FARMS. 97 



The farm of Mr. J. Copeland, of West Bi-idgewater, is remark- 

 able for tlie quantity of hay it produces, about one hundred 

 tons annually. 



Mr. Nahum SnelFs farm is beautifully located, with one of 

 the finest and most picturesque meadows fringed with trees and 

 shrubs, that I have ever seen. While the farms of Thomas 

 Ames, and of the brothers Jonathan and Eldridge Howard of 

 West Bridgewater, show good cultivation, and are well worthy 

 of a visit. Mr. Ames's crop of barley this year, and the rye 

 of the Messrs. Howard, show what can be done at a profit in 

 Plymouth County. 



I never pass the farm of Mr. A. Covington, of Middlebor- 

 ough, withovit stopping to admire its fine appearance. It is 

 disfigured by no barren spots, no rocks nor stones. The surface 

 is sufficiently undulating to give it variety, and to drain off all 

 superfluous water. All the fences and buildings are in good 

 order ; the cattle and sheep in fine condition, and the crops 

 must be abundant. 



I am more particularly acquainted with the agriculture of 

 Plymouth, and the more I know of it the sadder I become. 

 Nature was not prodigal towards us in the beginning, and two 

 hundred years of unintelligent cultivation have reduced the 

 soil to unproductive sand. Our fields are brown when they 

 ought to be green, fit only, it seems to me, for sheep pastures. 

 Yet, in the midst of this general desolation, there are some 

 indications of improvement. Many of us have become aware 

 of our deficiencies, and a very few have set about correcting 

 mistakes. Among those who have taken a step forward, I know 

 none more worthy of success than the brothers Wm. S. and J. 

 Hadaway, of Cliiltonville. These two young men, without any 

 other capital than a few worn out acres of land and the tough 

 muscles and active brains with which nature has endowed them, 

 have struck out a path of improvement for themselves with so 

 much vigor and economy, that a few years must place them in 

 advance of many of the most favored cultivators of the soil. 1 

 do not wish to intimate that their farm is, at present, in a high 

 state of cultivation ; it is only remarkable when the circum- 

 stances of its owners are considered. Their experiince is par- 

 ticularly valuable to tliose who live on the coast, as they have 

 obtained almost all the manure which they have used, not from 



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