AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



Boston, Wedkespav, September 11, 1839. 



NOTICES OF FARMS, MINUTES BY THE 

 WAY, &c. 



VISIT TO DEDHAM. 



A ride in the railroad cars gives the traveller but 

 a glimpse of the country through wliich he passes ; 

 yet he may see enough to convince him, that what- 

 ever has been done by the way of agricultural im- 

 provements in times past, tliere is still enough to 

 be done, to busy the next generation as well as the 

 present in renovating old worn out fields, reclaim- 

 ing unprofitable meadows and swamps, building 

 .stone-walls, setting out fruit-trees, rearing forests 

 for timber, wood, &c. 



As we leave Boston for Dedhau), on the railroad, 

 the eye is busy in viewing the receding city, the 

 villages of Roxbury, Cambridge and Charlcstown, 

 or the beautiful cultivated hills of Brookline and 

 Brighton, which fill up the circle of splendid scen- 

 ery, and the passenger is hardly aware that he is 

 passing over a marshy, watery waste of a mile and 

 a half or two miles, fit for neither city or country. 

 He soon finds himself gliding through gardens and 

 cultivated fields, and crossing over highways ; 

 every moment the scene changes, and presents 

 some new object to view. The most prominent 

 country-seat which appears to the traveller after 

 gaining the open country, is that of Benjamin Bus- 

 sey, Esq. Roxbury, which is situated on elevated 

 ground, and at a proper distance from the railroad 

 to be viewed to advantage. The grounds about it 

 are highly decorated with evergreens and other 

 trees ; but what strikes the eye of the agriculturist 

 with most pleasure is the large extent of highly 

 cultivated meadows and uplands, which are spread 

 out before and around it. We hope at some other 

 time to be able to give a particular account of his 

 place, as he has done much by the way of convert- 

 ing his waste swampy ground, as well as his up- 

 lands, into a state highly productive ; and although 

 he has arrived at a very advanced age (past four- 

 score), he still carries on his improvements with 

 the vigor of youth. 



We noticed as we passed dlong, many tracts of 

 unprofitable waste meadow land, which might with- 

 out much difficulty be drained, and subdued and 

 made to produce abundant crops. By the railroad 

 we sse the poorest part of the country ; it gives the 

 traveller an erroneous opinion of our improvements 

 in farming and gardening. To fyrm a proper esti- 

 mate, the route should be by the old road over Ja- 

 maica Plains. Two miles from Dedham, we ex- 

 change steam for horse power, and pass over a 

 portion of what is called " low plains," famous in 

 times past for division musters. We see here an 

 extensive plain, that has probably been cultivated 

 nearly two centuries, which, by a constant cropping, 

 has become rather barren, producing generally mi- 

 serable crops unless an extra quantity of manure is 

 applied ; in whicli case a fair return is realized. 

 By ploughing in green crops,we think this land might 

 be much improved ; but tlie trouble of it is, with 

 some of our people, if they sow a field down with 

 buck- wheat or cloyer for that purpose, and it looks pro- 

 mising, they conclude to make tlie most of it, and 

 save their scanty crop, which should be given to the 

 soil when in bloom. They probably come to the con- 



clusion that they may not live another year to realize 

 the benefit their hiiid might derive from tlie operation; 

 and so they go on froiu year to year, taking wliat they 

 can get from their lands, without adding enough to 

 furnish sufficient food for the plants. The conse- 

 quence is, their lands are impoverished, and pro- 

 duce little or nothing. As well migbt we expect 

 to get fat hogs upon half feed, or a full quota of 

 work from the laborer with short allowance, as 

 to get successive crops without manure. A young 

 man, an acquaintance of ours, called in the spring 

 for a few bushels of buckwheat to sow. He said 

 he had considerable plain land, which formerly pro- 

 duced good corn, rye, and other crops, but that it 

 was now pretty much run out, and gave but little 

 feed for his cattle, which he pastured on them ; he 

 thought he would plough up a piece of it and sow 

 buck-wheat, in the expectation of getting a fair 

 crop. We asked him why he did not try the ex- 

 periment of ploughing in a few sowings of buck- 

 wheat, and see if he could not bring up his land a 

 little. " O," says he, "I can't do that ; I must get 

 a crop from it tliis year." This is as far ahead as 

 some of our farmers look ; they will not enter upon 

 a course of cultivation, which may take from three 

 to seven years to bring to maturity. No ; they are 

 satisfied only with the operation which will bring 

 an inmiediate return. The idea of adding to the 

 value and strength of the soil seems not to enter 

 into their plans. 



Horticulture has received a good share of atten- 

 tion in the village of Dedham, and we see efforts 

 made by many of its inhabitants to stock their gar- 

 dens with good fruits. We called upon Mr E. M. 

