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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLong Island Agriculture - Excerpt from LI a History of Two Great CountiesLON'G ISLAND A History of TWO GREAT COUNTIES NASSAU and SUFFOLK Edited by PAUL BAILEY Founder-Publisher of The "LONG ISLAND FORUM" VOLUME II LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING CO., INC. NEW YORK CHAPTER XX Long Island's Agriculture H~.ssY B. K~ArP Director, Long Island Agricultural and Technical I~zstitute LONG ISLAND is traditionally agricultural. Henry Hudson in 1609, writing of the men whom he sent ashore a~ the west end of the island, stated "They found the soil sandy and a vast number of plum trees loaded with fnfit, many of them covered x~Sth grape v/nes of different kinds". Hudson reported the Canarsie Indians as an agricultural people. The white men who followed this explorer by a few years added to the evidence that although the Long Island Indians were adept at whaling and fishing and building canoes, they were primarily tillers of the soil. The Historian Wood early in the 1800s wrote that the first white men found great open spaces on the island where the natives had burned away the forest and the underbrush to make room for their vegetable gardens. The Dutch director-general of New Netherland, of which western Long Island was a part for more than 50 years following Hudson's arrival, all reported that the island was most favorable for agri- cultural pursuits. It was the Dutch who soon after their first settlement i~ 1636, in what is now Brooldyn, inaugurated tl~e growing of tobacco and soon thereafter a m~mber of tobacco plantations were flourishing at the west end of the island. Although a great part of the land was used for grazing cattle, from the very beginning the first settlers of Long Island raised vege- tables, ineluriing maize or Indian corn, pumpkins and beans. During the latter part of the seventeenth century, Long Islanders not only raised vegetables for their own consumption, but transported them into New York, along with great loads of cordwood which was used as fuel in the fast-growing port on Manhattan Island. Long Island ships also carried many a cargo of Long Island vegetables to the West Indies with which trade was early established, bringing back rum and rare kinds of timber. Long Island history is thus agricultural history from the very ~begilming. It is the oldest history of /ts kind in ti~e State of York. In western New York, beyond Preemption Line, it is a rarity to find land that has been farmed in the same family for one hundre~t years. In the Hudson Valley the tenure may be up'ed by fifty years, in the southern part a little more, but on Long Island it is known that in at least one instance land has been farmed in the same family descending from father to son for more than two hundred and ninety years. This is the Alfred Topping farm at Sagaponack. Together with the Howell farm at Wading River, and the farms now occupied by I' ~enneth and Vernon Wells at l~iverhead, the Topping farm has been received into the distinguished Order of Century Farms, promul- 18 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SUFFOLK gated by the New York State Agricultural Society in token of con- tinuous family ownership and operation for at least one hundred years. There are others on the island entitled to similar recognition. Because the Topping farm, so far as is now known, represents the oldest continuous ownership and culture in the same family, not only on Long Island but in the State as a whole, it is worth while to include the citation prepared by Jared Van Wagenen, Jr., of Lawyers- ville, N. Y. in behalf of the New York State Agricultural Society. It was on January 22, 1941, that Mr. Van Wagenen in the presence of several hundred members of the Society thus addressed himself to Herbert H. Lehman, then Governor of the State: "GovER.~O~ L~R~rA~: Perhaps not everyone will remem- ber that the first English speaking settlement in New York State was not upon the mainland but on eastern Long Island. Il' history aud accepted tradition be correct, it is now a year more than three full centuries since certain hardy Yan!~ees. casting curious eyes to the faint shoreline across }he Soundl went adventuring thither and within a few months estab[ lished colonies almost simultaneously upon both the northern and southern shores. It may be insisted, perhaps that it was something in the water or s~mething in the air or something in the nearness of the gray sea which enabled them to take root and grow and persist as almost no other farm stock in America. It may have been these factors, but more believably it was because t~ey were sprung from that dauntless Puritan breed. 0nly among the Dutch of the Hudson Valley and the ~Valloons and Huguenots of Ulster County do we find so many examples of long-time farm occupancy as are noted among these transplanted Yankees. "Concerning the beginnings of this Topping Clan I can do no better than quote the unadorned, forthright 'phrases in a letter written by the preseut Chief of the Clan. He writes, 'Thomas Topping came from Lynn, Massachusetts, between 1640 and 1644 and built a house on what is now South Main Street in the village of South Hampton and the house is still standing and in very good repair and is used as the Episcopal Rectory. When the allotment of land in Sagaponack was made on February 2nd, 1653, he got a lot which is now my farm and it has been in the family ever since down the vear~ from father to son and I have a son with me now.' In }hese two sentences he compresses the family history of three hun- tired years. It should also be said tha~ this farm was located precisely in the region which by common consent has ever since been adjudged the choicest agricultural land on the Sunrise Isle. Perhaps this fortunate situation was due to his wisdom and foresight. More likely I think it was due to happy good fortune. "As he has written, there is a son who has three children of his own and so it is there is no indication that the dynasty draws to a close. This