November, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



73 



linkable lliat 

 us the story 

 I cmi'v my 

 Troy, New 



settlements still furilier west to wliicli tlie inland 

 seas of the great Northwest finnish increased 

 facilities. 



In the progress westward it is rt 

 report has invarialily broiifiht hark 

 of better and njore fea-ilile lands 

 own mind back to the luiiowhen 

 York, and that vicinity, tlie story was that the 

 land WHS so good there as to never retjnire nia- 

 nnre : the Dutch settlers upon the Hudson and 

 the Mohawk, who always selected the better and 

 more feasible lands, found their manure so great 

 an incundirance that to be rid of it they were 

 obliged to move their barns to u new position. 

 These lands were cast in the shade when the set- 

 tlement of New York was o|)ened upon the Hol- 

 land purchase ; and the Genesee lands were aban- 

 doned for still more inviting lands in Ohio — Ohio 

 soon yields the palm to the latjds of Michigan 

 and Illinois ; and now more beautiful and i)ro- 

 ductive are the lands of Wisconsin and Iowa than 

 any land further east ! 



The truth is, the fertility of newly opened lands 

 is greater than that of lands from which a series 

 of crops have been taken ; and the course in the 

 United States has been to despoil our land, as it 

 has been to waste their production wherever 

 that has been abundant. We have treated thesv 

 fertile lands and this abundance as the inconsid- 

 erate animals, swine and cattle, treat an abun- 

 dance with which they are overfed — we are temp- 

 ted to that improvidence w hich brings scarcity 

 from abundance, and which retinns not to the 

 soil an equivalent for its greater generosity. 



My opinion is, that no part of the country pre- 

 sents a better soil than the valley of the Connec- 

 ticut from its source beyond the 45th degree of 

 North Latitude at the iii:;hest points of Hall's 

 stream to Long Island Sound. The meadows or 

 intervales n|)ou ihis noble river and its tributaries 

 are certainly nowhere exceeded for their fertility 

 and stability of soil. It is betliM- than tliiit o"f 

 the Merrimack and some other rivcis, because 

 limestone enters into the composition of the de- 

 tritus brought down by the waters which coin- 

 ])ose this alluvion, and because the whole country 

 west of the river to the point of the highlands is 

 diluvium difleriug very lit:le in its fertile qualities 

 from that of the lower river bottoms. 



The highland country any where in the United 

 States cannot be found which better pays the la- 

 bor of cultivation th.m the eutire northern half of 

 the State of Vermont : its alternate hills and val- 

 leys and even its abrupt mountains are no objec- 

 tion to it. Generally there are not more rocks 

 than are \->;uilc(! ; .-lud llie hills gushing out with 

 freqnetit sjnings from which the water comes 

 down in cascades are beyond comparison prefer- 

 able to extended i)rairies or plains where water 

 is obtained only by sinking wells. I believe the 

 land will last longer under an exhausting system 

 of cultivation on these hills and even amiilst their 

 rocks than will mo.st of the better lands of the 

 west selected for their beauty, gome of the hill 

 towns of Vermont through which I have passed, 

 can be surpassed in strength of soil and in ease 

 of cultivation by no land in the United States : it 

 is found difficidt suddenly to wear out the soil of 

 such towns as Randolph, Pcacham, Danvitte, Lyn- 

 don, and St. Jo/ii[sii(ry.Thel)e;iutiliil Oxbow mead- 

 ows of Newbury and Havcirliill, like other simi- 

 lar lands on the Connecticut, were sought for 

 with avidity and have been longest settled ; but 

 time and experiment may teach your farmers that 

 the highest of Contiecticut river lands bordering 

 upon them are of equal value to these according 

 to their cost. The very best townships in New 

 Hampshire border iijion this river all the way up 

 and down. Colebrook, near to the northern line, 

 is said, with the exception perhaps of Claremonl, 

 to exceed in intrinsic value of soil any other town 

 of the State. 



In the superabundance of good lands farther 

 off; much of the best soil — much of that which 

 can be most profitably cultivated, has been over- 

 looked. Every town in the extended valley wil| 

 furnish proof that firuiing has been a good" busi- 

 ness for the last fifty years : many farmers have 

 here found the means to become independent. 

 The distance from the market has been overcome 

 by the raising those commodities whose transport 

 is least expensive. 



Public ojiininn is somewhat divided as to the 

 utility of railroad and other faciliiies for transport. 

