New Hampshire agriculture : personal and farm sketches, Part 5

Author: Metcalf, Henry Harrison, 1841-1932
Publication date: 1897
Publisher: Concord, N.H. : Republican Press Association
Number of Pages: 420


USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire agriculture : personal and farm sketches > Part 5


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16, 1866. He is the son of Samuel Hutson and Eunice (Buss) Caldwell, both parents dying before he was nineteen months old, leaving him to the care of a maiden aunt.


His preparatory education was received at the famous Allen Bros.' school, at West Newton, Mass. He en- tered the Massachusetts Agricultural College in the fall of 1883, graduating with high honors four years later, having been a leader in the class-room throughout his course, and being awarded the first Grinnell agricultural prize, under Major H. E. Alvord, then professor of agriculture.


From July, 1887, to April, 1888, he was assistant in field and feeding experiments, under Dr. Goesmann, at the Massachusetts state experiment station. In April, 1888, he assumed the position of instructor in agriculture at the Pennsylvania state college ; also assistant agri- culturist in the experiment station. In August, 1893, he was promoted to be assistant professor of agriculture, and assistant agriculturist. During the great World's Fair dairy tests he secured a leave of absence from the college, to act as superintendent of the Guernsey herd, and to represent the American Guernsey Cattle Club. In May, 1894, he resigned his position in Pennsylvania, having been elected secretary and treasurer of the Guernsey Cattle Club, and removed to " Clover Ridge Farm," in his native town, which he had purchased in 1889, and began breeding Guernseys on his own account.


This farm is delightfully located, about three fourths of a mile from the railroad station, and commanding a magnificent mountain view. It embraces 139 acres of natural grass land, twenty being in timber of fine quality, sixty in pasture, abundantly watered with fine springs, thirty in natural meadow well drained, and the balance in tillable upland. The orchard consists of over 100


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trees, a third of which have recently been set. The herd consists of butter bred cows, full blood and grade Guernseys. Mr. Caldwell says, " It is the dairy cow I am after, and I firmly believe in the advantages the Guernsey has, particularly in crossing with good butter COWS."


The herd of Guernseys has been selected for large pro- duction of rich milk. It was established by the selection of represent- atives of the choicest strains, and from the leading herds in the country. At the head of the herd has always been kept as fine a Guernsey as could be found in the country or imported from the Island. The herd shows the most remarkable characteristics of the Guernsey-the rich yel- WILLIAM H. CALDWELL. low skin which is so im- portant in the dairy, distinguishing the Guernsey above all breeds. They show the quiet and gentle temperament which is also characteristic of the breed. Careful records of the milk and butter-fat tests of each animal are kept. The milk and cream from the herd are sold at retail in the village, morning's milk being sold to the regular customers, and delivered in glass jars or in individual cans, as desired. The cream is taken from the evening's milk by means of the DeLaval separator. This is cooled and delivered the following morning to regular customers, or upon special order. The skim milk is


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used for raising the calves. The herd is at all times under the inspection of a veterinarian. The animals are not heavily fed for large records, but every means is taken to secure the health, cleanliness, and comfort of the animals.


One cow, which was a member of the World's Fair dairy test, made four hundred pounds of butter during a year. Each cow stands in a stall by herself, untied. The stalls are known as the Bidwell stall, and allow the animals great freedom and comfort. They are not wide enough for the animal to turn around in, yet give them plenty of room, and no danger of crowding or stepping on one another.


Not alone is the farm of interest from its Guernsey herd, but the office of the American Guernsey Cattle Club is located in one portion of the residence, where two clerks are busy handling the heavy mail and other work of the club. Here are found sketches and other data on file, regarding all Guernseys in this country, and from the office are issued many publications of interest to Guernsey workers, including the quarterly magazine known as the Herd Register and Breeders' fournal, of which Mr. Caldwell, as secretary of the club, has editorial charge.


There is to be found on the farm a good herd of the Large Improved English Yorkshire hogs, some of which were imported from Canada, and all trace to the best herds in England. Plymouth Rocks are the only fowl kept. In one house are found pens of White Plymouth Rocks, and in the other those of the Barred Plymouth Rock. These pens have been carefully mated, and present a very fine appearance.