long line of To.ppings runs thus: LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE Thomas, Elnathan, Stephen, David, David the Second, Rens- selaer, Sidney, Alfred and Alfred the Second. They have been on the whole a singularly vigorous ]onglived race so that it has required only eight generations to cover almost three hundred years. As I contemplate that long succession of men, who l~ave been masters of the same acres, I say over once nmre the mouth-filling, sonorous, Old Testament phrase found again and again in the Book of Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, 'And ~E SLEPT WITH I~I8 FATYIERS AXl) ]~IS SOX aEmxm) LX mS sT~xn,' I think of them and I remember what Lorimer has pat into the letters of a self-made merchant written to his boy at Harvard. It runs like this: 'When a man goes out at night to put up the shutters for the last time, he will do it a great deal easier if he knows there is a son to take them down in the morning.' This greatest of blessings these Topping men have always kno~"n. "The tiny hamlet of Sagaponaek fr~mts on the Comnmn as a transplanted New England village should. But the Common is unusual in that it has been made the village hm-ial ground as well. So here 'Each in his narrow cell forever laid The rude forefathers of the hanflet sleep.' "I went out there in company with the present bead of the house and saw how in orderly array beneath burial slabs not of white marble but of red Connecticut sandstone a great company of Topping men and women lie and wait. There is one marker there which s.xm~bolized tragedy. Always the Toppings have been farmers, but now and again as is so often the case on eastern Long Island, there have heen sons of the elan who made it their business to go down to the sea in ships. In the 1840s one Oscar Johnson Topping sailed from Sag Harbor in Columand of a whaling ship, which dropped below the horizon and concerning whose course or fate no word ever came back. When after years all hope was taken away, they enumerated him among 'the dead and settled his temporal affairs aud set up a stone in the family plot as a memorial to one who has made his grave in gr'eat waters. "I greatly regret that time does not permit me to relate other tales both grave and gay. I have been received as a guest in the Topping home. I have looked upon these fields which have never known any ownership save theirs. I have read the epitaphs eat in the slabs that stand above thei,. graves. "Gowr, xoa L~azrAx: I believe the dynasty of the Top- ping Clan of Sagaponaek have beeu goo~l farmers, upright citizens, devout churchmen for almost three centuries. So far as an~hing that has yet been brought to our attention would indicate, this family represents the longest unbrokeu farm proprietorship in America. In behalf of the New York State 19 20 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SUFFOLI~ Agricultural Society and its Committee on Century Farms, I reemmnend that you direct that their names be enrolled in the distinguished Order of Century Farmers." In these latter days, new families with strange names are replacing the old stock which persists most o£ all on the East End and not so very much even there. But the £arming is still done on old lands excel~t for small areas cleared of scrub oak and pine and brought under the plow each year. Long Island agriculture and Long Island climate denote a close kinship with the Atlantic Seaboard of the New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland region. Soils and growing seasons are similar, but the Island with deep water on both sides of the narrow spit of land has the more equable climate. The types of agriculture on Long Island have been conditioned by natural factors, by the proximity of a great center of population and by a growing population of its own. The opening of the West, the great trek towards the Rockies and beyond are 'more than national saga and campfire tale. They largel~z determined t . a and honuds of farmino- in r~..:^_, ~, , .~ he met~,s ~ ,~muc, ualver~on and on Hempstead Plains, just as the agriculture of the nation has been persuaded or coerced by what has transpired in the Valley of the Nile or the Pampas of the Argentine. At one time, substantial ~quantities of milk were produced and sent daily to New York Citx. But this is not a natural grazing country. Sods. meadows, anal pastures are not readily maintained on lig]it, sandy soils with frequent periods of dry weath'er from n~id- summer on. Milk can be produced more readily and economically elsewhere. The returns per acre are too low for high-priced land. It is logical, therefore, that crops that eau be grown on an intensive basis with high value and production per acre, frequently yieldin,o. two or three harvests from the same acre in a single season, should gradually replace crops of the extensive type with smal returns per acre. A'dd to these specifications the desirability of grlo perishable wing highly products, which must be consumed qt~iekly to be at their. best, close to the point of consumption, and one has the kev to agri- eultm'al trends on Long Island. . How much such modern gadgets as deep freezing of fresh prod- uets and holding them in a comatose condition until they are plunked into boiling water or whatever the experts decree in r'eadving them for the table, will influence future developments none e certainty. It is av~rl~+ ,~. ..... ' an disclose with ........ ~,m[ [ne range vnthin which such products may he transported may be greatly increased, what with air freight and such goings on. But we are concerned here with history rather than prophecy. The author listened, not long ago, to a dissertation on "vine ripened" peaches, transported long distances by air and set down before the consumer with dew still on them. For aught h'e knows, peaches may grow on vines not long hence. John Nicholson "Esquire" of Herkimer County stated in 1814 "Ashes are found more effective * * * when applied to lands LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE 21 near the ocean. The Long Island farmers can afford twelve cents a bushel for even leached ashes, while in Herkimer County they are suffered to be untouched". Long before John Nicholson's time, farmers were using fish as fertilizer. They learned to do so from the Indians. They improved upon and expanded the practice. Thousands of tons of menhaden were used for the purpose. An aroma that defies description lay like a blanket over the open fields till mercifully dissipated by vagrant breezes or more ~nercifully still, steady blows. Seaweed was used in like manner. Later came the well known commercial fertilizers now used in large quantities, frequently in excess of a ton per acre. Speaking of the use of fish by the farmers of West Hills, Walt Whitman had this to say: "Fish is one of the most powerful manures known, as under its influence the corn grows to astonishing height and size. I have thought indeed, that the fault among the farmers here was in putting too much of it, at a time, on their laud. Like Macbeth's ambition, it overleaps itself and falls on the other side of fertility." Long Island crops are of the succulent type. They must grow quickly to be crisp and good. Soils are warm and hospitable. Add the necessary plant nutrients and let the rains fall, or possibly their equivalent through irrigation, control the pests and diseases and the soil will yield its increase. Farmers now experiment to determine how best to apply the fertilizer, over the entire area, in bands along the rows, at plow and root depth, whether in split applications several times through the season, etc. The Long Island Vegetable Research Farm at Baiting Hollow, an arm of Cornell University. established in 1922, is now aiding them in determining and appl~Sn~ scientific procedures .... In 1625 cattle were imported for breeding. In 1675 nearly all Long Island farms maintained herds of cattle includiug oxen, 'beef cattle, and dairy cows as well as substantial numbers of sheep and swine. The ta~ lists of ten towns recorded 4293 neat cattle, 1564 sheep, 1344 swine and 941 horses. For the current generation it may be prudent to indicate that ~j_n_e,a!'~ c~ttle refers to the bovine genns--co~vs steer versations of the tithe. ~ ......... ~ m me ~eramre and the con- In 1675 the average number of cattle per farm was nine: largest herd r?orted was thirty-seven. By the time of ' · .there were 7000 horned cattle and alSont th, ~-- th,e Revolu, tmn ....... ~ame number of slleep m the townships of l:Iempstead and Oyster Bay. Even in 1650 the Hempstead Plains were well populated with these animals. Cattle were pastured in common herds with "keepers" in charge. The keepers were bound by a signed covenant to devote all their time to the herds to keep them "carefully and faithfully and to waiter them twice A day or onse at Least--to bring them home before sunesett at night". ~Owners paid in proportion to the number they sent out. 22 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SI:-FFOLI~ Later, coaunon pasture was leased to individual owners at April Town Meeting. The cattle were sold to butchers in New York and exported alive to the West Indies. In 1678 the City of New York consmned 400 beeves. Sheep were maintained on the common lands throughout the season. The ceremony of "sheep parting" or dividing the flock and returning the animals to their owners each fall became a great evenS, a holiday. There were much eating and drinking, mending of political fences b~v the ofi%e hungry, shrewd bargaining and plenty of gossip- ing. No'one wished to be absent and few were. In addition to Hemp- stead Plains, Montauk Point and Shinnecock Hills were important grazing areas. Hogs were easily fattened by roaming in the woods and eating the nuts fallen from the trees. The oxen was the all important animal. He was used to draw the plow and the cart. The livestock had to be protected from wild beasts. Wolves, foxes and wildcats were the chief menace. Rewards were paid for their heads. Finally the heads circulated so freely, claiming several rewards, that in one instance the whole animal was required to be skinned before the justice, the hunter to "make oath upon the hoIx' Evangelists that he had killed it in Queens County." ' The Dutch, English, and Huguenot settlers seemed always to be raising flowers and trees. The Dutch travelers who visited Long Island at the tithe of its settlement say of peach trees, "They were so laden that one might doubt whether there were more leaves or fruit on them". In 1776 peaches were so abundant in Flatbush that they lay ungathered under the trees. Insects and diseases took small toll and the trials of spraying and dusting were for a later day and generation. It was a great day for Long Island when in 1737 William Robert Prince founded the Linnaeus Botanic Gardens at Flushing. Prince and his gardens became famous and are cited in all literature on the sources of American horticulture to this day. He introduced plant materials from many parts of the world anal stimulated an interest in the art and practice of horticulture that has carried down through the years. He even attempted to promote a native silk industry by experimenting with the Chinese Mulberry tree. As early as 176~ a society was formed chiefly for the fostering of horticulture. In 1767 a premium of ten pounds was awarded to Thomas Young of Oyster Bay for a nursery of 27,123 apple trees. People believed in being exact in those days. Certificates were awarded to Joshua Clark and Francis Furrier of Suffolk County for success in cultivating the grape. In 1798 thc Bloodgood Nursery was started in Flushing; in 1838 I~issen Nurseries were started by Samuel and Robert Parsons; about 1854 Isaac Hicks started his nursery at Westbury. Its products have adorned many a Long Island landscape and it still serves. The gathering and marketing of small fruits, strawberries, black- berries, and cranberries was once a business of some importance. the central part of the Island blackberries and cranberries grew wild LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE 23 in great profusion. "The growth and productiveness of the briars' is greatly