124 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



August, 1842 



FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



CONCORD N. H. AUGUST 31, 18 



par! 



if Danvcrs. 



: of the Shoe and Leather business 



r r thr- •■■:r IRH. compiled fjO[n 



I ft!. - " )MMited in each de 



II. il specially wha! 



iiitrodiiflion of rorcign hides, lias not siiflur- 

 c any CdiiBiclfiiible i-xtent, because the enoi- 

 is increase of I lie business has cieati'il a <le- 

 1(1 foi- his artirle as well as loi- ihiit broiiL'lit 

 I abroad. Only think of a single town away 

 I Ihe sea piviii:; employment to live .xliips 

 filly men in the traiisiiortation nf raw hides 

 if^onth Anieriral What a capital is annually 

 i;;lit by these live ships tn that coniniuniiy : 



Ihe 



the lu 

 > inurh 



I'as do 



}H,a 



1. /loots <r., I .^■'..., . ;;..;.!.: 

 Estimated valui'. \^U- u rc;i.lj I'ur niiirket. 



40 per cent of tins is labor applied— 1255 

 males are consUintly employed, and 946 fe- 

 males. 



2. running and Cunying— 313,800 sides of 



10 per cent of labor applied in the process 

 of tanning. — 20 per cent of labor applied in 

 the process of curryini; upper leather. A large 

 proportion of the leather tanned here is also 

 curried, 328 males are constantly employed in 

 this business. 



the 



valu 



g200,0! 

 90,0 



3. Manufiicture of Skins— \oQfiOQ dressed 



Estimated value when ready for the market, 

 40 per cent of this is labor applied, — 44 

 males constantly employed. 



Gross amount of ti.c value of materials 

 brought to market annually by our nianuluc- 



t rcrs, 



g 1, 732,900 

 ' The whole number of persons employed as stated above 

 is 2639. Supposing one third of the iiett proceeds to be 

 applied as a compensation ftir their labor, this would give 

 about 5214 to each person, not by any means an -extrava- 

 gant compensation for their labor. It is not pretended 

 that Ihe amount of capital employed is as large as the 

 sum above slated ; because. some of the articles are twice 



Such for instance is the case with the leather purchas- 

 ed Ijv the cu.ricr ol the tanner. It will also be remcm- 

 bercil lliat a larire part of the stock worked in the shoe 

 fact. Ties Is iiuiohascd in the Now York and Philadelphia 



Tlie lore n.nig esnmatcs are the best approjimation to 

 the facts, that I have been able to obtain from an examin- 

 Etion of Ihe rfliirns of men practically engaged in the 

 business. Throughout it has appeared to me they were 

 not disposed to overrate their business. .\ more sober, 

 industrious, and mind-their-own-business class of people, 

 than the manulactureis of this place, it will he dilBcult to 

 find HI any community. J. \V. I'ROCTOR. 



D.uivers, March, IS 12. 



Remarks by the Editor of the Visitor. 



The nianiiliiclnres of Leather in Daiivers are 

 but a sample of what is done by many other 

 towns of iMassaihnsetts. Lynn, wliicii was fa- 

 Mions seventy-five and ii hnndied years ago for 

 the better sort ol' hiilies' high lieeled cloth and 

 satin shoes, Havi rhill, BradUnd, and more or less 

 neiuly eveiy inlerinr town of old Kssex — Qiiincy, 

 Brainli-ec, Rtniilulph, I'Milioii and many other 

 towns of I'lyniiMilli and Norrolli, give employ- 

 ineiil 111 ihe iii..kiiig of li.ints .'iiiil shoes and vari- 

 ous oilier tii.iniihiilin-es ol' lr;iilicr to hnnilreds 

 and lliotisands sonuiiines wiiluii the liiidts of a 

 lew miles. 'I'be effect these mtiindiictuie.s have 

 bad on every kind of property, bringing into use 

 much that was useless, creating a demand and 

 increasing the price of every anicle which is the 

 produce of the soil has been beyond the calcu- 

 lation of tlio.-<e w»o are in the midst of it. An 

 observer only who has been absent and sees the 

 change of a few years can realize its e.Ment. 

