^^1 '/$£*.^^^--^^^e.«-^e-#>ct^5^ TIE^IE GlTJJ^lL.TrC^Z' a WILD LANDS ?? ii LONG ISLAND EXAMINED, AND DETAILED EVIDENCES GIVEN OF THEIR V A.LXJE, TOGETHER WITH A REASONABLE CONJECTURE WHY THEY HAVE NOT BEEN IMPROVED. With a compai'ative view of their Productiveness when contrasted with the Improved Lands located on the North and South of the Island. BY THOMAS SCHNEBLY, BROOKLYN, L. L o, NEW YORK: ^Printed at the '• Sun" Book and .lob Printing Office, 128 Fulton street. ^ 186.>. / % ^ y y-^^ ^ ^- f^^V ?? [from the dniom akk.] OF THE ''WILD LANDS or LONG ISLAND EXAMINED, AND DETAILED EVIDENCES GIVEN OF THEIR TOGKinER WITH A REASONABLB CONJECTURE WHY THET HATS • NOT BEEN IMPROVED. With a comparative view of their Productiveness when contrasted vrhh the Improved Lands located on the North and South of the Island. BY THOMAS SCHNEBLY, BROOKLYN, L. L NEW YORK: Printed at the " Sun" Book and Job Printing OfiBce, 128 Fulton street. 1860. ^3 THE WILD LANDS OF LOIG ISLAND, THEIR VALUE, &c. Having made repeated visits to " Long Island," both on the Northern and Southern border, and also through its " Centre," (or that portion generally designated the "Wild Wood Lands," through which the Long Isl- and Rail Road passes,) from the superficial observa- tions afforded me, in connection with the prevailing opinions entertained by residents, I gleaned, in my transient visits, an opinion decidedly impressed, with what "every body" seemed to admit, that ^'■the Lands contiguous to the waters were all that was available on the Island for agricultural purposes." In arecent visit, however, my explorations and exam- inations have been more extensive and thorough, and consequently more satisfactory and reliable ; I have possessed myself with important " facts," which have materially changed my "views,^^ and will go far to de- monstrate the opinion expressed years since by dis- tinguished scientific gentlenien, that " Long Island" is destined to be tlie " Garden Spot" of the State ot J^ew York. According to the acknowledged and received opin- 4 The Wild Lands of Long Island. ions of the old settlers of this territory, Long Island was originally inhabited by Indians, who ceded or sold their lands to the British Government in Colonial times, which was afterwards granted by " Patent" to different families, for services rendered, or on paying a small amount as an equivolent. The Patents convey- ing tracts of land from one mile to ten miles square. The Island being thus mapped out by Patents, own- ed by different parties, whose possessions siretched from the waters on the North and South sides to the middle and wood lands in the centre, each owner be- coming " the Lord of his Manor." It seems all that the original proprietors cared for, was a beautiful country residence, signalized by a pic- turesque and romantic " water aite," which very likely was at first only inhabited through the Summer sea- son, or improved according to circumstances; that is, as much land as would subserve for domestic purposes was only cultivated, thus confining their "farming operations" to a few acres , whilst the great body ot their lands, grown up with " heavy timber" and under, growth almost impenetrable, and reaching for miles to the middle of the Island, were left uncultivated and unimproved in its native luxuriance for the "wild deer" to roam in, or the feathered songsters to mate and propagate and raise their young. As the " water sites" of the Island became more densely inhabited, en- terprising residents parceled off tracts or lots of one thousand acres, more or less, of " wood land," and be- ginning at one end or side, would yearly cut thousands of "cord wood" for market, and by the time they reached the outer boundary or extreme side of said lots, that portion which they had commenced cutting ,on would reproduce another growth of smaller wood The Wild Lands of Long' Island. 5 ready for the axe. It is acknowledged by hundreds that in fifteen years the forest trees, after being cut, will, from their stumps and roots, re-produce a growth of wood sufficiently large to be cut again. The inhabitants, thus farming their " manors," rais- ing only enough of produce for their own use, and cutting timber from the " forests or wild lands," set- tled down into the conviction that they had clear land enough to work for home consumption, which was all that was worth cultivating; while the wood land from which they cut their wood was not fit for agricultural purposes, and consequently considered only capable of re-producing wood. I believe this is the main reason why the lands on the middle of the Island, got into such bad repute, and thereby received the cognomen of" wild lands." This delusion may have continued until now, had not the Long Island Rail Road penetrated these forests and opened up to men of science and enterprise a tract of country, before little known or appreciated for its in- trinsic value, both as to its geological structure or