augmented by an occasional plowing of the ground, imme- diately after which in many instances, the crop of berries produced without further cultivation or care, will return much better profits than any ordinary field crop with all its necessary labor and expense". This is still good doctrine. The supply of cultivated fruits lessened the demand for wild fruits but blueberries and beach plums from woodland and seashore remain great delicacies to this day. On the south side of the Island wintergreen plants were found in profusion. Women and children gathered them for market, whole wagonloads were collected and shipped to market by amateur speculators. From William Robert Prince and those who followed in his train has come the nursery industry of many acres and 6,670,000 square feet under glass in 5940. Long Island is the natural seat of these phases of horticultural interest. Here and hereabouts people live in ever increasing numbers. They are intent upon beautifying their surroundings through lawns, trees, shrubs and gardens. Horticulture belongs to the healing arts in the broad view. A love of natural beauty, a sense of partnership in it, do not make for hatred and bigotry. A newcomer to Long Island Agriculture is the bulb industry. It most of our bulbs were imported from Holland. The industry has developed in the moist climate and sandy soil in the vicinity of ~a?,ylon~ although Ryneveld settled at Yaphank. Fwli~flr & Son and ~. van ~ourgondien & Sons, all of Dutch ancestry, have been among the leaders. Daffodils are the new crop. Tulips, lilies and bulbous iris are also Of importance. Gladioli, not a true bulb, are grown extensively. Perhaps 250 acres are now devoted to this new enterprise. Two hundred fifty acres of wheat or eom are inconsequential; 250 acres of bulbs with the high investment and heaD- yields are quite another matter. It is a fair start toward big business. The product is deemed to be on a par with the offerings from Holland or from any other part of this country. The growing of fruit in the commercial sense has never taken hold in any large way on Long Island. There are thriving orchards of peaches, apples and other fruits with ready markets at the farm. Suitable varieties on suitable soils and in suitable locations do very well indeed. But generally speaking, returns from annual crops have been too satisfactory for farmers to look with favor upon the period of waiting involved in producing fruit. Perhaps a hormone will be discovered which ~fill change all this. There are veiled mysteries all about us. Some are down to the last veil. There were other influential figures in addition to ' member of the New York State Agricultural Society, probably the oldest agricultural society in America with a record of continuous 24 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SIYFFOLI~ lizer. Rufus King, first ambassador to the Court of St. James took an active and prominent interest from his country home at Samaiea. In later years Ital Fullerton sought to establish under the auspices of the Long Island Rail Road that the scrub oak and pine barrens on the saddle dividing much of Suffolk County north and south deserved a worthier place than had been accorded them. In 1905 at Wading River and in 1907 at Medford he established demon- stration farms, beginning with the clearing of the land. I-Ie grew many products and grew them well. l~Ie strongly urged the planting of sugar beets as a ma~or crop. The Lonry Island zt#ronomist w lts ~v. ere made known. No cost · ~, eon~Inue to be grown in areas of cheap and abundant labor. The soil, thin and frequently burned over, thus losing its mat of organic matter, has not beer[ able to compete with more favored areas. Nevertheless, reclamation is gradually taking place as any careful observer may note as he travels the center Island higl~ways. The greatest need has been moisture. With the development of deep well irrigation and liberal use of fertilizers, Hal Fullerton's dream may yet Come true. One aspect of the Kieft Patent granted to settlers of the Towa of Hempstead bv William I(ieft, Dutch Governor in 1644, should be noted. It stipulated that the settlers should enrich the soil which they cultivated w/th "plough and howe" (harrow) through the use of manure and advised the g as~ng and breeding of cattle" to insure a. supply of butter and cheese. Jesse Merritt, Nassau County Histo~ r~an, has found that the agricultural literature in the librar~ of the U. S. Department of Agrieulture discloses no other evidence' of con- cern for the improvement and conservation of soil by a public agency or unit of government at so early a date. ' While animal husbandry was flourishing, the settler used bi~ slowly broa,,d, ening fields for crop production-~corn, rye, and wfieat~ later~flax ~as added--also, barley, bucl~vheat oats and in a fex~ places, tobacco. . . The passing of the 17th century saw the primitive phase begin to come to an end. Long Island was coming into cont.ae.t with the Outside world. The opening of markets caused the d~smtegration of ~he self-sufficient type of agriculture. Men put out to sea. became weavers, hatters, tailors, brickmakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, and coopers. to 1 v nary~War a Tory advised a British minister , ned ~'or the sub 'u atto . Long Island, "for", smd he "i 'o ~n l,o~j;~ , n of the colomes, on , t ~ .......... s mug and is very fertile, abounding in wheat and every other kind of grain, and has i'nnumer- able black cattle, sheep, hogs, etc.; so that in this fertile island the army can subsist without any succor from England. It has a fertile plain 24 miles long, with a fertile country about it, and is 20 miles from New York ' ' - the spot I advise you to land is at Cow Bay" (Manhasset). The English army occupied Long Island with New York City as its headquarters for seven years and drew its supplies largely irom the Island. * LONG ISLAND'S AGRICVLTURE 25 W~shington tonred a part of Suffolk County in 1756 and much of western Long Island in 1790. Preferably husbandman and country squire, his observations carefully recorded~ are meticulous and pene- trating. Thus on April 24, 1790, under the heading of "Observa- tions'' he made notes as £ollows: "This Island (as far as ~[ went) from West to East seems to be aqually divided between fiat and Hilly land, the former on the South next the Seaboard, and the latter on the No. next the Sound. The highland they say is best and most pro- ductive, but the other is the pleasantest to work, except in wet seasons when from the levelness of them they are some- times, (but not frequently having a considerable portion of Sand) ineoruuoded by heavy and continual rains. From a comparative view of their crops they may be averaged as follows :--Indian Corn 25 bushels--Wheat 15--1~ye 12--Oats 15 bushels to the acre. According to their accts, from Lands ]_~idghly manured they sometimes get 50 of the first, 25 of the and 3d, and more of the latter. "Their general mode of Cropping is.