 Some contend that these will bring produce from 



the more fertile regions of the West so cheap, as 

 to cut oft" entirely a |)rofitable market. My opin- 

 ion is, that the fininers and producers of the West 

 can never essentially injure us by competition : 

 they unist always take sotnething that we shall 

 produce for every thing they send to us. If grain 

 and dour and cattle and other animals are brought 

 to us, it is because we can produce sotnething at 

 a cheaper rate with which to pay for them. 



More than twenty years ago it was believed 

 that the New York canal would put an end to the 

 pork business in Vermont: the first year of that 

 going into operation reduced the price of |)ork 

 one and two cents a pound. The (nice of pork 

 has been greater since than it ever was before 

 the Erie canal went into operation. But sitice 

 the opening of the western railroad of Massachu- 

 setts so general has been the belief that the pork 

 trade was ruined, that most farmers one year ago 

 failed to make any preparation for raising moie 

 swine. If the railroad had not brought tiietn in- 

 to the country by way of Boston, store hogs in 

 that part of New Hampshire where 1 reside 

 would with difBculty be now |)rocured at any 

 price. Plenty as they are and can be brought to 

 us by the railroad, their price is high enough to 

 show that our people were under a mistake when 

 they supposed we should have no further occa- 

 sion fijr rearing hogs. 



The demand and supply are the moving causes 

 of raising and depressing prices. If you throw 

 into market more of a perishable article than is 

 wanted, and force the sale, you can but expect 

 that the price of the article will be depreciated 

 below its real value. A striking instance of this 

 was furnished in the price of Indian corn last 

 spring. We on the Merrimack last year raised 

 far less Indian corn than was waiiled ihr our con- 

 sumption: we brought into the interior much 

 southern and North river corn. The best corn 

 through the season bore an average price of 

 about one dollar — it was all the time higher with 

 ns by the price of freight and the merchants' 

 profit than it was in Boston. In Haverhill my 

 friend Gov. Page informed me last summer that 

 there was no demand for corn and rye— it would 

 not sell at any price for money. The reason of 

 the difference was, that we had more eaters than 

 producers, while you had more producers tlian 

 eaters. The manufacturing villages that have 

 grown up fiom Lowell on the ftlerrimack up- 

 wards give our farmer who raises ijjore than ho 

 consumes, an advuitage which you will enjoy 

 when your nuifiirm animal siuplus shall tempt 



productive iinluslry shall piialile tliein to buy it. 



\Vithout the aiil'of tiicililatcd tr;msport and in- 

 ten'ourse, I contrud it will tie (or your interest 

 to raise all that your land will produce — the more 

 with the leiist labor the better. You may calcu- 

 late as a general thing that com i;nd grain, beef 

 and pork, butter and cheese, well made and i>re- 

 servcd, will find a profitable market. If these 

 shall not he carried to a |ilace of sale at a dis- 

 tance, consumers of them will find their way to 

 your doors. A Mu-plus of these substantial arti- 

 cles for ihe coniloit and sustenance of man will 

 seldom go heggii.- 



Biityom- chaiiiiing valley requires all the facil- 

 ities which steam will tive for bringing ynu 

 nearer to a itiarket already in existence. Kail- 

 ways, which you will be able to build and support, 

 will enable you to carry animals and merchan- 

 dize to the seaboard at one lijiii th and in some 

 inst.-mces perha|)s one tenth of lli<; present cost. 

 These railways, to every industrious producing 

 comniimity, must biing to them much more 

 riches than they will carry away. 



The beautiful pine tiujber, more useful and 

 more elegant than the cedars of Lebanon, which 

 peivades some valkys in the upper region of 

 Connecti(;iit rivitr. lias hecii wasted with a profli- 

 gate and niippaiiiig li.uiil : in some townships it 

 has been seemingly exhiiiisted where it has 

 yielded little profit beyond the expenses attend- 

 ing its prcp;iratii>ii and tiaiisport. There is yet 

 much of this valuable timber left: recently those 

 who work in it and iircpare it for market belter 

 understand its value. Transported to all parts 

 of the country and shipped to foreign countries, 

 its value will be greatly enhanced when new- 

 facilities for trans[)ort shall give it a less expense 

 for a more distant market. 



