, 1884-11-12
AND GARDENS
AS They May Be Found within the
Limits of Gotham
spots In the Metropolis where Ma
lure ssiii Linxer--New York,s
Settlement OF market Gar
deuers-shantytown.


lAmerican Agriculturist.l
Theirs are many lanes on the maps Of the
city OF New York, but the only thing rural
about them is their names. There are, now
ever, in this city Of wonderful contrasts Of
the miseries and splendors OF modern life,
certain spots In which nature still fingers.
Our city farms arr not nesrly IS numerous
now as twenty years ago. But there gre
somr left yet, even in the heart OF the city,
and within the far reaching limits OF
Gotham thousands OF acres still return their
yearly crops In produce instead OF rents.
There are old farms and peaceful pastures,
and among them people who lead pleasant
rural lives, environed by the turbulent mul-
titude that pursues fortune with a feyerish
fury, in factories and stores, and the great
marts OF m and speculation. People
who are not New Workers picture the metrop
oils as one monumental mass OF brick, and
stone. and iron, with enough timber thrown
10 here and there 10 make Il roaring tire
once In a while. They know that there ara
some parks, great and small, among these
rows Of houses, but there, as far as they
know, the touch OF nature which brighten
and purifes the city, ends.
Among the rocky nndulations OF Manhnt
~tanville, agriculture still holds Its own
Thsro is quito an extensive settlement Of
market gardeners on the west side Of the
city, between Central park and North river.
There are farmers here who live In the same
houses and till the came soil their grant.
fathers lived in and titled nearly "A century
agc. The improvement in the city has made
their land worth as much a foot as II once
was worth an acre. The old farmhouse at
Mnnhattanville, tho district above Central
park and near the Hudson river, was built
over a hundred years ago. Two miles further
on. ut Washington Heights. the upper end Of
Manhattan island, Is Snider's lane, a country
road around the side OF = hill, with d great
row Of tenement houses and French fats ut
one end Of it, and a eornfield at the other.
Within q quarter Of 4 milo Of SnIder's lane,
tho life OF the metropolis bustles and seethes.
From its highest point you can see the
myriad gas lamps and the electric lights OF
the city CLEAN and flash at night. Yet for
half a mile or so along It's peaceful length,
you may wander in solitude, and forget,
amid the rustic Of leaves, and the songs OF
birds. that there Is such a place as New
York.
Washington Heights Is full OF hooks where
a metropolitan dweller may be surrounded
by quiet rural life. The denizsns OF certain
sections Of Harlem can look out Of their win
dows In Hummer, and imagine themselves in
the country, until the jingling street cars. or
the clanking elevated trains, d~issipate the
pleasant fancy. Beyond the Harlem river,
and still within tho city limits, which extend
for four miles and take in the village OF
Fordham, perched on its wooded hills, New
York exhibits . strange alienation Of city
and country. A couple of minutes walk from
High Bridge, In full sight of its crowded
picnic gardens, overlooking tho Harlem
filled with pleasure boats, and with rows OF
houses along the road, a solitary little lane
leads TO a farm az solitary, and out OF tho
way among its orchard trees, as il it was in
the Berkshire hills. The family who occupy
this farm, have lived here since the ON,
mencement Of the present century.
jerome avenue is ono OF the ~liveiiesi
thoroughfares in New York. Il leads from
the Harlem river to the famous jerome Parl
race course, near Fordham. Yet there art
scores Of farms whose lanes lead out into ths
bustllng street. One OF these farms is quite ia
nous for sheep, and on others blooded horse.
and cattle are raised. One Of the ~loveliesl
lanes In the city is along jerome avenue.
leading over the Fordham hills towards the
old city OF Ycnkers. In fremont, nearer the
city, in Morrisania and Mott Haven, you find
the country elbowing the city. Below tn.
Harlem river. where land Is more valuable
the city farmer cultivates vegetable crops
On the other side he grows larger produce
The gardener south OF the Harlem, arc no
as a rule, the owners OF the land. They com
monty hold it on long leases from old estates
and as the leases expire, the owners Gus
the tenants aud build at once. In conse
quence Of this, you will often find an enor
nous French fiat towering alongside OF I
picturesque little cottage, or a rude shanty
There Is one spot where a vast fiat occupie
each corner OF a block, and between the tw,
Ia an old farm house, shaded by huge elm
trees, and with Its narrow strip of land coy
erred with hot-beds, running through tn.
block from street to street.
Apart from the real city farms, there ar,
whole blocks OF waste land, SO rocky as to b,
useless for the cultivator, ON which Il,
famous squattars Of the metropolis have bull
up that curious community known far anc
wide as Shantytown-a collection Of hut
built in the rudest and cheapest way, chiefly
OF odds ami ends Of lumber. It's jewellers ar,
laboring men. carriers and the like, humble
but useful toilers. The principal industry O
Shantytown is goat breeding, and sine,
goats milk has become a fashionable bever
age, the bulk Of New York's supply come.
from here. With the great activity in build
ing, however, Shantytown Is steadily anc
surely becoming a thing Of the past.
One OF the most curious Of our city farms
is that of the penitentiary on BLACKWELL
island. On it are raised the vegetables uset
in tho prison. The warden of the island 1
the farmer, and tho ~convicts his laborerr
They present a melancholy appearance Ii
their striped suits working among the fields
but not nearly so much 30 as do the lunatic
on the Wards Island farm. These poo
wretches are employed in the kitchen gardel
Of tho asylum, and the doctors say the ali
and exercise are highly beneficial TO them
Another very odd farm is ON a rock in Oh,
East river, near Hell Gate. It Is about hal
an acre in extent, and from the vegetable
produced, and the fish caught, the famil,
who have lived here for over forty years
subsist These hormits Of the metropolis an
q brother and two sisters. They live in thei
little castle surrounded by the waters, nns
apparently enjoy life thoroughly.