298 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct, 
and headlands into the Sound, while the surface on the 
south side is nearly a plain, without rock or stone of 
any size. The soil of the Island, and of this county, 
has as much variety as its surface. Near the Sound, 
the land is hilly and uneven; the greater portion however, 
is either level or slightly undulating. The necks and 
headlands have generally a rolling surface, and a deep 
loamy soil slightly mixed with sand. On the south side 
of the hills, the surface is flat and the soil sandy, min¬ 
gled in many places with loam and clay. The more 
elevated land is, in soil, superior to that of the plains, 
and better adapted to the growth of the grains usually 
raised in this climate. There are large tracts of land 
and woodland in the centre of the Island, which, until 
recently, have remained without any attempt to reduce 
them to cultivation. In this county we have a large 
body of land principally belonging to the town of 
Hempstead, which still lies in common, but is suscepti¬ 
ble of being easily and profitably tilled, notwithstand¬ 
ing an immediate and considerable outlay is required 
for fences and manures. Kings county contains very 
little waste land, and is in the aggregate, more fertile 
than any equal portion of the Island. Perhaps this is, 
in a great degree, to be accounted for, as much from 
the excellence of the soil, as from its proximity to the 
cities of Brooklyn and New-York, from whence manures 
of varioss kinds can be more cheaply and easily pro¬ 
cured. 
System of Husbandry. —With these preliminary 
remarks respecting the general features of the Island, 
and the county of Queens, which I trust may not be 
deemed inappropriate to the subject in hand, I will pro¬ 
ceed to describe in the best way I can, the system of 
husbandry, which is pursued in this county. It must 
be in the recollection of many, who are here present 
to-day, that the general course of cultivation was for¬ 
merly, in many essential particulars, different from its 
present practice. Before the Erie canal was comple¬ 
ted, wheat, and barley, and rye, were largely raised 
for sale, and the flouring mills on the Island had as 
much business as they could attend to; the quality of 
the grain raised was excellent, and the reputation of 
the mills on the north shore was w*ell established for 
the quality of their flour. The construction of that 
great work of internal improvement, very soon caused 
a radical change in the husbandry and crops of the 
county. We could no longer compete with the rich and 
virgin lands of the west, in the production of the cereal 
grains; and it was at one moment feared that the value 
of our lands, and the prosperity of our farmers, would 
be seriously affected by the cheapness, fertility, and 
great extent of the western lands. Such, however, was 
not the case. The effqpt of opening the Erie canal, 
was, it is true, to bring the crops of the West into im¬ 
mediate competition with those of the older parts of the 
State, which, so far, had enjoyed a monopoly: and at 
the same time to force those sections, particularly those 
near to the city of New-York (for as yet, Brooklyn was 
only a village) to change their system of husbandry, 
and the course and character of their crops. And the 
farmers of the western part of Long Island, with that 
unerring sagacity which interest always prompts, quick¬ 
ly adapted the cultivation, and the crops, to the new 
and more extended demand which the increasing and 
varied wants of a great and rapidly growing city could 
not fail to produce. The natural and predicted conse¬ 
quence of the opening of the Erie canal, was first to 
enlarge and enrich the city of New-York, by pouring 
into her warehouses, for consumption and export, the 
immense and increasing harvests of the unlimited West; 
still to be multiplied as they have been, year by year, 
until by new and improved channels of communication, 
the borders of all the great Lakes now receive and dis¬ 
tribute the overflowing productions of regions as vast, 
and as fertile, as the sun in its daily course, blesses 
with its glorious beams. The greater part of this an¬ 
nual tribute of Agricultural wealth, finds its way to the* 
noble seaport of our State-—the great commercial mart 
of the Western continent; thence to be distributed 
among those Atlantic States whose productions are of 
a different character; and also, among the countries of 
the world, in exchange for the productions and the fab- 
rics of their skill. The result and effect of these new 
and varied elements of wealth poured into the city of 
New-York, was immediately felt, in the extension of 
her commerce, the increase of her population, and in the 
enlargement and improvement of the city itself. This 
impulse, so powerfully felt by the city, was soon com¬ 
municated to the surrounding country; and as the num¬ 
ber and means of the citizens increased, the demand for 
those productions which the farmers in its neighborhood 
could alone most easily and profitably supply, was soon 
greatly augmented. Hence, as the growth of New-York, 
and subsequently of Brooklyn, continued to increase from 
the causes above alluded to, it followed as a consequence 
of so many being devoted exclusively to the commerce 
and the trades connected with it—and all consumers of 
what another class could alone produce—that the lands 
in the immediate vicinity of these cities must advance 
in value—first, for the erections of houses and buildings, 
and next for the cultivation and supply of those arti¬ 
cles most needed from day to day for the consumption 
and support of two large cities. And such must conti¬ 
nue to be the course of improvement, and the increas¬ 
ing value of the lands in the western part of this Island, 
as the cities of New-York and Brooklyn shall continue 
to prosper and augment. The system of husbandry in 
this part of the Island, and reaching to the eastern 
towns of Queens county, has, as was before stated, and 
as a natural consequence of our position and soil, un¬ 
dergone a great change in the character and value of 
its productions. Formerly wheat, rye, oats and corn, 
were the staple crops, and to a certain extent, some of 
them still continue of that character. Now, it may be 
said that wheat, and rye, and barley, are no longer 
raised as staple crops, nor to the extent of former 
years. But corn, and oats, and hay, are now the main 
and, as farming crops, perhaps the most productive and 
the most relied on. Potatoes, cabbage, peas, beans, 
asparagus, tomatoes, and other vegetables, in those 
parts of the county most conveniently situated for that 
purpose, have been largely cultivated for market, and 
tw r o crops are now not unfrequently taken during the 
same season, from the same piece of ground; thus 
bringing a double return to the farmer for his labor and 
expense. On the south side of the Island, where the 
soil is light, sandy and warm, all the early vegetables 
and small fruits have, wdtli the aid of ashes and ma¬ 
nure, been growm w T ith great success and advantage. 
And there, too, within a few years, large orchards of 
peach trees have been planted, whose fruit has been 
abundant, fair, and finding a ready market; while the 
stronger and more loamy soils in the centre, and on the 
necks and headlands of the north side, have, by a simi¬ 
lar process of high cultivation, been rendered product¬ 
ive of the finest crops of corn, oats and hay; and 
where lands are finally laid down to grass, of excellent 
crops of wheat, rye and barley. But it should always 
be remembered, that while on the one hand, the near¬ 
ness of a great and steady market has afforded the in¬ 
ducement, and stimulated the exertions of the farmers 
of the western part of the Island; yet on the other 
hand, they with great sagacity and persevering industry, 
have been quite equal to the new system of husbandry, 
which in so many instances they have been called upon 
-to enter into. And that though prudent and saving in 
all other matters, they have learned the wise lesson, 
that it is not for their interest to starve the land. It 