 The Leather business to the Sl.ite of Massachu- 

 setts has lieen more important ihtui all her great 

 maiuifacuiies of wool: she has enjoyed a /rce 

 trade in this Imsiiicss. sending millions wortii of 

 leather nitinnl'aolun-s south and west beyond the 

 iimitsof the hJtiiio. The simple cftect of bring- 

 ing in hides duly free has irretitly stimulated 

 tlies6 manufiictnres ; and iilier all the farmer 

 whose bides migJit be affected in price bv the 



.hole 



foi 



■ gam. 

 !iployment to fifteen 

 inging bark for its 

 Alaiiie. Allogether 

 ■ade, foreign as well 



What would he the prospects of the farmers 

 and producers of New l^ngland and of the coun- 

 try without its mannliieluring enterprise and in- 

 tluslry! Go to the place where lliis imhisliy 

 [irevails — where half of ihe popiilalioii is eiigag- 

 eil in some useful mamil;icuii-e wliiili is seni 

 ahro.ad for sale. Von will there see comforlahle 

 dwellings and buildings, and where the land will 

 .•d low of it, very produclive gardens and small 

 fields occupietl as a recreation to the mechanic 

 fioni the eoiilineiiunt of more sedentary labor. 

 And you w ill find in the neighborhood of every 

 such commmiity busy and prosperous fiirnieis 

 who generally ni.die their lands each succeeding 

 year more and more productive. i~nch farmers 

 seldom fiiil to find in their own neighboihood a 

 ready nijuket for every thing they produce ; and 

 ihey find customers who are always able and 

 willing to pay for every thing they raise. In such 

 a community the f;i-nier is able to hire help and 

 pay good Wages, because the purchaser at bis 

 door is able to pay him piomptly. 



The example prcsmied hy a highly respectable 

 citizen of the lealher liiisiiiessal Oanvers is ilerji- 

 onstratiim that every new business profitably pur- 

 sued brings new prnliis and increase to other 

 pursuits in the neighborhood. The interests of 

 the tiu-mer and the manufacturer are mutual : 

 where the latter does not prosper, the former can 

 scarcelv expect to flourish. 



sometimes upon the hills, the whole has been 

 preserved near the shores of the lochs of the 

 motiiilaiiis. The liosty air is neutralized from 

 the influences of evaporation from the lake sur- 

 liice. Upon the high swells, so much milder ia 

 Ihe atmosphere of cold nights succeeding the 

 warm days, that the frost there touches nothing, 

 when it has killed vegetation of all kinds in Ihe 

 valleys below: it is not uncommon toseea green 

 corn and |iotato field in October upon one of our 

 swells when everything is blighted by frost one 

 or two hundred feet below. The highlands of- 

 ten escape early frost ; but the lands near to a 

 long body of water of consideridde extent some- 

 times are freed fi-oni the effects of frost when 

 every thing is destroyed upon both bill and 

 valley. 



Frtinceslown, .9ugxisl 8th, 1843. 

 Sir: — I send to you a few white (jooseberrii 

 which y<>u will please accept as a fair sample of 

 six c]uarls l-ikeri from the same bush. 1 have 

 four bushes in bearing, fouryears old, two of the 

 blue and two of ihe white : the former are about 

 two weeks earlier than the latter : enclosed is 

 sample of the blue. The treatment has been the 

 same as my currant bushe.s, which 1 keep free 

 from all grass and weeds. 



Willi much respect, 1 remain 



your obedient servant, 



JOHN GIJi.^O.N. 

 lion. Isaac Hill. 



The box came to us by W'alkei's express with 

 ihe carriage [laid by its generous donor, whose 

 horlicultural and agricultural eiiterjirise ii[ion an 

 extensive farm near the backbone ridge of the 

 (Jraniie Slate deserves commendation. The 

 berries sent us were of the full size of the old 

 liishioned red cherry or common gaideii plum: 

 ripening, their perfume was like thai of Ihe pine 

 •apple or canielope. The soil of our hilly region 

 is much more congenial to the prodiiclion of the 

 garden liiiil lli;m that in iIk! near vicinity of our 

 rivers iiiid upon our intervales. Wi! here have 

 .ipples : the trees springing spontaneously upon 

 our intervales where the seeds have come down 

 from the freshets, so far as we have seen litem, 

 more often produce sweet than sourapples. But 

 we can here niise few peaches, pears, cherries or 

 plums. Cuiraiits grow well : field strawbeiries 

 spring up and grow, and raspberries come up in 

 great proliision on newly cleared lands. Goose- 

 ben'tes do i.ot grow well in our gardens. 