Since his permanent location in his native state he has come much in contact with our agricultural leaders, and is frequently heard, upon dairy and kindred topics, at


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farmers' institutes and other gatherings, while he is often called abroad to participate in institute work. He is an active and interested member of the Grange, having been connected with the order since 1885. He had oversight of the Grange headquarters at the Bay State fair in Boston, in 1886.


Professor Caldwell has also written extensively for the agricultural press, and the results of his experimental


CLOVER RIDGE FARM.


work have been reported in the bulletins of the Massa- chusetts and Pennsylvania experiment stations. He is a Mason and a member of the Golden Cross.


December 25, 1888, he married Miss Jessie A. Rice, of North Hadley, Mass. The home is blessed by one son, born in 1893. His wife sympathizes with his tastes and is his efficient aid and co-laborer in office and edito- rial work.


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JOHN C. MORRISON,


BOSCAWEN.


Few men in Merrimack county are more widely or favorably known in agricultural circles, or by the gen- eral public, than John C. Morrison, of Boscawen. Mr. Morrison is a native of the town in which he resides, born July 18, 1837. His educational advantages were such as the district school afforded. Possessing an ambition to strike out for himself, at the age of nineteen he bought his time of his father, who was a farmer and lumberman, for $300, and engaged, in company with Joseph Eastman, of West Concord, in buying and clear- ing wood and timber lots in various towns of the county, continuing for a number of years. In later years he has been engaged with Davis & Sargent, of Lowell, in the lumber line, buying lots and clearing the same, the logs going down the Merrimack in the annual spring drive. Through his experience in this direction he has acquired a high reputation as a judge of the value of wood and timber lots, his accuracy in estimates being unsurpassed. To this fact was due, largely, his selection by the gov- ernor and council, in 1893, as a commissioner for the appraisement of unincorporated and other lands for taxa- ble purposes-a selection amply justified by faithful and conscientious discharge of duty.


The farm upon which Mr. Morrison resides, which is finely located upon the Merrimack river, was purchased by him, in company with an uncle, Joseph Wilson of Lowell, in 1870, the price being $10,500. It included 250 acres of land, easy of cultivation, and natural corn land. He has raised over 1,600 bushels of corn in a single season. He has two silos, of 180 tons capacity. His farming is of the mixed order ; though in company with a brother he has engaged quite extensively and 6


JOHN C. MORRISON.


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successfully in horse-breeding, which is still contin- ued.


In the order of Patrons of Husbandry Mr. Morrison has taken strong interest, and has been active in promot- ing its growth and prosperity. He has been three years master of Ezekiel Webster Grange, of Boscawen, and two years master of Merrimack County Pomona Grange. He was also for six years a district deputy for the State Grange. He has been actively interested from the start in the New Hampshire Grange Fair Association, of which he has been vice-president and also for several years a member of its executive com- mittee, and chairman of the same, and superintendent of the horse department at the annual exhibitions of the association, and has now been two years president.


In religion, Mr. Morrison is of the Baptist faith, and in politics he has been active as a Republican, having been for six years president of the town club. He has served for three years on the board of selectmen in Boscawen, and represented the town in the legislature of 1893, serving upon the committees on agriculture, and towns. He was also president of the council of agriculture, an organization composed of the farmers in the legislature, whose purpose it was to look carefully after the agricultural interests of the state in legislative matters. He is a member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows', Good Templars', and Red Men's organizations, and is a past grand of Contoocook Lodge No. 26, I. O. O. F., of Penacook, and a past chief templar.


February 3, 1866, Mr. Morrison was united in mar- riage with Miss Clara D. Simpson, by whom he has two daughters living-Mary Simpson, and Lena Mabel. The home life of the family is exceptionally pleasant, and the hospitality of the Morrison place is enjoyed by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.


FARM HOME OF JOHN C. MORRISON, BOSCAWEN.


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Though still making his home upon the Boscawen farm, and looking carefully after its management, Mr. Morrison has, recently, established a real estate agency in the thriving young city of Franklin, and, with his char- acteristic push and energy, is doing a prosperous business in that line.


HERBERT O. HADLEY,


TEMPLE.


