USA > New York > Suffolk County > Riverhead > Bi-centennial : history of Suffolk County, comprising the addresses delivered at the celebration of the bi-centennial of Suffolk County, N.Y., in Riverhead, November 5, 1883 > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14
WINTER WHEAT .- The State produced 9,017,737 bushels ; Suffolk County produced 182, 867.
POTATOES. - The State produced 36,639,601 bushels; Suffolk County produced 405, 237.
Number of cattle slaughtered in the State,
85,57I
" Suffolk County, 889
hogs
in the State,
521,490
" Suffolk County, 11,585
121,184,622
Gross sales of farm produce in the State, -
$121, 187,467
" Suffolk County, 1,019,617
Apples produced in the State, bushels
= " Suffolk County, bushels
23, 118, 230 308,315
Poultry sold in the State, value " Suffolk County, value 65,572 2,513, 144
$1,772,084
Eggs sold in the State, value " Suffolk County, value
118,049
Two counties sold more poultry, and two only, viz. : .
Dutchess County sold $77, 188; Queens County sold $88,403.
Onondaga sold eggs in value next to Suffolk, and to the amount of $91,818.
Suffolk County, improved lands, 66 unimproved lands, 332,685
66
66
Pork made in the State, lbs.,
" Suffolk County, lbs. 2,708,759
46
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
A careful comparison of these tables show results not unfavorable to the agriculture of Suffolk County, and the averages of crops of the State and county are these:
AVERAGES OF STATE. AND COUNTY PRODUCTION COMPARED.
Bushels per acre.
Bushels per acre.
Corn, New York State,
32.
Suffolk County,
35.
Barley,
22.
25.
Oats,
66
28.
28.
Rye,
66
II.
Potatoes, 66
IO2.
.
96.
Hay,
66
I ton.
66
I ton.
Hogs,
66
223 lbs.
233 lbs.
All fractions are rejected in the foregoing figures.
Suffolk County contained in value one-seventieth of all the farm build- ings, exclusive of dwellings in the State of New York. Its farmers owned in round numbers one-eightieth of all the farm tools and machinery in the State. They purchased one-sixth of all the fertilizers purchased in the State. The value of the stock in the county was over one-eightieth part of all owned in this State. ' The acres mown to feed that stock was less than one-hundredth of all mown in the State, and the average cut of hay was within a fraction of the State average per acre. The number of cattle slaughtered in the county was over one-hundredth of all slaughtered in the State. The pork made in the county was over one-fiftieth of all made in the State, and the average weight of hogs in the county beat the State average ten pounds. Of all the corn raised in this State, Suffolk County produced over one-fortieth; of winter wheat over one-fiftieth, and of pota- toes about one-ninetieth. The proportion of oats raised in the county was about one hundred and thirty-fifth of the State production. It was thought Suffolk County would be. a poor county for the production of fruit, and yet the apple crop of the county was over one-eightieth of the whole State production. In the amount of poultry sold Suffolk County stands third in the list of counties in New York State. 'In the value of eggs sold this county stands first, beating every county, and beating Onondaga by over $26,000.
The results of the oat crop of the county as reported in the tables were a disappointment to me. I knew that in 1865 our average and aggregate product put this county among the foremost. Why in 1875 it was among the hindmost seemed unaccountable. The census of 1875 reports the pro- duct of 1874. Consulting my record of 1874, I found that I had ten acres in oats. I remembered that the crop never promised better for from 50 to 60 bushels per acre than then. I threshed 50 bushels, and the army worm threshed the rest. That clears the mystery. The loss on oats that year in the best oat region of the county on the south shore was ten times more than the amount harvested. Generally in my section none were threshed. In round numbers 10,000 acres were sown in the county. I estimate the loss by the army worm to be not less than 100,000 bushels, of the value of 55 cents per bushel, and in the aggregate $55,000. This loss should be credited to the county in any fair calculation of averages with other coun- ties not so ravaged. This is pre-eminently the age of criticism. Moses and the Pentateuch are questioned. . All the old foundations are pried up to see if they have good corner-stones. Men build capitols, and monu- ments, and bridges, and hotels by the job, covering up vast frauds. Prac-
47
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
tical men, and literary men, and mechanics, and the professions, believe nothing until it is demonstrated. The whole earth is a war of question and denial and call for proof. I anticipate this question: If Suffolk County is the purchaser of one-third of all the fertilizers sold in the State in 1865, and one-sixth in 1875, it must be a poor county; if not, why not? Other counties purchase little or none, while Suffolk is so poor it must purchase to produce, and unless the production is increased so as to pay the cost of fertilizers, Suffolk County is still in arrears. All that may be said regard- ing the necessity of restoring fertilizers to a soil long abused by the skin- ning process in this old county and the like necessity that will come to other counties will avail nothing. All that may be said showing that feed- ing produce to animals on the farm while in the main good farming lessens the amount of sales and apparent profit, will avail nothing. More largely than in other counties Suffolk fed on the farm the hay, corn, oats and roots, and sold proportionately more meat, lessening not really but appar- ently her farming profits. All this is apparent, but still the demand comes and must be met or avoided.
