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Go 974.2 M56ne 1851947
DA. L.
REYNOLDA HISTORICAL GENEALONYALLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 8717
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/newhampshireagri00metc_0
1851947
CONTENTS.
Page.
INTRODUCTION
9
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND FAIRS
II
STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE
I7
BANDRY 28 ·
NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND THE MECHANIC ARTS 34
GRANITE STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION .
42
NEW HAMPSHIRE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 47 ·
PERSONAL AND FARM SKETCHES 49
Ayers, Augustine R. II3
Bachelder, Hon. Nahum J.
. 49
Bailey, John
191
Baker, John B.
362
Baker, Hon. William D.
125
Ball, Sumner N.
· 392
Ballard, William P.
96
Barnard, Joseph
. 321
Bean, Fred
. 196
Bill, Willard, Jr.
.
366
Bishop, Edward E.
354
Brown, Herbert L. .
.
157
Brown, Hon. Manson S.
ISI
. Bryant, Edward 148
Burbank, William W.
. 317
Burley, Harrison G. 345 .
75
Carpenter, George
· 295
Carr, John M. .
. 103
.
.
.
.
Caldwell, Prof. William H.
·
NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE GRANGE, PATRONS OF HUS-
6
CONTENTS.
Cater, Henry F.
. 334
Chadwick, William H.
.
I39
Chase, Willard W.
198
Child, William H.
202
Clark, Charles L.
. 397
Clough, Philip C.
221
Cogswell, Col. Thomas
I40
Comings, Erasmus D.
245
Connor, James M.
6 1
Courser, Thomas J. .
389
Cram, Frank E.
I54
Cressy, Addison S. .
238
Duncan, Christy H.
I45
Farr, John W.
162
Farr, Noah
223
Fassett, Charles W.
185
Fisher, George W.
100 .
Fisher, Warren J.
178
Fox, Perley E.
306
French, Warren A.
347
Gay, William E.
.
283
Gerrish, James L.
69
Gibson, Alonzo W. .
231
Goodhue, George W.
201
Gordon, Hon. Francis A.
299
Gould, Alfred J.
217
Graves, Bela
72
Greene, Willard T.
. 234
Greenough, Gilman .
394
Griffiths Brothers
328
Hadley, Herbert O.
85
Hayes, Charles H. and Sons
·
402
Hayes, James M.
88
Hill, Horace A.
· 28 1
Hodgman, Marcellus R.
187
Howe, Joseph Drew
· 90
Hoyt, Charles B.
· 384
.
.
.
CONTENTS.
7
Humphrey, Hon. Moses
23
Hutchinson, Emri C.
312
Kelley, John L.
. 289
Keyes, Henry W.
240
Kimball, Charles F.
323
Kimball, George B.
364
Little, George Peabody
132
Lord, P. M.
237
Manning, Solomon
332
Maple Grove Farm
109
McDaniel, Hon. Charles
129
Mills, John C.
258
Morgan, Belden
252
Morrison, John C.
8 I
Neal, William H.
206
Newman, George E.
· 350
Noyes, Henry
399
Noyes, Samuel Titus
249
Ordway, Hon. Nehemiah G.
165
Pattee, Stephen C.
106
Peaslee, John Albert
228
Perry, William H.
93
Phillips, Chester H.
2II
Pressey, John M.
308
Pulsifer, Thomas S.
. 315
Ray, Hon. John C.
288 ·
Rice, George G.
209
Rines, Mark
293
Riverside Stock Farm
94
Robbins, L. Harland
.
215
Roberts, Joseph D. .
· 340
Rogers, Ezra B.
171
Rowe, Jonathan
368
Ryder, William H.
179
Sanborn, Jacob
· 277
Sanborn, Prof. J. W.
226
Sargent, Walter
. 115
.
·
.
.
8
CONTENTS.
Sawyer, Herbert N. . 386
Scammon, Hezekiah
. 337
Shaw, Christopher C.
I36
Shepard, James E.
64
Smith, Hon. Charles E.
406
Stinson, Col. William H. .
273
Stone, Charles W. 302
Stone, Edmund
212
Tallant, Hon. John G.
150
Taylor, Hon. Jonathan M.
· I73
Taylor, Thomas O.
189
Tenney, Simon A.
I24
Thompson, Lucien
371
Tilton, Zerah E.
243
Tripp, Warren
158
Trow, Clarence L.
194
Wadleigh, George H.
127
Wadleigh, Milton B.
