USA > New Hampshire > The history of New-Hampshire. Comprehending the events of one complete century and seventy-five years from the discovery of the River Pascataqua to the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety, Vol 3 > Part 7
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The fugar, thus extracted from the maple, is clear gain to the induftrious hufbandman. It is made at a time of the year when no field labor can be done. The ground is then covered with fnow, which be- ing hardened by the froft, will bear a man's weight. One man and a boy have collected a fufficiency of fap for five hundred pounds of fugar, and a man, with two boys, for feven hundred. The boiling is often performed by women. Thefe trees are found in many parts of the country ; but they abound moft in the lands between the White mountains and Connecticut river. The wood is very fuitable for the ufe of carpenters, who make of it felloes of wheels, where oak cannot eafily be procured, as is the cafe in a great extent of country in the north- weftern part of the ftate.
Of Ath we have two fpecies. 1. The White Afh ( fraxinus excelfior) in good land, grows to the fize of three feet in diameter. It is very tall, ftraight and tough. Its leaves and bark are an antidote to the venom of the rattle-fnake. The wood is eafily riven, and makes durable rails for fences. It is al- fo formed into oars and handfpikes, and ferves for the frames of ploughs, carts, fleighs, and riding car- riages, and for the handles of many ufeful tools in agricultural and mechanical employments. 2. The other fpecies is Black Afh ( fraxinus americana) of which the Red and Yellow are varieties. Splints of
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the wood of Afh are obtained by pounding it with a maul, and are employed in making bafkets and . brooms. This knowledge was probably derived from the Indians. The roots of yellow Ath, are ufed by turners, for the making of plates and bowls.
After going through the catalogue of foreft trees, it may be proper to obferve, that all woods, which grow on high land, are more firm and folid, and better for timber or fewel, than thofe which grow in fwamps. The fame difference may generally be obferved between thofe in the open grounds, and thofs in the thick thade of the foreft. The pine is an exception to this remark ; but whether the im- menfe age or fuperior ftature of the foreft pine be the caufes which render it more firm than that which is found in the paftures, cannot at prefent be afcertained.
From feveral experiments made by the Count de BUFFON, it appears that the wood of trees, ftripped of their bark in the fpring, and left to dry ftanding. till they are dead, is harder, heavier and ftronger, more folid and durable than that of trees felled in their bark; and that the fappy part of wood, with- out bark, is not only ftronger than the common, buti much more fo than the heart of wood in bark, though lefs heavy. The phyfical caufe of this aug- mentation of ftrength and folidity he thus explains. ' Trees increafe in fize by additional coats of new ' wood, which is formed from the running fap be- ' tween the bark and the old wood. Trees ftripped ' of their bark, form none of thefe new coats, and ' though they live after the bark is taken off they do
' not grow. The fubftance deftined to form the ' new wood, finding itfelf ftopped and obliged to ' fix in the void places both of the fap and heart, 'augments the folidity and confequently the ftrength 'of the wood.'*
* Nat. Hist. Vol. v. p. 267. It must be observed that his experiment were made on oaks.
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Befide the immenfe quantity of living wood with which the foreft abounds, nature hath provided an ample ftore of that foffil, ligneous fubftance called peat. It appears to be formed of the deciduous parts of trees and fhrubs, preferved in a peculiar manner, in the earth. It is ufually found in fwamps between or under hills, where it has been accumulating for many ages. The decayed vegetation of one peri- od having ferved as a foil in which another growth has taken root and come to maturity. In the town of Dover are two fwamps, which, within the laft twenty-five years, have been cleared of the ftumps and roots of the lateft growth, which were pine and hemlock. In digging them up, another tier of ftumps was found under them, the roots of which were found ; and in fome inftances a third ftump appeared under the fecond. In fuch fwamps is found the peat ; in which the fhape of twigs, bark and leaves is very apparent ; but on preffure it is confolidated into a foft fatty fubftance. This being dug in fpits of a proper fize, and dried, becomes valuable fewel; of which, though at prefent little ufe is made, yet pofterity will doubtlefs reap the benefit .**