its agricultural or horticultural advantages. The conviction that now arrests you, may be, that the proiDrietors of the Long Island Rail Road must have anticipated a large trade along their route. For the travel from and to Brooklyn, namely Greenport, when the road was first constructed, would hardly have compensated for their outlay ; however, looking to the future, they have abided their time, and now they are beginning to reap the advantages resulting therefrom. The Long Island Rail Road passes through the mid- dle of these lands, and furnishes a quick and easy ac- cess to the cities of New York and Brooklyn, contain- 6 The Wild Lands of Long Island. ing a million of population, and tlius brings the mar- kets within easy and quick reach, transferring ferti- lizers from the cities, and taking in the varied pro- ducts of farm and gardens, beside the reclaiming of those lands, which until then lay entirely wild and un- productive. At any rate, if the Rail Road Company do not reap the advantages contemplated by building their road, the citizens of Brooklyn and New York should ever accord to them the meed of praise for opening to them an avenue of trade, which now yearly supplies a large portion of their marketing and provi- sions. I will now entertain the proposition, generally, that all the territory of Long Island is susceptible of a high state of cultivation, and is as productive as any lands in the state of New York. Gen. John A. Dix> who at present presides in the Post Office of New York City, in his address before the New York Agri- cultural Society, October 7th, 1859, thus adverts to Long Island: " It stretches out from New York Har- bor 130 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. A most ex- traordinary delusion has prevailed in regard to the productiveness of the central portion, and yet the sur- face soil of this whole region, with some inconsidera- ble exceptions, consists of a rich loam, from twenty to thirty inches in depth, easily cultivated and made highly productive, without immoderate manuring. Some of the best farms in the southern part of the State have during the last five years, been made in this condemned region, and it is shown by agricultural survey of the State, that the Island produces fourteen bushels of wheat to the acre, considerable beyond the average of the State, and very little less than that of the western district. In a very few places the gravel The Wild Lands of Long Island. 7 with which the surface soil is underlaid, crops cut, but these localities are believed not to exceed two per cent, of the whole Island. Of all the districts of the State this has the finest summer climate, and the winters are mittigated and made temperate by the. surrounding waters; close observations and successful experiment have dissipated misapprehensions in re- gard to its fertility. They have shown that its soil is warm, genial, and productive, atd there is little hazard in predicting that it will at no distant time become the garden of the city of New York. As Gen. Dix re- marks, " the soil is warm, genial, and productive," and which, in fact, overlays the whole Island, varying in depth from one to five feet, and has this peculiar fea- ture, as a general rule, all over the Island. First there is the surface soil a foot or more deep, then sand and gravel intermixed with clay underneath. The soil is deepest on the centre, and grows thinner as you ap- proach the water, which is the opposite of the receiv- ed opinion that formerly prevailed and erroneously de- signated the middle, " wild or plain lands," because it was supposed the soil was not deep enough there to bear culture, and therefore as above detail was literally abandoned. A singular phenomena occurs in the undulatings of the lands, that is, the soil is less fertile in depressions and always more alluvial and pro- ductive on the elevated surfaces. Silex is the pre- vailing ingredient in some sections, while a clayey loam prevails in other districts. On the north side, in the vicinity of Smithstown, pure sand is found, and al- so in Happaugh's Valley, but both localities are in a high state of cultivation. Since science has analyzed soils and disclosed their component parts, we at once understand the composition of plants, their nature,. 