Probably one of the best known agriculturists among the young men in southern New Hampshire is Mr. Herbert O. Hadley, of Temple. Mr. Hadley was born in Peter- borough, November 20, 1855, being the son of Harvey C. and Henrietta D. Hadley, the former being a farmer of moderate means and also a carpenter by trade. His parents removed to Sharon when he was quite young, where they resided until he was ten years of age, when they located in Temple, in which town he has lived ever since. The mother died a few years since, and the father still makes his home there when not at work at his trade, or visiting his elder son, Dr. C. H. Hadley, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr. Hadley has one sister, Miss Helen M. Hadley, who has been a teacher in the public schools as well as a teacher of music and painting, and she makes her home with him.


He was married January 12, 1879, to Nettie C., daughter of James E. Burton, a prominent farmer and lumber dealer of the same town. As the fruit of this union they have one daughter, Florence E., now nearly fourteen years of age.


Mr. Hadley has served his town in nearly every posi- tion of trust within the gift of the people. He was elected one of the selectmen three years in succession, receiving every vote cast at each election, and has been


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for a number of years, and still is, moderator for both town and school meeting. He was elected a representa- tive to the general court at the November election in 1894, although his party was far in the minority, and was a prominent member of that body, as well as secre- tary of the house committee on agriculture. His voice was often heard on the floor of the house, and in the committee rooms, in favor of any measure which he believed to be for the benefit of the farmer. At the close of the ses- sion he was invited to the room of the com- mittee, and was taken completely by surprise when one of the mem- bers, Mr. George E. Butler, of Haverhill, in a very pleasant speech, presented him with a beautiful gold- headed cane, properly engraved, as a token HERBERT O. HADLEY. of the esteem in which he was held by his


fellow-members of the committee.


Mr. Hadley has been for more than twenty years an active member of Miller Grange, No. 34, of Temple. He was master three years, and lecturer for a like period. He was also a district deputy of the State Grange three years. In December, 1895, he was chosen master of Hillsborough County Pomona Grange, and was also elected assistant steward of the State Grange. He is a member of the Dunster Hill Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Greenville.


HOME OF HERBERT O. HADLEY, TEMPLE.


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He has, in connection with his farm work, carried on a wholesale and retail meat business for the last sixteen years, and is a very successful auctioneer, being a grand nephew of the late T. K. Ames, of Peterborough, who for fifty years was the leading auctioneer of the state. He is a member and strong supporter of the Congrega- tional church, and in politics always a Democrat. His specialty in farming is raising milk for the Boston market, and he usually keeps thirty or more cows. He was one of the originators of the Temple & Greenville Telephone Co., and is secretary and treasurer of the same, having an office in his residence.


JAMES M. HAYES,


DOVER.


James M. Hayes, of Dover, was born at Sandwich, August 3, 1845. He is a direct descendant of Dea. John Hayes, of Dover, the first settler by that name, both on his father's and mother's side, she being Elizabeth, the daughter of Capt. John W. Hayes, of Barrington. Mr. Hayes's parents settled in Sandwich in 1837, and resided there until 1864, when they removed to Dover and pur- chased the farm where he now resides. He was edu- cated at the public schools and Beede's High School, Sandwich, and at Franklin Academy, Dover, and Bry- ant & Stratton's Commercial College, Providence, R. I. For about twelve years he taught in the public schools of Dover and Rochester winters, devoting his summers to his farm.


He was married to Miss Martha T. Jenness, March 24, 1869, who lived but fifteen months after their marriage, leaving one son, Jasper J., who resides on the farm with his father.


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Mr. Hayes has always taken much interest in agri- cultural and horticultural pursuits. He was a charter member of Cocheco Grange, was its first secretary, afterwards serving as lecturer and master of the same Grange. He was also secretary, lecturer, and master of Eastern New Hampshire Pomona Grange, and at the present time is serving his second term as member of the State Board of Agriculture for Strafford County. For a number of years he served as chairman of the General Fruit Com- mittee of the Ameri- can Pomological Soci- ety and is at present a director, and chairman of the Committee on Nomenclature of the New Hampshire Hor- ticultural Society. He has been a frequent contributor to the agri- cultural press, and now conducts the Farm and Grange department of the Dover Enquirer. In politics Mr. Hayes JAMES M. HAYES. is an active Republi- can. He has frequent- ly been honored officially by his fellow-citizens, having served as ward clerk, selectman, moderator, school committee, and representative, and is at present asses- sor-at-large and clerk of the Board of Assessors of the city of Dover. For many years Mr. Hayes has been connected with the fairs at Rochester and Tilton, in the secretary's office, and has acted as judge either in the fruit or vegetable department almost yearly.