The excess and value of county over State averages may be thus stated for 1865:
Acres.
Total.
Price per bush.
Value.
Corn, 7 bushels,
16,460 1-4
115,221 3-4
$1 00
$115,221 75
Wheat, 5
10, 563 1-4
52,816 1-4
2 60
137,322 25
Oats, 9
10,945
98,505
0 80
78,804 00
Rye, 8
5,353
42,824
I IO
47,106 40
Barley, 12
498
5,976
I IO
6,573 60
Turnips, 75 “
689
51,675
40
20,670 00
The like excess for 1875.
Acres.
Total.
Price per bush.
Corn, 3 bushels,
16,304
48,932
$1 00
$48,932 00
Wheat, 3
9,388
28, 164
I 25
35,205 00
Barley, 3
186
568
1 00
568 00
Rye, 1
4,333
4,333
1 00
4,333 00
Apples I
trees 130,406
130,406
0 50
65,203 00
Loss on oat crop by army worm,
55,000 00 .
Total value of county excess, Add for permanent improvement of land by fertilizers,
$614,939 00
100,000 00
Total,
$714,939 00
Deduct for less county average.
Acres.
Total.
Price.
1865.
Potatoes 13 bu. 3,439 1-2
44,713 1-2
$0 80
$35,770 80
1875.
6 " 4,208
25, 248
0 50
12,624 00
Total to deduct,
$48,394 80 $666,545 20
Balance of county over State production,
Cost of fertilizers in 1865, $294,429 40
" 1875,
316,737 00
Amounting to
611,266 40
·
·
Balance credit to the county over the State average after
deducting cost of all fertilizers, $55,278 80 In this calculation I have disregarded the item of fertilizers purchased
48
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
by other counties and have under-estimated the amount of permanent im- provement which I believe the land derived from the large application of fertilizers. No account is made of any extra straw or stalks thereby grown, and none of the extra market value of Long Island potatoes. All these items in the statement would make it still more favorable to the county, and would add force to the demonstration that Suffolk County can afford to purchase, and actually profits by the large application of fertilizers. It is usually the farmer who purchases judiciously the most manure who makes the most profit.
J. H. Wardle, Esq., has kindly sent in advance sheets of the census of 1880, from which I give these figures:
No. of farms in the State of New York, Suffolk County,
3,379
" " acres improved in the State,
17,717,862
" " County,
156,223
unimproved in the State,
6,062,892
" " County,
152,694
66
woodland in the State,
5,195,795
" ." County,
134,836
Value of farms in the State,
$1,056,176,74 I
" " County,
17,079,652
66 " farm tools and machinery in the State,
42,592,74 I
" live stock in State,
117, 868,283
" County, " fertilizers purchased in State,
2,715,477
" County,
272, 134
" farm productions in State,
178,025, 695
"
66
" County,
2, 198,079
Bushels.
Acres.
Barley, in the State,
7,792,062
356,629
" County,
5,459
199
Acres.
Bushels.
Indian corn, in the State,
779, 272
25, 690, 156
County,
18,097
624,407
Oats, in the State,
1,261,17I
37,575,506
County,
9,556
311,58I
Rye, in the State,
244,923
2,634, 690
County,
3,931
47,47I
Wheat, in the State,
736,61I
11, 587,766
County,
5,660
182,537
Area mown acres.
crop, tons.
County,
40, III
Numbers poultry.
6,448,886, Eggs produced, in the State,
dozens
31,958,739
160,173,
" Suffolk County,
910, 848
214,595,
" Erie
1, 116, 19I
194,950, 66
" Cayuga
932,947
183,395,
" Oneida
1,008,330
204,295,
" Onondaga " 66
972,206
Hay, State,
4,644,452 . 33, 197
5,255,642
" " County,
563, 225
1,359,947
241,058
49
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
199, 840, Eggs produced in St. Lawrence Co. ,doz.
