December, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



187 



Cli.-lscH, Cliarl.sli)«ii,Cainl.n<l)'eaii<l its 

 r.ri-lii.in, Bi-ooklia.-, RoxIkmt and Dm 

 an. I iodlMti- li-o.H the iiuukvr llill AI„iiu. 



tiiiK! nia 



y lie as lK)|.uloiisa,< Lciijoii ana West- 

 li]iri>tiM-,"tli(; largest Cliii.-iiaii iilj u|ioii the globe. 

 Our olijcot in cxteiidiii^ thi^ n-niarUs upon the 

 great and Hrowini.' caiiilal i>l' N'cw Knu'land was 

 torall the |iarticu!aiaaei,tioii o\ imv readers to 

 the value of lie- railro.Mls, n. ll.i' e..nslrurii,,n of 

 which the en|.itiil of Bosion has hern eMe.ided 

 within the last few veais. 'I'liere can he no nfis- 

 take ahoiit this ma'f.ei-; never has capital been 

 I.laced where it has .lone the coinitrv more jrood 

 than it has done here. We were of those who 

 tlioiiglil that the iiivestlnenr of nmnej on ihe 

 great western road over and throuj;h thf; inonn- 

 tuins of Berkshire inijiht he iii|ndicioiis. 'I'liat 

 ftlllerpiise has been eaiiied ihroniih ; and iiislant- 

 ly has it converted Bostnn lioin a place not hither- 

 to felt lo lie feared hv llie ^reat coiiiinercial 



!ito ; 



part of the most prolitabUt trade and liusiness of 

 the Norlli — a rival which, tappinjr the western 

 wm-ld, lem|its to its bosom Ihe elements of un- 

 connlecl wwalth. How opportunely has thisjrreat 

 nveiiue been opened to the highly liivored mart 

 of New Eni;laiid trade! It has coniinned and 

 kept up to her, prosperous business, while at all 

 the other great commercial towns of the Soullr 

 mill West the trade ha3 fallen away. 



We .loiice the growth and prosperity of Bos- 

 ton because in thia city, communicating and 

 connected with every other part of New Eng- 



every farnie/ and producer of New England. A 

 great and growing city — a place of extensive 

 trade abroad and extensive production and con- 

 sumption within itself — must forever furnisli the 

 aliment of wealth and increased means to all the 

 country about it. Let Boston continue to grow, 

 and there never can be danger that it will not he 

 n place for the profitable sale or exchange of 

 every article of value that the soil or the skill of 

 the ronntry surrounding it far and near can 

 furnish. Its great popidation must jdways be 



surplus of the farmer at its full value. As Hade 

 expands to a greater distance from new laciliiies 

 to the means of transport, so will increase the 

 means and the disposition to give a fair price for 

 every vendible comiriodity. Trade is hut a sc- 

 ries of exchanges^what one |iroduces another 

 mail buys; and the ability to purchase is found 

 only in "the ability to [uoduce what may be an 

 equivalent for the purchase. So true as the soil 

 of a country may be made to yield abundance, so 

 true is it that with easy means of transp.ort at the 

 points of exchange, large and flourishing ami 

 wealthy cilies will grow up. The unerring laws 

 of supply and demand will not have it otherwise. 

 If the men of wealth in the cities would reflect 

 how much that w^eallli may be increased by in- 

 creasing the me.'ins of production in liie country 

 <bout them, they might and would soon give 

 t;uch an impulse to the Agriculture of the coun- 

 try as would make the business of the farmer the 

 most honorable and the most desirable. 



Revolutionary Keminiscences. 



Messks. Editors : — Some time since a friend 

 placed in the hands of the writer some Revolu- 

 tionary documents. Among them 1 find three 

 interesting letters, written, as you will see, at 

 three several important and eliciting periods in 

 our Revolutionary history. 



The first in order of time, is a patriotic pro- 

 duction from the pen of John Hancock, then 

 President of the American Conuress, addressed, 

 to the Assembly of this Stale." Von will per- 

 ceive the date of the letter to be soon after the 

 unfortunate battle of Long Island, when Gen. 

