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1859, he received from the American Institute, a premium on about twenty-four bushels of beautiful fruit picked from these vines. He has other pieces of the cranberry quite as promising as this, under cultivation. Mr. Young, in his statement to the Institute, says, as the results of his experience, that "the cranberries will grow and do well, although the vines be taken directly from the swamps; that they will grow on new land and immediately on its being broken up; without manure; without a wet subsoil; without artificial irrigation; with but a moderate amount of labor; producing a good sized, deep colored, well matured and high flavored berry, and that in dollars and cents, the returns are sufficient to induce many to follow the example set before them."
I regret that the limits of this paper will not permit me to explain the method pursued in the cultivation of this valuable plant, or to urge the various reasons which suggest themselves for an extended appropriation of these lands to the object. I found a number of individuals preparing with much zeal, to embark in the business the next year.
Numerous gardens are scattered near the line of the Railroad through the whole length of the Bush plains. Fragrant with flowers and exhibiting a growth of vegetables of great size and rare excellence, they are eminently suggestive of the results which may be attained when horticulture shall receive the attention and enlarged operations its great importance will warrant. The beautiful grounds and decided success of the efforts of Mr. Ranney and Mrs. Landon, near Thompson's Station, and of various other individuals in different localities, enforce this conviction.
The gardens of the Messrs. Van Sicklen, south of the Railroad in Jamaica, illustrate the great profit of this occupation in connection with these lands, when it is conducted on a liberal and capacious plan. These gentlemen occupy about one hundred and sixty acres of land, not superior in quality to the average of the plain lands, and which is chiefly devoted to the culture of vegetables and other garden products. They expend annually $3,000 worth of manure, principally stable dung, and realize upon their grounds an average neat profit each year, of about $6,000, from the proceeds of the crops they produce.
When improvement and cultivation shall have succeeded the rude wilderness which now deforms these plains, the repose and seclusion, the delightful climate, the salubrious air, and the exceeding beauty which will then fascinate the eye, will allure to this region, the votary of Nature, and the men of business and wealth. A dwelling upon these plains will then gratify the taste, and secure all those pleasures and enjoyments which render a rural life so attractive to the denizens of the city. A small freehold may now be purchased on this territory at a price which would scarcely secure a rocky knoll at the same distance from New York, on the banks of the Hudson. The region surrounding Lake Ronkomkama, a beautifully picturesque and romantic sheet of water, will afford the most delightful country residence that wealth or taste can desire.
A design of Mr. Stone, of Brooklyn, which I trust will be consummated
