MIDDLESEX SOCIETY. 85 



Farms, &c. 



The committee on farms, reclaimed meadows, and fruit 

 orchards, report as follows : 



Four farms, six reclaimed meadows, eight apple, two pear, 

 and one peach, orchards, were entered for examination. These 

 your committee have viewed carefully, and they feel them- 

 selves authorized to make the following remarks. We have 

 seen enough to satisfy us, not only that " the schoolmaster is 

 abroad," but also that he is directing public attention, to the 

 all-important subject of agriculture. An interest in this sub- 

 ject, amounting almost to enthusiasm, is awakened in many 

 quarters; and its effects are already showing themselves in the 

 improved appearances and increased products of the farm and 

 the orchard. " A thing well begun," it is often said, "is half 

 finished." If this be true, and we do not doubt it, then many 

 a hitherto unproductive field will soon repay with smiles, and 

 also, with a more substantial recompense, the labors of its 

 owner. 



Your committee visited, first, the farm of Mr. L. H. Hil- 

 dreth, of Westford. Mr. Hildreth's statement (confirmed by 

 what we ourselves saw,) indicates great results accomplished 

 by slender means, excepting such as are furnished by intelli- 

 gence and industry. His farm, by nature rather a rough and 

 unpromising subject, is rapidly assuming a new face, its wrin- 

 kles being smoothed, and, if we may judge from the improved 

 character of his fruit, changing from the sour and repulsive 

 to the sweet and attractive. We cannot say whether Mr- 

 Hildreth's preparation for his labors illustrate the " pursuit of 

 knowledge under difficulties," but we venture to affirm, that 

 he has found sufficient difficulties in the way of the applica- 

 tion of it. We commend his statement to notice, because it 

 shows how much may be accomplished by energy and perse- 

 verance. 



The farm of Mr. Joseph D. Brown, of Concord, claims 

 particular attention for several reasons. It greatly exceeds, in 

 territorial extent, what is commonly regarded, among us, as a 

 full sized farm. But large as it is, no part of it wears the 

 appearance of neglect or mismanagement. We regret that a 

 written statement was not furnished by Mr. Brown in season 



