Footnotes to Long Island History
Cattle
on Island by 1625
by
Thomas R. Bayles
The
early settlers of Long Island coming as they did from the New England colonies,
naturally followed the same system of farming and crop rotation to which they
were accustomed. Probably the first settlers found sufficient cleared land
for their purpose, as according to early tradition there was much cleared land
or land not covered with timber besides the great plains.
The
settlers soon found their success depended on the use of manure and as early as
1653 on the west ed of the Island, the terms of the patent from the Dutch
governor for the lands they occupied required that they pay the government one
tenth of the revenue received from the ground they manured.
Cattle
were imported as early as 1625, and a cow in New York was worth 30 pounds. The
abundant grass on the great plains doubtless turned the attention of the early
inhabitants to stock raising. But as yet there were no fences, so herdsmen were
hired by the town to take care of the cattle from May until October when the
Indian harvest would be completed.
In 1667
the town of Hempstead hired Abraham Smith to keep the cattle from destroying
the corn planted in the "plain" and he was to have one and one half bushels per
acre paid him for this service. Shortly after sunrise every morning, at the
blowing of a horn the owners of cattle drove them into one common herd which
was under the care of the cow keeper and his dog, who drove them to the pasture
on the plains. His job was to keep them from wandering away in the forests, or
getting on cultivated land, and bring them home every night before sunset. For this
service in 1658 he was paid 12 shillings sterling per week, in butter, corn and
oats.
The
calves were cared for by another keeper, who was required to water them twice a
day, drive them to the salt meadows once in two weeks and put them in an
enclosure at nigh to protect them from wolves. After a while cow herds were
dispensed and it was found necessary to fence the pasture lands. In 1669 Cow
Neck was fenced from Hempstead harbor to Great Neck.
Sheep
were not introduced until a later date, and in 1643 there were only 16 in the
whole colony of New York. In 1670, sheep were pastured on the plains in the care
of a shepherd.. Each owner had an ear mark for his own sheep which was recorded
in the town book. In 1737 the New York Gazette stated, "Vast losses have
been sustained in this colony and Long Island by the death of cattle from the
want of fodder and many persons have been almost ruined thereby. Five thousand
head of cattle have been lost on Long Island this winter besides large numbers
of sheep."
Corn, wheat,
rye, oats, flax, wood for fuel, fat cattle and sheep were the staple products
of the Island and the chief source of income until the beginning of the
nineteenth century.
During
the Revolutionary war a Tory, advised a British minister to land the forces for
the suppression on the colonies on Long Island
for said he, "It is one hundred thirty miles long, very fertile,
abounding in wheat and other kind of grain and has large numbers of cattle,
sheep, hogs etc, so that on this fertile island the British army can subsist
without any help from England."
The
suggestion was acted on, and for seven years the British army occupied Long
Island, with New York city as its headquarters, and drew it supplies from the
farmers on the Island, who were ordered to furnish whatever was required, with
the threat of "laying waste the farms and homes of the disobedient."
With
the growth of New York and Brooklyn in later years grew the demand for fruits
and vegetables and great quantities of them were raised on the west end of the
Island and hauled to the city markets with the horse-drawn wagons. From the
east end and beyond driving distance, produce and great quantities of cord wood
were shipped by boat.