116 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCT. ai, 1S3S. 



[From the .Nantucket Inquirer.] 

 Cori*esposadei;cc of the Kditor. 



Boston, Sept. 30. 

 « 

 •To what distance from the capitdl tlie environs 

 of Boston may lie said to extend, I. know not. — 

 But one may travel in some directions very many 

 miles, through continued settlements and adjoining 

 villages, forming, geographically, hut a prolonged 

 appendage to the grand centre. The numerous 

 avenues recently opened to the city, have convert- 

 ed the suburbs into streets and lots, where traffic 

 takes the place of trees, and merchandise usurj;s 

 the inountain and the moor. The three new rail 

 roads, with their divers branches already establish- 

 ed or designed, have at this early day, even with- 

 jn half a year's lapse, transformed the entire face 

 of the country roimd about their several locations. 

 Every additional channel of ingress and egress, so 

 far from affecting injurionsly tlie elder highways 

 which are iillowed by law to tax those who tra- 

 verse them, contributes on the contrary to enhance 

 their receipts. The S])irit of travel is awakened 

 at each adscititious facility, in the shape of turn- 

 pike, bridge, ferry or rail road ; and throngs flock 

 into and from the emporium — when the vehi- 

 cles, and the tracks which they juirsue, are brought 

 to their doors — who would otherwise never vex 

 themselves with a wandering thought. Of course 

 multitudes pass and repass along spots that were 

 but now the abode of comparative desolation ; 

 business necessarily arises from this multiplication 

 of new means of intercourse between town and 

 country, man and man ; estates bordering on the 

 thoroughfares become desirable, and lands and 

 tenements advance in value according to their 

 proximity to the theatre of trade. In the neigh- 

 borhood of every fresh route, within the borders 

 of the cily, and at corresponding points in the 

 vicinity, millions of dollars worth of 'real estate,' 

 formed out of dirt thrown upon hitherto useless 

 bogs and morasses, has come into existence with- 

 in the space of a single year. 



The dispute between two certain bridge com- 

 panies owning rival avenues leading from Charles- 

 town to the city, involves most of the considera- 

 tions above touched upon. The people of the 

 latter town and of the contiguous country, are 

 prayin J for a free passage to and from the com- 

 mon market. Their lands and property remain 

 stationary in value, while those of other borderers 

 are mounting by ra;,id gradations, some sixty and 

 some an hundred fold, towards the apex of fortu- 

 nate speculation. One of these avenues — the 

 Warren bridge — having paid for its construction 

 out of the tolls from pas.sengers, and ri'trmnerated 

 the proprietors according to their contract with 

 the State, (has been surrendered to the government 

 in the expectation that thenceforth and forovpr it 

 should become and j'emain a free coitunon high- 

 way. Delicacy towards the other company..-^ 

 wlio claim under their act of incorporation, a 

 franchise of which the ojiening of Warren Bridge 

 for gratuitous travc.l is supposed to be an infringe- 

 ment — has stayed the hand of the Common- 

 wealth ; and tolls continue to bo exacted of trav- 

 ellers, to theamount of several thousands of dollars 

 [ler annum — which are placed in the pul.iic 

 coffers, to be dispo.^ed of hereafter as the legisla- 

 ture may direct. The t(uestion of the right of 

 Charles River Bridge to the enjoyment of its 

 demanded monopoly, remains yet to be decided 

 by the Supreme Court of the United States — 



which tril)unal now has the subject in hand. 

 Meantime, a bill to continue in force the act estab- - 

 lishing Warren Bridge, imtil March next, has just 

 passed in the S<;nate of Massachusetts, after a dis- 

 cussion of two days. An amendment proposed 

 by Mr Austin, of Middlesex, for the pm-pose of 

 restricting the avails from tolls, to expenditures 

 upon or connected witli the structure, was nega- 

 tived by a vote of 21 to 9. One object of the 

 amendment was to prevent even a eus]iicion that 

 the State intended to derive a revenue from this 

 source. Until, by some means yet to be devised 

 — by compromise or otherwise — these thorough- 

 fares shall becoiTie public highways over which the 

 traveller may pass without taxation, the peojile of 

 a large section of Middlesex county must content 

 themselves with the spectacle of their neighbors' 

 prosperity, and the prospect of their own. 



Among the astonishing imj-rovements which 

 have sprimg up in the regions hereabout, nothing 

 can exceed that aggregation of adventurous novel- 

 ty and money-making enterprise, now called the 

 town of Lowell. Lying some eight or ten lei^gues 

 distant, once a day's journey, it is now brought 

 almost into the very purlieus of the metropolis. 

 By the aid of a steam locomotive, you are trans- 

 ported thither along the rail road, more than 

 twenty-five miles in a single hour. Passing 

 through a delightful country, full of rural scenery, 

 faster than ever witch rode broomstick, 'to sweep 

 the cobwebs from the .sky,' you come suddenly 

 upon a mass of huge manufacturing establish- 

 ments, store-houses and dwellings, city-fashioned, 

 and inhabited by some twenty thousand mortals, 

 none of whom knew ten years ago, even the sur- 

 rounding hills and forests and plains and waters, 

 by whose aid they, the said inhabitants, now live 

 and move and labor and thrive. 