--first Indian Corn upon a lay, manured in the hill, half a shovel full iu each hole---(some scatter the dung'over the field equally)--2d. Oats and Flax--3d. ~q~eat with what manure they can spare from the Indian Corn land--with the Wheat, or on it, towards close of the Snows, they sow Clover from 4 to 6 lb; and a quart of Timothy Seed. This lays from 3 to 6 years accord- ing as lhe grass remains, or as the condition of the gronnd is, for so soon as they find it beginning to bind, they plow. Their first plowing (with the Patent tho' they call it the Dutch plow) is well executed at the depth of about 3 or at most 4 inches--the cut being 9 or 10 Inches and the sod neatly and very evenly turned. With Oxen they plough mostly. Th'er do no more than turn the ground in thins manner for Indian ~orn before it is planted; making the holes in which it is placed with hoes the rows being marked off by a stick--two or three workings afterwards with the Harrows or Plough is all the cultivation it receives generally. Their fences, where there is no Stone, are very indifferent; frequently of plashed trees of any and every kind wkich have grown by chance; but it exhibits an evi(~ence that very good fences mav be made in this manner either of white Oak or Dogwood which from this mode of treatment grows thickest, and most stubborn.--This however, would be no de£ence against Itogs." Toward the end of the 18th century farming methods had changed little since pioneer times. Farms were of 100 to 150 acres, fenced with rails or posts; some places had hedges of old England. The cattle grazed over the pastures. Growing on the fields were wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, flax, and common grass (cut for bay). The extent of fertilization was a little manure and menhaden fish. 26 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SUFFOLK After the Revolution farmers became aware of the value of better cultivation, the possibilities of a greater variety of crops, the breeding of a higher type of livestock than the lean cows and "rat- tailed" sheep which grazed the I-Iempstead Plains and Montaak Moors. All this came about largely through the efforts of Ezra L'I-Iommedieu, previously mentioned, William Cobbett and Elkannah Watson. Ezra L'I-Iommedieu was a New York laxwer and a Long Island farmer. During the Revolution he represented his state in Conti- nental Congress. In Transactio~s--Observatio~,s on Ma~ures, by Ezra L'Hommedieu, Esq., March, 1795: "I have heard of no instance of new land producing more wheat than 42 bushels to the acre. In Suffolk County, Huntington, some years ago, by manure 52 bushels were raised to the acre. * * * A farmer, Riverhead, Suffolk Co., Mr. Downs, having 5,000 fish called mossbonkers or men- haden strewed them about the 1st of June on 20 rods of ground, a poor, gravely, dry soil which without manure would not pay for tillage. These fish were plowed under a shallow furrow. At the time of sowing about the last of September. the ground was sown with rye at the rate of one bushel to the acre. In the spring the growth was rapid, 9 inches high. The neighbors' sheep broke in the inclosure and ate it all off close to the ground. The fence was mended and the rye grew again, much thicker than before, 6 inches high. Tl~e same sheep broke in again and the second time ate it close to the ground. It was then supposed the crop would be lost, but it grew up again with additional thickness. * * * Mr. Do~wns assures me he had 16 bushels of rye from his 20 rods of ground * Robert R. Livingston of the Hudson Vallev Livingstons intro- duced the element of rotation. New root crops w~re brought in--beets and turnips. In 1817 William Cobbett, an English Dissenter, who was living in exile on Long Island, tried to bring about the general use of turnips. These men did not stop at new crops; they tried to get to ~he root of the evil--dissipation o~ soil fertility. They were early apostles of the modern program of soil conservation. Books were written, papers and articles were published by the press. In 1811 Elkannah Watson completed the organization of the Berk- shire Agricultural Society. It was responsible for the county fairs. Every year the Society had an exhibition of the best products of the locality. Prizes were awarded for the best crops--butter, cheese, cloth, and animals. At the end of the day a general assembly was held in the local church and the prizes were awarded. In 1817 the Berkshire organization came to Long Island. This movement was of great interest to the women of the farming communities. The Berk- shire system was the first great movement for better conditions among small farmers. It played an important part in the evolution~ of American Agriculture as did the Grange, beginning in the 60s and ~0s. LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE 2.7 Some of the seeds of these agricultural reforms fell on sterile ground. The influence of the west had much to do with this. Many families from the shore villages of Long Island Sound and Peeonic Bay went westward. But some of the seed fell on good ground. The arts of husbandry did make progress. The end of the 18th century saw the ocean a great