 VVasIiington was retreating before a much supe- 

 rior British force. Amid the disconrageirienis 

 incident to the then unsettled state of our affairs, 

 John Haneock, still undisinayed by power, thorgh 

 evidently deepdy anxious for the liite of the young 

 republic, dictates these lines flir New Hamp- 

 shire. And it is enough to say, that New Hamp- 

 shire, nl the darkest hours of our existence, as a 

 nnlion, lias sustained the cause that John Han- 

 cock so de(i()iy loved, and for whicli he sacrificed 

 so much. 



" Philadelphia, Sept. 3, 177G. 



" Gbstlemeu :— Oar •nem^oj boinj aetermined to 



powerful attack on J\ew 



i.-cent chaiii; 

 York, v'c shn: 

 an adequ.Tt(? r 



.irdor of° the ( 

 iicly send all 

 York. 



nvinced tliat iiutlaiig will prove 

 ■ present circuinstanccs but the 

 our part. I am, therefore, by 

 request that you will imniedi- 

 jur power to our army .it INew 



be abl.^ to 

 is the consi 

 ' Gentlemen 



" JOHiN HAWCOCK, President." 

 "To the Hon. .\astmbly ; 

 of .New Haiiipsliirc' S 

 The second is an extract from an original let- 

 ter ti-om Gen. Jacob Bailev, of Newbury, Vt. 

 who on the21.st da\ oi :-. |iirM,l i , 1777, wrote 

 to Col. Thomas Sticki:-- -.; i : ,1, as fijilows : 



We 





sed 100 An 





hen we may < 

 ^ if we exert 

 I keep what w 



'•JACOB BAILEY, B. D. G." 

 On the 32(1 Sept. he again resumes the same 



n,>ur.Tnil Bi- , t ■ , • :■.. - •■■•• .."nth, by which 



time 1 hnoc t:,.' ,■■ ' ' f-i "'^ :.rmy will be 



in our harld^ I il ;,. . . -(liiit will turn 



out. Pasturii..; . ^ ; ; . ...;. . . ■..>■■ 



luu. -y-^'^tj-ig-'^'^^ij ,,.Y_ g p Q „ 

 " P. S. We have just heard that Gen. Arnold hasfou^Tbt 

 the right wing of Gen. Burgoyne's army, and won tliiee 

 field pieces, the field and 250 prisoners. Great kiss on 

 both sides."' 



Subsequent events justified tlic liright bojies 

 and alorious predictions of Gen. Bailey, for on 

 the i7lh of October, being less than one month 

 irum the dales of Gen. Bailey's letters, Burgoyne 

 lid his army surrendered. .^!y f.st is an original 

 I tier from .^iES^F.CIi Weake, President of New 

 Hampshire, addressed to Col. Thomas Sliekney, 

 as follows: 



" St.ite of New Htimp^h.ire. } 

 '■ '.u CimiiMileP of S.ifetv. Julv It. 17:;o. ^ 



" From sir, your ijuniblc servant, 



" M. WEARH, President." 

 " Col. Stickney." 



The above letters T tliink onglit to be placed 

 hcfiire the public. On some fntore occasion I 



in relation to the liien that tbiight at Bennin';lo!i. 

 ANTIQIJARIUS. 



ene ton of hay taken from the meadows — this 

 ve.ir be cut thuii/ tons, lie has about liity acns 

 of arable and meadow land, chiefiy exhausted 

 by close cropping and liad inanagemeiil. It is n 

 pattern of neatness. Wlien he took it ihe stock 

 consisted of a cow and horse — he has now — 

 bead, ar.d declares his belief that he can bring it 

 to summer and winter fifteen cows, and a good 

 proportion of other stock. He will do it. He 

 has to haul his iishes eight miles — they cost hiin 

 thirteen cents per bushel at the plat"e of land- 

 ing. They repay the first cost and every other 

 expense fiom the first crop, and leave after crops 

 anil ilie general improvement of the iaiid as the 



With us, no manure has the efl^jct of ashes. 

 A lew years ago for an experiment I ploughed 

 up an acre and a half of very dead land, and 

 planted it with corn — the product, though the 

 season was good, was six bushels per acre. Early 

 next spring 1 ploughed up the bills, and sowed 

 oats with ten pounds of clover seed to the acie, 

 and thirty-five bushels of unleacbed ashes over 

 the whole piece. The oats were good, but the 

 clover was superfine — at least a ton and a ha!f 

 to the acre upon ground of the very poorest de- 

 scription. The effect of it was seen for 3 ear.s. But 

 to test the greatest capacity of ashes to slimulale 

 production, the grounds should be entirely free 

 from weeds when they are sown. And to render 

 the effect permaiietit and enduring, other ma- 

 nures, having body, should be added, ifnoolher 

 manures accompany the ashes, then the plough- 

 ing in of the green clover will be singularly ben- 

 eficial. 



