No part of this tract is more than five miles from navigation, 

 thus, in fact, hjiving the advantages and priTilcges of both rail- 

 road and w.ater communication with the City of New York, the 

 best market, j^robably. in the worid, where a sure cash market 

 can always be had for everything that the farm or garden pro- 

 duces. I regard this land as having all the prospective advan- 

 tages of a new country, without any privations or hardships com- 

 monly attendant on the settlement of a new country— all the 

 privileges and benefits of old and long established settlements 

 being close by. 



Islip is an old town, having been settled near 200 years : and 

 there are within three miles of this land many eleg.ant and costly 

 mansions, .nnd highly cultivated farms .and gardens, schools .ind 

 churches. These cultivated lands are valued at, and now com- 

 mand, from $100 to $500 per acre, and they are no better than 

 this now offered. This land will be sold in lots or parcels to suit 

 purchasers, at $20 per acre. Terms, from 10 to 25 per cent., at 

 the option or convenience of the purchaser, cash, the balance in 

 live years with yeariy interest. Title indisputable. 



More than fifteen years experience with an observation of these 

 lands, satisfy me be3-ond all doubt of the truth of everythino> I 

 have said in relation thereto; and of the facts I speak from per- 

 sonal positive knowledge, and I hold myself responsible to sus- 

 tain everj-thing I have ever said in relation to the Island and its 

 lands, water, soil, climate, and health. 



As a premium or inducement to settle and improve this land, 

 I will give to each purchaser, or settler, who will make iuprove- 

 ments (until further notice,) a commutation ticket to pass over 

 the Long Island Eailroad between Broolclyn and North Islip. for 

 one year, and also will carry out his freight, lumber, and buildinc 

 materials at my own cost or charge, for one year. Address ^ 



EDGAR F. PECK, M. D., 302 State-st., Brooklyn, N. T. 

 or, apply by letter or in person, to 



ANTHONY J. BLEECKER & SON. 



No. 7 Bond -St., New York. 

 To the Post Master, Suffolk Station, North Islip, Long Island, N. Y. 

 Refer as to title and quality of land, to the Hon. Levi S Chat- 

 field, late Attorney General of the State of New York, No. 6 Wall 

 street. New York. 



To the Hon. George Miller (late Judge and Surrogate of Suffolk 

 county,) Riverhead, Suffolk county, Long Island, N. Y. 



Ajiply also to Samuel Coverly, No. 10, State-st., Boston, and to 

 John H. Wiles, Buffalo. N. Y. June, 1S53.— It 