1,073,385
21,7,826, " Steuben. Co.
1,037,509
Acres.
Bushels.
Irish potatoes, State
340,536
33,644,807
County,
3,796
493,078
Orchard products value, State
County $8,409,794
17,248
Market garden products sold, State value
4,211,64,2
Co.
118,293
Amount of cord-wood cut.
State, 4, 187, 942. County, 34, 228.
Value of fruit products sold.
State, $8,759, 90I.
County, $127, 960.
The results of the figures of the census of 1880, are these. The area of farms in the State averages over acres,
73
County
. measured by the acres of improved lands .. 45
Less than one-hundredth of all the improved lands in the State lie in Suffolk County, yet the county has nearly one-seventieth in number of all the farms, showing thereby a more general distribution of land among the masses of people. Suffolk County contains about one-fortieth part of all the unimproved lands in the State, and a fraction over that proportion of all the woodlands. The farms of this county in value aggregate over one sixty-second part of the whole State valuation.
Suffolk County owns over one-eightieth part of the farm tools and ma- chinery in the State, and over one-eightieth in value of all live stock in the State. Suffolk County purchased over one-tenth of all the fertilizers pur- chased in the State. The aggregate farm production of the county was over one-eightieth of all produced in the State. . This county raised over one-fortieth of all the corn raised in the State, nearly one-hundreth part of all the oats; over one-sixtieth of all the rye, and over one sixty-fourth of all the wheat. Suffolk County mowed. less than one-hundred and fortieth of all the acres mown in the State. It produced nearly the one-hundred and thirty-first of all the hay crop cut. The State average per acre was a little over one and one-tenth tons, and the county average per acre a little over one and two-tenths tons. Suffolk County produced nearly one-thirty-fifth of all the eggs in the State, from less than one-fortieth of all the poultry, rank- ing the seventh in product of eggs, and holding in number of poultry by over twenty thousand less than any of the six counties which produced more eggs. In acreage Suffolk County had of potatoes a fraction less than one- ninetieth contained in the State, and produced therefrom a fraction over one- seventieth of all the bushels produced. In value of orchard product the county, compared with the State, fails to come up to anything which might in, former results have been reported.
In value of market garden products sold, the county sales were over one thirty-fifth of all sales made in the State. Suffolk County cut less than the one hundred and twenty-second part of all the wood cut in cords in the State, but sold in products of the forest over one-seventieth of all sold in the State,
50
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
The State and county averages compare thus per acre:
Bushels.
Bushels.
Barley,
State,
21.85
County,
27 3-IO
Indian corn, 66
32.97
34 4-10
Oats,
66
20.79
66
32 6-IO
Rye,
66
10.76
.
12
Wheat,
15.73
60
18 8-10
Potatoes,
66
98 6-10
66
129 8-10
In all these products the county, rejecting fractions, exceeded the State averages thus: Per acre, on barley; 6 bushels; on corn, oats and rye, two bushels each; on wheat, three; and potatoes, twenty-one bushels. The deficiency of the county in potatoes in the years 1865 and 1875, is more than offset by its surplus per acre in 1880. The former surplus reported for the State in oats, in 1875, when our county suffered by the army worm, does not continue in 1880. In the great staples of corn and winter wheat the surplus average of this county continues through all these years, to the credit of the county. It will be observed that while Suffolk County pur- chased in 1865 one-third, in 1875 one-sixth, and in 1880 one-tenth of all the fertilizers purchased in the State, other counties were increasing their proportion of fertilizers after her example, and following more closely her methods. I introduce this account to show that such purchase pays:
The whole farm products of the State in value are
$178,025,695
County,
2, 198,079
The county owns less than 1-100 of all the improved lands of the State, and measured thereby, 1-100 of the pro- duct is,
1, 780, 256 '
Credit of surplus product to the county is
$417,823
Cost of fertilizers purchased in
272, 134
Excess product, $145,689
These figures add force to all former statements favorable to the qual- ity of land or purchase of fertilizers to make farming pay in the county or State. The variety of soil in Suffolk County is seldom found elsewhere. For corn, no land on the continent is better suited. Midway between the cold blasts of a northern climate and the extreme heat of a southern, it is peculiarly adapted to the growth of that crop. In the production of wheat its conditions are favorable. The low, moist lands of the southern sea coast are well suited to raise oats. For vegetable growth and root crops, both the variety of its soil and temperature of its climate are favorable. The hardier fruits, like apples and pears, flourish here. The cauliflower and strawberry are so extensively cultivated that for the transportation of both crops extra railroad trains are specially run, and for the latter steamers from Greenport to Boston. The tables of the census demonstrate much of these remarks. But those of 1875 were compiled before the culture of these crops had reached their present very large proportions, or become a largely developed industry and been proved to be so profitable in pecuniary re- sults. ' It is a matter of regret that no records exist whereby the precise ex- tent of production in these crops can be ascertained. Yet it is significant that as New York city has judged the flavor of Long Island potatoes to be so superior as to command a premium in her markets, so Boston seeks in preference the strawberry that grew in Suffolk County. How this old
