November 27, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



573 



more easily accomplished. My Vines were all pruned last 

 month much earlier than usual, and whatever the happening 

 of the winter, the job is out of the way and causes no appre- 

 hensions. E. Williams. 



Montclair, N. J. 



Brussels Sprouts. — This delicious vegetable is grown quite 

 extensively in the Cauliflower districts of Long Island, and is 

 proving a profitable industry now that its cultivation is getting 

 better understood. It is grown in the same manner as the 

 Cauliflower, the seed being' sown early in June and the plants 

 set about the ist of August. The usual custom is to set the 

 plants in the same field as the Cauliflower, as they require the 

 same treatment in all respects, and are followed by the same 

 crop, which is usually Corn. The crop of Brussels Sprouts - 

 comes in conveniently, as it need not be sent to inarket until 

 the Caulirtower season is past, as ten or twelve degrees of frost 

 does not in the least injure it, while a few degrees of frost is 

 beneficial, having the same effect as it does on the Ruta-baga. 

 Some of the growers have found by experiment that the seed 

 grown on the island does far better than that which is usually 

 sown, the plants being more vigorous and more productive. 

 The crop is far more remunerative than Cauliflower, as it is 

 more sure, and the prices better, while there is a great saving in 

 freight. A bushel of sprouts will bring as much, usually, as 

 a barrel of Cauliflower, while the yield per acre will not be 

 materially less. It is surprising that Brussels Sprouts are not 

 found in every private garden, as they are among the most 

 palatable of vegetables and easy to grow. C. L. Allen. 



Floral Park, L. I. 



The Japan Persimmon. — A neighboring gardener has just 

 brought me some excellent fruit of the Japanese Persimmon, 

 to show what a small bush in close quarters can produce. 

 His plant is in a box but eighteen inches square, and it is but 

 three feet high. During the summer a place is found for it 

 under the shade of a Grape-arbor, and in the winter in a cool 

 cellar. There are about a dozen ripe fruits on it now and last 

 year fourteen were gathered. The possessor of this Persim- 

 mon says that it requires less care than any plant he has. As 

 the fruit of some varieties is delicious, I think it should be 

 more generally known that its cultivation is very simple. 

 Would it not be a good addition to the list of fruits for culti- 

 vation under glass ? 



Germantown, Pa, Joseph Meehaii. 



Correspondence. 



The Abandoned Farms of New Hampshire. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Mr. N. J. Bachelder, the Commissioner of Agriculture 

 and Immigration, sends me a price list of more than one hun- 

 dred abandoned farms in this state. An accompanying note 

 says that these farms have been reported by the selectmen of 

 the various towns to have fairly comfortable buildings, and 

 that they comprise but a small part of the abandoned farms of 

 the state, a full description of which will be given in a forth- 

 coming catalogue, if the necessary facts are reported by the 

 owners. The Commissioner observes that " in most in- 

 stances these farms have not been abandoned because the 

 soil has become exhausted, or from the lack of natural fertil- 

 ity, but from various causes appearing in the social and 

 economic history of the state, which will be more fully dis- 

 cussed hereafter." 



This is an interesting and important undertaking. The law 

 authorizes the collection of necessary information in regard to 

 the opportunities for developing the agricultural resources of 

 the state through immigration, and the facts obtained and 

 the advantages offered to immigrants are to be circulated 

 where the Governor and Council may consider it for the best 

 interest of the state. The inquiry and discussion which will 

 result cannot fail to be of great interest and value, and I hope 

 that everybody will co-operate with Mr. Bachelder in his pur- 

 pose to make the investigation as thorough as possible. At 

 this stage I submit some notes of observations made while 

 living here during the last ten years. 



Some of the abandoned farms belong to men who left them 

 in early life and have established occupations and homes else- 

 where. There is nothing mysterious or remarkable in their 

 having remained away ; the point of interest is in the fact that 

 nobody has cared to buy and work these farms, as many of 

 them have long been for sale on extremely easy terms. One 

 of the chief reasons why men who could have bought such 

 farms have not done so, is that they have preferred to go west 

 and take the chances of bettering their condition there. I 

 have seen many of them, in all the regions from western Iowa 

 and Minnesota to the Pacific coast ; most of them working 



harder than they would have to work here, and having a 

 much poorer living, the life of the women a long starvation 

 from homesickness and hunger of mind and heart. But a 

 few of these emigrants have grown rich, and they all leave 

 their old homes in the hope of being among the few fortunate 

 ones. 



