44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



AUGUST 17, 1830. 



AURICU1.TUKE IN RHODE ISLA:T'>. 



A short visit to N3vv|)on and Bristol, in Rlioile^ 

 Island lia? given mo a favoriibls iiriprrssion of 

 their hiisl)iuulry ; in some cases, 1 am half dispos- 

 ed to call it gardening. Rhode Is'land, properly 

 so called, on which Newport is situated, lies on 

 the eastern shore of the State to which it gives 

 name, and stretches from southeast to northwest, 

 a distance of ahout fourteen miles, and with an 

 average width of three nnles. It is surrounded 

 by deep water; and has in general a bold rocky 

 shore with very little salt mt.-. sb, and as well as I 

 could judge no swampy ground in the interior. It 

 lays in the bay like a large whale reposii g on the 

 surface of the se.a, witlion; any great elevation, hut 

 gradually rising on its eastern and western sides 

 fongitudinally to an agreeable and beautiful height 

 in the centre. It is almost entirely destitute of 

 any other than ornamental trees; but there are 

 a good many of these, though we regretted among 

 these to see that the conmion button wood pre- 

 ilominated, as it is almost as great an impoverisher 

 of the soil as the Lombardy poplar. The mois- 

 ture of the climate gives to the landscape that 

 bright and beautiful green, wliicli is said to char- 

 acterize the British Islands, and which the Empe- 

 ror Napoleon so much admired. The island seems 

 based upon a rock, a kind of slaty granite ; and 

 the water, which is easily obtained, is of an excel- 

 lent quality. — In the northwestern part of the 

 Island anthracite coal aboumls ; but the coal is 

 not of so good a kind as to encourage further o;i- 

 erations, and the mine, at least for tlie pi'esent, is 

 abandoned. In general the soil is a deep dark 

 loam, in the southern parts more mixed with sand 

 than in the northern, comparatively free from 

 stone ; and although it produces good crops of 

 Indian corn, yet it seems more favorable to grass, 

 oats, and potatoes. The fences are in general of 

 stone, high and well built; the fields, a rare thing 

 inlNew England, dividing generally into rectangu- 

 lar lots ; and in the southern parts of the island 

 are fertile, richly manured, and under high culti- 

 vation. The farmers are most of them the inde- 

 I)endent possessors of the soil which thoy cultivate ; 

 and the houses and buildings generally in the 

 country are remarkably neat ; some in the neigh- 

 borhood of the town are tasteful and elegant. 

 Without the town I do not recolhcta single house 

 that was in a state of dilapidation or that looked 

 like the abode of intemperance and vagal)on<lage. 

 We may reasonably infer that, there being among 

 the inhabitants a large proportion of Quakers, 

 who are ordinarily models of neatness and good 

 domestic management, has had in these respects a 

 favorable influence. The climate, to those who 

 like the proximity of the sea, is delightful in the 

 warm months ; it is milder in winter, and it i^ 

 much cooler in summer than places more inland. 

 The stock kept upon the island are principally 

 sheep ; and these chiefly of what are called the 

 old fashioned merino, with very little mixture of 

 Saxony; the average yield of fleece from three to 

 four pounds ; and bringing in the market from 

 fifty to sixty cents per pound. On laml averag- 

 ing in value one hundred dollars per acre, and 

 with hay at fifteen to twentyfive dollars per ton, 

 though the price in years past has been about ten 

 dollars per ton, sheep husbandry would seem 

 hardly to be profitable, tiiough they say that " sheep 

 pay better than any other stock ;" as indeed well it 

 ° may as who would think in such circumstances 

 of raising meat cattle to advantage, when the value 



of a yearling would not be so much as that of a 

 calf "six weeks old. — They are wise in desiring to j 

 consume all their hay u])on the jdde.e, for although 

 the farms on the seashore are favorably situated 

 f(U- procuring sea manure, yet in the interior they 

 require all tjie manure they can make on their 

 farms. I got information of no considerable dai- 

 ry farms. Many swine are fatted on the island ; 

 and a very large amount of ])ouitry, especially 

 geese and turkeys, raised. For these a ready mar- 

 ket is always to be found ; but with \yhat profit 

 they are raised is another matter. As long as the 

 geese are fed in the highways, the expense is noth- 

 ing ; but whoever undertakes to fat either geese 

 or turkeys at the corn crib, oi-, as some permit them, 

 to feed themselves among the standing corn, we 

 advise to count the cost. 



We saw extensive fields of oats, which appear- 

 ed highly promising ; and some most luxuriant 

 fields of barley already sufl'ering from their own 

 weight. The crops of barley have for several 

 years been cut off by an insect, whose depreda- 

 tions are similar to those of the wheat worm, and 

 for which v.o remedy has yet been discovered. 

