364 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec. 
Agricultural 3Jote0. 
Farming, &c., in Oneida. County* 
After the close of the Oneida County Fair, we had 
an opportunity of calling on several of the farmers 
and horticulturists of that section. We regret, how¬ 
ever, that ill health rendered our examinations much 
less extensive than we had designed. 
The settlement of this county was commenced about 
sixty years since, though the principal advance has 
been made since the beginning of the present century. 
Previous to the revolutionary war, it was chiefly a 
dense wilderness, where civilized man had no abiding 
place, except at a few fortified stations. Now, it 
has a population of about 100,000. This great 
change has taken place within the observation of ma¬ 
ny who still live to express their astonishment and 
admiration at what their eyes have witnessed. 
By the kindness of Mr. E. B. Lucas, we were in¬ 
troduced to several gentlemen at Clinton. This neigh¬ 
borhood has long been noted for its apple-orchards. 
In fact, before the country came into the possession of 
the Whites, the Oneida tribe of Indians planted many 
trees in the neighborhood of their villages. We were 
informed by Ira S. Hitchcock Esq., of Oneida Cas¬ 
tle, that these people had at one period upwards of 
200 acres of land devoted to apple trees, and that 
the first settlers were in the habit of obtaining their 
apples and cider from the “ Indian orchards.” Rev. 
Mr. Kirkland, an early missionary among the Onei- 
das, planted a large orchard on the fine farm near 
Clinton, where he finally located himself. Many of 
the trees are still in a productive state. 
The first settlers here, who came principally from 
the New-England states, soon discovered the favora¬ 
ble nature of the soil for the production of fruit, and 
propagated, extensively, the best varieties of apples 
and pears then known. Many years did not pass be¬ 
fore the products of their orchards constituted an im¬ 
portant part of the income of many farmers. The 
once celebrated 11 Goodsell orchard,” has produced, 
we were told, upwards of $1000 worth of apples in 
a year. Mr. G. Butler, who is well acquainted 
with the apple-trade, states that 15,000 barrels of 
winter apples have been shipped from this place in one 
year. 
The first orchards here were planted mostly on the 
alluvial lands along the Oriskany creek, and though 
they succeeded well, it has since been ascertained 
that the sides of the hills or ridges, where the subsoil 
is not surcharged with water, are as good for trees of 
all kinds as the alluvions. Not only apples and pears, 
but plums, peaches and grapes, flourish well here. 
Mr. Lucas showed us several kinds of peaches, one 
of which, a yellow-fleshed seedling, which originated 
in his garden, is a good variety, (pronounced so by all 
who have examined it,) and will probably come into 
extensive cultivation in this section. Mr. L. has a 
fine young orchard of pears, mostly on quince stocks, 
which appear healthy, and will doubtless soon give a 
good return for the attention bestowed on them. 
Mr. George Parker is giving considerable atten¬ 
tion to the culture of fruits. He showed us beautiful 
specimens of the Bartlett, and other choice varieties 
of the pear, very fine apples—the Sapson, (or Sops- 
of-Wine,) Baldwin, Hubbardston-Nonsuoh, and oth¬ 
ers—and several kinds of grapes. 
Mr. John C. Hastings has been actively engaged 
in horticulture for several years—has established a 
nursery here, and has been instrumental in dissemina¬ 
ting a taste for the culture of fruits. For the pun 
pose of testing varieties, he has had access to the I 
fine garden and grounds of his father, Dr. Hastings, 
where he has fruited many new kinds of pears, ap. 
pies, &c. In this garden he showed us a White 
Doyenne (Virgalieu) pear tree, the fruit from which, 
in 1847, sold for over fifty dollars. Mr. H. showed 
us a handsome specimen of Stevens’ Genesee pear. 
It a large and good kind. He had, also, many es¬ 
teemed varieties in various stages of ripeness. He 
has made many trials in cultivating different kinds of 
grapes, in the open air. He finds the Isabella and 
Catawba rather uncertain in ripening, without pro¬ 
tection, though they bear abundantly, and the same 
may be said of several imported kinds. He has tried 
many of our northern native grapes, and has more 
kinds of these than we have before found in any col¬ 
lection. Sortie of them are decidedly good, particu¬ 
larly a variety called the Clinton grape. He receiv¬ 
ed the first preminm at the last State Fair, for the 
best collection of native grapes. Mr. H. intends to 
raise vines from the seed of different kinds, in order 
to test the results of hybridization. 
From Clinton, we went to Waterville, in the south 
part of Oneida county. This is a thriving place, and 
is becoming of considerable importance for its man¬ 
ufactures. We could not take particular notes in re¬ 
ference to the different branches of business; but by 
the politeness of Mr. S. J. Goodwin, were favored 
with a general view of the town and vicinity. Mr. 
G. is engaged in making woolen cloths. The facto¬ 
ry— (that of Messrs. Bacon & Goodwin) —uses 
120,000 lbs. of wool annually. 
We called for a short time, on Mr Charles Pal¬ 
mer. We first took a glance at his fruit garden 
where he showed us many fine kinds of pears—seve¬ 
ral on quince stocks—and all in a healthy and flour¬ 
ishing condition. Here was also, a choice collection 
of plums. The varieties not out of season, were in 
great perfection, both as to appearance and quality. 
Several trees of Coe’s Golden Drop w r ere heavily 
loaded. A tree of the Blue Imperatrice made a 
splendid appearance, being filled to just the right 
degree with this beautiful late plum. 
Mr. P. cultivates hops and teazels on a large 
scale. His average crop of the former is 16,000 lbs. 
The yield per acre is from 1,200 to 2,000 lbs. His 
crop the present year has been sold for 121 cents per 
lb. There are several other hop-growers in this 
neighborhood. Mr. Gurdon Avery has 20 acres, 
and his crop was stated at 30,000 lbs. The labor 
of picking is performed chiefly by females, who are 
paid 25 cents per day, or one shilling per box. Se¬ 
veral hundred hands are employed by the different 
growers during the “ picking season,” which lasts 
two or three weeks. 
Mr. Palmer has 15 acres of teazels annually. 
They are all sold in Boston. His buildings and ar¬ 
rangements for curing the teazels, are ample and 
complete. The ground where the teazels are culti¬ 
vated is made very rich by the application of large 
quantities of manure, which is obtained from seve¬ 
ral distilleries where many cattle and hogs are fat¬ 
tened. The teazels are planted in rows, which are 
alternately, about two and a-half and five feet apart. 
In the widest spaces, corn is planted in drills. The 
ground is kept perfectly clean with the cultivator 
and hand hoe. The corn yields from fifty to sixty 
bushels per acre. 
The teazels require two seasons to come to matu¬ 
rity, and the principal object of the corn is to afford 
protection to the teazels during winter. The ears 
when ripe, are picked from the stalks, which have 
been previously topped, and the stalks are left stand- 
ing. They break the force of the wind, so that the 
snow lies equally over the ground, affording a cover- 
