USA > New York > Niagara County > Outpost of empires; a short history of Niagara County > Part 18
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Pioneers do subsistence farming
What were early farms like?
The land had to be cleared The tall oak creaked and slowly began to topple toward the earth. As the tree swayed, the sharp popping sound of breaking wood got louder. Faster and faster it fell, until it came crashing to the ground. The huge branches bounced once from the shock. Then, as if resigned to its fate, the tree settled back to the forest floor.
The woodchopper stood for a moment looking at the results of his labor. Before him stretched an endless number of other trees, all awaiting his axe. This man was a Niagara frontier farmer, busy with the hard task of clearing the forest from his land.
Behind him was the result of a full year's work of his busy axe-about three and one half acres of cleared land. In this cleared patch in the woods, Indian corn was growing. Scattered among the corn were the many stumps of the trees he had first cut down.
Around the edge of this field, he had built a zig-zag fence out of wooden rails. Just beyond the fence stood many trees with their green leaves drooping. These trees were dying. They had been "girdled." A strip of bark and living wood had been cut out all around the trunk. The life-giving sap had ceased to flow between
the roots and the leaves. There they stood, great, tall trees, dying in the sun. It was a dismal sight.
The farmer wiped his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. The insects were very troublesome, especially the big mosquitoes. His neighbor had been unable to work for several days because of the poisonous welts raised along his forearms by the pesky things.
Animals were necessary for food and work The sound of tinkling bells came from be- yond the fence. Here his three cows were browsing on the twigs and shoots of the forest trees. His cows were almost as im- portant as his axe in making the land fit for plowing. They fed on the new growth that shot up from the stumps and seeds on a piece of land that had been cleared but not yet farmed. The grazing of the cattle prevented the land from going back to underbrush and becoming a mass of young trees and bushes that would be another task to clear away.
Of course these cows would not give much milk. Their food was too poor for that. But this farmer was luckier than his neighbors, many of whom had only one cow. A few sheep, which an English traveler said looked more like goats, and some long-legged and skinny hogs made up the rest of his livestock.
Besides these animals, he had a pair of oxen. With these solid, steady beasts he plowed the field, pulled stumps, and would someday take his goods to market.
Market days were some time away at this stage of his farming. Most of the products that he raised were used by his family on the farm.
The kind of farming we have just described is the first stage of pioneer farming. It is called "subsistence farming."
Frontier farming was a poor living During this time the farmer is busy improv- ing his land - making his "provements,"
as he calls the clearing of the forest, the building of fences, the pulling of stumps, the improving of his log home. He is turning his sweat into a farm that will later produce a living for him. He may continue to work the farm and then leave it to his sons. Or he may sell it to a newcomer, and take off for lands further west.
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In any case, this is a time that sees him short of everything except the bare needs of life. He will not have a fancy beaver hat, nor a fine team of horses and a carriage. His wife will not have fine furniture in her house. This frontier farmer, and his family, have given up an easy life for the present for the sake of the future.
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Today is a time of hard work, made easier perhaps by the thought of a fine future. Tomorrow will be a time of plenty, of independence on a mortgage-free farm.
Black salts gave the farmer some money Putting all he had into the land, and using what it produced, the farmer had little cash. There wasn't very much that he could spare for sale. Still, there were things that he couldn't make himself that he had to have. There was powder and ball for his gun. Iron kettles were needed. Links of chain and knives and other implements had to be purchased. Some of these items he could get by bartering at the nearest trader's store. But cash was his great need. He must find something he could sell for cash !
And he found it. Not from his farm products, but from the very thing he was trying to get rid of-the forest. Long before he could raise enough grain to sell in the market, he was selling black salts, timber (if near a lake or a river), and maple syrup (if he had a "sugar bush"). These would give him cash to buy needed goods, help pay for his land, and meet his tax bill.
Black salts were made from wood ashes, and wood ashes were one thing he had plenty of. When the girdled trees were burned they produced large amounts of wood ashes. These the farmer collected and placed in a "leach." This might be a hollow log, or a large box made out of wood slats. It was larger at the top than at the bottom. At one end of the bottom was a hole, and beneath this hole was a tub or a "five-pail" kettle.