We made a flying visit to this spot the other 

 afternoon : witnessed the whole process of fabri- 

 cating cotton and woollen cloths; the mode of 

 printing calicoes and chintzes; the operations of 

 the carpet-making art in all its branches of Kid- 

 derminster, Brussels and Turkey ; the formation 

 of iron machinery of every description, from the 

 cutting of a scarcely visible screw to the construc- 

 tion of a treinendous steam engine ; and after 

 having rambled over four or five of these immense 

 establishments respectively, returned before ' tea 

 time.' Want of leisure, and of necessary statisti- 

 cal data, confines us to mere generalities in this 

 case. Suffice it to observe that the evidences of 

 prosperity every where a]>pareiit in this etnbryo 

 city, are as gratifying as they arc palpable. The 

 place must continue to grow. Nothing but phy- 

 sieal or civil calamities, not now dreamed of, can 

 retard its onward progress. The manufacturers 

 of every description are rapidly gathering up 

 riches ; and the operatives are enjoying comforts 

 which are every day increasing. 



To pasi^ from this busy to a more quii t s'-cne, 

 lotus lakeastro I to Brighton, and thence to New- 

 ton, for the purpose of peeping at the celebrated 

 gardens and nurseries therein located. That of 

 Messrs Winship, at the former place, is a sort of 

 oriental paradise, and its proprietors very Ches- 

 terfields in affability. It would bo a vain under- 

 taking in me to attempt even a sketch of the floral 

 beauties tmd enchanting aspect of these grounds. 

 .'Vctual sight is the only medium through which 

 they can be appreciated. Just so with the almost 

 Alpine realm that constitutes our friend Kenrick's 

 plantation at Newton. These establishments are 



of different orders of beauty — one a magnificen 

 parterre, s])reading over an extended level, witi 

 its smooth alleys, trim border.s, picturesque copses 

 green house, grotto, and other elegant appendages 

 tlie other a mountain garden, a regidated wilder 

 ness of hardy plants, wherein, though both exist 

 the useful predominates over the ornamental — 

 and a wide and glorious prospect from its heights, 

 adds new value to the hosjiitable attentions of the 

 proprietor. These modern Edens lie but a very 

 few miles from the city — and, especially to those 

 who would enrich their collections of trees, vines, 

 or other vegetable products, cither for use or for 

 embellishment, offer attractions of great interest. 

 We commend to all travellers thitherward, a visit 

 to the.se delightful sjiots. Take a fine autumn 

 day, and half a dozen, unincumbered hours, and 

 the pleasant impressions arising from the jaunt 

 will remain for aye. 



Disbaudiiig Silk from tile Reel. 



Wc have already sjioken of the importance of 

 good reeling ; but in order to ensure a good arti- 

 cle, care must be taken in disbanding the silk from 

 the reel. The single fibres of which the thread is 

 composed, are liable to different degrees of stretch- 

 ing as they are wound from the cocoons. This, 

 however, dejiends much upon the assorting of the 

 cocoons — if they are well assorted, the degree of 

 e.xtension will be less than if poorly or carelessly 

 assorted. Care in assorting, however, will not 

 wholly overcome the difliculty, because some are 

 necessarily longer in the water than others, and 

 therefore yield their silk more readily. The weak 

 latter ends of some cocoons also wind off with the 

 strong first jiart of others. '1 he consequence of 

 this is, the fibres are unequally stretched, and (if 

 taken from the reel too suddenly) those that are 

 most stretched will contract the most and make a 

 thread less compact and firm. 



To remedy this, let the skein remain on the 

 reel six or eight hours, or until it is dry and the 

 different fibres brought to a more uniform degree 

 of e.xtension. This also gives the fibres an oppor- 

 tunity to unite more firmly. After the skein is 

 completely dry and ready to be taken from the reel, 

 sipieeze it together all round to loosen it upon the 

 bars ; and then with a thread, made of refuse silk, 

 lie it in the places wliere it bore on the bars of 

 the reel. It may then be slid oft" the reel, and ties 

 should be made opposite to those first made. It 

 should then he doubled, and tied near each ex- 

 tremity, and laid by for use or sale. When the 

 skein is finished, a mark should be tied to the end 

 of the thread, otherwise it may mix with the 

 threads of the skein and render it difficult to find 

 it. — Silk CuUurist. 



New ENGLAND F.1RMERS, BEAT THIS IF yOU CAW. 



— Mr Warham Kingsley, of Westhanipton, sowed 

 in 1834, two bushels of rye on two acres and 

 twenty rods of land, including rocks and stumps, 

 owned by lAlr Anthony Fisher, and harvested the 

 same in 183.3, which produced one hundred shock, 

 ten of which having been threshed and cleaned, 

 yielded thirteen bushels and four quarts of rye ; 

 and he believes there will be one hundred and 

 thirty bushels of rye, when it is all threshed and 

 cleaned. — JVorlhavipton Conner. 



Diogenes, the cynic, being asked what wine he 

 preferred, replied, " that which I drink at the 

 expense of another." 