265
Walker, Hon. Joseph B.
54
Wason, Hon. George A.
255
Waterhouse, Charles H.
260
Wellington, Edwin I.
. 271
Wentworth, William T.
359
Westgate, William F.
.
356
Whitcher, Joseph Avery
376
Whitcher, Prof. George H.
381 .
Whitney, George F., 2d
310
White, Samuel S. .
I49
Whittemore, Sidney B.
. 267
Winch, Charles
.
326
Woodward, Frank R.
· I20
.
INTRODUCTION.
While volumes almost without number, setting forth the work and achievements of men in public and profes- sional life, in railroading, banking, and the various lines manufacture, have been written, printed, and issued to the world, comparatively little has been written, and still less issued in permanent form, concerning those who have won substantial success in that oldest and most hon- orable of human occupations-Agriculture.
It is the purpose of this volume to supply, in some small measure, what is wanting in this regard, so far as the state of New Hampshire is concerned ; to increase the interest in agriculture in the state and record the suc- cess which has crowned the efforts of representative New Hampshire farmers. If in so doing the writer shall succeed in advancing in any degree the welfare of this great industry, which remains and must continue the basis of our national prosperity, and which, even in New Hampshire, excels every other in magnitude and importance, he will have accomplished all that he hoped for, or had any right to expect. That he may do this by exciting a deeper pride in, and stronger devotion to, their noble calling in the minds of New Hampshire farmers and their sons, he sincerely trusts ; while earnestly reminding the latter that upon the continued and improved cultivation of these New Hampshire farms, upon which have been reared so many of the men who have directed the thought and energy of the nation in times past,
IO
INTRODUCTION.
depends in no small degree our future national welfare and progress, while it brings directly to those engaged therein the substantial reward of intelligent and well- directed effort. From the examples cited in the following pages, it is clearly manifest that farming in New Hamp- shire has been made to " pay," even in the ordinary, material sense of the term. That with intelligent effort and improved methods it may be made to pay even more abundantly in the future, is not to be doubted.
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND FAIRS.
The first settlements in New Hampshire were made in 1623, but agriculture seems to have been but an inci- dent in the occupation of the inhabitants during the first century of its history, fishing, on the coast, and lumbering in the interior, being the leading branches of industry. Subsequently, however, the people began to turn their attention more and more to the cultivation of the soil, and in the eighteenth century, even before the War of the Revolution, agriculture was the principal employ- ment of a majority of the people. Yet it was not until some time after the beginning of the present century that anything in the line of organized or cooperative effort was made, or attempted, in the state, for the gen- eral promotion of the interests of agriculture.
The first agricultural society organized in New Hamp- shire was one in the county of Rockingham, which was incorporated by the legislature in 1814. Nothing is re- corded of its work for the first two or three years. Two years later, the Cheshire County society was incor- porated (that county then including also the present county of Sullivan), and this society, in the following year-1817-petitioned the legislature for an appropria- tion in aid of its work. Governor Plumer, in his mes- sage that year, had commended the cause of agriculture to the favorable consideration of that body, and the result was that an appropriation of $100 for each of the two societies-the Rockingham and Cheshire-was
I2
NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.
made at that session. Neither of these societies held a fair that year, however ; but in 1818, the legislature of that year having voted $300 each to these two societies, and $200 each to the societies in Hillsborough, Strafford, and Grafton counties, which it had just incorporated, both societies held fairs, or " cattle shows," as they were then more generally known, that of the Cheshire society occurring first, on October 7, at Charlestown, and that for Rockingham county, later, at Chester.
This Charlestown fair, at which some very liberal premiums were paid, including such as $25 for the best pair of working oxen, $15 for the best milch cow, $15 for the best acre of wheat, etc., is understood to have been the first exhibition of the kind ever held in the state. It is proper to remark, however, that a fair, in the old time and old country acceptation of the term, had been held in the town of Londonderry, embracing the present town of Derry, from the time of its incor- poration under the charter of King George, in 1722, down to 1838. This Londonderry fair was provided for in the king's charter, in conformity with the ideas and habits of the proprietors, who came from the region of Londonderry, Ireland, where such gatherings had long been in vogue. They were holden twice a year, in May and November, their object being to facilitate the sale and exchange of stock and merchandise.
