28 



NEW ENGLAND FARIVIER. 



Jan. 



A DAY AT "INDIAN HILIi" PAKM. 



OME four miles from the 

 city of Newburyport lies 

 the above farm, which 

 derives its name from a 

 large swell of land which 

 wsLScaWedi" Indian Hill,'''' 

 in I he deed given of it in 

 1650, by "Great Tom," 

 to the town of Newbury_ 

 This bill was subsequent- 

 ly deeded by the town to 

 John Poore. It has 

 since been handed down from father to son, 

 and the present owner is the seventh proprie- 

 tor, and is the able and widely-known corres- 

 pondent, "Perley," o( the Boston Journal. 



The view from the top of the hill is exten 

 sive, when the weather is clear, — the panora- 

 ma including the ocean from the Isle of 

 Shoals to Cape Ann, and the lower portion 

 of the Merrimack Valley. 



On the apex of the hill is a well, some eight 

 feet in diameter and ninety feet deep. Near 

 this is the form of a masonic lodge, laid in 

 green turf, in memory of the ancient brother- 

 hood who were accustomed to meet on the 

 top of a hill. 



The homestead embraces about 200 acres, 

 and there are about the same number of acres 

 of outlands, in pastures and woodlots. The 

 father of the present proprietor, Mr. Benjamin 

 Poore, was a merchant in New York, but 

 always passed his summers in the old home- 

 stead. Visiting England in 1830, he had 

 plans made of the old family place there, and 

 on his return had an oaken frame building, 

 erected in 1650, re-modelled and changed so 

 as to reproduce a British yeoman's rural 

 home. To this he added a barn, the lower 

 story of which is of stone, built on the Scotch 

 plan, with a reservoir for the wash of the yard 

 and stables, with the waste water from the 

 house. This barn holds about 160 tons of 

 hay, and is this year almost full. 



Mr. Benjamin Poore was associated with 

 Timothy Pickering, E. H. Derby, Gorham Par- 

 sons, and others, in the formation of the Es- 

 sex County Agricultural Society and was a 

 member of the Massachusetts Society for the 

 Promotion of Agriculture. He reclaimed and 

 thoroughly underdrained large meadows, and 

 bis herd of white Short-horns is still kept up 



by the purchase of young thoroughbred bulls 

 as they are needed, thus avoiding breeding in- 

 and-in. 



In 1845, the Massachusetts Society for 

 Promoting Agriculture, awarded a massive 

 silver tea urn to him, for "the best-managed 

 farm," and he obtained many other premiums 

 from the county society for farm products 

 and stock. 



Major Ben. Perley Poore, who in turn 

 inherited Indian Hill, has been, and still is, 

 very much occupied in literary pursuits, and 

 resides on the farm only a portion of the year, 

 but manages not only to keep up its former pro- 

 ductiveness, but to make many and very sub- 

 stantial improvements . Having been required , 

 when a lad, to plant forest seeds and acorns, 

 some of which are now large trees, he has 

 given especial attention to arboriculture. 

 His plantation of twenty -five acres, which has 

 recently been awarded the one thousand dollar 

 premium by the "Massachusetts Society for 

 the Promotion of Agriculture," demonstrates 

 that forest trees can be grown on the bleak 

 hill-sides of New England, reclothing them, 

 ameliorating the climate, and causing dried 

 up springs to gush forth again. 



In this plantation there are twelve varieties 

 of oaks, with maples, ash, locust, fir, pine, 

 larch, and other varieties. The land upon 

 which the forest-plantation is located is quite 

 high, being a portion of three sides of the 

 "Indian Hill" itself. Winding in graceful 

 curves around its sides, are pleasant foot 

 paths for pedestrians, and comfortable car- 

 riage-ways for those who do not care to climb 

 so high. The trees composing the plantation 

 are all from seeds planted by the proprietors 

 of the land, — by Maj. Poore, or by his father. 

 Some of the oaks and chestnuts are now 

 nearly, or quite, seventy-five feet high, and 

 in the most thrifty condition. A row of 

 chestnuts of this character border the north 

 side of the garden, sufficiently near to pro- 

 tect, but not to overshadow the smaller plants. 

 In rambling over the plantation, we noticed 

 a great diflference in the size of the same kind of 

 trees, and was surprised to learn that this dif- 

 ference was the eflfect of shelter. Numerous 

 instances were then pointed out where oaks 

 and other trees were three or four times as 

 large as those set at the same time, but in ex- 

 posed places. 