We have in their sea.son most of the fruits 

 brongbtin from lite adjacent hill towns. Weare 

 sends us cvliv year a great variety of pears : 

 plums and |i(aclics cnine to ns fiom various di- 

 reclions in llieir season. VVhereever you find ii 

 lake .■unoiig the hills yon find not only beautiful 

 scenery, but ihe growth of fine flavored early ap- 

 ples, peaches, pears and quinces. It isal.so char- 

 acteristic of the farms upon these lake shores 

 that when an early frost cms down the Indian 

 corn and other crops upon the lowlands antl 



Ploughs— Grass Seeds. 



lion. Isaac Hill: — There are three kinds of 

 ploughs now in use— of course all chiiiiiing to 

 lie the best: these are f'roiity & Mears', Ruggles 

 \Masoii\s, and the Howard ploughs. At the 

 great I'longhing Match in Worcester, Ms. in IS40 

 the centre draught plough took the hundred dol- 

 lar premium ns doing the most and the best work 

 with the least dianght of any other plough on 

 the ground. So it wnidd seem tliiit ihe Proiity 

 jilough was the besi iiiipleiueni in all res|)ects in 

 the country. In the .Mlumy Cullivator the Riig- 

 gles and Mason plon;;lis :ue highly recommend- 

 ed by C. N. Benient, and he thinks they are tlie 

 best ploughs he ever had in use. In an adver- 

 tisement in the New Haven Farmer's Gazette of 

 the Howard I'longhs they say, at the great trial 

 of ploughs at Worcester the Howard plough 

 " did more work with the same power of team 

 than any other plough exhibited ; and all ac- 

 knoulei'lge them to be much the strongest and 

 111. .si siihsnnitial." We Inve .-eeii both the Riig- 

 glesvV Howard ploiiL'li, iliongh we have nol seen 

 Iheiii 11 led. A\'e believe, however, that they are 

 both fust rate pinnglis, yet wc have always had 

 :in idea that the Prouly &, Meais ploughs were a 

 little the best. 



Will you, Mr. Editor, ju.st give us your own 

 ojiinioii in regard to the merits of all these 

 ploughs. 



I see that you recommend sowing grass seeds 

 in the fidi, as being more sure to catch and come 

 lip well than in the Spring. Do you sow clover 

 in the liill and where the grass is run out? do 

 you sow it on the inverted sward, without taking 

 off a crop, or do you crop it first and then seed it 

 down .' 1 see last year you sowed it as lulc as 

 December. 



Yours triilv, 



L. DURAND. 



Derby, Ct. August 5tli, 1842. 



Rcraarlis of the Visitor. 



In regard to the three kinds of Plough? nam- 

 ed, so liir as our personal knowledge extends, we 

 have no hesitation in pronouncing Ihe ploughs 

 mauiifaciured by all, embracing each nearly the 

 same principle, 10 he very good of their kind. 

 We have not witnessed ihe operations of the 

 Howard plough; but the improveinent.s, as would 

 seem by a late decision of Judge Story, being 

 left free to all plough-makers and venders, we 

 cannot suppose that men so astute as those iiiler- 

 esled in the Howard plough would long suffer 

 its construction without making their imiileinent 



We believe the principle of constrnelion of 

 the Protity &, Meats sward plough which we 

 supposed to be their exclusive invention and 

 rigjil, to be better and more perfect than any oth- 

 er plough ever invented. It is made on a plan and 

 rule mathematically exact, turning over the 

 sward, shutting each succeeding fiirrow com- 

 pletely and accurately upon ils predecessor. In 

 a smooth field, the iilongb traverses without hold- 

 ing in its proper position : it completely inverts 

 the sward, and the diagonal [losition of the knile 

 so cuts and severs the part turned vff from the 

 mould board that the sod is shut down so that 

 the grass has no chance to come up through Ihe 

 edge to the surface. With the manure spread 

 upon the surface, where the hard pan or rocks 

 do not interfere with Ihe plough, there is a chance 

 for Ihe most beautifully clean cultivation. Pota- 

 toes planted in rows at the edge of the sod from 

 one to two inches from the surface throw their 

 rooty fibres below the mould, and receive all 



