“TO IMPROVE THE SOIL AND THE MIND.” 
New Series. ALBANY, JANUARY, 1849. Vol. VI.— No. 1. 
0kctcl)cs of .farms. 
The Farm of the Hon. Daniel Webster. 
Editors of the Cultivator*— In the month of Oc¬ 
tober last., I spent a day upon Mr. Webster’s farm, 
at Marshfield, in Plymouth county, Mass., and al¬ 
though I was not so fortunate as to find him at home, 
my disappointment was much lessened by the polite at¬ 
tentions of Mrs. Webster; attentions which good 
sense and genuine hospitality ever suggest. Mrs. 
Webster evidently takes a lively interest in agricultur¬ 
al improvements,—as all farmer’s wives should do,— 
and the general cardinal principles of good farming 
are, with her, familiar topics. I shall not be able, at 
this time, to speak of Mr. Webster’s farming, with that 
particularity which I could wish; but promising my¬ 
self the pleasure of accepting his polite invitation to 
repeat my visit in the spring, at a time when he may 
be at home, I shall hope to make further comftients 
with more minuteness. 
As a Statesman and Orator, Mr. Webster is tho¬ 
roughly known, at home and abroad; but it is not, per¬ 
haps, so generally known that he adds to the other 
branches of his extensive and varied knowledge, a tho¬ 
rough acquaintance with the practical principles of 
Farming. Indeed, upon this subject, he is as much at 
home as upon any matters of law or state in which 
he is so much distinguished; and nothing affords him 
more true pleasure than the personal supervision of the 
farming operations on his estate, and social and famil¬ 
iar discussion of the principles of good husbandry with 
his brethren of the plow. He retires from the noise 
and bustle of the world, and the wearing duties of pub¬ 
lic life, during a winter at Washington, to his pleasant 
and modest country seat, with much delight; and here 
—the affairs of State all laid aside, and his mind let 
down to the humbler, but more genial concerns of hus¬ 
bandry and domestic life—no man can be more easily 
approached. Here, he is ever ready to impart or to 
receive information upon practical matters of common 
life; and none can be more cheerful and familiar in all 
that pertains to agreeable companionship, than the 
yeoman,—the Farmer of Marshfield. 
The farm of Mr. Webster consists of some twelve 
to fifteen hundred acres, over two hundred of which 
are in an improved state of tillage, and the remainder 
is salt-marsh, pasture and wood-land. The estate is 
made up of several smaller farms, with the buildings 
still remaining, which are leased to the men in his 
employ, the whole being among the oldest settled lands 
in New England. The soil generally, in this region, 
is a thin sandy and gravelly loam, resting upon a loose 
and porous subsoil; and those portions that still remain 
in an unimproved state present, after the •’drouths of 
summer commence, a brown and most sombre appear¬ 
ance. Plymouth county, at best, has a stern and hard 
soil; and much of the land has not apparently, been 
improved by the long course of wearing tillage it has 
received. Mr. Webster has directed the attention of 
his neighbors near the sea-board, to a more full appre¬ 
ciation of the rich fertilizing treasures which the 
ocean affords, for the melioration of their light, hungry 
lands, and no doubt improvement will be seen in con¬ 
sequence. 
The mansion-house, a little elevated, is situated in 
the midst of an extended and richly diversified plain, 
with a somewhat broken surface. In a westerly direc¬ 
tion, this plain rises gradually, terminating in a hill of 
considerable altitude, which commands a full and 
charming view of the whole estate. In the opposite 
and easterly direction, it lies open to the sea, affording 
from the house, a fine view of the ocean’s broad ex¬ 
panse, from which it is distant about a mile. The 
house stands back some forty rods from the public road, 
and is approached by a broad avenue, lined wdth a flou¬ 
rishing and wmll-trimmed hedge, and a variety of for¬ 
est and ornamental trees, mostly planted by the pro¬ 
prietor’s own hand. It is of two and a-half stories, 
with a broad and tasteful piazza on tw r o sides, the bor¬ 
ders of w r hich are ornamented wdth climbing and orna¬ 
mental shrubs. The upright part of the mansion was 
built by a man of wealth some 70 or 80 years ago. 
To this Mr. Webster has since added a spacious li¬ 
brary-room in the rear. Here may be found the 
thoughts of gifted minds of past ages, as well as the 
choicest productions of the present time. There are 
several fine pictures in the room, among w r hich w r ere 
noticed full-length paintings of Mr. Webster and Lord 
Ashburton. This Library, with its countless volumes, 
struck us as wmrthy of its owner;—a fitting place for 
the retirement of his noble mind, where it could com¬ 
mune wfith the choicest thoughts of other gifted men, 
or carry on its own peculiar work of great thinking. 
There has been no effort at display, either within or 
without the mansion; but the whole has an appearance 
of comfort and convenience, reminding the visitor, as 
some one else has well remarked, of Cicero’s descrip¬ 
tion of a house fit for the residence of a distinguished 
and respected character:—“ It is neither small, mean, 
or sordid, nor enlarged w T ith profane and wrnnton ex¬ 
travagance.” 
The barns and other out-buildings are well and dura 
bly constructed, and very conveniently arranged. The 
most unexceptionable neatness and good order prevail 
in every department at the barns. 
Mr. Webster purchased this estate, and commenced 
his improvements, about fifteen years years ago; the 
land then being in low condition, and affording but 
scanty harvests, the result of a wearing husbandry, al¬ 
most from the landing of the pilprims. He now cuts 
over two hundred tons of upland hay, besides a largo 
quantity of salt-marsh. His pastures support about 
one hundred head of cattle, and some sheep, Th@ 
