Most of the original grants and charters for New Jersey mention agriculture as the main industry and purpose of settlement. Many of the early colonists of New Jersey were Swedish, Dutch, English, or Scotch.

In 1642 Governor John Printz was given instructions to give his attention to the culture of tobacco so it could be increased in the colony, the care and propagation of wild grapes for the purpose of wine making, and to inquire and inform himself in regards to the food and convenience for keeping a great number of silkworms.

An English traveler of this period wrote down some of his observations in the colony of Nova Caesarea. He comments on the practice of putting a mackerel in the hills of corn for fertilizer, and with the eating of cranberries with wild turkey, both of which the colonist learned from the Leni-Lenape Indians. He also mentions that the asparagus plant is considered a troublesome weed here in the corn plantations, and that apples, peaches, and cherries grow wild along the stream banks.

Andrew Burnaby wrote in his book Travels through the Middle Settlements of North America 1759-1760, that the colony of New Jersey is "extremely well cultivated, thickly seated, and the Garden of North America." He also mentions the soils as "...a kind of red slate, is so exceedingly rich that in a short time after it is turned up and exposed to air and moisture it is converted into a species of marle."

Charles Read has contributed greatly to our knowledge of the way of life and the agricultural practices of his day, through his many notes and journals. He describes the farms as being mostly large plantations of 500-1,000 acres, with self-sustaining agriculture and having substantial exports. He often corresponded with his friends John Bartram and Colonel Schuyler, exchanging their experiences and observations with one another. Some other notes from his journals might be of some intrest to modern day gardeners, such as his solution to peach borers or "ye worm at ye root--ye Hulls of Walnutts mixed with Earth keeps worms from them." Or how about "Horsereddish planted round Plumb trees, tis said, prevents the Bugg from destroying them."

William Franklin, the son of Benjamin, was the last colonial governor of New Jersey. In 1765 he induced the Assembly to grant bounties to encourage the raising of hemp, flax, and the culture of silk for exportation to England, including the planting of mulberry trees for the food of the silkworms. In 1766 during his administration Queen's College was founded, later to become Rutgers the states agricultural college.

In the late 1780's the Burlington Society for Promoting Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures was founded. It's purpose was to "give a careful attention to increase the products of our lands, and to promote those objects of domestic manufacture immediately connected with and dependent on agriculture which will greatly tend to increase the prosperity of our state."