1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



431 



to an acre of winter wheat which we apply to an 

 acre of corn, an half-bushel of seed, sowing, plow- 

 ing and harrowing constitutes the labor and ex- 

 pense till harvesting, which may be done by a 

 good cradler in a few hours, the risk of a crop to 

 each is about equal. Now look at the labor of 

 raising corn and wheat, and see how the balance 

 stands. If we can raise 25 bushels of wheat to 

 the acre, on land that would produce 45 bushels 

 of corn; at $1,35 per bushel the wheat would 

 amount to $33,75, and the corn to $29,25. The 

 expensive and laborious process of raising corn 

 must, I think, yield to the less expensive opera- 

 tions of raising wheat, and the wheat crop prove 

 most profitable. 



August 5. — According to appearances, our win- 

 ter rye will not produce much over half as many 

 bushels to the acre as the wheat will, although 

 grown within a few rods of it. SiLAS Brown. 



North Wilmington, August, 1862. 



N. B. — My most respectful regards to ^,*^, and 

 the subscriber would feel much gratified to have 

 the Stars make a visit to the State Aims-House 

 farm and see if he finds it "barren in extreme." 



S. Brown. 



EAMBLES IN THE COUNTRY. 



Gentlemen : — Having finished the English 

 hay harvest "through much tribulation," on ac- 

 count of the "catching weather," and having a 

 strong desire to see something more of our good 

 State, and to mingle with brother farmers in some 

 towns not heretofore visited, I started from Con- 

 cord on the fifth instant, in an open wagon, with 

 a steady old horse that had no surplus energy to 

 expend in "highfaluting," either in running, kick- 

 ing or shying — but whose gait was so slow and 

 dignified as to afford me ample opportunity to no- 

 tice the crops and the agricultural condition of 

 the country as we went along. My travel was 

 west, the intended terminus being the Hoosac 

 mountains, and to reach them I passed through 

 the centres, or some portion of the following 

 towns : Concord to Acton, Stoiv, Bolton, Sterling, 

 BoyUton, Princeton, Hubbardsfon, Barre, Dana, 

 Grecmvicli, Enfield, Belchertoicn, Amherst, Had- 

 ley, Northampton, Wesfhampton, Norwich, Hunt- 

 ington and Chester. Then turning more directly 

 west, to Worthington, Peru, Windsor, Savuy, into 

 the village of Soidh Adams, and slept on the 

 banks of the rippling Hoosac river. Turning to 

 the south, I passed through Cheshire, Lanesboro', 

 Pittsjield, and then east to Ballon, Hinsdale, 

 Middlefield, Huntington, (a new town,) Bland- 

 ford, Montgomery, Eussell, West field, Springfield, 

 and from thence by railroad to Boston. 



In this jaunt of about a week I have seen and 

 learned more of that portion of the State, than I 

 could have done by travelUng in the cars for 

 months. The cars are convenient for the man of 

 business, and well enough when a remote point is 

 to be quickly reached. But to gain any reliable 

 knowledge of the people, or of the condition of 



agriculture, in travelling by them, is out of the 

 question. Many travellers lose more than one- 

 half of the pleasures of a journey by rushing from 

 one point to another. They find no incidents of 

 interest by the icay, and the grand goal is almost 

 as barren when they have reached it. To me, 

 when I am in the country, every mile has its 

 charms, whether on mountain, plain or valley, or 

 whether it rain or shine or blow. Nature, every 

 where, is so profuse in beautiful and beneficent 

 things, that travel never ceases to excite study 

 and admiration. He who sees the land all barren 

 as he gees, will never find the elixir he seeks at 

 the end of his journey ! The true traveller, like 

 the true philosopher, will find his pleasures as he 

 passes along. In the rocks and grand old trees 

 will he find them, on the hill-side, in the purling 

 brooks or the tumbling waters of the rapid 

 streams. Every face will beam kindly upon him, 

 and out of every mouth he may gather some wis- 

 dom worth adding to his own stock. The pwrsMif 

 of happiness is usually a vexatious and profitless 

 labor. 



"From our own hearts our joys must flow," 



and if they do not find their seat and centre there, 

 no crystal hills, translucent waters or mountain 

 air will be likely to supply them. "God made the 

 country and man made the town." Both are good 

 — both necessary — but the mind will never ex- 

 pand in the contemplation of the town as it will 

 on lifting up the eye among the green hills which 

 surround me here, and by association with these 

 dwellers among the mountains. 



Cheshire is in Berkshire county. Hayward's 

 Gazetteer of 1849 contains a brief account of it, 

 which says that "the centre of the town, through 

 which the south branch of the Hoosac runs in a 

 northern direction into Adams, is a rich and fer- 

 tile valley. To the east and west of this, the 

 ground gradually rises into hills and mountains. 

 The township is admirably fitted for grazing, to 

 which the attention of the inhabitants is principal- 

 ly turned ; though considerable quantities of grain 

 are raised. Extensive and valuable dairies are 

 kept, and the Cheshire Cheese has acquired a wide 

 and merited celebrity. The famous mammoth 

 cheese, presented to President Jefferson, January 

 1, 1S02, contributed much to bring this town into 

 notice. On a given day, the dairy-women sent 

 their curds to one place. The quantity was too 

 great to be pressed even in a cider mill ; so that 

 in addition to the intended present, three addi- 

 tional cheeses were made, weighing seventy 

 pounds each. The mammoth cheese weighed 

 about one thousand four hundred and fifty 

 pounds. Mr. Jefferson sent back a piece of this 

 to the inhabitants to satisfy them of its excel- 

 lence ; and he also sent pieces of it, it is said, to 

 the governors of the several States." 