8 The Wild Lands of Long Island. the food they hest thrive upon, and the degree in which they extract it from the soil. All soils, whatever their depth or richness, by constant wear in producing will eventually wear out, provided they are not restor- ed, by the same amount of organic and inorganic matter which have entered into the organization of the crops removed. This is the universal law of compensation in every department of physical life. Return to the soil in manures and fertilizing substances, as much as you take from it, or you diminish the ability of your lands in producing, and sell their fertility in the crops you take off; this has been the experience of some few settlers in the middle or wild lands of Long Island. They have cleared a portion of territory, and in a year or two have worked their lands to death, simply be- cause they took from the land all they could get, giv- ing them no manures or fertilizers in return, as though they expected to enhance the price of their horses by making them labor without sufficient food to perpetu- ate their health and strength. The different " Townships" have had large " tracts'' of lands ceded to them, which still lay uncultivated as a common or pasture ground for the "village cat- tle." I will allude to the one contiguous to Hemp- stead, embracing a tract of some fifteen thousand acres, without fencing, but clothed with a heavy crop of grass. These upland meadows stretch from the ridge to the ocean entirely free from bush or tree which is supposed to have been originally rooted and burned out by fires, and are very similar in appearance and product to what is denominated in New Jersey, the " meadows," which being covered by a vegetable mould, accumulating for years, assumes the appearance of " Turf," and being set on fire, will burn until every The Wild Lands of Long' Island. 9 vestage of stumps, under-growth, and roots and vegeta- ble matter is cleared away to the clay stratum beneath and in a year or two thereafter grow up in meadow grass, as luxuriant and beautiful as the eye can con- template or gaze upon. Individuals, like " Townships," who held lands by Patents, still possess them in their descendants. There is the " Nichols Patent, at West Islip, containing originally ten miles square, granted by the Colonial Governor Sir John Donagon, which, in fact, is owned by the descendants of the Nichols fam- ily still residing in that Township. There is also the Wiilets, also Mr. J. M. Thompson? Mr. Mowbray, and Mr. Gribbens' Patent of twenty-five thousand acres, and others, land holders, who origin- ally cared not to cultivate the whole of their lands, nor desired any body else to improve them, and conse- quently shut out all investigation, and while they lived amidst gorgeous scenery, a genial climate, and on a productive soil, were satisfied with cultivating a few acres to supply their wants, leaving the balance of their territory to unproductiveness, which in time, for that reason, became known as the Wild or Wood Lands of Long Island. Going south from Hempstead, all along the margin of the Bay, you behold farms yielding heavy crops. Mr. Richard Higbie of West Islip, has a farm of 100 acres, which his forefathers for one hundred and fifty years, cultivated successively and successfully before him. He has this season entertained at his house over five hundred visitors, who resort to the Island for health, enjoyment in hunting, fishing, and good living. He raised all the vegetables, and more than he could consume, together with heavy crops of corn, rye, oats, wheat and grass besides. 10 The Wild Lands of Long Island. A farm contiguous, owned by Mr. Udell, of five hun- dred acres, is a beautiful location ; lands rich and pro- ductive ; as is also the farm of three hundred acres owned by Dr. Wagstalf, which a few years since he purchased for sixty thousand dollars. 1 counted in a line in one of his fields twenty-five stacks of grain, averaging perhaps about one hundred bushels, the product of last harvest. Further south, you come to another " model farm" of five hundred acres, owned by Mr. Bergen. In his barn yard I counted over forty stacks of grain. His house cost him twenty-two thou- sand dollars ; stabling, barns and fencing, ten thou- sand more, while he estimates the whole at sixty thousand dollars. He informed me that he laid out yearly one thousand dollars for manures, and that the product of his farm returned him ten thousand dollars annually. Mr Bergen has north of his farm a large tract of the " wild or plain lands," and Mr. Udell ac- companied me in his carriage to a farm in the wild lands of five hundred acres, about one hundred acres cleared, the balance in wood. This farm has been cultivated for years. He pointed out one field, which seven years since he covered with stable manure mix- ed with bone dust, and each successive year he has mowed a heavy crop of grass up to this season, when it yielded two tons to the acre. A corn field on the same farm looked as good and as luxuriant as any farmer could desire ; and yet, he observed, "as I have plenty of land without this to cultivate, I would, or rather my son, who in fact it belongs to, would be willing to sell it for eight thousand dollars." " What," said I, " the whole tract of four hundred acres, with such evidences before you of what it can be made to produce," " why," said I, " the wood upon it," which was The Wild Lands of Long Island. 