Quite an interest was aroused for a time by these sev- eral county societies, one for Coös county having also been organized in 1819, and some very successful exhi- bitions were held ; but in a few years the interest waned, legislative support was also withdrawn, and the socie- ties collapsed and went out of existence. One organized in the then new county of Merrimack, however, in Feb- ruary, 1824, of which Dr. Ebenezer Lerned was the first president, and Hon. Horace Chase, secretary, and which
13
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND FAIRS.
held the first fair at Salisbury in October of that year, continued its existence, notwithstanding all depressing conditions, holding annual exhibitions in different towns of the county until its reorganization under a legislative charter in 1859, and its acquirement and fitting up of permanent exhibition grounds on the plains east of the Merrimack river, in Concord, in 1860, where its fair was held that year and for many years subsequently, up to 1874, the last one being in September of that year, though a state fair was holden there as late as 1882.
Meanwhile, a few years previous to 1850, a revival of interest in agricultural organization had begun to mani- fest itself in the state. The Hillsborough County society was reorganized in 1847, and held a fair at Milford in the fall of 1849. Agitation for legislative encourage- ment of the agricultural interest had been revived, and efforts been made to secure the establishment of a State Board of Agriculture. On the 12th day of December, 1849, a meeting was held in the City hall in Manchester, in response to a call signed by a number of prominent farmers in different sections of the state, headed by Hon. Asa P. Cate of Northfield, to organize a State Agricul- tural society, which was done, Hon. George W. Nes- mith of Franklin being elected president ; John S. Walker of Claremont, secretary ; and Nathaniel B. Baker of Concord, treasurer; with a vice-president from each county, and an executive committee of five members.
This society held a meeting in Concord in June fol- lowing, and made an effort, though without success, to secure an appropriation from the legislature, in aid of its work and that of county societies, legislative agri- cultural meetings being held for several evenings in the hall of the house of representatives, for the first time in its history. The organization was chartered by the legis- lature at that session, and its first annual exhibition, or
14
NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.
fair, was holden in Concord, October 2 and 3, following. The next year, the fair was held in Manchester, and in 1852 at Meredith Bridge, now Laconia. Subsequent fairs were holden in Keene, Dover, and Nashua, as well as Concord and Manchester ; but for many years during the latter part of the society's active existence, the latter city was the place of its exhibition, the last one occur- ring in 1885, though an exhibition purporting to be a state fair was held there in 1889.
In Sullivan county, a society had been organized in 1848, and another in Cheshire county soon after, both of which held successful exhibitions for many years. The Rockingham County society was reorganized in 1852. The towns about Lebanon organized what was known as the Connecticut River Valley Agricultural society in 1847, holding a fair in that town. Ten years later this society was reorganized as a Grafton County society, and for a long series of years past, down to 1895, main- tained its fairs at Plymouth. In 1858, a Belknap County organization was formed, which held successful fairs at Laconia for a number of years. A Carroll County soci- ety was organized in 1860, but was a short-lived affair, held but one or two exhibitions, and has never been re- suscitated. Strafford county effected an organization in 1867, and Coös, in conjunction with Essex county, Vt., in 1869, this latter being the only one of the county societies that has maintained its organization and con- tinued its fairs-the latter being located at Lancaster- down to the present time.
Local rivalry, and individual jealousy and ambition, soon prompted the organization of other associations in many of the counties, which operated to weaken, disin- tegrate, and finally destroy some of them. In 1856, the Souhegan Agricultural society, embracing the towns in the Souhegan valley and the southern part of Hillsbor-
I5
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES AND FAIRS.
ough county, was organized, and held fairs for several years. In 1859, a North Hillsborough society had its inception, and held a fair two or three years at Weare. The same year, the Contoocook Valley association, em- bracing the towns in the section about Hillsborough, was formed, and fairs were held there for some time with success. A Merrimack River society, so called, es- tablished in 1858, had exhibition headquarters in Nashua for a number of years. The Oak Park association held fairs at Greenfield for some time, from 1875, and the Piscataquog Agricultural society was established at Goffstown in 1878.
In Cheshire county, the Ashuelot society was estab- lished, at Winchester, in 1863 ; the Piscataqua at Ports- mouth, in Rockingham, in 1867; the Mascoma Valley at Canaan, in Grafton, in 1870; the Kearsarge at War- ner, in Merrimack, in 1872; and the Suncook Valley at Pittsfield about the same time,-the only one of the en- tire number that has maintained a fair continuously to the present time being the Mascoma Valley.