The conditions of soil and climate in this state are such 

 that farming will yield a living on most of the land that has 

 been brought under cultivation, if the farmer and his family 

 do all, or nearly all, of the work, and practice reasonable 

 economy. Some accumulation would be possible, but the 

 gain would be slow. Some of the best farms would admit of 

 the employment of a hired man, during a part of the year, at 

 least, if he would work faithfully and efficiently for moderate 

 wages, as in earlier times ; but, in general, the farmer and his 

 wife and children would have to do nearly all the work. The 

 return for their toil, the prospect or outlook for them, would 

 be the possession of a home of their -own, with the same 

 steady hard work kept up till age unfits them for it, when they 

 may hope to have laid by something for the support of their 

 later years. 



■Now the race of men and women who will go on thus toil- 

 ing patiendy and practicing small economies all their lives for 

 the sake of a mere living, is very nearly extinct in this region. 

 The young men and women will not stay here under such 

 conditions ; they will go elsewhere for the chance of doino- 

 better. Illusion is an important element in the life of most 

 Americans. We do not value security very highly, but prefer 

 the possibility of splendid fortunes to the certainty of moder- 

 ate gains. Usually the possibility is only imaginary, but the 

 fascination of the game lures young men on, and there is still 

 an element of infiation and romance in the practical life of our 

 country. 



It is also to be noted that the growth of manufacturino- in- 

 dustries has brought about great economic and social chano-es. 

 In many instances the former town-organization has b%e"n 

 modified by the development and dominance of the manu- 

 facturing villages, with their population of operatives, often 

 largely a floating or changing one, in the employ of the pro- 

 prietors of the mills ; and it is often apparent that the farmers 

 have less interest and prominence in town affairs than they 

 had under the old order of things. One effect of the change 

 is that the sense of community, of a common interest in the 

 welfare of the town, has been to a considerable degree elimi- 

 nated. There appears to be less of public spirit, and, at any 

 rate, what remains is not distributed among so many'cifizens 

 as formerly. 



The truth is that the old New England civilization and or- 

 ganization of society has here mostly come to an end. It has 

 run its course, has completed its cycle, and we are beginning 

 again with new and very different materials. We have already 

 large populations of French Canadians and other foreio-ners, 

 and it is plain that for a long time to come we shall have, in 

 the principal communities of this state, the civilization and the 

 intellectual and social life which these people and the Roman 

 Catholic Church will produce under the new conditions of life 

 in New England. The farmers still stand by the churches of 

 the earlier time, but the bond which they formerly supplied 

 for the social life and public spirit of the towns has become 

 less vital and efficient with the decline of the rural population. 



Many people here advise the encouragement of immio-ra- 

 tion from the north of Europe ; and I "have no doubt that 

 Swedes and Norwegians could make a living on these aban- 

 doned farms, because they would do more work and consume 

 less for their living than native New Englanders, and the value 

 of taxable property and the volume of business in the towns 

 would be increased. But the gain would be temporary. If 

 the new inhabitants send their children to our schools we shall 

 soon Americanize them to such a degree that they will not 

 stay on the hills, and in twenty or twenty-five years the farms 

 will be more abandoned than they are now. I think there 

 can be no permanent restoration of farming in this state with- 

 out some considerable changes in the methods of it, and in 

 the thought and methods of life of our people ; and beo'iimino-s 

 in such things are apt to be difficult. " '^ 



Natural conditions are favorable for stock-raising, and many 

 of our leading citizens have done much to promote the gen- 

 eral welfare by improving the character of farm animals. The 

 state is adapted, in a peculiar degree, to the growing of sheep. 

 I have eaten mutton in every part of our country "which pro- 

 duces it, but have never anywhere else found 'any that ap- 

 proached the excellence of that which is grown in New Hamp- 

 shire. If the people of the cities were aware of its quality 

 there would be a great demand for it at the best prices, hut 

 there is not enough to supply the few people who use it in the 



