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NEW ENGLAND 



ure of the heavens, and the showers of summer are generally copious. A famine was :ftever 

 known here from the earliest period of regular cultivation. The finest weather is in the latter 

 part of summer, and in autumn. The sunset at this season is often uncommonly splendid, and 

 exhibits such magical eli'ects of light, and such a universal tone of brilliant coloring, that the 

 very air seems deeply tinged. The hills to the south of Boston display at such times those 

 exquisite hues which the \eapolitans admire upon Vesuvius. The evenings during the whole 

 of this season are delightful ; however uncomfortable the heat may be through the day, the nights 

 are sure to be cool and pleasant. 



One of the most agreeable peculiarities in this climate is a period in the autumn, called the 

 Indian Summer. It hap|)ens in October ; the temperature is delightful, and the weather differs 

 in character from that of any other season. The air is filled with a slight haze, like smoke ; 

 the wind is southwest, and there is a vernal softness in the atmosphere, yet it is very different 

 from spring. The Indians have some pleasing superstitions respecting it. They believe that 

 it is caused by a wind which comes immediately from the court of their great and benevolent 

 god Cautantowwit, or the southwestern god ; he who is superior to all other beings, who sends 

 them every blessing which they enjoy, and to whom the souls of their fathers go after their de- 

 cease. 



9. Soil. Of this, there is every variety. There are not, except upon the shores, any 

 tracts of utter barrenness, and most of the mountain sides are susceptible of cultivation ; yet 

 the level regions are stony, and the country, on the whole, cannot be called fertile. Sand, 

 loam, and clay exist in the earth, in all their various mixtures ; but the most common soil is a 

 light brown loam mixed with gravel. The salt marshes have a deep and rich soil, and where 

 they can be reclaimed from the water, may be rendered highly productive. There are thou- 

 sands of acres of wet land, that may be easily drained, and rendered of the highest value for 

 tillage. 



10. Agriculture, The farms in New England are smaller than in any other part of the 

 United States, yet the great fault of agriculture here, is the occupation of too much land. The 

 price of labor is high, and land is cheap. The common results of agriculture cannot, therefore, 

 be considered as displaying the full capabilities of the soil. One of the greatest annoyances to 

 the cultivator of grain, has been the Hessian fly, which appeared at first at Long Island, near 

 the encampment of the Hessian troops, during the war, and entered New England about 17S7, 

 advancing at the rate of twenty miles a year. Blasts, also, sometimes attack the wheat and 

 rye, when their vegetation is too rapid. The canker-worm first appeared in 1666, and has 

 continued to the present time. The apple trees are principally exposed to their ravages. These 

 .nsects, with the caterpillars, will, if not guarded against by the farmer, strip an orchard as com- 

 pletely of its foliage, as if it had been laid waste by fire. Fortunately they remain only a few 

 weeks in a season. 



11. Scenery. The whole surface of New England is checkered with cultivation, except the 

 northern parts of Maine and New Hampshire. There are many beautiful villages in the coun- 

 try, but the farm houses are generally scattered along the roads. The most pleasing of all rural 

 scenes, and those of the most frequent occurrence, are composed of a farm house, shaded with 

 tv.'o or three spreading elms ; large barns ; an extensive orchard ; one or two fields of maize, 

 beautiful in all its changes ; a small brook, with a green meadow, and a patch of woodland that 

 supplies the farmer with his fuel. In traveling through the six States, cultivation may be wit- 

 nessed in all its different stages, from the log hut of the new settler, in the midst of the forest, 

 to the farms of the older districts, that have been cultivated for two centuries. 



12. Animals. In a great part of the country, the wild animals have been completely exter- 

 minated. In the northern parts, the moose and the caribou are still occasionally met with, and 

 the Canada lynx, the wolverene or glutton, the black bear, and the wolf are still found in the 

 wilder tracts. A cougar or panther has also occasionally been shot in New England, within 

 the present century. The Virginia or common deer is abundant in the north, and is also found 

 in the southeastern part of Massachusetts. The red fox, weasel, woodchuck or marmot, otter, 

 mink, skunk, raccoon, hare, musquash, various squirrels, &c., are also numerous. The quail, 

 called partridge in the south, the ruffed grouse, called partridge in New England, and pheasant 

 further south, and occasionally the wild turkey, are met with. A great number of migratory 

 birds visit these States in summer ; thrushes, woodpeckers, the humming bird, the wild goose, 

 various species of duck, passenger pigeon, the raven, several owls, eagles, and hawks abound ; 