highway to and from New York. Along the shores of Long Island could be seen fleets of sturdy little sailing vessels, moored at "landings". These "landings" were the centers from which produce was hauled. The opening of the 19th century saw new crops. In 1850 the head of every family in Flatbush was, with few exceptions, a farmer. The cultivation of grain and the keeping of four-footed animals was less remunerative when the canals and railroads opened up western lands. As an illustration of what was taking place, Suffolk County grew 18,000 acres of corn for grain in 1879 and nearly 10,000 acres of wheat. The latest census figures available list 1200 acres of corn and 800 acres of wheat. This is agrarian revolution so gradual and peaceful as to be noted only by the statistician and student. Such changes will doubtless continue as men seek to adjust themselves to new conditions. By degrees the whole character of Island agriculture changed. Flatbush farmers began to raise vegetables to supply the markets of New York and Brooklyn. Philip Freneau, ~he bard of the Revolution, wrote of "The Market Girl": "At Dawn of day, from short repose, At hours that might all townsmen shame, To catch our money, round or square, She from the g~oves of Flatbush came With kail and cabbage, fresh and fair." Nearly all the produce raised within 25 nfiles of New York was carted in with teams bv the proprietors in the night. The larger part was sold at wholesale~ to dealers or middle men, between midnight and daylight, ehieflr within the vicinity of Washington Market. In 1879 a market was ~stablished in the vicinity of W. 12th St. and 10th Ave. Those who did not sell at retail staye}t until daylight when the retail trade began. The grocers came for daily supplies. The prod- uce which was sent bv water or rail was consigned to commission dealers. ~ The Long Island Rail Road opened in 1836; in 1844 it reached out to Greenport. At long last the farmers' transportation problem seemed settled. What had taken days by boat or cart now took hours. "The writer (Peter Ross) would gladly whisper in the ear of many large land holders that there is a great deal more profit in cultivating one acre of land well, than in 10 acres of land badly. The fact is, many on Long Island own and work too much land. The writer (Peter Ross) has in his mind's eye a farm of nearly 1000 acres, which half a 28 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SUFFOLK century ago (1852) was owned and cultivated under the direc- tion of a single individual, who was called a great farmer. But when he had ruined himself by the operation of the farm and had surrendered the whole to pay his debts (as honest, but unfortunate men were in the habit of doing in old times) it was cut up and sold to six or eight persons, who have since supported as many families from its production. "But it is not'intended by these remarkes to convex- the idea that all the farmers of old Suffolk are regardless o'f the improvements made in agriculture, or that they are in the habit of taxing their fields without furnishing them the'means of answering the demand. More or less attention has long been paid to the importance of manuring. Water with which they are surrounded furnish a large amount of fertilizer-- seaweed and various other productions of bays and marshes." The land on the western end of the Island became too scarce and valuable to hold for pasturage. Now the city which brought in the truck farmers has crowded them out. Fields once too valuable for pasturage are becoming too valuable for any kind of farming. Only specialized market garden farms with high production and return per acre, only these and farms under glass have been able to sur~Sve. Duck farming was begun on the South Shore around Moriches about 60 years ago. Now, the Long Island duck is shipped from coast to coast and in 1921 the Long Island Duck Growers Association was formed for cooperative buying and selling of supplies. According to Jesse Merritt, Nassau County Historian, Queens Agricultural Society (now Queens-Nassau) was organized Jmle 21. 1819, with Rufus King, Singleton Mitchell, William Jones, Theodore Phillips and Daniel I[issan as its officers. The Suffolk Agricultural Society was organized in 1842 and reorganized in 1843. "In 1869 The Board of Managers of the Suf- folk Agricultural Society voted to purchase four acres of land north of the Riverhead fair grounds from Allen T. Terrill, Henry L. Grif- ting.and J. Henry Perkins for $100. A hog guessing eo}~test was conducted at B. F.~ Wells' hotel, Mattituck. There were 210 guesses at 50 cents each, and three lilt the exact weight of the animal, 598 pounds. The hog was raised by David Tuthill of Jamesport." Horse racing was a major'interest at the fairs and Long Island has a notable history in this field. It constitutes a saga in itself. The development of the poultry business on Long Island is best considered in two phases--the production of market eggs, and the growing of broilers. Market egg production has experienced a steadv growth for many years, the trend smnewhat paralleling the increas~ in population. Poultry farms on Long Island, as in much of the sea-coast areas from Maine to Maryland, are highly specialized, deriving 95% or more of their income from poultry products, and catering to the demands of large city consumers who are extremely quality conscious. Local poultry farmers buy practically all their LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE feed, grade their eggs carefully, and sell at the top of the market, either directly or through hucksters, local stores or operators of retail routes. This type of business is successful and stable for a region of concentrated population and high land values. As my father would say, "It is wheat in the mill", meaning that it is sound and good. The business revolves around the single comb White Leghorn hen. The "heavies", however, are not to be ruled out. Rhode Island Red, New I~ampshire, Barred Plymouth l{ock and crosses of Reds and Rocks giving the "black cross" are increasing. Brown eggs sell just as well or almost as well to local trade and many egg farmers do a good business in dressed fo~vl at certain seasons. They prefer the more meaty, birds. Nassau County had been falling off somewhat in egg production. up until 1940. It has since experienced a sudden upsurge, which probably ~xSll not be permanent. Suffolk County, and the total for the two counties, exhibit a steady upward trend: Number dozen eggs (thousands) 1880 1890 1930 1945 Total ................ 