40 LETTERS FROM THE BACKWOODS. 



I now repeat mj former assertion, and say, as then, 

 that this might become a good wool-growing region, 

 or dairy country, but nothing more. It is, in the first 

 place, the most mountainous portion of this State ; in- 

 deed, I do not believe there is in the Union a territory 

 three hundred miles in circumference so terribly 

 rough and wild as this. It is not only mountainous, 

 but has the disadvantage of being the source of nearly 

 all the waters of northern and eastern New York, 

 and hence has less alluvial soil than equally rough 

 districts lying along large rivers. All mountainous 

 regions have more or less interval land, with a rich, 

 deep soil ; but here the intervals are laJces. Water 

 occupies the place ordinarily appropriated to towns 

 and meadows. There is good land here, no doubt, 

 and large tracts which are arable, and w^ould be 

 fruitful ; but the question is, what proportion does 

 this bear to that which cannot be cultivated? I have 

 seen fields of waving grain in the vale of Chamouni, 

 and thousands of cattle grazing in rich pastures in 

 Grindelwald, and long stretches of meadow in the 

 valley of Meyringen ; but it would be ridiculous to 

 call the Alpine district a good farming country, for 

 all that. I venture to say that there are three hun- 

 dred acres in this region a plough will never touch, 

 to one that it will. Besides, it is a cold climate here, 

 and the summers are short. Neither corn nor wheat 

 can be relied on as a crop. Grass, rye, oats, and po- 

 tatoes may be grown, and these are all. 



Now here is a colony, called the Long Lake Oo- 

 lony, about which much lias been said, much sympa- 