"* I very much doubt your doctrine of peat. It appears to me to be a substance sue ' generis. Deciduous parts of trees and shrubs are often found mixed with it. But its "inflammable property, I conceive, does not depend on the mere adventitious collections of ' decayed vegetables ; for although peat is found in places favourable to such collections, 'yet it is not found in every place where those collections have been made. Besides, in " all the peat I have examined, there are numerous fibres of a singular construction, va- ' riously ramified ; in some kinds they are extremely fine, in others as large as a pack " thread. When the peat is first taken from the pit, the threads may be traced a consid- 'erable length, and, when washed, they have an appearance which has induced me to ' suspect a vegetable organization. If they are a living vegetable, they scem to form the ' link between the vegetable and fossil kingdom. It seems most probable, if those ' fibres are not vegetable sui generis, they may be thie fibrous roots of a bed of some par- ' ticular species of moss, upon which there has been a large collection of matter, which ' has buried them a certain depth under ground, where they are not subject to putre- ' faction. But there seems to be an inflammable fossil in the composition of peat, differ- ' ent from the earth commonly found in similar places. I am told some peat appears to ' be entirely a fossil, though I have never seen any such. It is as easy to conceive of such ' a fossil as of pit-coal. If the fossil contains the inflammable principle, it is not derived ' from deciduous vegetables. Have you never heard of its growing again where it has ' been dug out ? One of my neighbours has often told me that a ditch was dug through a ' meadow in his farin, many years ago, where there is a body of peat ; that the depth of
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It is not my intention to write, fyftematically, the natural hiftory of the country, or to defcribe, with botanical accuracy, the indigenous vegetables which it contains ; but briefly to take notice of fuch as are endowed with the moft remarkable qualities, either falutary or noxious.
Of Grapes we have two fpecies. The black grape (vitis labrufca) and the fox-grape (vitis vulpina.) Of thefe there are feveral varieties. From the fpeci- mens of foreign grapes, which ripen in our gardens, there is fufficient reafon to believe that the culture of vines, in favorable fituations, might be attended with fuccefs. This opinion is corroborated by the judgment of foreigners, occafionally refident with us.
The black Currant ( ribes nigrum) is a native of our fwamps, and is much improved by culture. It is not much ufed as food, but is an excellent medi- cine for a fore mouth and throat.
The wild Goofeberry (ribes grofularia) is very com- mon in the borders of woods, and has been greatly meliorated by cultivation.
We have feveral fpecies of Whortleberries ( vacci- miu! corymbofim) which grow in great abundance and farve as wholefoine and palatable food; fome of them are dried for winter.
The Craneberry (vaccinium oxycoccos) is a fruit pe- culiar to America. The common fpecies grows on a creeping vine in meadows. The branches of the vine take root at the joints, and overfpread the ground to the extent of an acre. The berries hang on very flender flalks. At firtl they are white, but turn red as they ripen, and when full grown, are of
' the ditch exceeded the depth of the peat ; and that the peat has pushed out on both ' sides so as nearly to meet in the center, but the sides of the ditch above and below, re- ' main much the same, except some little change, which the length of time has produced. ' I have not seen the place ; but were I assured of this fact, I should be inclined to be- ' heve the fibres to be living vegetables, and the fossil to be possessed of the property of spar, with regard to the increase of its bulk ; and that these two substances were mu- " tually dependent on each other.' AIS. letter of Dr. Cutler.
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the fize of a cherry. They yield an agreeable acid juice, and, when ftewed and made into a jelly, are ex- tremely cooling in a fever, and a delicious fauce at the table. They may be kept a long time in water, and fuffer no injury from the froft. They are fre- quently fent abroad, and are highly refrething at fca. The beft way to preferve them for long voy- ages, is to put them up, clean and dry, in bottles, clofely corked. There is another fpecies of crane- berry, which grows in clufters on a bufh, but it is not fo large nor fo com mon as the other.
: The common Rafpberry (rubus idus) is found in the moft exuberant plenty in the new plantations, and in the old, by the fides of fields and roads. The fuperb rafpberry (rubus canadenfis) is larger and more delicate. Its bloffom is purple, and its leaves are fometimes a foot in diameter.
The Brambleberry (rubus occidentalis. ) The run- ning Blackberry (rubus moluccanus.) The upright Blackberry (rubus frutiofus) are alfo very common, efpecially in the newly cleared land, and afford an agreeable refrefhment.
The Strawberry ( fragaria vefca) in fome parts of the country, is very luxuriant in new fields and paftures ; but it is capable of great improvement by cultivation.
The Hazle-nut (corylus avellana) is found in the neglected parts of paftures, and by the fides of rivers. 1
There are two fpecies of Ground-nuts. One (he- lian thus tuberofus) bears a yellow bloffom, refembling the funflower. The other (glicine apios) is a vine, which twines itfelf about bufhes, and bears a blof- fom and fruit refembling a pea. The roots were much ufed for food by the Indians, and are indeed very palatable. I know not whether they have been cultivated ; but the former might be planted like the potatoc.