In 1876, the Upper Coös and Essex society was organ- ized, with headquarters at Colebrook, and has holden fairs nearly every year since. In many instances, two or three towns have combined in holding fairs for one or more years, the most notably successful arrangement of this kind being the Bradford and Newbury association, which has held remarkably attractive and well-attended fairs for about a quarter of a century. Town fairs have been held, at one time or another, by nearly half the towns in the state, some of them for many years continu- ously with marked success, as in the case of Chester, Derry, Sanbornton, New London, and others. The Rochester fair, started as a town exhibition over twenty years ago, soon overshadowed and practically wiped out the Strafford County fair, and for many years past
16
NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.
has maintained interstate proportions, rivaling the New England fair in many respects.
With the decadence of the State Agricultural society, and the cessation of its exhibitions, the Grange organ- ization came to the front, and organized a State Fair association, whose first exhibition was held at Tilton in 1886, on grounds fitted up for its use by Mr. Charles E. Tilton of that place, where successive fairs have been held annually ever since, generally with great success ; though the public patronage in the way of attendance is necessarily less than would be the case near a populous business centre. A Grafton and Coös Grange fair has also been held, with generally gratifying results, at Whitefield, for about the same length of time ; while for several years another has been held in Keene for Che- shire county. The Patrons within the jurisdiction of Merrimack County Pomona Grange have organized a fair association, and held fairs on the old Kearsarge grounds at River Bow park, Warner, for the last three years, with good results, and a similar organization for Western Rockingham has been in operation for two years.
All indications now point to the fact that for some years to come the agricultural fairs, or annual exhibitions of farm and domestic products, will be very generally under the control of the Grange, whether for state, county, dis- trict, or town ; just as the several subordinate Grange organizations have almost entirely done away with the numerous farmers' clubs, and other local agricultural societies, that flourished so generally from fifteen to thirty years ago.
STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.
Up to the year 1870 there was no department of the state government, nor any official organization connected therewith, having any special cognizance of affairs per- taining to the state's fundamental interest-agriculture- or authorized to promote its welfare; although fifty years earlier, as far back as 1820, the legislature had taken action in that direction, and provided for the estab- lishment of a State Board of Agriculture. This board was actually organized, held a few meetings, and made one report to the legislature, but there is no recorded evidence of its having done anything farther. The act under which it was established, was approved December 21, 1820, and provided that the presidents of the several agricultural societies within the state, with one delegate chosen from each society, should constitute a Board of Agriculture, and should convene on the first Monday after the annual meeting of the legislature, at the capitol or other place thought proper, any five members consti- tuting a quorum, elect a president, secretary, and such other officers as might be thought proper, receive and examine all reports and returns made by the county societies within the state, select for publication such of them, and such other essays relative to the improvement of agriculture as they should think conducive to the advancement of agriculture, and annually publish a pamphlet, at the expense of the state, to be distributed by means of said agricultural societies to the people, not exceeding one thousand copies. It also provided that
18
NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.
it should be the duty of said Board of Agriculture " to examine into the organization of said societies, and their manner of transacting their business, and to recommend such alterations and improvements therein as they may deem expedient."
There were at this time six regularly organized agri- cultural societies in the state, one for each county, the first having been organized in Rockingham county, which was incorporated by the legislature in 1814, and the second in Cheshire (embracing Sullivan) incorporated in June, 1816, while those in Strafford (embracing Bel- knap and Carroll), Hillsborough (embracing Merri- mack), and Grafton, were incorporated in June, 1818, and that in Coos in June, 1819.
The members of the board thus constituted met at the state house, June II, 1821, agreeable to the provision of the law, and adjourned for one week, when an organiza- tion was formed by the election of Hon. William Badger as president ; Hon. Matthew Harvey, secretary ; Hon. Samuel Grant, treasurer ; and Hon. Amos Kent, Rev. Humphrey Moore, and Hon. Samuel Grant, committee of publication. The legislature of 1821, then in session, passed an act amending the original statute creating the board, which was approved June 27, and which pro- vided that the annual meeting of the board should there- after be held on the second Wednesday in June, and that from and after the first Monday following the next annual meeting of the legislature, the board should con- sist of one delegate from each county society, instead of the presidents and delegates as originally provided. This legislature also passed a resolution appropriating the sum of eight hundred dollars " for the purpose of promoting the interest of agriculture and domestic man- ufactures in the state," of which the agricultural societies of Rockingham, Strafford, Hillsborough, Cheshire, and
19
STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.
Grafton were allowed one hundred dollars each, that of Coos county fifty dollars, and the Board of Agriculture the remaining two hundred and fifty dollars.
