New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-09-06
AGRICULTURAL.
FARMING IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS

| LIBRARY-MARsHALL p WILDER, THE HOR-
| TICULTURIsT-A YOUTHFUL EPISODE.
NEw-YORK, Aug. 3l.-In no State has farming been
considered more honorable than in Massachusetts,.
Farms have often remained in the same family from
the first settlement of the country the titles beng
| traceable back to the aborigines Old John Adams
stated that in his searches for titles the origin
found in deeds given from the Indians for sui-
cient consideration but what this consideration
was is not well known. Along the coast the Indians
were more advanced than the tribes living westward,
for they cleared land and raised corn pumpkins and
| beans and MANFRED the land with fish. with which
! the waters abOunded then as now. The first white
! settlers of Essex and adjacent counties came from
| Wiltshire and contiguous parts of England where
they were owners of real estate. They are said to
have been gentlemen but it is more likely they were
| yeomen, class now extinct Many old habits have
been retained by them, and they gave to the counties
and townships names derived from their native land
During the long period of 200 many changes in
terestng to note have of taken place. 1t has
always been q point, derived from natural
feeling that some one member of the family should
be the heir or possessor of the homestead and it has
been found that generally the oldest or the youngest
son succeeds while the others become professional
business men, or taking their share in money re-
move to the West VIII. .. ...
Farm management has been various: IN some cases
judicious in others the opposite. large portion Of
the land has been devoted to grass and the chief and
perhaps the only revenue has been from hay. All
through this region low land extends from the
back into the country, and produces what is called
salt hay OF this land every farmer owns q portion
by original allotment and this whether he lives adj
iacent or not. Through the Summer and Fall this
hay is drawn home, sometimes distance Of 10 miles
1t is occasionally cut ground SO wet that wagon
L IL hatr prt0A hxv
hand transported n boats up the creeks which
semble the bayous of the Mississippi country Thehay
varies in quality but it is all used and found many
farmers feeding it altogether to their stock, while
that grown on the home farm and called English hay
is sold Many have pursued this practice for a long
time; sometimes selling it to great scoundrels, who
put rocks in 1t and cheat every way they can In
weight while others haul it directly to Boston,
consuming from two to three days in the journey.
saw many wagons built and rugged for this especial
business. a ... t.rt $500" ...
So exclusively the farms devoted to grass that
wheat is seldom sown, and perhaps two acres in corn
would be an average Often ore sees less than half
an acre, sometimes. not more ithan few hundred
hills, and small patch of potatoes and few beans
and cabbages, all in the center of q meadow. Only
one result can follow when from year to year. hay
is sold of the farm; and saw large meadows 80 ex-
hausted of fertility that although ungrazed there was
not hay enough to pay for cutting and other fields
were covered with short, light colored moss Where
such FARMS exist and where rocks are PLENTIFUL and
the stone walls are tumbiDg down, the prospect is
! about dreary q cotton field given mp to tho
growth Of the loDG-leafed pine. So far / could
learn such farms owned by old men, who live
on few better fields and what be CLEANED,
and whose sons and daughters, grown up and edu-
Gated are gone Oft into the world. STILL there arc
plenty of apparently fresh farms where the grass
sward is tender and green, and everything has
thrifty look. The price Of common farms is from
$4,000 to OO0 and this whether there l00 $50.
or 200 acres and the presumption is that the smaller
the farm the better is its condition. o
The soil is of gravel or clay, often of both, while
granite lodges and powders are common enough.
Much Of the granite is in state OF decomposition,
and can be shoveled out like gravel This Is OWING
toan admxture of iron. Even small quantityof this
metal units il for building purposes. took particu
lar pains to learn what effect this decomposed granite
has on SOIL and what affinity it has with manures.,
but could not hear that the least attention had bee'
paid to the subject One geologist told me That the
white granite indicates superior SOIL but another
told me Just the reverse.
One feature of the farms is the swampy or low
ground of peat formation not at all connected with
the salt meadows, which seemed to me common to
the whole of New-Engand. This peat or muck ~
saturated with water, like sponge, and when but
PARTIALLY drained produces only water grasses.
The borders are often frnged with trees,
and in the midst are clumps of trees called
islands On many farms open bitches have been cut.
but thew prove insufficient for, beside caving in and
recurring often to be cleaned out they carry of only
q part of the water. 1t seemed to mo that the besb
land certainly the most fertile, lies in these marshes
that the aggregate surface must amount to mil
lions of acres, and that if it were properly
drained all immense addition would be made
to the wealth of the county particularly
of soil suited to producing breadstufis. At
present farmers are doing little in this direction for
labor is scarce and dear, wages for common hands
being 81 day and rather than invest 500 IN bring
ing an acre of low land into condition to produce
so bushels of corn to the acre. and wheat and oats In
like abundance, they prefer to invest their money In
manufacturing establishments OF to loan u at cur
rent rates of interest. '.. rr.l .i
Still here and there are farmers who fully realize
what is required and having the means, are adopt
ing the best methods for draining tho marshes and
giving to the uplands rich and fertile Sod Most
noticeable In this respect the farm OF d. f. Apple
ton near Ipswich, and about - miles from Boston,.
This farm includes about 200 acres and 1t has been In
cultivation more than that number Of years, tho
grant dating 1855. During all this time it has been
IN the same family. Until within few years, how
ever, the system OF farming was wlLhout improve
ment or change; but since the present owner took
hold of it the annual yield of hay has arisen from
tuns to 20 tuns none of which is sold. This
suit has been obtained mainly by keeping sheep and
other stock and draining the marshes The variety
Of sheep is the Cottswold. and their Summer range
is large. billy pasture, which has now, after few
years. become comparatively rich, and it is producing
the ne native grasses. Asa part of their Wnterfeed
beets, carrots, and rutabaga tunps grown OF
the last i saw two acres, estimated to yield from
/ 500 to 1000 bushels. l was told that the ex-