 Richards, a worthy member of the Horticultural 

 Society, and to whom they are indebted for his 

 weekly contributions. It always gives us pleasure 

 to see a good collection of fruit, and we think higlily 

 of that individual who furnishes his family and 

 fiiends, at all seasons of tlie year, with a succession 

 of the most delicious ; his example is manifest in 

 the gardens of liis neighbors — for a person hates to 

 be excelled by his neighbor, even though it maybe 

 nothing more than in the excellence of his fruit, 

 and where one man leads the way others will fol- 

 low. How many luxuries of our own production 

 we may have continually at hand, if we choose, and 

 yet it is provoking to think, that with a climate and 

 soil unrivalled for most of the fruits of the tempe- 

 rate zone, there are so many who have time and 

 land enough and to spare, that " can't afford" (it is 

 an ugly expression we know) to have anything more 

 than winter apples, and perhaps these of inferior 

 sorts, for the use of their household. 



There is, however, a growing desire manifest in 

 the public generally, for the cultivation of choice 

 fruit, if we may judge from the increased demand 

 for trees. Mr Ricljards has taken Unwearied pains 

 to obtain a clioice collection. Pie has had to en- 

 counter a great difficulty in the natural poverty of 

 the soil, which, like most of the soil in tlie village, 

 is thin and light, upon a sandy, and, in some places, 

 gravelly bottom, and very unfavorable for most 

 fruits. He has many varieties of Apples, Pears, 

 Peaches, Plums, &c. It is not the bearingyear for 

 his apple trees, and his crop will be small ; his 

 gear and peach were loaded . with fruit. We 

 noticed a number of pears on quince stocks, whicli 

 we would not advise the cultivation of for standard 

 trees ; they may answer well enough for garden 

 walls, but in the open ground they never succeed 



fruit earlier than those on pear stocks, are not so 

 durable. 



Mr Ebenezer Wight has taken great pains to 

 procure a fine breed of hogs. We called to give 

 them a look. He has some fine Berkshires, from 

 C. N. Bement, of Albany, which are pure blood, 

 and some crosses from E. Phinney, of Lexington, 

 and others of his own raising, about thirty in num- 

 ber. He resides, himself, in tlie city, and visits his 

 place only once a week, yet, under the care of a 

 boy about 14 years of age, his hogs looked in fine 

 condition. We are much pleased with the Berk- 

 shire breed, and think they are a great improve- 

 ment over the hogs generally raised by our farmers. 

 Mr Wight has done considerable by the way of 

 setting out fruit trees for a few years past, most of 

 which were in a flourishing condition. He is very 

 particular to preserve the name of each tree, the 

 time it was set out, and the place from which it 

 came ; for this purpose he has a book in which the 

 location of every tree is noted, the nursery from 

 which the tree was taken, what year set out, the 

 name of the fruit, with remarks upon the quality 

 of the fruit, &c. ; or, if an old tree grafted, the 

 year it was performed and the source from which 

 the scions were obtained. We thought this an ex- 

 cellent plan when a large number of trees are 

 planted. 



NOTICE OF E. L. rtNNIMAN's FARM, RIVER DALE, 

 DEDHAM. 



In noticing this farm we shall be very brief, as 

 in the first place we made but a hasty visit, and 

 secondly Mr Penniman has but just commenced ope- 

 rations. If life is spared, we shall take pleasure to 

 record at some future period his improvements, 

 which, from the energy he has commenced with, bid 

 fair to be of no ordinary kind. He has lately left the 

 city and purchased his farm containing about one 

 hundred acres ; it is pleasantly situated on Charles 

 river, one mile from the village, somewhat secluded, 

 on what is called "the island," and affords some of 

 the finest river scenery imaginable. He has given 

 it the appropriate name of " River Dale." Like a 

 good farmer, he commenced operations, not quite a 

 year since, by making a geological survey of his 

 premises, and was rewarded by the discovery of 

 two valuable mines, viz : one of fine granite, where 

 stones of almost any description may be got out for 

 underpinning, door-step, &c. ; very valuable in this 

 place as there is a deficiency of good granite for 

 building. Secondly, a valuable mine of meadow- 

 manure, of which there is an inexhaustible supply. 

 It is strange, that although this farm has been cuU 

 tivated probably from the first settlement of the 

 town, this treasure has remained undisturbed. This, 

 when worked over by his hogs, will produce won^ 

 ders upon the farm. He has made a fine road from' 

 the public highway to his own house, a distance of 

 about half a mile, partly through low miry ground, 

 set. out many trees, commenced in good earnest in 

 cultivating root crops, built a commodious house 

 and barn, &c. 



But what at present is most attracting is his fine 

 Berkshire hogs, which we were politely asked to 

 step into the pens to see : as we had neither silk 

 stockings nor morocco shoes upon our feet, we 

 clieerfully accepted the invitation, and soon had his 

 pigs by the ear. This breed are remarkably quiet 

 and docile, and exhibit symptoms of much satisfac- 



well ; the tops grow too heavy for the bottoms, and tion in the attention bestowed upon them. We 

 are easily blown over, and though they produce | were shown a litter of full-bloods which would make 