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Befides thefe, there are feveral kinds of plums, and other wild fruits, which have not been reduced to a fyftematical order, nor diftinguifhed by any but trivial names.
There is a great variety of native vegetables, which are ufed for medicinal and domeftic purpofes. A- mong thefe may be reckoned the following :
The Bayberry (myrica cerifera) the leaves of which yield an agreeable perfume, and the fruit a delicate green wax, which is made into candles. Ginfeng (panax trifolium) fo much efteemed by the Chinefe, is found in great plenty in the weftern part of the State, and it is faid that the farther northward it is found, the better is its quality. It was formerly thought that the ginfeng grew only in China and Tartary ; but it was difcovered in America about the year 1750, and fome fpecimens of it having been fent to England, and thence to China, it was, on trial, acknowledged, by the Chinefe themfelves, to be the fame with the oriental ginfeng.
The proper time for gathering this root, is in September, juft before the froft kills the ftem. The way of curing it in China, is thus related. ' After ' the ginfeng is gathered, it is cleaned, then dipped ' in fcalding water, and the ligneous bark rubbed
' off with a piece of dry flannel. It is then laid ' acrofs fticks, over a veffel, in which yellow millet* ' is boiling, with a gentle fire, and covered with a ' cloth. The fteam of the boiling millet gives it ' that colour which is admired by the Chinefe. " When the roots are thus prepared, they muft be ' dried and kept clofe, otherwife they will corrupt
'or be deftroyed by worms.' This root once prom- ifed to be a valuable article of commerce with Chi- na ; but the fale of it has been greatly injured by
* Millet is very easily cultivated, and yields a vast increase. I have counted ten thousand grains on one stalk.
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the loofe and carelefs manner in which it has been packed, and the too great quantity which has been at once exported. It might however, by fome proper regulations, be ftill rendered advantageous.
The prickly afh (its genus unknown) is a fhrub, growing in moift places, and fometimes rifing into a fmall tree. It is armed with fpicule, like the locuft. The bark has a high degree of warmth and pungency ; with which, in the feed, is combined an agreeable aroma. The former is efteemed an ex- cellent remedy for the chronic rheumatifm. The latter were ufed by the foldiers, in the late war, and by many other people, remote from the trading towns, as a fubftitute for pepper in feafoning food. It is chiefly found in the weftern part of the State.
The Garget (phytolacca decandra) is a valuable plant. Its berries yield a beautiful purple juice, which might be ufed in dying. Its root is in great repute among farriers.
Of the Elder there are two fpecies, black ( fam- buccus nigra ) and red (viburnum opulus. ) The former 1 is too well known to need any defcription ; as are the Maiden-hair (adianthus pedatuus) the Sarfaparilla (aralia) Snake root ( polygala fenega) and many others. 1
There are feveral plants, the virtues of which were well known to the Indians, but are now either neglected or unknown. One of thefe is a running vine, bearing a fmall red berry, and a round leaf, which Joffelyn (who wrote in 1672) fays, the fifh- ermen called poke ;* it is known to the hunters by the name of Indian tobacco, and it was ufed by the natives, before their acquaintance with the Euro- peans, for fmoaking, and afterwards was frequently mixed with the true tobacco from the fouthern parts of America. It has a ftrong narcotic quality. It
* Poke is the name by which the garget is known in the middle States.
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grows on the fummit of Agamenticus ; and on many other mountains and dry elevated places.
Another is the Indian Hemp (afclepias) of which the Indians made their bow-ftrings. The fibres of its bark are ftrong, and may be wrought into a fine thread. The Silk Grafs, another fpecies of the af- clepias, bears a pod, containing a down, which may be carded and fpun into candle wicks.
The Witch Hazel (hamamelis) was much ufed by the Indians, as a remedy for inflammations.
We have at leaft three fpecies of the lobelia ; one of which is a ftrong emetic ; another (lobelia cardi- nalis) is employed in the cure of a difeafe, with the name of which I will not ftain my page.
The vine, called Buck Bean (menyanthes) is faid to be a rare plant in this country, and of fingular ufe in medicine. It grows at Jaffrey, near the grand Monadnock.
The arum, or Skunk Cabbage, has been found ve- ry efficacious in afthmatic complaints.