Our farmers on the verge of the ponds, on the 

 south siinre,experience great benefit from plough- 

 ing in the eel grnts that the high w incls drive 

 ashore in the aiittiinn. It is ploughed under the 

 sward, green, and corn is the crop that derives 

 most benefit from it. Forty and fifty bushels it. 

 a common crop, and it has never been known to 

 fail. Tiie second crop is little benefitted by ii. 

 Sea weed is held of light account » ith us. 



There is a breed of swine here of great value. 

 I cannot le:irn where it came from, but it is evi- 

 dently a cross of the Berkshire with a very thin 

 skin. It grows to a great size, is exceedingly 

 good tein|)ered and docile, and (ats easily. Ber- 

 nard Low, Esq. killed one this year eighteen 

 months old— it weighed 660 lbs. Jt had a hun- 

 dred pounds of leaf lard. flir. N. .Ma\ hew killed 

 another, fifteen months old, wi^ighini; 5!!0 and odd 

 pounds. The^ have never gone hi-her than 6eC, 

 and seldom liiil below G(IO at a year and a half 

 old. There has been an instance of "CO at nino 

 montlis. As they are less inclined to locomotion 

 than any hogs I ever saw, they are poor contrib- 

 utors to the muck heap. Your.-i, 



J. A. J. 



Gov. Hii.1.— Dea:. ;,:::- s I ,e i.i.s neen qmie 

 a siiirit of farming . ' ■ ■ .' ■' "is't year or 



two in this section i.. ..-:.' ' ns. Some of 

 r>ur people have |iurciMsL,i l...gely of leached 

 wood ashes, and the results have conquered the 

 .lonbts of the skeptic, and even astonished the 

 believer. ., ,,,... 



Capt. Leonard West, of Clnlmark, (adjoining 

 tovvn) upon a small farm for which he paid 

 twenty-five hundred dollars, coinmenced three 

 vears a-.'o the use of ashes as a top-dressing, be- 

 in" withal a most iiulustrioiis collector of other 

 mnnines. When be bought this farm it had 

 been exhausted bv bad management— fheie was 



Mr. Hill — Dear Sir : — Can you inform me 

 whether the experiment of manufacturing paper 

 li-oni the "Beach g-iv.-ss" has been successlul ? 

 if it has been, how must the grass be prep:, red ? 

 V'oii will confer a fiivor by calling on your coi - 

 f>s|,e;ideiits to slate iiariicidars rcs|iecli!!g if. 

 '■:■:•• I.:.. _-n^-it qiiantiliesof it on the sonlh shore 

 < : ■ -. .liiireit.s, put to no use whatever. It is 

 of ,iv:,; loiighness. Youis, 



X. Y. Z. 

 CCP' In the absence of the editor, his sub is 

 imilde to answer the question of X. Y. Z., and 

 can only submit it to the (.Miblic eye through the 

 c-olumus of the Visitor. If our senior was on 

 the ground, as he will be next inonlh. we doiil t 

 not that he would venture a repiv, at the least. 



A rarmer in Peniisylvania. 



A writer in the Philadelphia Farmers' Cabinet 

 thus deseiibes a happy Fe.rmer and his ineiliod 

 of conducting the Farm in I'le Keystone Suite: 



In a late journey to Pottsville, J made arrange- 

 ments with a friend v\ ho resided in the neigh- 

 borhood of Allentown, to accompany him home 

 ill his market wagon, where I sjient some day.i 

 in an excess of pleasurable enjoyment ; und if J 

 had the power to describe my host, his wife and 

 young iiimily, with his bouse and land, jind the 

 manner in which every thing is arranged am* 

 condncled, J think you would feel an interestj 

 second only to my ov\n, as I am not miacquaitited 

 with the devotion which you alsofsjcl for the dt- 

 lijihtful occupation. My liiend pnicliased fin; 

 eds of H ie; 



years ago, with the procee 



leeany led him 



