USA > Rhode Island > Early uses of land in Rhode Island > Part 2
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The inefficiency of the agriculture of this period can well be shown by a comparative table of the yield per acre of various crops. The figures for 1790-1810 have been compiled from scattered infor- mation :
1790-1810
1919 (1920 Census for R. I.)
Indian corn. .25-30 bu. per acre
42.4 bu. per acre
Rye ...
15 bu. per acre
16.2 bu. per acre
Potatoes*
.100-150 bu. per acre
93.1 bu. per acre
Barley
20 bu. per acre
21.8 bu. per acre
Buckwheat
15-20 bu. per acre
No figures.
Every farm had its orchard, consisting of several acres, and containing a hundred or more trees. Apples were the standard crop, and were used largely for cider, although pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and quinces were also grown. Little was done to preserve the orchards or increase their yield.
Woodland occupied about one-third of the area of each farm, and the use of wood was great. Buildings and furniture, tools, vehicles, and utensils were all constructed of wood, and'open fire- places demanded a constant woodpile. In 1810 there was little first growth timber left standing, so reckless had been the cutting. Very little selective cutting was practiced either.
Thin soil, as well as boulders and pebbles, made the New Eng- land region better suited for grazing than for agriculture. The upland meadows, especially, furnished an excellent and abundant grass. Cattle, sheep, and horses were pastured during the summer months, and hay furnished the major portion of the winter fodder.
Although the beef cattle were descended from real Devonshire cattle brought over by the colonists, lack of selection in breeding and insufficient winter fodder had developed a breed of "native cattle" that were hardy, but which produced poorer beef and dairy products. In such sections as the shores of Narragansett Bay. where the pasturage was rich, the breed was improved. Dairy prod- ucts furnished an important part of the farmer's diet, and cheese was exported. Some of the towns in Rhode Island along Narragan- sett Bay grew prosperous by this means.
* Probable inaccuracy in estimating crop Incause it was not grown in felds of any considerable size.
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Until long after 1810 oxen were used for draft work on the farm, for the ploughing, and the hauling of crops, timber, and stone. Horses came to be used more and more for travel and light transportation with the opening of the turnpike roads radiating out from Providence. The Narragansett, the typical breed of horse, was too high spirited and too light for draft work on the farm. Horses tended to degenerate in the same way as did the cattle. Swine were the most successfully developed animals, and were to be found on every farm. They were turned loose in the stubble fields, and in the winter fed on hay, nuts, potatoes, fruit, and kitchen refuse. In 1807 Lt. John Harriott wrote of the swine which he saw in Rhode Island, "Hogs they have as good and as large as can be bred in any part of the globe."s
In this self-sufficient agriculture, sheep were essential chictly as a source of wool and to a much less extent for their mutton. The sheep increased steadily in numbers in spite of the ravages of wolves and dogs in Colonial times. In common with the horses and cows they suffered great degeneration. They yielded about forty pounds of mutton, and three to three and one-half pounds of coarse wool when sheared. Shortly after 1800 the importation of Spanish sheep was begun in order to improve the breed. The lack of a commercial stimulus, however, did not make this of general importance until woolen factories were established.
According to the answers received from questions sent out in 1806 by the Massachusetts Agricultural Society, the typical inland farm of one hundred acres supported from ten to fifteen cows, including young stock, as many swine, one or two yoke of oxen, one or more horses, and a flock of from ten to twenty sheep.
From this brief survey of the agricultural industry we get a picture of self-sufficiency, and it is not hard to imagine the life that these farmers lived in this Age of Homespun. The inefficiency of their agriculture was due not so much to lack of ignorance as to a lack of a market for farm products. In the interior towns especially the result was isolation, conservatism, and self-sufficiency.
The Agricultural Revolution
The transition to commercial agriculture was naturally painful and slow. The rise of factory villages in the years preceding the Civil War opened a market at the farmers' very doors, but the
* Struggles Through Life, Vol. II, p. 39. London, 1807.
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Early Uses of Land in Rhode Island.
change from farming for a mere living to farming for profit was a difficult one. Another disturbing element was the coming of the railroad. which cheapened transportation and exposed the farmers to the disastrous competition with the Middle West.
The industrial influx or revolution took place between 1810 and 1860, and gradually the isolation and self-sufficiency of the rural communities were broken down. A rapid increase in population was the most noticeable result of the rise of manufacturing and was accompanied by urban concentration. The census figures for Rhode Island and Providence will bring this out :
Year of
Census
State of R. I.
Population % Increase Over Prec. Census Providence Census
% Increase Over Prec.
1790
68,825
-
6,380
1800
68,122
0.4
7,614
19.3
1810
76,931
11.3
10,071
32.3
1820
83,059
8.0
11,767
16.8
1830.
97,199
17.0
16,833
43.
1840
108,830
12.0
23,171
37.7
1850
147,545
35.6
41,513
79.2
1860
174,620
18.4
50,666
22.0
Thus a home market grew up for the farmers' products.
The manufacturing boom of 1807-1815 was followed by a period of depression and the surviving factories and the new estab- lishments for a number of years after 1825 were small and also rather widely scattered.
The first widespread effect of the new market was a genuine interest in agricultural development. This was manifested and enhanced by the formation of agricultural societies. Mowing machines, horse rakes, and iron ploughs were introduced, and the horse came to be used more commonly on the farmn.
The market acted as a selective force in encouraging specializa- tion in the use of the land for that for which it was best suited. There developed, too, a territorial specialization in New England determined primarily by location and partly by soil fertility.
