Farming New England in Colonial Times

When in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries European settlers arrived in New England, the northeastern part of the United States, forest was the dominant form of vegetative cover, making agriculture difficult. Initially, the Europeans went in search of areas already cleared by Native Americans (the original inhabitants of the continent) that would be suitable for planting crops, to thereby save themselves from the backbreaking labor involved in clearing forestland.

 

Eventually, however, population growth outstripped the supply of cleared land, forcing the European settlers to cut down more forest themselves. For most of the settlers, cleared, arable land was the landscape most familiar to them from life back across the ocean. It took time to become accustomed to the hard labor involved in cutting down the woods. In the northern colonies, trees were usually chopped down, although occasionally a technique known as girdling was used. Girdling, a practice far more common in the South, involved cutting a horizontal channel all the way around the tree, which stopped the flow of sap, the liquid that carries food to all parts of a plant. Deprived of sap, the leaves would die and the branches eventually fell off, leaving the surrounding land dry and suitable for planting.

 

New Englanders, however, generally clear-cut the forest, in part because the demand for fuel wood and lumber encouraged it. The market for potash, an alkaline substance that came from burning hardwood trees, also strongly motivated farmers to cut and burn the woods. Used to manufacture soap, glass, and gunpowder and to bleach linens and print calicoes, potash served a range of industrial uses but at the expense of farms, which lost the nutrients that the wood ashes would otherwise have released back into the soil had they not been exported to market.

 

With their very existence dependent on the successful production of food, farmers had little, if any, time for removing stumps and stones. Instead, they adapted to the half-cleared fields by planting corn (maize) and grass, both grew well in such an environment. A pattern of “extensive” farming began to emerge. Rather than carefully tending arable land, engaging in crop rotation, manuring, and removing all stumps and stones—all recognized as part of proper agricultural practice in Europe—New England farmers simply exploited the soil and then forged ahead with the cleaning of new land. Cutting down trees remained hard work, but it was easier to partially clear the land, plant it, and then move on to another small plot than to constantly improve the soil on one field to the high Old World (European) standards. The settlers were too busy figuring out how to produce food rapidly to worry about efficient agricultural practices.

 

Early on, the settlers adopted the Native American practice of planting corn along with beans and pumpkins or squash. These plants reinforced one another, resulting in high agricultural yields. The stalks of corn facilitated the growth of beans by giving them a structure to climb. The beans replenished the nitrogen that the corn drained out of the soil, bolstering fertility. And the pumpkins were a valuable source of food in the pioneer environment. After a few seasons, however, the settlers slowly began the process of transforming New England into an image of the Old World, planting European grains such as wheat and rye alongside the maize, a crop they never abandoned, in part because it proved a more reliable source of food.

 

New England, unlike the South, did not center its economy on an export crop like tobacco. Nor were its soils as fertile as those in the mid-Atlantic area (south of New England), which by the eighteenth century was the great grain-producing region of the colonies instead. New England’s soil had a moisture content that made it especially suited for growing grass. Grass played the pivotal role in the region’s farm ecology: the grass fed cattle that, in turn, produced manure that was spread over the fields as fertilizer for growing corn and other crops. Grass and cattle thus helped to maintain soil fertility—

the key to reproducing a sustainable form of farm life—by recycling nutrients back into the fields.

 

【Paragraph 1】When in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries European settlers arrived in New England, the northeastern part of the United States, forest was the dominant form of vegetative cover, making agriculture difficult. Initially, the Europeans went in search of areas already cleared by Native Americans (the original inhabitants of the continent) that would be suitable for planting crops, to thereby save themselves from the backbreaking labor involved in clearing forestland.

 

1. According to paragraph 1, European settlers were interested in areas that had already been cleared by Native Americans because

A. they believed that the most fertile soil was to be found in those areas

B. they wanted to locate their field where they would do as little damage to the forest as possible

C. cleaning forestland to create fields was extremely hard work

D. it took some time before a newly cleared area became suitable for planting crops

 

【Paragraph 2】Eventually, however, population growth outstripped the supply of cleared land, forcing the European settlers to cut down more forest themselves. For most of the settlers, cleared, arable land was the landscape most familiar to them from life back across the ocean. It took time to become accustomed to the hard labor involved in cutting down the woods. In the northern colonies, trees were usually chopped down, although occasionally a technique known as girdling was used. Girdling, a practice far more common in the South, involved cutting a horizontal channel all the way around the tree, which stopped the flow of sap, the liquid that carries food to all parts of a plant. Deprived of sap, the leaves would die and the branches eventually fell off, leaving the surrounding land dry and suitable for planting.

 

 

 

2. According to paragraph 2, girdling worked by

A. splitting the tree in half vertically

B. removing all the branches from a tree

C. keeping sap from reaching the tree’s leaves and branches

D. preventing the tree from absorbing water from the ground

 

 

【Paragraph 3】New Englanders, however, generally clear-cut the forest, in part because the demand for fuel wood and lumber encouraged it. The market for potash, an alkaline substance that came from burning hardwood trees, also strongly motivated farmers to cut and burn the woods. Used to manufacture soap, glass, and gunpowder and to bleach linens and print calicoes, potash served a range of industrial uses but at the expense of farms, which lost the nutrients that the wood ashes would otherwise have released back into the soil had they not been exported to market.

 

 

3. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Potash from wood ash was used in manufacturing many industrial products, and it was also used to restore nutrients that had been lost from farm soil.

