THE CULTIVATOR. 
19 
STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN EASTERN MASSA- 
CHUSETTS. 
The following brief notes were taken during a late 
flying trip. 
A steady general improvement is apparent. The soil 
of this section is generally of a hungry, gravelly nature, 
yet vaiying considerably in its quality and powers of 
production. The farmers are so dividing their lands, as 
to adapt every foot to its most appropriate crop. The 
first settlers of the country and their immediate descend¬ 
ants, committed a great error in clearing too much of 
the land. The forest was cut off, and cultivation intro¬ 
duced, where the plow ought never to have entered. 
The consequence was, a scarcity of wood and timber, 
and leaving a great deal of unproductive soil. But the 
present enlightened generation are beginning to correct 
the mistakes of their fathers. Their wood-lands are pro¬ 
tected with almost as much care as their corn-fields; the 
seeds of the pine have been planted in some of their old 
worn out fields; the barren knolls which were once such 
disagreeable objects in the landscape, are becoming 
covered with beautiful evergreen groves. An agreeable 
aspect might be given to almost every district of coun¬ 
try, if due care was only taken to adapt the various pro¬ 
ductions to the locations to which they are best suited. 
Such a piece of ground, say, is not worth cultivation; it 
will not, perhaps, produce five bushels of rye to the acre. 
Then let it go to wood; and if it will not bear hard wood, 
try pine; if it is too poor for white pine, take pitch pine, 
which even the most barren sands of Cape Cod produce 
in abundance. Wood will soon be more plenty here, 
than it was twenty years ago, and with the improvements 
in culinary utensils, and in warming apartments, the ex¬ 
penses for fuel are and will be less. 
At Bridgewater we passed through the beautiful vil¬ 
lage where the Plymouth Co. Ag. Society holds its an¬ 
nual exhibitions, and which we have taken much plea¬ 
sure in attending-, 
“ In days of auld lang syne.” 
This section of country abounds in peat bogs, or 
swamps. The natural growth of these swamps is ash, 
maple, yellow birch, &c. They are also the home of 
several varieties of indigenous grapes, some of which are 
found to be more productive and nearly equal in quality to 
any of the exotic sorts, when raised in the open air. The 
soil of these swamps is composed of vegetable substances, 
and is in some places of very"great depth. It is found to 
be highly valuable in making compost manures, and as a 
dressing for the up-lands. When first taken from its bed, 
this soil, or “muck,” sometimes contains an acid, which 
must be extirpated before it is useful as a manure. The 
use of alkalis, ashes, &c., are found valuable in develop¬ 
ing and increasing its fertilizing properties. Exposure 
to the action of frosts and rains for a time, it is found 
dissipates the acid and renders the food for plants which 
the soil contains, available. Great care is taken to save 
all the animal manures; there are cellars under most, of 
the barns and stables where the manure is mixed with 
bog soil, &e., its properties not being permitted to waste 
away by rapid fermentation. 
Much attention has been paid to reclaiming the swampy 
and boggy lands of this section, by draining, eradicating 
the wild growth, and substituting the cultivated grasses 
in its place. The most productive grass lands in this 
neighborhood, are of this character. When once brought 
well into grass, they require very little care or trouble 
to keep up their productiveness for several years. When 
they require renovation, it is found to be best to plow 
them with a sharp plow, subverting the sod as smoothly 
and evenly as possible, and sowing grass seeds immedi¬ 
ately on the furrows. The month of August is found to 
be th.e best season for this purpose. The lands are then 
generally sufficiently dry to work on, and the young 
grass has ample time to strike a deep root for itself be¬ 
fore winter sets in. 
The farmers here, usually deem it most profitable to 
cultivate but little land, and manure that highly. They 
raise Indian corn enough generally, for their own use, 
and as large crops of this grain are got here as in any 
part of the country. We found in this neighborhood, a 
variety of corn which is believed to be better adapted to 
this latitude than other kinds. Although a small sort, it 
is found to yield abundantly, from sixty to eighty bushels 
to the acre being frequently produced.* The stalk is 
small, which makes the fodder particularly valuable for 
stock. 
The town of Bridgewater is distinguished for its vari¬ 
ous mahufactures of iron, cotton gins, &c., and also for 
its excellent Normal and other schools. 
At Easton are the shovel works of Oliver Ames, the 
most extensive works of the kind in the United States. 
Mr. Ames has here invested a capital of one hundred 
thousand dollars, and has brought the manufacture of 
shovels and spades about to perfection. None of the 
English articles of this kind that we have met with, are 
equal to his. He sends his articles to all parts of the 
Union, and even to the West Indies and South America. 
Agricultural Implement Establishments—Growth of Bos - 
ton, fyc. Few cities of the Union have been so uniformly 
and constantly prosperous, as Boston. A large amount 
of surplus capital has enabled her to go through all the 
revolutions in business unscathed; and the construction 
of the numerous rail-roads which connect her with the 
interior, bring to this market the products of a vast ex¬ 
tent of country, and increase the growth and business of 
that place. It is said that there was more capital ex¬ 
pended in building in Boston, last year, than there ever 
was in any previous year, the number of buildings erected 
being eleven hundred and eighteen. 
There are several noted establishments for the sale of 
agricultural implements in this city. Jos. Breck & Co., 
proprietors of the New England Farmer, have a large 
seed store, and a large assortment of agricultural and 
horticultural implements. 
Ruggles, Nourse & Mason occupy a large hall over 
Faneuil Hall Market. The establishment of this con¬ 
cern is on a very large scale. Their sales of implements 
last season, amounted to forty thousand dollars. Their 
articles, which are manufactured at Worcester, appear 
to be of the very best character and finish. Among the 
articles which we particularly noticed as being valuable 
improvements, were their sub-soil plows, the form and 
structure of which they have so modified and improved 
that they can afford to sell them at from $8 to $15, ac¬ 
cording to the size. The smallest and cheapest size is 
adapted to the draught of a yoke of oxen, or pair of 
horses, but in ordinary soils would answer for four oxen 
or horses. Their first sub-soil plow they imported from 
Scotland. It was a ponderous thing, and cost, including 
charges of transportation, $80. We are of the opinion 
that the use of the sub-soil plow will be found very be¬ 
neficial. By it the ground may be thoroughly loosened 
to the depth of a foot or more if desired, below what is 
reached by the common plow. It is designed to work 
in the furrow of the common plow, and loosens without 
bringing the cold soil to the surface. On lands where 
plants may suffer from want of moisture, this stirring 
the soil to a greater depth will enable them to strike 
deeper root, while at the same time it promotes the ex¬ 
halation of moisture from below, and brings it within 
the reach of the roots of the plants. On the other hand, 
where the sub-soil is too retentive of water, this same 
operation allows the surplus to descend into the earth, so 
that the plants are not injured by too large a quantity 
coming in contact with their roots. 
Messrs. R., N. & M., have been for sometime noted 
for the excellence of their plows for common plowing. 
Their Eagle Plow has been very successful at the agri¬ 
cultural exhibitions and plowing matches, in Massachu¬ 
setts and elsewhere. They have also a new plow which 
they call the Improved Eagle, which is calculated to do 
more work than the Eagle. This received the first pre¬ 
mium at a very particular trial made in Essex county. 
Mass., in October last. 
We also noticed at this establishment, a churn, called 
“ Kendall's Churn,” which seems to be a decided im¬ 
provement over any other kind we have seen, not ex¬ 
cepting Gault’s, to which we have heretofore given the 
* A sample of this variety of com may be seen at the Culti¬ 
vator office, which we should be happy to distribute among 
those who will give it a fair trial. 