In the agricultural survey of Rhode Island published in 1840 we note the increasing development of intensive agriculture within market radius of Providence. Draining of marshes and the reclama- tion of land were carried out extensively. Under the stimulus of
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an eager market, record crops of potatoes, onions, carrots, and tur- nips were grown. The large proportion of farm areas under tillage and the attention to root crops were unusual for New England.
Rhode Island was not noticeably affected by the specialization resulting from soil fertility such as was the case with the fattening of beef cattle in the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts and the cultivation of tobacco in the lowlands of central Connecticut.
Competition with the West and the influence of the railroads discouraged home production in wool, wheat, and pork. Wool grow- ing and beef cattle declined noticeably. The areas of specialization in dairy farming, market gardening, and fruit raising widened after 1840 with easier and cheaper transportation. In southern New Eng- land the production of cheese suffered a decline after 1850 because of unsuccessful competition with New York and Vermont.
There occurred likewise an increased production in the lines of general farming. Hay continued to be a crop of great importance, being protected by its bulk. An increased use of wheat bread checked to some extent the growing of corn. The greatest decline was in the potato crop, a decline of over 40 per cent being recorded from 1840 to 1860. This was partly explained by a blight which affected the crops for a number of years.
A general estimate of New England agriculture in this period would indicate no great progress. Although there was prosperity in some areas and a higher standard of living for the farmers, as a whole the agriculture was of a "helter-skelter" variety. There was little uniformity in agricultural conditions.
Thus we have traced the uses of the land from a historical standpoint in the state. The colonists found the Indians in posses- sion of the land, practicing a remarkably well-developed form of agriculture. Many of the Indian methods and crops were adopted and still survive even today. In later Colonial times, as a corollary to the brilliant maritime development, we find the interesting plan- tation system in the "hinterland." Old Narragansett .* Then came a gradual break-up of these estates and the development of a self- sufficient agriculture.
A more intensive study of the trend of land utilization in Rhode Island following the Civil War from state and federal census fig- ures brings out certain interesting developments. Industrialization
* Rhode Island even now retains as its official name: State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
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Early Uses of Land in Rhode Island.
has concentrated population on the lowland and in the valleys. Favorable sites and excellent transportation conditions are to be found. A large urban market provides a stimulus for more inten- sive farming in nearby areas. General farming and pasturage have suffered a marked decline. The upland sections have borne the brunt of the shift ; the croplands have been given up, the cedar and birch slowly encroached on the pasture land, and finally the wood- lands claim it altogether. Such are the typical New England "aban- doned farms," and western Rhode Island has its full share. Many of them have been taken over as private hunting or fishing grounds. The opening up of better lands in the West has been a factor as well. Thus it is that the better soils of the lowlands and valleys are being used more intensively for market gardening, and the acreage in cropland, as well as its value, has increased greatly. Fruit garden- ing has developed, and the increase of orchard lands in the valleys of medium elevation with good exposure and nearness to markets is noticeable. Rhode Island has the greatest population density of any state, yet it is concentrated in the lowlands and valleys of which Providence is the hub. One may actually travel for miles over abandoned roads in such towns as West Greenwich or Exeter with no sign of habitation save an occasional farmhouse tumbling to ruin or perhaps a cellar hole that comes perilously near to being a part of the forest itself.
Throughout this story of changing adjustments to natural con- ditions we see the increasing importance of the geographic factors. As time goes on the lands are coming to be used more and more for the purpose for which they are best suited. The uplands are revert- ing to forest land ; the better soils are being cropped more intensively and selectively ; people are settling on the more accessible lands. We may even see this tendency in regard to the climatic factor -- such crops as wheat and flax, which were of necessity grown in Rhode Island in the carlier days, have now found a more favorable environment.
REFERENCES
BIDWELL, PERCY W. . "Rural Feonomy in New England at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century." Transactions of the Connecticut akademy of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 20, pp 241-399. April 1910, New Haven.
-"The Agricultural Revolution in New England." In . American His- torical Review, Vol. 20, No. 4, 3 083, July, 1921.
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BONSTEEL AND CARR: Soil Survey of Rhode Island. U. S. Bureau of Soils, 1905.
( HANNING, EDWARD : "The Narragansett Planters -. \ Study of Causes." Johns Hopkins University Studies in History and Political Science, 4th Series.
Department of Education, State of Rhode Island, 1911 : Points of Historical Interest in the State of Rhode Island. Pamphlet of Historical Series, No. V.
HAZARD, THOMAS ROBINSON : The Johnny-Cake Papers of "Shepherd Tom," together with Reminiscences of Narragansett Schools of Former Days. Boston, 1915.
JACKSON, CHARLES T .: Report on the Geological and Agricultural Survey of the State of Rhode Island. Providence, 1840.
Park Museum Bulletin, Roger Williams, Park, Providence, R. I., Vol. 3, Nos. 2-3. "A Southern New England Indian Village."
RICHMAN, J. B .: Rhode Island-A Study in Separatism. Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston, 1905.
RIDER, SIDNEY S .: The Lands of Rhode Island as -They Were Known to Canonicus and Miantunnomi, when Roger Williams Came in 1636. Provi- dence, 1904.
ROGER WILLIAMS: Key to the Indian Language. "Coll. R. I. Hist. Society," Vol. 1, 1827.
WILLOUGHBY, CHARLES C .: "Houses and Gardens of the New England Indians." In American Anthropologist, Vol. 8, No. 1, January-March, 1906.
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