14 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



January, 1842. 



Hill the elder, with the second son who still sur- 

 vives at the age of nearly eighty years, served 

 afterwards in various campaigns some three 

 years each : they suffered with the American 

 troops in the Jerseys— they witnessed the defec- 

 tion of Arnold and the execution of Andre near 

 West Point. Returning home, the wages they 

 had enined were paid in paper promises, which 

 availed them little or nothing. The representa- 

 tives of Mather Byles foreclosed for their debt ; 

 and the whole of Abraham Hill's little real estate 

 hecame the priest's property for the single thirty 

 pounds and interest. His misfortunes were pro- 

 bably precipitated from several successive peri- 

 odical returns of constitutional derangement 

 which unfitted the war-worn soldier for busi- 

 ness. 



Judge Tudor, a distinguished lawyer of Bos- 

 ton, and father to the enterprising gentlenian who 

 a few years ago originated the traffic in ice which 

 is taken from the ponds a few miles out of Bos- 

 ton, was the agent of Mather Byles while absent 

 from the country, and for his heirs after his 

 death. After the property had passed into his 

 hands, it was leased several years on very favor- 

 able terms to the family of its former owners. 

 The written leases of Judge Tudor in the name 

 of Mather Byles, authenticated with the formali- 

 ty of those days, were the first written instru- 

 ments of our scanning : tlte language of those 

 leases, the witnesses and the hand wrilvng are 

 fresh in our recollection. Josiah Quincy, the pre- 

 sent President of Harvard University, who was 

 ])robably then a student of law with Mr. Tudor, 

 was the writer of one or more of the leases and 

 a witness. At that time writing his name in close 

 capitals, it was not until we heard of Mr. Quincy 

 as a public man, that we could dccypher his let- 

 ters. 



Although this preperty, which was sold by the 

 heirs of Mather Byles about the year 1790 and 

 passed through several hands, never returned to 

 Abraham Hill or his branch of the family, yet he 

 passed his whole life under the same roof: in a 

 few years, at the death of his mother, the other 

 half of the same house with some half a dozen 

 acres directly alongside of his old premises and 

 of equal fertility became his own : here he lived 

 in circimistances of as much comfort as could 

 be expected from that day till the year 1807, when 

 he died at the age of about eighty years. 



The grandfather of this Abraham Hill of the 

 same name, was probably the first settler upon 

 this ground seven miles out of Boston about one 

 hundred and sixty years ago. His grandfather, 

 (probably the progenitor of the greater part of 

 the race of New England Hills) more than two 

 hundred years ago, was among the first settlers of 

 Charlestown. The ground of this settlement, 

 anciently the north-west extremity of Cambridge 

 adjoining on Lexington, in its whole extern, at the 

 expiration of more than a century and a half, re- 

 mains in the descendants of the male line bear- 

 ing the same name to this day. The farm of 

 Amos Hill, described by Mr. Colman ir> his last 

 Agricultural Report, is no piirt of those premises. 

 Mather Byles' family was soon alienated from 

 that land. And if our story have no other inter- 

 est, it goes to establish the fact that real property 

 remains longer with the nKwe humble laboring 

 classes than with those who are possessed of the 

 pride of high family names and wealth. 



Cultivation of Indian Com in Middlesex Co. 

 Massachusetts. 



Fi'om Mr. Caiman's Fourth Report. 



Of two of the larg.^st crops of corn ever rais- 

 ed in the county it may not be amiss forme to 

 give the particulars of the cultivation. 



The land had been used for pasture ground for 

 nearly thirty years. In the fall it was ploughed. 

 Jn the ensuing spring it was again well plough- 

 ed, and planted with corn in the hills, in the 

 common form; but well manured in the hill with 

 a mixture of horse-dung, lime and ashes. When 

 the corn was fit for weeding, half a pint of un- 

 leached ashes was apjihed to each hill; a part, 

 however, was left without any ashes. The difll-r- 

 ence between the corn whicli had ashes applied 

 to it and that which had none, was very appar- 

 ent. The corn had a slight ploughing "wIilmi it 

 «as weeded, and was halt-hilled early on account 

 of its rai)id growth. After this, a plough was not 

 suffered among it, nor had it any mure hoeinu, 

 except to destroy the worst of the weeds, and to 



stir in the turni[)-seed which was sown among it. 