 The cro[>s of coiii sometimes gives fifty and sixty 

 bushels to the acre, but the average yield is about 

 thirty. The grass, principally herdsgrass and reri 

 top, which is a favorite grass in Rhode Island, 

 with very little of clover, under the best cultiva- 

 tion w ill yield two and a half tons to the acre ; 

 though this would be a very high average. As 

 far as my own observation goes, the red top, though 

 a most excellent hay for every kind of stock, nev- 

 er yieias u great welghi uf Imj lu ilio acre. The 

 average crop of potatoes is about two hundred 

 bushels to the acre. Rhode Island heretofore has 

 been remarkable for the quality of its potatoes. A 

 kind called the Elam po.ato, a long, white, kidney 

 potato, taking its name from a gentleman who 

 Inst cultivated it liere, was a long time celebrated ; 

 hut has given place to the pink-eye and the Che- 

 nango. A very great crop here, and one more cul- 

 tivated at Bristol, is the onion. The cultivation is 

 said somewhat to have de-clined on this island ; 

 the crops for some cause not having yielded so 

 well as formerly ; hut at Bristel, ahout fifteen miles 

 above Newport, it is pursued very extensively and 

 successfully. The produce of the onion crop last 

 yiiar in Bristol, I have been credibly inform-^d, ex- 

 ceeded thirty thousand dollars. The red onion is 

 that which is principally collected, being the great- 

 est favorite in the West India market. The cid- 

 tivalion of the cro|) is simple and well understood. 

 .A. good crop will give fr im four to five hundred 

 bushels. The cost of cultivation very much ex- 

 ceeds that of corn ; some give it as their opinion 

 three times as much labor is deananded on an acre 

 of onions as on an acre of corn. They are sub- 

 ject to few casualties, provided the seed is good : 

 and the seed is never safe, if more than one year 

 old. It is a singular feature in the habits of this 

 plant that it bears planting year after year, wiili- 

 out any diminution of the crop on the same ground. 

 I saw one field of two or three acres on which 

 onions had been grown every year for more than 

 forty years, and with equal success. The land 

 pays for manuring well ; though they are not par- 

 ticular as to the kind of manure applied, preferring 

 however, a rich compost to green manure. The 

 large sized onions are put in barrels; the snjaller 

 sized are strung in bunches ; the weight of the 

 bunches being about three and a half pounds. 

 The land is tnarked out in rows about one foot 



wide with a machine resembling a boy's sled with 

 four runners, making three rows at a time, one 

 runner being kept in the fourth track of the last 



markmg. The seed is then dropt and covered 

 very slightly by hand in hills ahout six inches dis- 

 tant in the row; and four plants are generally left 

 standing in each hill. The great business after- 

 wards is to hoe them, and keep them free from 

 weeds. Two kinds are cultivated ; an early and 

 late kind. The former are usually ripe in August, 

 and sent to the market as soon as may be afier 

 ripening. The crop is upon the whole of easy 

 and profitable cultivation. I was at the house of 

 one farmer on the island who keeps about one , 

 hundred sheep, and who the last winter applied 

 his onions, which were too small for the market, to 

 the feeding of sheep; and he adds, with advan- 

 tage to the sheep ; a use of onions, I venture to 

 say, altogether novel. The advantages of obtain- 

 ing sea manure both at Newport and Bristol are 

 very great ; but particularly at the former place. 

 Vast quantities are constantly driven upon the ' 

 shore by winds and tides; and much is gathered 

 in boats from the rocks. It is used in compost 

 and as top-dressing. The eelgrass is seldom used, 

 but in composts; . and principally as litter for 

 swine; the rockweed has great efliect, when ap- 

 plied as top-dressing on grass ground. Com- 

 mon beach sand is likewise used as top-dressing 

 and in compost with advantage. I have myself 

 tried it in moist cold soil, in the hill for potatoes 

 with fuccess. But one of their principal manures 

 is the " Manhayden fish," a small fish in appear- 

 ance resembling the herring or elcwive. These 

 are taken in great quantities, in large seines; aud 

 are sold at the rale of fourteen cents per barrel for 

 maiurre. They are most frequently spread broad- 

 cast among the growing corn, and left undisturb- 

 ed upon the surface ; or they are carried into the 

 barn yard and mixed in compost. Their effects 

 in either case are said to be very powerful. The 

 odor of them, while rotting in the field, is most 

 certainly powerful. 



It is obvious that I could give but a cursory 

 view of the agriculture of these places. But I can 

 say with propriety that their agricidture, though 

 admitting many obvious improvements, is highly 

 respectable ; and the island, from its remarkal)le 

 salubrity, the fertility of the soil, and the beauty 

 and many advantages of its situation, seems des. 

 tiued to become a favorite place of residence for 

 industrious and enterprising cultivators and im- 

 provers of the soil, and of luxurious resort to the 

 fashionable and wealthy. The island contains an 

 inexhaustible supply of excellent building stone ; 

 of which two large cotton factories, propelled by 

 steam, have already been erected, and others are 

 in embryo. The population of Newport at pres- 

 ent is about eight thousand ; there is every en- 

 couraging prospect of its large increase. The 

 projected and indeed half finished railroad between 

 Providence and Stoningtoo, in Connecticut, seems 

 likely to divert the travel between Boston and 

 New York into that direction. 

 July, 1836. — Jy. Y. Farmer. 



A few weeks since we copied an article, stat- 

 ing that common cranberry juice externally ap- 

 plied to Ring Worms, would perfect a cure. 

 Since that time, a young man in our office, sub- 

 ject to this distemper, has a])plied the specific with 

 entire success. — Syracuse Standard. 



