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Bergen
Fresh:
History
of
County
Agriculture
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The
antique
sandstone
dwellings
of
Bergen
County
are
picturesque
reminders |
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of
a
bygone
agricultural
age.
Beginning
in
the
1680s,
pioneer
farmers
brought
the
river
plains,
meadows
and
rolling
hills
of
Bergen
County
into
an
admirable
state
of
cultivation.
Jersey
Dutch
farms
produced
cereal
grains
with
buckwheat
being
a
choice
staple.
From
the
buckwheat
flour,
the
Jersey
Dutch
made
the
most
delectable
breakfast
dish
on
earth
Ð
the
Dutch
served
buckwheat
cakes
with
country
sausage
and
the
English
with
maple
syrup.
House
gardens
supplied
salad
greens
and
vegetables.
Orchards
offered
a
cornucopiaof
fruit,
including
apples,
peaches,
plums,
quinces
and
pears.
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Wild
fruits
were
gathered,
especially
strawberries,
huckleberries,
raspberries
and
blueberries.
Farmers
depended
upon
city
markets,
hauling
produce
in
ox-carts
and
farm
wagons
over
rutted,
dirt
roads
to
the
Hudson
River
ferries.
The
river
was
the
main
"highway"
in
and
out
of
Bergen
County.
The
opening
of
the
Northern
Railroad
through
Bergen
County
in
1859
gave
impetus
to
"truck
farming",
carrying
400,000
baskets
of
strawberries
to
Manhattan
in
its
first
year
of
operation.
Scores
of
small
truck
farms
and
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Paramus
Road
c.
1850
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prospered
around
Moonachie
and
on
the
borders
of
the
Meadowlands.
By
1890,
many
farms
in
the
vicinity
of
railroad
stations
were
sold
and
subdivided
for
building
lots.
Slowly
but
surely
farms
disappeared,
cut
into
building
lots
or
made
into
thriving
suburbs
of
New
York
City.
The
arrival
of
the
automobile
age
years
later
speeded
suburbanization,
especially
after
the
construction
of
the
George
Washington
Bridge
and
the
State
Highway
system.
Farmers
in
the
county
persisted
during
these
times
and
continued
to
market
great
quantities
of
produce.
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