 The product of this corn was at the rate of 78 

 1-4 bushels to the acre. 



The same field was ploughed again in the fall 

 after the gathering of the crop ; and again well 

 ploughed in the spring and harrowed out at a 

 distance of four ftset, leaving each furrow one 

 foot wide. The furrows were well manured with 

 a compost of horse-dung, lime, ashes and dock- 

 mud. The seed raised the last year was planted 

 in the drill on every furrow, making three rows 

 to each. Care was taken to drop the seed about 

 six inches apart. Whea the corn was at a pro- 

 ])er stage, it was carefully thinned ; and after 

 weeding, it was dressed with unleached ashes 

 through each drill or furrow. It was half-hilled 

 early in the season ou account of its rapid 

 growth, being undoubtedly strongly .stimulated 

 by the high manuring of the land the previous 

 season. It had a slight ploughing at this season ; 

 and soon after half-hilling, the suckers or barren 

 stalks were all carefully cut off. 



The corn was planted in the latter part of 

 May ; the stalks topped the first week in Sep- 

 tember, at which time most of the corn was dry 

 enough for gnnding. On the 13lh of October it 

 was gathered, and a measured acre of this corn 

 produced one hundred and eleven bushels and 

 one peck. The soil was deep black upon a yel- 

 low loam, and that resting upon a gravelly and 

 clayey pan. It will be found that, by this mode of 

 planting three rows to each furrow, there will be 

 more than double the stocks of corn on the same 

 surface than if planted in the usual way. 



I subjoin an account of the cultivation of anoth- 

 er field of corn in the comity. 



The soil is a deep yellow loam. It was ma- 

 nured with ten cart-loads of green barn manure 

 spread on the ground, and eight loads of com- 

 post manure put in the hills, and a crop of corn 

 taken from it. The ensuing year it was twice 

 ploughed in the spring, and twenty cart-loads of 

 green barn manure S|)read on it. It was furrow- 

 ed in rows about three feet and a half apart ; and 

 about twenty cart-loads of barn, hog and slaugh- 

 ter-yard manure were put in the rows : with the 

 last'inanure was mixed a hogshead of lime. The 

 kernels were planted eight inches apart in the 

 rows. The corn was hoed three times; all the 

 suckers were pulled out in July; and in August 

 were taken away together witli the false and 

 smutty stalks. On the first of September the 

 stalks were topped; and on the 26th the corn was 

 harvested and spread on a floor, under the roof 

 of a long shed, that it might dry well. On the 

 14tli Nov. the whole was shelled : it measured 

 one hundred and sixteen bushels and three and 

 a half pecks of clear sound corn. Weight of the 

 corn 5t) lbs. to a bushel. 



Tlie value of the stalks and suckers was con- 

 sidered equal to two tons of English hay. The 

 expenses of the cultivation were estimated as 

 follows. 



Ploughing 2 50, manure 25 00, seed 50. 28 00 

 Furrowing and plamini: 4 00, hoeiiig4 00, 8 00 

 Silckeringandtopping4 00, liarvest'g 4 00, 8 00 



$44 00 

 This, it inust be admitted, is an extraordinary 

 crop, but the account is well attested. 



