Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1845-05-09
VOL. xxx, NO. WHOLE NO. 2O12.

lilne mari, gypsum, and other fertiliznp substan-
ces, discovered and called into use,-soils anavzed
and the farmer informed Of the element needed to
give them fertility,-thus opening to the farmer
mines Of riches, from sources OF which he had not
before even dreamed Would that I could say,
that our whole country had undergone this careful
and searching scrutiny; but greve to say, that
vermont, my native State, is believe alone an ex-
cepuon to this liberal and enlightened policy.
ihere are many farmers yet among us, who cling
to the Old manner of farming, who repudiate any
thing new, or learned from books as baseless no.
tons drawn from dream-land-valn theories which
do nothing towards improving the art Such farm
ers have now no thought of looking beyond the
yards of their own farms for the means of enrich
ing the soil. They have to learn that nature has
furnished many fertilizing substances for their USE
which have escaped their notice. To them it would
be news that the thousands of bushels of eached
ashes, lying in many places about the county, are
so valuable as to pay for transportation from the
western borders Of this county to Long Island, to
dress their sandy soils. And it may also be told,
that this year and last year, Spectator purchased
in Shoreham;~in our county, many tons of
bones, which are taken away by boat loads, to be
ground and shipped to Eng land to that England
which annually uses many thousands Of tons Of GU
dno, deposit recently and first discovered on ISL
ands in the Pacific Ocean. This substance is so
highly priced fertilizer that it affords lucra
tive business to many hundreds of vessels to freight
it from "A distance of 10000 miles. If such be the
pains and expense bestowed in improving the soil,
in perhaps the best cultivated country in the world,
and by occupants who are mainly tenants for lives
or for years, what strong inducements are present
ed to the farmers of the United States to improve
and enrich their farms, not for the ultimate benefit
of titled arisocracy, but for themselves and their
posterity.
On this occasion, it may be profitable and inter-
esting to advert to- and take brief glance at the
history and progress of agriculture in our county.
The first settlers of the county were, with few eX-
ceptions in necesstous circumstances They here
found rich soil, heavily covered with timber
Their stout hearts and willing hands soon opened
to the light and heat Of the sun, broad fields winch
| were sowed and planted with such crops as were
f necessary for the consumption of their families
f They were compelled, by their limited means, the
r small amount Of surplus production, and the difi-
Guilty of getting to market, to rely mainly on the
labor of their hands and the produce Of their farms
for food and clothing. To many of the early set
tiers these were times of privation and suffering
S But they were the very men TO overcome dhcul-
= ties. A few years of untirng labor and persever-
increased the capacity OF the country for pro-
t ducing, and opened facilities to market.
d Among other products of the soil, it was found
favorable TO the production of wheat as any 9TH
err section Of the country then open to the agrlcu-
i turist Wheat consequently, early became the
:, staple product of the county.
J., The war of the French revolution, followed, as
! it was by an European war, reaching in the course
of the conflict to every civilized country the
: globe, took in its course millions of men from ag
ricuture and arrayed them on the battle field. The
: consequence was the uneXampled rise in price OF
! all the productions of agriculture. This was
time peculiarly favorable to the prosperity of the
l. farmers of Addison county, and we find cores
ponding advance made in the wealth and comfort of
l. its population.
e At that time, the part of the United States bor-
Is dering on the ocean and near the navigabe waters
v connected with it, enjoyed substantially monopo-
l,y IF rla in 9th
% modities wanted for expectation. We had then no
canals and railroads spanning the whole country,
l. and as it were, annihilatng time and distance.
IF Addison county became noted for the quantity
l. and quality of its wheat The whole force of the
A. farm was directed to the increase Of this crop. AT
G. ter the forest was cleared away and the first crop
taken from the land in arranging his business for
the season, with the farmer the question was which
he field will be most productive of wheat. The rich
IL Lest and most promising was put under the plough,
In accordance with the custom of rotation of crops
o. practiced in that day, wheat was followed with
wheat rye, peas, and occasionally, when the soil
IN was not too tenacious, crop of corn until fail
to ure perhaps two, of getting remuneratng crop,
It, admonshed the farmer that the natural fertility of
ne the soil was exhausted The field would then be
G. put left in such stock of grass weeds or this
to ties, the economy, or want of economy in the
in occupant might get the land TO go through the
slow and tedious process of recruiting its fertility
IL if | may so term it. in the natural way. No soil
e- however fertile could long withstand such unreas
it enable drains. The new fields, occasionally re-
is claimed from the forest covered with a rich and
q heavy deposit of vegetable mould afforded to each
small farm, into which the country was then divld
ng ed, the means of pursuing and continuing this
be draining SHINING process.
* During the first stage of agriculture in this coun
m ty but little thought attention was given to ma
ne nurng or recruiting exhausted land The accumu.
i'll laton of vegetable matter about the barns ant
his yards was deemed rather nuisance, than store
house to keep up the fertility of their fields. II
-ry used at aif farmer occasionally took pains
he to restore to the SOIL it not until after il hat
no been suffered to lie for MONTHS and in many nstan
&C. years exposed bleaching rains and the scorc
,g ing sum- whose chemical action upon had extract
ICE ed and scattered to the winds nearly all its valua
BILE properties And when it is considered that the
ut farmers of that day knew next to nothing of the ell
CT ements of which the soil consisted or the proper
If ties action of the various manures upon it. is il
is matter of surprise that the early cleared fields were
nd rapidly becoming impoverished?
by This period-for these different stages of the sci
he ence may be naturally so divided extends abou
he to the end of the second decade after the adoption
to of the Federal Constitution though some portion
ay of the county had accomplished it before and somC
Ia not until later divide this into periods, as before
M stated, for the purpose of hereafter calling to view
the other facts which think intimately connected witt
ion and dependent the different pursuits OF an agri
ks cultural community. AT about this time, as gen
mo- eral position applied to the county, nearly all thu
lands, not necessarily reserved for fuel and timber
mo had been brought into cultivation.
During the third period of ten years, extending
to to 1920 the high price of wheat continued to nfu
ant ence the business of the farmer. Many fields hat
ge been, by continual cropping, exhausted of thei
ell native fertility. Wheat when sowed to the extern
m it had been raised for years before became less
err profitable crop. Farmers awaking TO the I'M
at portance of manuring their old fields The truth
bt of the remark of the farmer who said he could no
nts afford to raise wheat unless he kept stock to make
no. manure to increase the crops nor could he afford
the raise Stock if it was not for his straw ana chai
on aid in carrying the young cult,e u'o"s" ue wiz
at ter" began to be felt ana acIeu on
les The old manure heaps which had impeded the
- a. ...nv harm in the county and mater