This appropriation presumably defrayed the expense of the preparation and publication of the first annual report of the board, which was presented to the next session of the legislature, that of 1822, and which was embraced in a pamphlet of 135 pages, including preface, the laws instituting the board, a brief report of the organization, an introductory essay on the rise and progress of agriculture, and a review of its condition in the state, essays on manure, rotation of crops, culture of wheat, culture of Indian corn, and culture of English tur- nips, and an address delivered before the Hillsborough County Agricultural society, at Hopkinton, October 17, 1821, by Rev. Humphrey Moore, who is also understood to have written the introductory essay, and most of the others. No other report of the board appears to have been made, and the board itself seems to have relapsed into " innocuous desuetude," and disappeared from existence.
Efforts had been made at different times previous to 1870, to establish a new Board of Agriculture, but with- out avail, although nearly the requisite strength in the legislature was more than once secured, but in that year a measure was passed without substantial opposition, which was approved by the governor July 2, and which provided for the appointment by the governor and council, of " ten practical and intelligent citizens, one from each county in the state, who shall constitute a Board of Agriculture, and hold their offices for three years." The persons appointed were authorized to meet, at such time and place as the first named might designate, choose a chairman, appoint a secretary, and prescribe his duties. The law provided that they should
20
NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.
" investigate such subjects in relation to improvements in agriculture and kindred arts as they shall think proper," also that they should " cause to be analyzed samples of such commercial fertilizers as may from time to time be offered for sale in this state, collect and dis- tribute grain and other seeds, keep full records of their proceedings," and also authorized them to " take, hold in trust for the state, and exercise control over, donations made for promoting agricultural education and the gen- eral interests of husbandry." It was also provided that they should solicit returns and reports from the different agricultural societies in the state, and furnish blanks for the purpose ; also that they should make a full report to the governor of all their doings, on or before the first day of May annually, with such recommendations and suggestions as in their judgment the interests of agricul- ture shall require, together with a detailed and explicit statement of all expenses incurred by them. It was expressly provided that the members of the board should receive no compensation for services, but should be entitled to receive their expenses necessarily incurred in the legitimate discharge of their duties.
Soon after the passage of the act, the governor and council appointed the following named gentlemen as members of the board provided for :
Merrimack county-Moses Humphrey, Concord.
Rockingham county-J. Frank Lawrence, Epping. Strafford county-Charles Jones, Milton.
Belknap county-Thomas J. Whipple, Laconia.
Carroll county-W. H. H. Mason, Moultonborough.
Hillsborough county-James O. Adams, Manchester. Cheshire county-Sampson W. Buffum, Winchester. Sullivan county-Edward H. Brown, Croydon. Grafton county-Luther B. Hoskins, Lyman. Coös county-Nathan R. Perkins, Jefferson.
21
STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.
In response to the proper call, these gentlemen, with the exception of the member from Belknap county, met in the council chamber, at the state house, and organ- ized with Hon. Moses Humphrey of Concord as chair- man, and James O. Adams of Manchester as secretary.
Subsequent meetings were held at Manchester, Sep- tember 7, and at Concord, October 14, at the latter of which a sub-committee was appointed to prepare and issue an address to the farmers of the state, which was done. The first public meeting of the board was held in Eagle hall, Concord, November 29 and 30, various topics of interest to farmers being discussed at the several sessions, by different speakers, including Hon. Simon Brown of Concord, Mass., Col. David M. Clough of Canterbury, J. F. Lawrence of Epping, S. C. Pattee and Levi Bartlett, of Warner, Joseph B. Walker of Con- cord, John L. Kelley of Franklin, Dr. W. H. H. Mason of Moultonborough, Hiram R. Roberts of Rollinsford, and many others. Other public meetings were held, during the ensuing winter, at Milford, Winchester, Keene, Lebanon, Derry, Chester, Meredith, and Exeter.
During each subsequent winter season a greater or less number of these public meetings, generally known as " Farmers' Institutes," have been held in different sections of the state, under the auspices of the board, the series for the last season, commencing early in the autumn of 1896, having been the most extended, the most generally attended, and by far the most profitable. At these meetings, generally, practical subjects, bear- ing directly upon the agriculture of the state, are taken up and presented at length by able speakers, specially qualified, and then opened to the meeting for general discussion as far as time will permit. For many years past it has been the practice of the board to hold a mid- summer field meeting (of late in connection with the
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