40 



the owner believes m progress. Besides the improvements above 

 spoken of, he is turnin2; his attention to the culture of fruit ; has 

 a handsome young apple orchard, fine young pear trees, &c., and 

 various kinds of grapes. Some fine specimens of the Catawba, 

 very well ripened, showed the favorable character of the locality 

 for the growth of this fruit. Pie showed us a handsome sample of 

 Java spring wheat, of which he raised the past season twenty- 

 eight bushels to the acre. His barn is convenient, and kept in 

 neat order. There is a cellar under the whole, and much atten- 

 tion is paid to the saving of manure, though Mr. R. considers 

 himself under a disadvantage in having no muck on his farm. 

 The top soil, where walls are built, and the coarse grass, from 

 wet places, are used as absorbents of urine. 



The Committee regard it as not beyond the sphere of their le- 

 gitimate duties to notice some improvements, which, though they 

 differ from those elsewhere spoken of in this Report, are deemed 

 of considerable importance. A fcAv years since, Eliphalet Stone, 

 of Dedham, sold to Irish and German laborers, portions of a tract 

 of land, most of which had been considered of very poor quality 

 for agricultural purposes. It is situated near Mill Village, and 

 most of the purchasers are operatives in the manufactories there. 

 The lots sold, vary from a quarter of an acre to an acre, and the 

 price paid was from $100 to $300 an acre, — the latter price re- 

 ferring to lots very favorably situated. Cheap, but decent cot- 

 tages have been erected, CoL Stone having, in most cases, assisted 

 the purchasers in building, and thej^ have improved the land 

 chiefly for the production of vegetables. It has been a matter of 

 no little interest to witness the success Avhich has attended these 

 operations in " cottage gardening." They have presented an an- 

 swer, in part, to the question sometimes asked, — How can land 

 be improved when there is no capital to begin with ? These cot- 

 tagers started with only such means of fertilizing their land as 

 their families, and, perhaps, a pig, afforded. It was but a small 

 spot that could be made productive at first, but the produce of 

 this enabled them to increase the means of fertilizing a larger 

 breadth. They produced most of the vegetables needed in their 

 families, and a surplus which would feed another pig, or aid in 

 supporting a cow, — thus increasing their quantity of manure, and 

 enabling them to till more land, or increase the production of that 

 before taken up. So they have gone on, and have produced 

 crops, — particularly cabbages, — which would do no discredit to 

 the best soil in the County. 



We learn from Col. Stone that they have generally paid for the 

 land, and seem encouraged to go on with its improvement. Their 

 interest in the soil stimulates them to industry, — they improve 

 the leisure hours, which might otherwise be misspent, in increasing 