The late treaty with Great Britain secures to 

 the northern extreme of New Hampshire one 



hundred thousand acres of good land, and it 

 gives to the State of Vermont a strip of nearly 

 one mile all along the Canada frontii'r of that 

 State, whose right of possession was at least a 

 disputable point. These acquisitions are to us 

 of more value than all the loss of that part claim- 

 ed by the State of Maine which has been con- 

 ceded to Great Britain by the treaty: lliey must 

 add to the prosperity and business of this valley. 

 The upper region"of the valley of Connecticut 

 and its tributary streams, fiom the crystal head 

 of the Ammonoosuck upon Mount Washington 

 on the east, to Ihe ridge at the sources of the 

 Nulhegan and Passiim>ic where the waters di- 

 vide from those running into the St. Lawrence 

 on the north and west, "spreads out as you ap- 

 proach the North like a fan. Diversified with 

 mountain, hill and dell, with fbresis of tall pines 

 and cedar in the low grounds, and myriads of the 

 beautiful maple, beech and birch upon the hills 

 —there is no soil in the United States which 

 presents greater advantages. A greater produc- 

 tion in this country on the same number of acres 

 was nowhere exhibited in the last census than 

 was proved in your own comity of Caledonia : 

 so much produce from any one territory of the 

 same extent cannot be proved in the Uniied 

 States for so long a term of time as this whole 

 valley has presented. There is every thing to 

 tempt to the settlement and further im'provement 

 of this valley above. Soon, even before you are 

 aware of it, will open great avenues of transport 

 up and down the valley, leading off at suitable 

 intervals east and west, and bringing you within 

 half a day's reach of the seaboard freighted at a 

 cheap rate with all your heavy products. Would 

 you leave such a country as this in the hopes of 

 better remuneration for labor, better health, or 

 better enjoyment, grievously will you he disap- 

 pointed. You already have all the charms of 

 good society, religious institutions such as you 

 choose at your own doors, and schools and sein- 

 inaries in which your children can be taught 

 every thing that shall make them amiable, good 

 and useful. Surely yon may sny, in gratitude to 

 the beneficent Author of our being, "our lot has 

 been cast in pleasant places, and this is a goodly 

 heritage." 



Leached Ashes. 



The German Agriculturists conduct their ex- 

 periments with great accuracy, thereby making 

 them of the greatest use. The New Genesee 

 Farmer translates hem the German a citatement 

 of experiments by W. Albert of Roszlan, from 

 which the following fijcis and results are taken : 



A field of dry sandy soil, which had lain in 

 grass eight years, overrun with moss, was dressed 

 with leached ashes at the rate of 66 busliels to 

 the acre. 



The land was first ploughed about six inches 

 deep, turning down the sod carefully so as to 

 close it in completely: the ashes were then haul- 

 ed on and spread, and covered with a shallow 

 fiirrow about two inches deep. 



A measured square rod thus prepared with 

 ashes, and n measured rod without ashes, were 

 sowed with Buckwheat in the year 1827. The 

 ashed land prodiici'd 53 ounces- tho unaslied 

 laid 28J oz. In 1SJ8, the .'■iime land sowed with 

 rye, produced 77i ai:(l 44 1-Uoz. In 1829, oats 

 with clover proiluced on the same land 81i and 

 38} oz. I|l4830 the land was de[.as!iiied. In 

 1831, it vffla^gain sowed with rye, and the ashed 

 land gave 53, the unaslied 28i oz. 



The expense and cost of application of the 

 leached ashes at 9 cents the bushel in the field 

 was $G,95 to the acre. 



The gain in the crop in 1827, was S4,05 per 

 acre— in 1828, 5,'J5— in 1829, 3,62i— in 1830,3.00 

 -ill 1831, 4,06:— making S19,98.i In the whole. 



The land worth $15 per acre gave in five years 

 a gain of .$19,984 on an expendiiure of $6,25. 



The extraordinary effect of leached ashes is to 

 impart to the soil a ca|>acily to appropriate and 

 assimilate more abundantly or more rapidiv, the 

 fertilizing constituents of the atmosphere. 



Leached ashes (.-iccording to the German ex- 

 periment) are particularly efficacious on .sindy 

 soils that are naturally dry : on wet soils and 

 moist heavy lands they produce little or no effect. 



Sandy land's that have lain several years in 

 grass or barren, are most sii.<'ceptible to improve- 

 ment from leached ailics. 



About sixty bushels to the acre are ample for 