The leach was filled with ashes and water was poured over them. The liquid which "leached out," a lye, was then boiled in large kettles. After cooling, this formed a hard lump, called pot ash. The liquid was often boiled a shorter time and then it made a black, sticky mass called "black salts."
This was hauled to the nearest ashery, where it was baked in ovens and made into pearl ash, or saleratus. Pioneer women used this in place of baking powder in bisquits, cakes, and corn bread. In 1824 Niagara County had twenty-two asheries, as well as many sawmills based upon the forest resources. In hard times, such as those of 1816 and early 1817, the money that came from black salts helped the farmer to make his yearly payments on the land.
Farmers look to markets
What became the chief cash crop?
Wheat ranked first
Agricultural products soon overtook forest products as the chief source of the farmer's income. Wheat as the chief cash crop had been established in New
York for a long time. During colonial days, New York was known as one of the "bread" colonies because of the large amounts of wheat and flour it exported.
Some of the best wheat in the state was raised on the Niagara frontier. In 1849 the county produced about 900,000 bushels, a record year. But disaster was near. During the next ten years the wheat crops became poorer and poorer. An insect called the wheat midge attacked the wheat and spoiled it. The lowest production ever was the 133,000 bushels reported for 1859.
Before Niagara County could recover from the damage done by the wheat midge, the vast wheat lands of the midwest were sending their annual production eastward. Niagara County farm- ers continued to grow this crop, however. They discovered that winter wheat, the type that is planted in the late fall and harvested the following July, escaped most of the damage done by the midge. Today most of the wheat raised in the county is winter wheat.
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The soil and climate of the county are well suited to wheat. The level land also makes the use of machinery in harvesting possible. Better farming methods have raised the yield per acre. The frontier farmer averaged about 16 bushels per acre. This rose to about 19 by 1879. By 1954, it had risen to about 28 bushels per acre.
Of all acres on which small grains were grown, about 53 per cent was given over to wheat in 1854. In this year the farmers produced about 650,000 bushels. But beginning as early as about 1845, orchards began to take over land formerly given to wheat. For the last thirty years, however, wheat acreage has remained steady at about 23,000 acres.
Corn was important Before the pioneer farmer could plant wheat, he had to "scour" the ground with corn, One or two crops were necessary. It wheat was planted in the newly-cleared land it "all went to grass." That is, the wheat pro- duced a large growth of leaves, but the heads of wheat would be very small and the amount of grain thus produced would be little.
Corn has always been an important crop in the agriculture of the state. The farmers of today raise about the same amount as the farmers of a century ago. In 1849 the corn crop amounted to 731,000 bushels. In 1954, it was 787,000 bushels. But the 1849 crop was ground into meal and flour. The present day crop is used in this way but is also fed to cattle as ensilage. As the amount used for grain declined, the amount used as ensilage grew. The result is that the county produces about the same amount of corn, but for different uses.
The number of acres devoted to corn has changed over the years. Between 1890 and 1930, there was a sharp drop in acreage. Since 1930 the acreage has been increasing until it is about 23,000 acres today. The corn itself has changed. The old Indian corn produced small ears. Today, by the process of cross-fertilization, new seed stocks are available. These produce much larger ears and many more ears per plant.
Oats, barley, rye and buckwheat produc- tion declined
Among the grains, oats has always been one of the leading crops in the county. Forty per cent of county grain acreage was in oats in 1954. This shows that oats, as well as wheat, is an important crop to Niagara County farmers. Oats are needed as feed for the animals. When horses were widely used on the farm and in the cities, a large amount of oats was raised. The farms produced about 900,000 bushels in 1889. Eventually, the change to cars, tractors, and trucks reduced the demand for oats. The amount produced has thus steadily declined.
A similar drop can be seen in the amount of barley, rye, and buckwheat produced. Barley was once important for the malt made from it for the brewing of beer. It never was as important as wheat or oats, and, while 339,000 bushels were produced in 1890, today only about one-tenth as much is raised. Rye and buckwheat have always been lowest in production in Niagara County. In the past ten years rye has averaged about 5000 bushels. Buckwheat has been a bit stronger with better than 22,000 bushels produced in 1954.