911 1,417 2,206 3,386 Until the middle nineteen-thirties, the production of broilers was not a specialized business, and followed a course similar to that of egg production. Most of the broilers produced were a by-product of the growing of pullets for egg production. In 1930, less than 1% of the chickens grown were produced on £arms specializing in broiler production; in 1940, specialized broiler farms produced about half of the chickens grown, and by 1945 three times as many chickens were produced by the broiler growers as by other poultr~men. The tend- ency is toward larger operations, handling upwards of 20,000 broilers at a time, growing them to weights of 31~ lbs. mostly sold alive a~ the farm. One grower, Wendell Still of Selden produces abou~ 120,000 broilers each year on his three farms. Several growers produce from 50,000 to 100,000 annually. In 1930 the two counties produced 487,000 broilers; in 1945, 2,888,000. The more efficient producers will probably continue to compete effectively with producers in sections more distant from the metropolitan market. Long Island costs of production are higher than elsewhere, and to stone extent the abnormal conditions of the war years have supported this rapid development in broiler growing. The competitive position of the broiler men under postwar conditions seems less secure than that of producers of eggs. Among Long Island poultr~nen are a number of breeders of good production stock, one large hatchery, and several smaller ones. How- ever, quantities of baby chicks and hatching eggs are brought in from New England and other states. These phases of the poultry business are subordinate here to the production of eggs and meat for market, whicb by and large seems to provide the most satisfac- tory returns for those engaged in poultry farming in this area. A broiler man has a vocabulary of his own. He talks of Rock-Red 30 LONG ISLAXD--NASSAU AND SUFFOLK_ crosses and reciprocal crosses and knows what he is taiking about. This is not a treatise on genetics. Suffice it to say that crosses seem to give greater vigor, more rapid growth, and greater weight at a certain age than the purebreds. In these latter davs. with diseases under control we are getting back into the turkev b~s{ness. There were no turkeys to speak of on the Island ten yea~rs ago. In 1944 Nassau County had 12,000 and Suffolk nearly 28,000. We have almost enough to supply out' Thanks- Long Island Potato Scene givi~g dinners, one to every 17 residents of the two counties, enough surely if the birds are big enough. One of the largest turkey ranches in th~ East is at Port Jefferson with 3000 breeders. The w{ld ances- tor's of these birds must have loved it here what with the chestnuts and cover and salubrious climate. We cannot bring them back because we cannot restore the environment that made them happy but it is good to have this majestic bird even in a less romantic edition once more part of the Long Island scene. Even the liamptons were decidedly farm conscious~ftv years ago. Said the East Hampton Star in its iss'ue of February "8, i8§6. "One thing Amagansett farmers would like to know, and had]y, too, is how to grow a kind of potato that will net them LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE . 31 more than 30 cents a bushel. * * * This week about a dozen empty freight cars passed through here enroute for Promised Land where they are to be loaded with TuthiIl's produce. Six carloads of fertilizer were shipped from Ells- worth Tuthill's factory Wednesday morning." Is Long Island agriculture disappeari, ng? No, but its nature is In Nassau County the agriculture is typically one of Potato Crop Scene crops in succession plantings, with ninny nursery aud green- house .developments, and a substantial potato acreage. In Suffolk ~s a very large development of potatoes and cauliflower ~vith truck crops fitting in, plus the greenhouse and nursery crops. Suf- folk m one of the most important and productive agricultural counties in the State. ~Ianv do not appreei~ite this fact. The two counties taken together constitute the outstanding potato area in the State md the only one which is increasing in acreage and production. The census figures (1944) list 13,332 acres of potatoes in Nassau 52,000 acres in Suffolk County against 9000 and 33,000 respee- years earlier. Yields vary with the season, chiefly with the and distribution of rainfall. The season of 1946 saw many acres produce 400 bushels of U. S. 1 tubers. The total yield was the largest on record. In unfavor- seasons the yield will be cut in half, so no one need get out his figure long-time returns on an average yield of 400 bushels. 32 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SUFFOLK Fertilizer, spraying, tillage, seed and overhead costs do not decrease with decreasing yields. The farmer is worthy of his hire and fre- quently more. Over 10,000 acres of potatoes 'in Suffolk County are no~v under irrigation from deep well pumps supplying poP. table systems between the rows. It is worth a trip along Sound Avenue in Riverhead Town during May and June to see the jets of water against the sky, to marvel at the ingenuity of man and the responsive- ness of nature. Henry Talmage of Friar's Head Farms, Baiting Ffollow, tells of what he regards as the beginning of the commercial potato industry on Long Island: "My first recollection of working is of dropping potatoes on a little farm at Westhampton. I was ten years old. Potato planters were unheard of. I had to stick them into the side of a furrow. They were plowed in. The potato beetle had just become a pe~t on Long Island. We did not