It may be proper to clofe this account of indige- nous vegetables, with the names of thofe plants, which, under certain circumftances, operate as poifons ; fome of which, however, have been brought into a medicinal ufe, and are in repute for the cure of diforders, attended with fpafinodic affec- tions. Of this latter fort, are the Hemlock (cicuta) the Thorn Apple (datura Stramonium) the Henbane (byofcyamus niger) and the night fhade (Solanum ni- grum.) Other poifonous plants, are the Ivy (hedera helex) the creeping Ivy, or, as it is called by fome, Mercury (rhus radicans) the juice of which itains linen a deep and indelible black ; the Swamp Su- mach (rhus toxico dendrum) the Walter Elder (vibur- num opulus) the herb Christopher (altaa picata) the Stinking Snakeweed (cliffortia trifoliata) and the White Hellebore (veratrum album.)
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CHAP. IX.
Soil, Cultivation and Husbandry.
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"THERE is a great variety of foil in New- Hampfhire. The intervale lands on the large rivers, are accounted the moft valuable, because they are overflown and recruited every year by the water from the uplands, which brings down a fat flime or fediment, of the confiftence of foap. Thefe lands produce every kind of grain in the utmoft perfec- tion ; but are not fo good for pafture as the uplands of a proper quality. The wide fpreading hills of a moderate elevation, are generally much efteemed, as warm and rich ; rocky moift land is accounted good for pafture ; drained fwamps have a deep mellow foil, and the valleys between hills are gen- erally very productive.
In the new and uncultivated parts, the foil is dif- tinguithed by the various kinds of woods which grow upon it, thus : White oak land is hard and ftony, the under growth confifting of brakes and fern ; this kind of foil will not bear grafs till it has been ploughed and hoed ; but it is good for Indian corn, and muft be fubdued by planting, before it can be converted into mowing or pafture. The fame may be faid of chefnut land.
Pitch pine land is dry and fandy ; it will bear corn and rye with ploughing ; but is foon worn out, and needs to lie fallow two or three years to recruit.
White pine land is alfo light and dry, but has a deeper foil, and is of courfe better ; both thefe kinds of land bear brakes and fern ; and wherever thefe
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grow in large quantities, is is an indication that ploughing is neceffary to prepare the land for grafs.
Spruce and hemlock, in the caftern parts of the State, denote a thin, cold foil, which, after much labor in the clearing, will indeed bear grafs with- out ploughing, but the crops are fmall, and there is a natural tough fward commonly called a rug, which muft either rot or be burned before any cultivation can be made. But in the weftern parts, the fpruce and hemlock, with a mixture of birch, denote a moift foil, which is excellent for grafs.
When the white pine and the oyl-nut are found in the fame land, it is commonly a deep moift loam, and is accounted very rich and profitable.
Beech and maple land is generally efteemed the moft eafy and advantageous for cultivation as it is a warm, rich, loamy foil, which eafily takes grafs, corn and grain without ploughing ; and not only bears good crops the firft year, but turns immedi- ately to mowing and pafture; that foil which is deepeft, and of the darkeft colour, is efteemed the beft.
Black and yellow birch, white afh, elm and alder, are indications of good foil, deep, rich and moift, which will adinit grafs and grain without plough- ing.
Red oak and white birch are figns of ftrong land, and generally the strength of land is judged of by the largenefs of the trees which it produces.
There are evident figns of a change in the growth on the fame foil, in a courfe of time ; for which no caufes can be affigned. In fome places the old ftanding trees, and the fallen decayed trees, appear to be the fame, whilft the moft thriving trees are of a different kind. For inftance, the old growth in fome places is red oak, or white afh ; whilft the other trees are beech and maple, without any young
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oak or afh among them. It is probable that the growth is thus changed in many places ; the only conclufion which can be drawn from this circum- ftance, is, that the fame foil is capable of bearing divers kinds of trees ; but ftill there is a difference fufficient to denominate the foil from the growth ..
Several ways of raifing a crop on new land have been practifed. The eafieft and cheapeft method was originally learned of the Indians, who never looked very far forward in their improvements. The method is that of girdling the trees ; which is done by making a circular incifion through the bark, and leaving them to die ftanding. This ope- ration is performed in the fummer, and the ground is fowed in Auguft, with winter rye, intermixed with grafs. The next year, the trees do not put forth leaves, and the land having yielded a crop, becomes fit for pafture. This method helps poor fettlers a little the firft year ; but the inconvenience of it is, that if the trees are left ftanding, they are continually breaking and falling with the wind, which endangers the lives of cattle ; and the ground being conftantly encumbered by the falling trees, is lefs fit for mowing ; fo that if the labor be not effectually done at once, it muft be done in a fuc- ceffion of time.