It has been made a question whether more 

 corn can be obtained from an acre planted in 

 drills or rows. In an experim(.>nt to test this 

 point, made with much care by an intelligent 

 fiirmer, half an acre, planted in drills, gave twen- 

 ty-eight and a half double bushels of cars, and 

 the adjoining half-acre gave twenty-three and a 

 half double bushels of ears, making a difference 

 of five bushels in favor of the half-acre planted in 

 drills. This does not, in my opinion, settle the 

 point: the result must dejiend on the question, 

 by which method the largest number of plants 

 can be produced on an acre — allowin-' to each 

 plant ample room for its culture and the expan- 

 sion of its roots and leaves, with sufflcient space 

 for the free admission of tlie sun and circulation 

 of the air. Where corn is intended to be plocigh- 

 ed both ways, it must be planted in hills at a dis- 

 tance of not less than three feet each way. Corn 

 planted iu rows three feet apart, and in double 

 lines in alternate distances eiglit inches apart, 

 would give many more plants than if planted in 

 hills of three feet square, leaving from three to 

 four plants in a hill. The iiroduCe from a field 

 thus planted in rows is likely therefore to lie con- 



siderably larger than if planted in hills. Where 

 tnanm-e is spread likrwij-e on the field, die tepar- 

 alioii of the plants, which is tiiore likely to be 

 provided for in drills as above than in hills, where 

 the seeds are commonly thrown into close prox- 

 imity, will enable their roots to come more im- 

 mediately at the Mianure. Where the corn is 

 manured in the hills, there of course the plants 

 come directly upon the manure. The land is not 

 benefitted equi.lly by manure put in the hills on- 

 ly, as by tnanure spread broadcast, and the plant- 

 ing is in a trifling measure more expensive ; but 

 then, on the other hand, as much manure is not 

 applied. For the benefit of the land, the manure 

 should alwaj's be spread: at the same time, 

 where manure is abundant, it is well to put some 

 directly under the corn at planting, that the de- 

 velopment of the plant at its first "starting, when 

 all its nourishment is derived through the roots, 

 and before the leaves are unfolded in order to ga- 

 ther food frotn the air, may be as much pos- 

 sible assisted and stimulated. The largest crops 

 of corn which have come wifhin my know- 

 ledge have been raised iu drills, with manure 

 placed under the drills and likewise spread liber- 

 ally broadcast upon the field. At the same time, 

 I know farmers in the State whose crops average 

 seventy-five bushels to the acre, who always plant 

 in hills because they deem the cultivation easier. 

 I submit these facts to the judgment of the 

 reader. 



The following extract from an excellent ad- 

 dress delivered laijt August before the Greenville 

 Agricultural Society in South Carolina, although 

 it presents but a sombre picture of the condition 

 which a constantly exhausting system of cultiva- 

 tion has produced on the former fertile fields of 

 the Southern States where slave labor seems to 

 have blasted every thing valuable and thriving — 

 will still ap[>ly to the careless cultivation which 

 has caused the abandonment of many New Eng- 

 land farms : 



Permanent Improvements. — What impover- 

 ishment, what ruin, what desolation has the spirit 

 of emigration p.oduced in South Cacolina ? What 

 wealth, what energy, what talent and virtue has 

 it robbed her of? Look at the south-west and 

 see there the outpouring of her citizens and her 

 treasure! Look throughout the State and see 

 their deserted fields and waste habitations ! But 

 this great loss of property and jxipulalion is not 

 all. The paralyzing effect which it produces on 

 the country and those left behind, is a still great- 

 er evil. No one considers himself permanently 

 settled. No one expncts his children to live 

 where he does, to inhabit the house he does, or 

 cidtivate the soil which he is improving. The 

 consequence is, that he makes no permanent im- 

 provements, but works and manages his farm as 

 if he were not the owner, but a lessee for years ! 

 The truth of this remark is strikingly exemplified 

 by the present condition of our country. " If," 

 said a once distinguished son of Carolina, "some 

 desolating influence were to spread over our 

 counti-y and sweep from it every human being, 

 what vestige would there be a" hundred years 

 hence -of our civilization, or even of our exist- 

 ence as a people ?" None at all. There might 

 perhaps be here and there a pile of rubbish,_^ 

 which possibly would indicate to some aiitiqna-' 

 rian that there was once a human habitation. 

 But it would be in vain to look for those monu- 

 ments of art and genius which are to he found 

 in Rome, Greece and Egypt, after the lapse of 

 thousands of years. 



Improvements IN Agricdlture. — In all ages 

 .•itid in all countries, agriculture and civilization 

 have gone pari passu. They may well be termed ^ 

 twin sisters. To Egypt is awarded the most an- 

 cient distinetion in agriculture, as well as in all 

 arts and sciences. As Greece emerged from 

 barbarism she became an agricultural nation. 

 Rome, in the proud days of her glory, her sci- 

 ence and her literature, was renowned for her 

 agricidtiire ; but when she sank into barbarism, 

 her system -of husbandry became equally barba 

 reus. Carthage stood pre-eminent for her cul- 

 ture and the jiroducts of her soil, whilst sli! 

 the great rival of Rome. During the dark agei 

 of Europe, when learning was confined to the' 

 Clergy, agricultuie sought and foi,ind the samel 

 patrons. The Church lands were very often cul- 

 tivated in part by the hands of Friars, .Monks, am 