Each of these grains shows a steady decline in the acreage devoted to it. Buckwheat has dropped off considerably in the past forty years, and since 1889, so has barley.
Fewer potatoes were grown Another crop whose acreage has decreased rather steadily is potatoes. In 1859, Ni- agara County farmers grew more than one- half million bushels. In 1954, they raised about one-tenth this
amount.
Alfalfa production tripled One of the crops that has greatly increased in the county is alfalfa. This cattle-food is rather new, having come into wide use during the past fifty years. For a long time farmers did not under- stand its cultivation. Sometimes good crops would be obtained the first year it was planted. Then each year after that the crop would get smaller. It was not until the turn of the century that its culti- vation was understood. Since then it has been one of the fastest growing crops in New York State. The acreage devoted to it has grown so that in 1954 its production was three times as large as that of just ten years before.
Vegetable crops increased Another increase has been marked up by the vegetable crops. Such common items as tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, onions, lettuce, asparagus, and many more garden vegetables are grown in ever-increasing amounts. The past ten years, however, has seen a drop in the acreage devoted to them. Whether this is a temporary drop, or the beginning of a long term change is hard to tell.
What happened in the dairy industry?
Like other New York counties, Niagara has always had large numbers of dairy cows since about. 1850. The early cattle were simply called "natives," and they were poor indeed compared to the cattle of today. Of the early breeds, the Shorthorn and the Durham were the most popular.
About the middle of the nineteenth century, various "purebred" associations were formed in the state. These tried to get farmers
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to raise certain breeds of cattle as well as to practice selective breeding to improve the herds. Through their efforts such cattle as the Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire, and Holstein were introduced. Lewis Allen of nearby Black Rock was the founder of the Shorthorn Herd Book. Here records were kept of the breed lines and milk production of this type of cattle.
The early farmer kept a cow that could both produce milk and "lay on flesh." This was a double-purpose cow for it could be milked and later killed for its meat. Some breeds were favored because they could do both of these things and produce good oxen as well. The Devon breed was one of such. Later single purpose breeds were produced. The ones which became more popular in New York State were the good milk producers. Thus today the Holstein is the most common breed to be found throughout the state.
A century ago, farmers in Niagara had about 12,000 dairy cows. Today the number is about the same, 12,700. In the years between, the number remained fairly level at about 13,000. Of course, milk production today is greater because the breeds are better milk producers. The leading dairy towns are Cambria, Hart- land, Lockport, Newfane, Royalton, Somerset, Wheatfield, and Wilson. Each of these has more than 1000 cows apiece.
Niagara County has never been a leader in milk products as have other western New York counties like Erie, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua. The emphasis was upon grain crops and fruit and vegetable farming. The county did rise to 19th position in the butter producing counties of the state in 1900. This was due to a drop in the amount of butter produced in the former leading butter counties.
Today, most of the milk goes to the large cities and their suburbs. The cities in the county, the villages, and the cities of Buffalo and Rochester in nearby counties, demand great quantities of fluid milk. So the dairy farm has changed. A century ago most of the milk found its way to market as butter or cheese. Today it gets to market in the forty quart milk can.
How did the animal population change?
The gasoline engine replaced the horse When horses were the chief source of power in the state, Niagara had a great many. About one hundred years ago, there were 11,700 in the county. This number increased to 16,500 in 1890, but since then has decreased steadily. The introduction of trucks and autos gradually reduced the number after 1910. By 1954, there were only about 1000 horses left on the farms. Their duties have
been taken over by the ever-present tractor as well as by the cars and trucks. In that year, 1954, farmers reported more than 4,500 tractors and more than 2000 trucks. In addition much other power equipment was being used. And the power was the gasoline engine, not the horse.
Hogs, sheep and poultry raising declined steadily
Between 14,000 and 15,000 hogs were raised annually in Niagara County until 1920. Then a rapid decline set in. Today there are only about one-half as many hogs as there were thirty years ago.