know how to combat it. Father paid my sister and me one cent a hundred for the old shell back bugs and a nest of eggs connted the same as a bug. We earned our fire cracker money in that year that way. "That fall we moved to the farm where I now live. The farm had been in pasture for many years. The next spring we planted four acres o~ potatoeS, in tough sod. Strange to say they grew fine. Father saw an ad of a potato digger from way out in Iowa. He wrote for a prier and got a letter stating he would get a pecial reduced price if he would exhibit it at the County Fair. "He exhibited it ~tt the fair and S. Terry Hudson, who had a farm machinery manufacturing plant on the site of Maxim Bobinski's present potato and machinery business. made very careful inspection and drawings of 'the digger and the next year came out x~Sth an improved digger. It was a d0ubIe mouldboard style, with rods in place of solid mouldboards. "The potato digger was the first special machine to be used in growing potatoes and made possible the growing of potatoes in a larger way. "When we came to dig our crop that fall they turned out 300 bu. per acre. Our neighbors came to see the wonder- ful crop and asked father '~Vhat will you ever do with so many potatoes?' From that you can draw your own infer- ence of the importance of the potato crop at that time." From this to 65,000 acres in one man's lifetime! Some decry the "one-crop system" whereby potatoes are grown on the same land year after year. But it is not really a one-crop system, for rye is sown after the crop is harvested and plowed under before planting in the spring. Moreover, it can be demonstrated that yields are increasing from year to year under .this system. It is difficult to condemn a system that brings home the ]~acon--or in this case, the potatoes. A well grown Long Island potato is a LONG ISLAND'S AGRICULTURE 33 delicious thing--an aristocrat of its kind. It is the partner of home- made bread and there should be more of both. Long Island cauliflower (really Suffolk County) needs no encomium. With acreage and production increasing there is no occa- sion for an epitaph. Some restricted areas in the Catskills are the only rivals of Suffolk lands in presenting this offering of creamy succulence and beauty. There is room for the products of both sec- tions. Incidentally, more and more cauliflower is finding favor in (Photo Courtesy of F. Kull) Potato Crop Scene the raw. Try it just as you would a radish and be convinced. Said Francis Brill in 1872, "Where this vegetable does well, there is certainly no crop which will pay a larger profit. For the past two years tl~e farmers of the east end of Long Island, especially about the village of Mattituck, have planted largely of cauliflower, being incited by the successful experiments of some who have removed here from the west end, who were formerly engaged 'in growing Vegetables for New York markets." Percentage of Nassau County area in farms is decreasing as the city pushes eastward and new communities come into being and old ones reach out. But cropping is more intensive and yields are greater than ever. There is much land on the Island still to be brought into .! :l 34 LONG ISLAND--NASSAU AND SLTFFOLI( production of some intensive specialized type when conditious are favorable. There is more cooperative effort in Island agriculture than ever before and there will be still more in the future. The Nassau Count,- Farm Bureau, sponsored by Elwood Titus, pioneer in the cooperativ~ movement, came in 1914; the Suffolk County Farm Bureau iu 1917. These are self-help organizations with individual farmer member- ships and trained agents or leaders as their hired men. Here. too. are the Home Bureaus of both counties and the 4It organizations for boys and girls. In 1912 came the Institute of Agriculture at Farming- dale, now under a broadened program, the Long Island Agricultural and Technical Institute. All these agencies seek in various ways to enrich, broaden, and dignify rural life and living. There are or have been many other gr(~ups and agencies serving the same general purpose--the Grange with a program for the entire family, the Long Island Farmers Club, Long Island Duck Growers Association, Long Island Poultr~qnen's Association. Long Island Cauliflower Association, one of ~the most successful of all farln cooperatives; Long Island Horticultural Society, Long Island Nurser~nan's Associatiou, The G. L. F. (Grange-League-Federation. Coop Assn., Inc.) with its local outlets furnishing farm supplies: Long Island Farmers Institute, garden clubs galore and many, many others. There is even a Long Is~land Goat Association and th'e rabbi't growers are organized. ¥~rhy not? And there will be others. The whole American public has learned how to organize and join. There is still much to be learned about execution and the responsibility to do something more than join. But farm people are learning. About twenty years ago The American Agriculturist, one of the leading farm papers of the Northeast established its order of "Master Farmers." Its purpose has been to recognize men who have not only achieved well in the practices of husbandry but who have set high standards of family life and community service. Back of it all has been the desire to'dignify agriculture as a way of life. The movement is chiefly symbolic. No claim is made t'hat ail worthy recipients have been named or any large number of them. Neverthe- less the following Long Islanders have been so honored and all Long Island with them: ~ Henry Talmage---Riverhead ........ 1928 E. E. Boisseau--Southold .......... 1928 Harold Simonson--Glen l:Iead ...... 1933 William Louden--Hempstead ....... 1935 "For climate and geographic reasons Long Island became a garden and ultimately developed into one of the richest garden areas in America. As the old range of low-lying hills that made up the first Long Island supports the tumbled glacial deposits that later eras have piled upon them, so the 'farmer, who was the first Long Islander, still supports the life fhat later generations have called into being."