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Mr. Hayes makes a specialty of market gardening and small fruits, and does quite a business raising vege- table plants under glass for the market. Of small fruits he raises mostly strawberries, selling plants quite largely in his vicinity. He believes that if farmers around our large towns would do more of such work, instead of devoting their time to the regular field crops, there would be less complaint from them of hard times.


JOSEPH DREW HOWE,


LANCASTER.


On one of the hills that adds so much to the beauty of Lancaster, are some of the best cultivated farms in the town, and on one of these farms resides Joseph D. Howe, Esq., highly esteemed for his intelligence, integrity, and devotion to the best interests of his native town. His farm is known as " Maple Hill farm," and there he was born September 17, 1841. Some of his ancestors were extensive land owners in Marlborough, Mass., and from that town his grandfather, Daniel Howe, came to this section of the country about 1780, and subsequently mar- ried Eunice, daughter of Gen. Edwards Bucknam, she being the first white child born in Lancaster. Mr. Howe's father, Joseph Howe, married Mahala Wood- bury, daughter of Jonathan Woodbury, of Concord, Vt., and settled on the farm above spoken of.


Mr. Howe was the youngest of a family of eight chil- dren. His parents were most excellent people, consci- entious in their discharge of duty, and they gave their children such educational advantages as their means and the times afforded. His studies were pursued in the district schools, at Lancaster Academy, and at New- bury, Vt. He taught several terms of school in winter with marked success, and he might have become an


JOSEPH DREW HOWE.


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educator had he devoted his talents to that pursuit. With the exception of two or three years passed in the West, railroading and as a private salesman, his life work has been on his farm, which embraces something more than 150 acres, and on which is a sugar orchard of 1,400 trees, the product being mostly syrup of the finest quality, and an apple orchard which, if not the very best, is unexcelled in Coös county. He has a fine herd of cows of three distinct breeds, all of high grade, and with which he has experimented, weighing the milk of each cow daily, and testing it thoroughly twice a month, and keeping a record that will be useful, as approximating to the real value of each breed for dairy purposes, under the conditions of food and climate here imposed.


Mr. Howe has served two years as a selectman of the town, being chairman of the board in 1893, and at the last town meeting was chosen for another year. He was elected to the legislature of the state in November, 1890, receiving a large majority of votes over all other candi- dates, and his service in the legislature was acceptable to his constituents. He was appointed by Governor Smith a member of the State Board of Agriculture, in August, 1893, and is still serving with credit in that capacity. He was also elected a member of the board of directors of the State Horticultural Society from Coos when the society was organized in 1893. But in none of the positions which he has occupied does Mr. Howe feel a more just pride than in his work as a member of the school board of the town, on which he has served six years, four years as chairman of the board, with great credit. He is a member of North Star Lodge, Chapter, and Commandery, F. A. M., to which order he is sincerely attached, and has taken the Scottish rite degrees to the 32d. In politics he is a Democrat, and


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liberal in his religious views. His honesty and business capacity are such that he settles a good many estates of those deceased, and in all the relations of life he endeav- ors to do his duty faithfully and well, and is therefore trusted and honored by his townsmen. He has been a member of Lancaster Grange, P. of H., for the last six years, and aided in the formation of the new Mount Prospect Grange, in that town.


He was united in marriage in 1863, with Miss Mary J. Tucker, of Saranac, N. Y., a woman every way worthy of him, and their domestic relations were happy until her death, April 8, 1894, leaving two sons, Carl Tucker and Joseph Bert, who remain with Mr. Howe upon the farm.


WILLIAM H. PERRY,


NEWPORT.


William H. Perry, son of Daniel and Fanny (Fiske) Perry, is one of the successful and prosperous farmers of the fine agricultural town of Newport. He was born October 12, 1840, on the farm where he now resides, and was educated in the district school and the acade- mies at Newport and Claremont. He served in Co. K, Ninth N. H. V., in the late war, and was wounded in battle. Returning, he settled on the old homestead, now known as " Maple Wood farm," on the " Green Mount- ain " road, about midway between the villages of New- port and Claremont, where he has since devoted himself industriously to agriculture. The farm is an original 100-acre lot, of which about forty acres is in timber. For the first fifteen years Mr. Perry was engaged largely in the rearing and breaking of steers, for which there was a ready market at remunerative prices.