11 pretty heavy timber, " would absolutely sell for half of the money." " I know that" said Mr. Udell, « but I would let it go anyhow at that price, rather than be bothered in attending to it, it is so far removed from my house." It was a section of land of about three miles long, a public road bounding the east side and a stream of water bounding the west ; the stream had water power and sites sufficient for mill seats, or man- ufacturing purposes. I have detailed the above facts to shoiv the qualify of the lands by their 'productiveness, on the south side of the Island, and as I have introduced the reader to the " wild or wood lands," I ivill examine their quality by the same rule, that is, their productiveness, which will give a fair estimate of their value, susceptibility lor improvement and culture. However, before I be- gin the contrast, I will state a conceded fact, that the lands on the north side of the Island are as good if not better, than the lands on the South or Bay side of the Island. Besides Mr. Udell's farm, already cited, there is in the neighborhood of Deer Park Station, several farms, one of which I will allude to, belonging to Mr. Wilson, right in the " Wild Lands." It is as beautiful a tract of land as you could desire to look upon. He has about one hundred and fifty acres cleared. Indeed, he has just reclaimed another field of sixty acres, by the following process : He first cut down the scrub oaks and under-brush— which, when dry, is burned — then, with his oxen and plough, he breaks it up ; then ga- thers roots and fibres, cross-ploughs it, again gathers up the roots, &c., and finishes it by a third cross plough- ing, when the soil undergoing this pulverizing opera- tion, becomes pliable, mellow, and ready for the seed. His wheat, corn, rye, oats, and vegetables, will com- 12 The Wild Lands of Long- Island. pare with any of the crops raised either north or south of him. In the vicinity of Deer Park I had the curiosity of enquiring as to the product of their Peach Orchards, and was surprised at the various statements made by •resident farmers in relation to the quantities raised. Messrs. Hawly, Smith, and Carman have an orchard of thirty acres, which, up to the time I was there, had produced one thousand baskets this season, which they sent by rail road to market, receiving $2,00 net per basket, clear of all expense of picking, transportation and commission. They expected to pick another thou- sand baskets still in the orchard. | In consequence of the failure of the Peach crop In New Jersey this year, the Peaches sent from Lon^ Isl- and, no doubt, commanded a better price. Other Peach orchards, owned by Mr. Ilenry Elr.tch- ly, Mr. John Weeks, Mr. Jesse Conklin, Mr. C liver Sands, and others in that vicinity, daily sent by rail- road to market from two to three hundred baskets, in cars appropria^ted entirely for that purpose, shelved off to hold and transmit the Peaches vdthout damage. Further east, on the line of the Rail Hoad, is Lake- land Station. Considerable improvenient has occurred ; the forest trees and scrub oaks — in fact the wild lands are opening up too to the enterprise oi those who will reap a rich reward for their outlay and labor. The subject of these lands and their successful cul- ture, was several years since brought before the pub- lic by Dr. E. F. Peck, who had or then resided on the Island, examined the soil carefully in these v/iids, and earnestly urged their settlement and cultivation ; and all the facts which we have seen and stated demon- strate the truth of the opinions advocated and pub- TJie Wild Lands of Long Island. 13 lislied by Dr. Peck in' regard to the productive quality of these long neglected lands. Mr. Young will show you a cranberry patch of one fourth of an acre, on which the cranberries lay so :hick that they literally lay on top of each other all over the patch, and will yield, as is supposed, one pint to the square foot, I visited a farm owned by Mr. Spence, whose land lay a quarter of a mile south of Waverly Station, on the Hail Eoad, and stretches in parallel lines t'.iree miles south to within one mile and a half of Patch- ogue. I think he has about five hundred ceres, (part of a tract of nine hundred and sixty Lcres,) through the middle of which he has opened an avenue DrJ road leading from 'his house on the soutli side to within a quarter of a mile of the Rail Roai Station. — The above lands and those contiguous, wsre ceded by Patent to Mr. Winthrop, comprising an ai-ea of ten miles square for hunting grounds. Mr. Spence has cleared wiohin the last three years about tv>^enty acres, and has raised corn at the rate of seventy-iive bushels to the acre; oats fifty bushels to the acre ; rye thirty bushels^ and buckwheat twenty bushels. He has an onion patch, containing one acre, and it is the greatest curiosity I ever saw. They co- ver the ground as thick as they can lay, and from which I doubt not he will gather at least five hundred bushels. I make this assertion for this reason, one of his neighbors now has a patch of onions containing two roods, which last year was planted in onions, and brought eight bushels. He says his two roods or patch is as good this year as it was last, and that Mr. Spence's acre is better than his planting of this or last years' crop ; consequently, as there is one hun- l4 The Wild Lands of Long Island. dred and sixty roods in an acre, by multiplying it by four, it would give you the quantity or number of bushels on the acre belonging to Mr. Spence. He has a carrot patch, which he expects to get at the rate of a thousand bushels per acre ; also a beet patch, which will yield as much. We dug up a number of hills of potatoes, when each hill turned out eight or ten large beautiful potatoes ; and in answer to my question, *' How many bushels do you expect from this acre .