Some have fuppofed, that the earth, being not at once, but by degrees expofed to the fun, preferves its moifture, and does not become fo hard ; but the experience of the beft hufbandmen has exploded this opinion. The more able fort 'of hufbandmen, therefore, choofe the method of clearing the land at firft, by cutting down all the trees without exception. The moft eligible time for this operation, is the month of June, when the fap is flowing, and the leaves are formed on the trees. Thefe leaves will not drop from the fallen trees, but remain till the
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next year, when, being dry, they help to fpread the fire, which is then fet to the trees. This is done in the firft dry weather of the fucceeding fpring, and generally in May ; but if the ground be too dry, the fire will burn deep, and greatly injure the foil. There is therefore need of judgment to determine when the wood is dry enough to burn, and the foil wet enough to refift the action of the fire. Much depends on getting what is called a good burn, to prepare the ground for planting. To enfure this, the fallen trees are cut and piled ; and the larger the pile, the better chance there is for its being well burned. But if the land be intended for pafture only, the trees are cut down, and after the fire has deftroyed the limbs, grafs is fown, and the trunks of the trees are left to rot, which, in time, turn to good manure, and the pafture is durable.
Some hufbandmen prefer felling trees in the win- ter, or very early in the fpring, before the fnow is gone. The advantage of this method is, that there are fewer fhoots from the ftumps of the felled trees, than if they are cut in the fummer ; thefe fhoots encumber the ground, and muft be cut out of the way, or deftroyed by fire. The difadvantage of cutting trees in the winter is, that they will not dry fo foon, nor burn fo well, as thofe cut in the fum- mer, with the leaves on. Befides, the month of June is a time when not only the trees are eafieft to be cut, but the feed is in the ground, and people can bet- ter attend to this labor, than when they are preparing for their fpring work, or have not finifhed their winter employments. The days too are then at their greateft length, and more labor can be done in the courfe of a day. This labor, however, is often paid for by the acre, rather than by the day ; and the price of felling an acre, is from one to two dollars, according to the number and fize of the trees.
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The burning of trees generally deftroys the limbs and fmaller trunks ; the larger logs are left fcorch- ed on the ground, and fometimes ferve to fence the field. After the fire has had its effect, and is fuc- ceeded by rain, then is the time for planting. No plough is ufed, nor is it poffible for one to pafs among the roots and ftumps ; but holes are made with a hoe in the loofe foil and afhes ; in which, the feed being dropped and covered, is left to the prolific hand of nature ; no other culture being ne- ceffary or practicable, but the cutting of the fire- weed, which fpontaneoufly grows on all burnt land. This fireweed is an annual plant, with a fucculent ftalk and long jagged leaf ; it grows to the height of five or fix feet, according to the ftrength of the
afhes. It bears a white flower, and has a winged feed, which is carried every where by the wind, but never vegetates, except on the afhes of burnt wood. It exhaufts the ground, and injures the firft crop, if it be not fubdued ; but after the fecond year difap- pears. About the fecond or third year, another weed, called pigeon-berry, fucceeds the fireweed, and remains till the grafs overcomes it. It rifes to the height of three feet, fpreads much at the top, and bears bunches of black berries, on which pig- eons feed.
When the trees are burnt later in the fummer, wheat or rye is fown, mixed with the feeds of grafs, on the new land. The feed is fcattered on the fur- face, and raked in with a wooden or iron tooth rake, or a hoe. The hufbandman knows on what kind of land to expect a crop, from this mode of culture ; and is feldom difappointed. Sometimes a crop of Indian corn is raifed the firft year, and another of rye or wheat, the fecond year, and the land is fown with grafs, which will turn it into pafture or mow- ing the third year. The firft crop, in fome land,
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and the two firft crops in any good land, will repay the expenfe of all the labor. It is not an uncom- mon thing for people, who are ufed to this kind of hufbandry, to bring a tract of wildernefs into grafs for the two firft crops ; the owner being at no ex- penfe but that of felling the trees and purchafing the grafs feed. Many hufbandmen, in the old towns, buy lots of new land, and get them cleared and brought into grafs, in this way, and pafture great numbers of cattle ; the feed is excellent, and the cattle are foon fatted for the market.
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