During the last fifteen years dairying has been his specialty, with hogs as an accompaniment. He has a


RIVERSIDE STOCK FARM, NEWPORT-H. M. KIMBALL, MANAGER.


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fine fruit orchard, also raises corn quite extensively, which he regards as a good paying crop. He keeps a dozen cows and sells all his butter to one firm in New- port, and sells, also, from a ton to a ton and a half of pork per annum. A large maple sugar product is mar- keted, mostly at the West. He believes in farm machin- ery, keeps abreast with the times, and has an eye out for all improvements ; but takes little stock in commer- cial fertilizers, preferring to produce his own. He has a fine set of buildings, and his land is in an excellent state of cultivation, producing annually 40 tons of hay, 500 bushels of corn, and other crops. He received a diploma and medal for corn and beans exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago. Mr. Perry has been promi- nent in town affairs, serving as selectman, school com- mittee, and representative. He is also conspicuous in Masonic and G. A. R. circles, and was a representative of the latter at the National Encampment at St. Paul, in September, 1896. He attributes his success as a farmer to " stick-to-ativeness," and deprecates the vacillating policy so generally followed.


RIVERSIDE STOCK FARM-NEWPORT.


H. M. KIMBALL, MANAGER.


The cut on the opposite page, presents a view of the buildings upon one of the best known stock farms in the state-the " Riverside " farm at Newport, located in the beautiful valley of the Sugar river, about one mile east of the charming village of Newport, which is one of the most beautiful places in the state, and situated in a fine agricultural region.


This farm embraces about 650 acres of land, and is admirably adapted for the use to which it has been put- the breeding and rearing of gentlemen's first-class driv-


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ing and road horses, of which there are about sixty now on hand, including fine specimens of the Wilkes, Elec- tioneer, and Lambert strains.


The proprietor is E. D. Kimball of Watertown, Mass., a wealthy business man, while the management is in the hands of his brother, H. M. Kimball, who resides on the farm. There is a good half-mile track on the place, where the horses have been trained in the past to a greater or less extent. Of late, however, no training is being done at home ; but several good animals from the farm have been handled by professional trainers at Mystic.


A good many prize animals have been sent out from this farm, and in 1893, it will be remembered, a large string of premiums was captured by its superior exhibit at the Grange State fair at Tilton.


While it is undoubtedly true that there will never be a time in the future when there will be so great a demand for ordinary horses as has been the case in the past, the time will never come when there will not be a fair demand for well-bred, reliable driving horses, combining the qualities of kindly disposition, endurance, and spirit, such as are raised upon this farm.


WILLIAM P. BALLARD,


CONCORD.


A representative New England farm home, wherein comfort and content abide, is that of William P. Ballard, on the "Long Pond " road, about two and one half miles north-west of the state house in Concord. The farm embraces about two hundred acres of land, fifty being mowing and tillage and the balance pasture and wood- land. It was originally settled by Nathan Ballard, in 1792, when his son Nathan, into whose hands it subse- quently passed, was seventeen years old. John Ballard,


ليميل


HOME OF W. P. BALLARD, CONCORD.


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NEW HAMPSHIRE AGRICULTURE.


son of the latter, and the youngest of thirteen children born on the farm, succeeded in its proprietorship, and has passed an industrious and honorable life in its man- agement and in performing well the manifold duties of good citizenship ; and now, at the age of seventy-eight years, with his estimable wife, Hannah D., daughter of the late Reuben Abbott, of Concord, enjoys a respite from active labor.


William P. Ballard is an only son, but has two sisters living. He was born on the old farm, Sept. 18, 1848. He attended the New Hampshire College of Agricult- ure and the Mechanic Arts at Hanover, from which he graduated in 1871, in the first class ever graduating from that institution. On December 2, 1875, he married Mary E. Bart- lett, of Merrimack, a successful teacher, by whom he has three WILLIAM P. BALLARD. children living, a son and two daughters. Another son was born to them, but died in infancy.




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