B. The use of potash in the manufacture of a wide range of industrial products meant that farmers could make a good profit by exporting the ashes from the wood they burned.

C. Farms suffered when wood ashes were converted into potash instead of being exported to market for profit.

D. Potash had many industrial uses, but when wood ashes were for potash, farms suffered from the loss of the nutrients that would have restored to the soil.

 

 

4. According to paragraph 3, one advantage of cutting down trees rather than girding them was that cutting down trees

A. supplied marketable products

B. reduced the risk of fire

C. added alkaline substances to the soil

D. preserved nutrients in the soil

 

 

 

【Paragraph 4】With their very existence dependent on the successful production of food, farmers had little, if any, time for removing stumps and stones. Instead, they adapted to the half-cleared fields by planting corn (maize) and grass, both grew well in such an environment. A pattern of “extensive” farming began to emerge. Rather than carefully tending arable land, engaging in crop rotation, manuring, and removing all stumps and stones—all recognized as part of proper agricultural practice in Europe—New England farmers simply exploited the soil and then forged ahead with the cleaning of new land. Cutting down trees remained hard work, but it was easier to partially clear the land, plant it, and then move on to another small plot than to constantly improve the soil on one field to the high Old World (European) standards. The settlers were too busy figuring out how to produce food rapidly to worry about efficient agricultural practices.

 

 

5. The word “tending” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. searching for

B. cleaning

C. selecting

D. taking care of

 

6. Why does the author discuss the settlers’ need to “produce food rapidly”?

A. To emphasize the contrast between early and later farming practices among New England farmers

B. To help explain why the settlers did not follow established European farming practices

C. To support the idea that the settlers cut down trees to clear the land only because they had no other choice

D. To argue that settlers were able to survive because of their economical practices

 

 

 

 

 

【Paragraph 5】Early on, the settlers adopted the Native American practice of planting corn along with beans and pumpkins or squash. These plants reinforced one another, resulting in high agricultural yields. The stalks of corn facilitated the growth of beans by giving them a structure to climb. The beans replenished the nitrogen that the corn drained out of the soil, bolstering fertility. And the pumpkins were a valuable source of food in the pioneer environment. After a few seasons, however, the settlers slowly began the process of transforming New England into an image of the Old World, planting European grains such as wheat and rye alongside the maize, a crop they never abandoned, in part because it proved a more reliable source of food.

 

7. According to paragraph 5, which of the following best describes an agricultural practice of the settlers?

A. They abandoned European grains, which were not as productive as corn.

B. They planted certain crops close together to support and improve growth.

C. They created structures to protect and cover corn and bean.

D. They planted more corn than other crops because it supplied the nutrients.

 

 

 

【Paragraph 6】New England, unlike the South, did not center its economy on an export crop like tobacco. Nor were its soils as fertile as those in the mid-Atlantic area (south of New England), which by the eighteenth century was the great grain-producing region of the colonies instead. New England’s soil had a moisture content that made it especially suited for growing grass. Grass played the pivotal role in the region’s farm ecology: the grass fed cattle that, in turn, produced manure that was spread over the fields as fertilizer for growing corn and other crops. Grass and cattle thus helped to maintain soil fertility—the key to reproducing a sustainable form of farm life—by recycling nutrients back into the fields.

 

8. According to paragraph 6, grass particularly grew well in the New England region because of

A. the widespread practice of keeping cattle in the fields

B. the regular recycling of nutrients back into the fields

C. the amount of water in the soil

D. the fertility of the soil

 

【Paragraph 4】With their very existence dependent on the successful production of food, farmers had little, if any, time for removing stumps and stones. Instead, they adapted to the half-cleared fields by planting corn (maize) and grass, both grew well in such an environment. ■A pattern of “extensive” farming began to emerge. ■Rather than carefully tending arable land, engaging in crop rotation, manuring, and removing all stumps and stones—all recognized as part of proper agricultural practice in Europe—New England farmers simply exploited the soil and then forged ahead with the cleaning of new land. ■Cutting down trees remained hard work, but it was easier to partially clear the land, plant it, and then move on to another small plot than to constantly improve the soil on one field to the high Old World (European) standards. ■The settlers were too busy figuring out how to produce food rapidly to worry about efficient agricultural practices.

 

 

 

9. Look at the four squares【■】that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

This way of farming differed considerably from the European system.

Where would the sentence best fit?

 

10. 【Directions】An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary because the express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage.

 

When European colonists settled New England, they tended to farm areas already cleared by Native Americans.

●

●

●

 

 

Answer Choices

A. Once the supply of suitable cleared land ran out, the settlers had to clear new land before they could plant, generally converting the trees they removed into lumber, fuel, or potash.

B. Because clearing fields took time and the need for food was pressing, farmers were forced to resort to extensive farming practices rather than follow their old European farming system.

C. The settlers developed a farm ecology that eventually made the region more productive than the South or even the mid-Atlantic area.

D. The settlers’ attempt to follow what, in Europe, was considered proper farming practices was soon abandoned as they discovered that food could be grown more efficiently in other ways.

E. After planting corn (maize) enough times to drain the excess nitrogen out of the soil, the settlers were able to grow more familiar European crops such as wheat and rye.

F. The soil was not particularly fertile, but grass grew well and fed cattle that produced manure, which in turn served as fertilizer for crops and recycled nutrients back into the soil.

 

 

答案请付费后查阅：