66
51
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
county from the acorn grew in wealth and comfort to the solid oak; what changes occurred from its primitive government, jurisprudence and the ad- ministration of justice; how the light of education, intelligence and literary culture shone from its early dawn to the brightness of the present day; what progress it has made reaching for the wisdom that comes from above; how its commerce, navigation and fisheries were pursued by its adventurous citizens. All these are subjects assigned to other speakers and prohibited to me. Of that glad acclaim which echoed from the shores of this county in exultation to Heaven, when in 1783 the last British soldier evacuated .orever its soil-even to speak of this is to tread on ground dedicated to another. But in all these historic events the farmer of Suffolk County was the central figure, and the tillers of the soil the prominent actors. The first settlers derived their subsistence chiefly from the farms they cleared in the wilderness. The early primeval government organized was instituted, and perpetuated, and developed by farmers. The diffusion of the light of edu- cation, intelligence and literary culture was mainly due to the farmer. If true devotion spoke anywhere to the power on high, it spoke at the hearth- stone and fireside of the farmer. If commerce and navigation carried ad- venturous enterprise to the remotest sea, the sons of the farmer manned and sailed the ship. If fisheries were followed on stream or bay, on harbor, or sound, through strait or ocean, his hardy sons cast the net, threw the line or harpoon with the foremost pioneers. In colonial conflicts with the In- dians or with the French, or both, the yeomanry of this county contended side by side with their compeers of other counties. The numbers they armed and the tax they paid were often among the largest contributed by any county in the State. In the long Revolutionary war, from the first, the farmers of Suffolk County were solid in resisting the oppressions of the Crown. In the disastrous battle of Long Island her sons bled in defence of the country. The seven dark years of captivity and desolation that fol- lowed, what historian can record ! what pencil can paint ! Abandoned by countrymen, oppressed by foe, plundered and derided by both, this county suffered its long hours of agony, upheld by the hope that the power that rules the universe would bring deliverance to them. From its household altars ascended in devotion the thought in a later day beautifully embodie? thus:
" If for the age to come, this hour Of trial hath vicarious power; And blest by thee our present pain Be Liberty's eternal gain- Thy will be done ! Strike; 'T'hou the Master, we thy keys, The anthem of the destinies ! The union of thy loftier strain; Our hearts shall breathe the old refrain, Thy will be done !"
In every line of the record of the historic past; in every great crisis of the colony or State, the farmers of Suffolk County have imperishably re- corded their names with the illustrious dead. Go to the Declaration of In- dependence, and with the signers to that indestructible landmark of the Nation is written the name of William Floyd, a farmer of Suffolk County ! Look for the consecrated dust of those who fell martyrs in the Revolution- ary struggle, and within the limits of this county find buried one of her farmers over whose memory broods unceasing regret, and over whose
5.2
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE. .
name burns the undying fire of patriotism. Monuments may perish; age may obscure; yet after monuments have vanished, after ages have passed the name and memory of General Nathaniel Woodhull will remain in the minds of his countrymen linked forever with the remembrance of that great contest in which he fell.
For the farmers of Suffolk County I might and I must say more. But for them there had been no Suffolk County as it now is. The bed rock of Agriculture underlies all other occupations; is the mother of all arts, of all manufactures, of all navigation, subsisting on the products of the prolific earth, all these may flourish. Thereby manufactures may expand ; the mechanic arts make progress, and commerce be carried, for exchange of products over every ocean. But for Agriculture there had been no plant- ing of colonies on these shores; no commerce over her waters; no United States on this Continent. The farmer made all this possible. Mainly by his strong arm; the feeble colonies grew in numbers and power, into States, and fought successfully the great Revolution that made them free and in- dependent of all other nations. All honor to the farmer! all praise to ag- riculture! Not least of all to the agriculture and the farmer of Suffolk County. The mariners who from this county traversed every sea; the mechanics who wrought in all the arts of industry; the professions which shone as lights in theology, in medicine,. in jurisprudence; the Legislators who sat in the halls of the State or Nation, were born and reared on the farms of Suffolk County. Therefrom came her Senators in both. Thence- forth marched that woundrous tide of emigration from colonial days to other, counties of this great State, north and west, and to east and west Jerseys, as then known; and through after ages to the expanding West and the remotest Pacific coast. That mighty tide, enlarging, enriching, aug- menting the population and power of other counties and States and terri- tories, diminished the growth of this county while it enlarged theirs.