^" Mr. Spence replied, " about two hundred and fifty bushels," which I thought was a fair estimate. Peas, beans, tomatoes, and melons, grow in any quantity and luxuriance, and of the best and largest size. I never saw a finer buckwheat field, which was the first crop put in the ground after breaking it up, with but one bag of Guano to the acre. This Spring he planted a cranberry patch of an acre' which had not only taken root, and began to spread and cover the ground, but was producing the berry in all their perfection, and will partially compensate him by yielding berries this present season. The fact is thus demonstrated that the cranberry will grow and produce on high ground or uplands without the necessary inundations subject to low marshy grounds, which was always thought essential to their luxuriant growth and production. Mr. Si3ence says he expects, when his cranberry patch is lully set and in full bearing, he will be able to gather yearly at least, if not more than one hundred bushels from the acre, which, averaging four dollars per bushel net, will be worth four hundred dollars; and, as it will not wear out, and requires no further attention af- ter the first years' culture, what could be more profit- able, or return a greater compensation to the Long The Wild Lands of Long" Island. 15 Island Farmer than to put down two or three acres of cranberries, particularly when their market value is so high, and they could sell at the same rate thou- sands of bushels for exportation. Mr. Spence was clearing some ten acres while I wat with him — the work does not seem to be laborious. They have something like a hoe, sharp at the edge like an axe, with which they cut the scrub oaks and pine and under-growth down, and let it lay until it dries, then set fire, when a blaze sweeps over the whole surface, consuming all that is laying upon it ; next he ploughs it up with a team of oxen, which se- parates the matted roots, leaving only the larger stumps ; he then gathers up the loosened roots, &c. burns them, and then cross-ploughs it again, burning the loose matter brought up to the surface ; one more cross-ploughing prepares it for sewing or planting his crop ; all alter ploughings is easily performed. He and his overseer estimated the whole cost in my presence, for breaking up the land, per acre, and putting it in condition to be seeded down, and on a liberal computation made it reach ten dollars. I think this was an over estimate. His well is thirty feet deep, the water is as soft and delicious as any water I ever tasted. The same may be said of the water all over the Island. In my examination, and in the facts I have detailed, it is manifest that the " wild or wood lands" are just as susceptible of improvement, and their cultivation will yield as abundant crops, as any other portion of the Island ; and it is a wonder to me that they have not long since been bought up and secured, at the nominal prices they now sell at, by thousands who de- sire a home, and who, did they now locate on the Isl- 16 The Wild Lands of Long Island. and, would in five years be independent, or at the end of that term sell their lands for ten times as much as they cost them. Long Island will be, ere long, thickly populated, and realize the opinion of those who long since believed it would eventually become the garden spot of New York State. Lands thus lying contiguous to the markets, afford- ed by the cities of Brooklyn and New York, and which actual culture demonstrate, are as productive as any other territory within the bounding of the State, hav- ing the advantage of Rail Road communication, both regular, expeditious, and cheap; and when those lands are selling from ten to thirty dollars an acre, accord- ing to location, there is not only an opportunity for capitalists to invest, but this is the propitious time for those to buy who can only afford to secure a few acres, upon easy and accommodating terms, when a year's delay may so enhance the value of the "Long Island Lands" as to effectually debar persons in mode- rate circumstances, from acquiring a desirable and comfortable home for themselves and families, on a territory where the climate is as delightful as the most healthy in the United States. S^STofcWOMSS '^;v'- 003 154 014 8 ^