Sheep-raising has followed a similar course. In 1859 there were 79,000. Today there are less than 500 sheep raised each year.
Poultry has grown rather steadily from about 150,000 chickens in 1860 to about 304,000 today. Some turkeys, ducks, and geese are also raised but not in such large numbers.
Why did Niagara come to be called the "orchard"' of New York?
Apples ranked first among the fruits
Of all the agricultural products of Niagara County, her apples are probably the most famous. It was well after the beginning of the nineteenth century before commercial orchards appeared in western New York. Before that time there were home gardens, scattered fruit trees, and a few small orchards near the towns.
One of the early American botanists, John Bartram, traveled through this area about 1740. He mentions in his Travels the apples, peaches, plums, and grapes which were growing in the Indian villages. The Sullivan-Clinton campaign in 1779 destroyed many of the orchards of the Senecas in the Genesee region of the state.
An English traveler to western New York in 1796 mentioned the orchard at Fort Schlosser. Here, the wagon-master at the Portage, John Stedman, had an apple orchard of about 1200 trees. These were probably planted about 1775. About 1811, Jarius Rose of Sanborn sold apple seedlings which may have been the start of many of the orchards in the area.
In 1816, Nathan Comstock planted about 700 trees on his farm near Lockport. This was the second orchard of any size in the county. Late spring frosts were a danger to the orchards as these might kill the buds. Low winter temperatures were far less im- portant as a danger. They have done serious damage only once in the past eighty years.
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Judge Augustus Porter of Manchester was probably the first to ship apples from the region. In the fall of 1825 he sent two barrels as a sample shipment over the new Erie Canal. One went to Albany, the other to New York. The trade grew in the following years to thousands of barrels.
Until 1845 an apple was just an apple in the average orchard. The same was true of pears and peaches. Variety names meant little or nothing. As the fruit was used largely for fermented or distilled drinks, such as cider or brandy, it mattered little what the type or size of the fruit was. For such purposes as cider making, one apple was considered as good as another.
About 1830, the temperance movement was very important in the state. The followers of this cause were very active in their attempts to reduce the evil of strong drink. This had a definite effect upon the orchards. Many of the farmers neglected their trees or cut them down altogether. Later on the demands of the growing cities for eating apples and pie apples gave a new start to the orchard business.
Western demands for Niagara County apples led to the grafting of newer and better varieties on the old trees. By 1845, Niagara ranked first among the counties in apple production. In that year the county produced about 250,000 bushels.
Science helped apple production
It was not until after the establishment of the colleges of agriculture and the agricul- tural experiment stations that scientific management was introduced into the orchard business. The care of orchards, the use of fertilizers, the controls for the many insect pests, and methods of harvesting and storing the crops all received the attention of experts.
One of the constant problems in growing fruit is the control of insect pests that attack the trees, buds, and fruit. The coddling moth was an old enemy. About 1900 another pest was accidentally intro- duced from Japan. This was called San Jose scale. The Bartlett pear tree and currant bushes were its favorite targets.
J. S. Woodward of Lockport, a fruit grower and an agricultural editor, was the first to suggest arsenate of lead as a spray to control the coddling moth. The first power sprayer was introduced about 1894. By 1900 they were fairly common and insect control was beginning. This was one of the most important steps forward in the history of the fruit raising business of Niagara County.
Nearly fifty years later, another step forward came with the use of organic sprays. In 1954 the use of these sprays reduced the dam- age caused by apple scab. The production of apples in the county soared after about 1940 even though there were fewer trees in pro- duction than there had been fifty years ago.
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In spite of the effectiveness of the many new insecticides, it is quite interesting that the first one used, arsenate of lead, is still being employed. This old and established spray is the best one to control the apple maggot.
Changes have also occurred in the kinds of apples that the farmer grows. About 1896, S. A. Beach made a study of the apples of the state. He found that more Baldwin apples were grown than all the other varieties put together. Of the apples that are grown today, only the Wealthy and the MacIntosh were important in 1896. The Wealthy was 26th, and the MacIntosh 27th, in the list of 33 varieties grown at that time.
