2 
A fiRiEf ACCOUNT OF THE UNCULTIVATED LANDS ON LONG ISLAND IN I8o0. 
“ and an innumerable multitude of delightful 
“ flowers, not only pleasing to the eye, but to 
« the smell, that you may behold nature con- 
“ tending with Art, and striving to equal, if not 
« excel many gardens in England.” Such is 
the description given of this Island by all the 
early writers. 
The Hon. Gabriel Furman, in a very able and 
interesting address, delivered at Jamaica, Octo¬ 
ber 10th, 1844, before the Queen’s-Count}'' Agri¬ 
cultural Society, says the first printed history of 
New Netherlands, published by Vanderdonck, 
at Antwerpt, in 1650, gives a similar description 
of the fertility of Long Island. 
The streams of the Island are numerous and 
of remarkable clearness, and purity, the old 
author above, (Denton,) says, of the “ Rivers and 
“ Riverets which empty themselves into the Sea; 
“ yea, you shall scarce travel a mile, but you 
“ shall meet with one of them whose Chrystal 
“ streams run so swift, that they purge them- 
“ selves of such stinking mud and filth, which 
“ the standing, or low-paced streams of most 
“ brooks and rivers westward of this colony 
“ leave lying, and are by the Sun’s exhalation 
“ dissipated, the air corrupted, and many fevers 
“ and other distempers occasioned, not incident 
“ to this Island.’* 
All this part of the Island is covered with a 
rank and vigorous growth of vegetation, and has 
probably produced a crop of wood, pine and 
oak, fit for the New-York market, every 18 or 
20 years, for the last 100 or 150 years, besides 
having been burnt over a great number of times 
during the above-named periods. From this 
fact alone, may be seen its productive power; 
for any land that will produce Wood, and the 
various kinds of vegetation that this land pro¬ 
duces, must be capable of cultivation to the 
highest degree; and there can be facts enough 
adduced to prove beyond a doubt that this is 
true of almost all that part of Long Island now 
uncultivated and wild, along the borders of the 
railroad. There never has been an attempt 
made to cultivate any portion of it that has 
failed; in every instance where it has been fair¬ 
ly tried, it has succeeded. There are now many 
farms and gardens, highly productive and fer¬ 
tile, that were a few years since reclaimed from 
the same kind of land. 
It is the opinion of the best agriculturists of 
the state of New York, and other men of high 
intelligence and practical skill and knowledge 
of agriculture, who have examined these lands, 
that there is no reason why they cannot be cul¬ 
tivated by ordinary means, and rendered as 
productive and as valuable as any other lands 
on the Island. 
Among those who have seen these lands, and 
expressed opinions favorable to their cultivation, 
is Judge Meigs, of the American Institute. He 
says that “ Long Island contains all those mate¬ 
rials, calcareous and others, necessary for high 
and profitable cultivation, and that these lands, 
for the various productions of the garden, field 
and orchard, are very highly adapted, and also 
for the vine, and silk mulberry.” 
Dr. Underhill, celebrated for his cultivation of 
the grape, at Croton Point, has examined this 
portion of Long Island, and says, “ there can be 
no doubt that all these lands can be rendered 
highly productive and fertile without and diffi¬ 
culty, and by the same means that will culti¬ 
vate and enrich any other land.” Fie further 
says, he is 44 willing to stake what reputation he 
has as an agriculturist that these lands are sus¬ 
ceptible of most profitable cultivation for the 
vine, the peach, the apple, and other orchard 
fruits, and the usual productions of the garden 
and field.” 
Professor Renwick, of Columbia College says, 
those portions of the soil from Hempstead Plains, 
have been analysed in his laboratory, (in Co¬ 
lumbia College,) and “ were found to partake of 
all the constituents of a fertile soil, in large pro¬ 
portions, and only require the application of 
quicklime and other decomposing substances to 
render them fit for the process of cultivation 4 ” 
and says of the scrub-oak lands, “that it is a 
fact, that in many parts of the country those 
lands called 4 oak barrens,’ and neglected for a 
time, have been found to be the best wheat 
lands, and these lands of Long Island may prove 
of the same character.” 
Professor Mapes is also of opinion that these 
lands may be easily cultivated. 
The late T. B. Wakeman, Esq. and General 
Chandler of the American Institute, have given 
opinions, after having examined these lands, 
favorable to their successful and profitable cul¬ 
tivation. 
Charles Henry Hall, Esq., whose skill and 
judgment are undoubted, in all matters relating 
to agriculture, expresses his entire belief in the 
feasibility of rendering these lands eminently 
productive; that the climate and soil of Long 
Island are favorable to a high degree of perfec¬ 
tion to all kinds of fruits and plants that grow 
or can be raised in this latitude. 
A. B. Allen, Esq., editor of the American Ag¬ 
riculturist, says there is no doubt that these 
lands can be successfully cultivated, and Mr. 
Allen’s opinion on the subject of clearing it of 
roots, or of breaking it up and rendering it fit 
for the plow and hoe, is deserving of very great 
consideration. 
One great objection urged by the people of 
the Island against any attempt to clear and cul¬ 
tivate the part of it under consideration, is the 
great difficulty and expense in clearing the land 
of the growth of bushes, which, as commonly 
done by hand, by means of a large hoe, or mat¬ 
tock, and costs too much. Mr. Allen thinks 
that it can be broken up by the plow for about 
three or four dollars per acre, and he has had 
great experience in all matters pertaining to the 
clearing of new land. It is now found by ex¬ 
perience that crops can be put in these lands 
by the harrow, and thus cleared at even less 
than by plowing. 
Such, also, is the opinion of Mr. Thomas Bell, 
of Westchester county, a member of the Board 
of Agriculture of the American Institute, and 
who is among the best practical farmers in the 
state. 
Evidence of this kind can be adduced to al- 
