1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



39 



the former succeeding as well as many of our va- 

 rieties, and the latter, if in a rich and moist soil. 



With regard to the pear, he says, "The history 

 of pear culture docs not confirm this," adducing 

 the Bartlctt as an exam])le. I admit that the Bart- 

 lett pear tree will assimilate to itself materials for 

 an abundant crop in almost all good soils ; in fact, 

 I hear of its successful culture throughout the 

 country, more so than in any variety of the apple, 

 while "the St. Michael, St. Germaine, and some 

 other varieties of the pear, cannot be grown here 

 successfully. That the cultivation of this fruit "is 

 yet in its infancy," as said by this editor, I admit, 

 — hence it is impossilile to say, as yet, how much 

 this idea of locality, as said of the ap])le, will ap- 

 ply to the pear. ' J. M, IVES. 



Salem, November, 1859. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MISCELLAlSrEOUS OBSERVATION'S 



On Farmers and Farming-, and Changes of Custom 

 since the Kevolutionary War. 



^Iessrs. Editors : — My first lessons at farming 

 were taken while with my father ;* he was the pro- 

 prietor of three or four hundred acres of land. He 

 emerged from the revolutionary war, like many 

 othei- revolutionary officers, as destitute of money 

 as the gambler who has lost his last dollar. He 

 was a member of the Provincial Congress in the 

 years 1774 and 1775 ; he was in the Concord fight, 

 and held the commissions of major and colonel of 

 the 7th regiment of the State forces during the 

 whole war. He sold part of his farm, and finally 

 had to take his pay in the paper currencj-, which 

 had depreciated so much, that the purchaser boast- 

 ed that one load of wood sold from the lot, dis- 

 charged the whole debt for the land. After peace 

 was declared, he began to apply himself to farm- 

 ing operations like one awakened from a dreamy 

 maze. His fences were poor, bushes and bram- 

 bles were trespassing upon his tillage land, taxes 

 high, a scarcity of money, and the gloom from the 

 reaction -which took place consequent to the long 

 continued war excitement, were obstacles which 

 must be met without flinching, or all must be lost. 

 The poverty of formers at that period was distress- 

 ing ; men possessing good farms, who had been 

 engaged in the war, were necessitated to neglect 

 their farms for the want of help to do the labor. 

 The owner of a good farm, and a worthy man, 

 came to my father in distress for bread for his nu- 

 merc^ds small children, and asked his advice what 

 he should do, and said he was afraid they should 

 all starve. 



These times were soon followed by Shays's in- 

 surrection, caused by government oppression to 

 force people to pay taxes and debts, who had noth- 

 ing. I can distinctly remember that gloomy time. 

 Those peo])le who were not able to make their 

 own candles, collected pine knots and made splin- 

 ters for illuminating their unpapered, unpainted, 

 and almost unlighted rooms, which were the dark- 

 er for the nightly fumigation of the burning 

 torches. AVhat little clothing the country people 

 wore consisted of cloth of home manufacture, 

 produced from ai'ticles raised on the farm, or from 

 cloth of home facture, bartered for foreign goods. 

 If there was a man in town who wore broadcloth, 



* Jonathan Brown, Esq., of Tewksbury. 



he was a subject of genei'al remark, accused of 

 extravagance, and an object of envy. The young 

 ladies of the best families turned out to meeting 

 with their home-spun linen gowns, and many of 

 the young men with patches on the knees of their 

 pants. I have known the mothers of blooming 

 young ladies strap on to their horses' saddles cloth 

 of their own manufacture, and ride fifteen or twen- 

 ty miles to Charles' Ferry, and leave their horses 

 at Charlestown, and pass over to Boston in a fer- 

 ry boat Avith their merchandise within their arms, 

 and then traffic it away for a little calico, or oth- 

 er gewgaws to decorate their fascinating daughters. 

 The period from the close of the revolutionary 

 war to the commencement of the revolution in 

 France, was a gloomy, distressing one to farmers, 

 which "tried men's souls." The revolution and 

 wars in France and the rest of Europe caused a 

 sudden impulse in the business part of the com- 

 munity in this country, which revived the despond- 

 ing farmers. Every article of farm production 

 took a sudden rise, and the demand was such, that 

 from a kind of despairing lethargy, the farmers 

 waked into new life, and in a few years paid their 

 taxes and other debts, and began to buy land to 

 enlarge their farms, which caused a rise that even- 

 tually led to disastrous land speculations. 



The period from the French revolution to the 

 British "orders in council," Bonaparte's paper 

 blockade and the embargo, was a very prosperous 

 one to farmers. Foreign goods began to be im- 

 ported in abundance, people began to dress better, 

 and a broadcloth coat was not of such singular oc- 

 currence as to excite all kinds of feeling but good 

 ones. 



The period from the embargo to the end of Mr. 

 Madison's administration was anything but a 

 pleasant one, especially for the inhabitants of our 

 cities. The complaints of the people all along the 

 sea-coast were really distressing. Tne ladies re- 

 treated back to manufacturing their go-to-meeting 

 plaid gowns from factorj--spun yarn, and other 

 branches of economy were substituted, in contri- 

 tion for former extravagance. 



The period from the treaty of Ghent to the pres- 

 ent time, has been one big with astounding events. 

 Steam navigation, the sudden mushroom growth 

 of manufacturing cities and railroads, the inven- 

 tion and improvement of all kinds of agricultural 

 implements, will equal the periods of any age, or 

 the improvements of any nation. But the extrava- 

 gances, swindling operations and various other 

 rascalities will defy the enormities of all Christen- 

 dom, the heathen lands and the cheats of the whole 

 world. 



1 stated above, that my first lessons at farming 



were taken Avhile with my father, and of course in 



the last century. His home farm contained about 



200 acres of undulating land, and not stones 



enough on the whole to make a rod of wall. He 



kept about tvt'enty head of horned cattle, two horse^, 



a flock of sheep, and more or less swine. Pie cov- 



i ered his barn-yard six or eight inches deep, with 



! rich loam, and 'rye straw for the cattle to sleep np- 



: on during the summer, which he plowed occasion- 



f ally, to have it well mixed. In the month of No- 



: veinber, this compost Avas carted and s])read upon 



his runs, or SAvales, where he obtained the most 



i of his English hay. His Avinter manure Avas mostly 



I applied to his potatoes and hoi)s, and the residue 



I spread nnon his corn fields. This land Avas Avarm 