Today MacIntosh and Cortland are the most widely grown apples. Rhode Island Greenings and Wealthy apples are the next in importance. The Starking, Red, and Yellow Delicious are increas- ing. Improvements in cold storage handling have been a factor in this increase.
The Rome Beauty is an important fall-winter apple. It is gradu- ally replacing the Northern Spy, which is more subject to disease.
The kinds and quantities of apples a farmer grows depend on many things. There were great orchards of Baldwin, Northern Spy, and Rhode Island Greenings in the county up to 1934. The winter of 1933-'34 was a very hard one and many of these orchards were destroyed. This was especially true of the apple orchards in the town of Royalton where most of the apples grown were of these kinds. Damage was extensive throughout the county
Marketing affected apple production
As more uses are found for apples, new kinds are grown to meet the new needs. The chief use of apples prior to 1845 was to make cider. When the demands increase to include apples for pies, apple butter, and apple sauce, and barreled apples for the fresh fruit market, more attention is paid to apples that will keep well and stand up when they are shipped far away. Experiment stations cooperate with orchard owners to develop new varieties which have special qualities for special needs. The Rome Beauty is a good ex- ample. Because this apple is hard, it does not bruise easily on the trip to market. It keeps well and its bright red color makes it attrac- tive to the buyer.
A grape was named Niagara In 1868, three years after the Civil War had ended, a far-reaching event took place in Lockport. Just inside the village line, where today stands the Odd Fellows Home, the nursery of Hoag and Clark was planting a fortune as well as growing seedlings for farmers.
B. Wheaton Clark of this firm had just crossed a Concord grape with a Cassady. The vine which was selected from this experiment made steady growth and produced its first grapes in 1872. The new grape was rather late ripening, white in color, and of fine quality. It was named the Niagara.
To sell the new variety a company was formed. The Niagara White Grape Company was begun with a capital stock of $300,000 in one hundred dollar shares. The vines themselves cost from $1.50 to $2.00 each, wholesale. This was too high a price for most of the farmers who wanted to grow them commercially. It was clear that the company would have to make some special arrangements if it hoped to get vineyards of Niagaras planted in the county.
The special arrangement arrived at was this. The farmer got the vines for his acres by agreeing to give the company all the "wood" from pruning and one-half of the grapes for ten years. At the end of that time, the vineyard would be his. The grower had to furnish the stakes and wire for the vines to grow on and do all the work of caring for the vines and harvesting the grapes. The com- pany would do the pruning.
During the winter months, four growers spent their time pre- paring the cuttings of the vine for spring planting. In this way new vines were started which were sold to others interested in raising the profitable new grape. At its peak the Niagara was being produced in 865 vineyards. Vines were planted in the grape counties of central New York. The new variety found its way to Massa- chusetts and even to Florida. Its fame traveled across the sea and vines were sent to France to be tried there.
Special efforts were made to sell the fruit on the New York market. A Niagara Grape Marketing Company was formed. This company shipped the grapes in carload or less-than-carload lots to the city. The biggest clusters of grapes were packed in five pound baskets with a "girl" or "certificate" label on them to indicate their high quality. These were sold to the "fancy" trade, whose customers were people of wealth. They brought good prices. The rest of the grapes were sold without the label for the best price the market would bring. The company's agent in New York City would watch the market prices carefully. When the best prices appeared, he would notify the company in Niagara County, and the grapes would be sent to New York.
For some years the trade proved very profitable. Then things took a turn for the worse. Mildew hit the Niagara, causing the grapes to rot. Overproduction of both grapes and vines forced the
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price of both downward. The grape was naturally a late-ripener so the weather had to be good for it to reach its full sweetness. Each of these factors played a part, but in the end the glory of the Ni- agara dimmed.
Nevertheless, Niagara County stands alone in having its "own" grape. And, if you want to see it, ride out to the Odd Fellows Home in Lockport, drive around to the back, and there, still producing fine bunches of grapes is our own Niagara, the original vine, now almost a hundred years old!
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