The proximity of Suffolk County to the large cities of the continent attracted visitors from the earliest days. The invalid and wayworn found its ocean breeze bracing in summer and mild in winter. The sportsman found game running in its forests, swimming in its abounding waters, and flying in its air. The lover of quiet and repose found it here. The good cheer and substantial comfort of its old taverns and farm houses were wide -; ly and well known. From the tip ends of Orient and Montauk Points to its western limits, in early, and increasing in later days, Suffolk County was the resort of hundreds now grown to thronging thousands. Dominy's and Sammis' hotels were almost as well known as the Astor House and Delmonico's; yet Fire Island and Bay Shore were but two, out of scores of other resorts where, on both shores of the county, and extending eastward, then and now the interior and the cities pour their residents on the sea coast of this county. The products of its soil were largely consumed by boarders in farm houses, and hence the returns of those products foot up relatively less for this than other counties in the census reports.
If elsewhere the farmer communes with nature and comes nearer her gates than other industrial classes; if elsewhere the contest to overcome the obstacles nature interposes to impede the fruition of his desire, is wag- ing; if elsewhere the study of her laws and mysteries awakes close obser- vation, minute search and absorbing thought; if elsewhere conformity to her laws be the requirement of success in the battle of wrestling from the soil its products; if elsewhere the vastness of her range, the uniformity of
53
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
her constitutions, the precision of her methods, the inexorable power of her elements, the evidences of design in her arrangements, reveal the hand and mind of a mighty Maker. In all these surroundings the Suffolk Coun- ty farmer lives within a field as vast, as varied, as full of all that animates observation, impels to study, excites to wonder or elevates to devotion as his brother farmer in other locations, here the fields of green grass or wav- ing grain are varied with the growth of the forest. Here the parching drouths of summer's long day are relieved by the munificent dews of the evening. Here the oppressive heat of winds from north and west is over- come by the breeze of ocean. The glimmer of stream and creek, of harbor and bay and Sound, add to the charm of rural landscape-and over all the sound of ocean's wave.
Since 1683, when under Governor Thomas Dongan, Suffolk County as a county was organized; six generations of its farmers have passed away. The simple funeral rites of those times strangely contrast with the pomp, display and pageantry of the present.
"The Power incens'd the pageant will desert." On the bier on the shoulders of the living the dead were reverently carried to their final rest. The stars of heaven shine upon their graves as they shone then; the blue vault that o'er arches us, hung over them; the anthem of ocean that sung their funeral dirge, age after age, rolls on, and will sound in our expiring breath and over our crumbling dust.
Celebrating this day that great event that two hundred years gone by organized the then living generation in one compact body as a county; pay- ing our tribute to them and their descendants; honoring their virtues and their patriotism; blessed with the results of their toils, their fortitude and their courage, as if standing beside their opened graves, we bear our un- worthy offering to their memory and their solid worth. They built this time-honored county and made it what it is; sire and son, after each other, transmitted to coming posterity the fruits of their industry, the immunities they gained, the free institutions they formed possessing this fair inheritance from them, let our thanks be given from age to age, constant as the lights or the voices that Nature gives. In this let us not fail, as these never fail.
" The harp, at Nature's advent strung,
Has never ceased to play; The song the stars of mourning sung Has never died away; And prayer is made, and praise is given By all things near and far;
The ocean looketh up to heaven And mirrors every star. Its waves are kneeling on the strand
As kneels the human knee; Their white locks bowing to the sand,
The Priesthood of the sea. The winds with hymns of praise are loud, Or low with sobs of pain;
The thunder organ of the cloud, The dropping tears of rain.
The blue sky is the temple's arch; Its transept earth and air;
54
DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE.
The music of its starry, March 34 The chorus of a prayer.
So Nature keeps her reverent frame With which her years began, And all her signs and voices shame The prayerless heart of man."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.