THE FARiMEU'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



77 



rraplnycd, until the cars came to an open country. 

 Prococdiiur under the darkness of night over the 

 narrow tra°ck, and under the guidance of a single 

 bar nf iron for either wheel, it seems to he almost 

 a miracle that so i'ew accidents occur upon tlie rad 

 roads. Tlie risque is thenght to he little beyond 

 that of day-liifht except some obstruction shall he 

 thrown over the track. Now and then a cow or 

 other animal reposing on the road is run over and 

 killed in the night. Where the rail road passes 

 any other mad or avenue, the ringing of a bell or a 

 shrill whistle warns those who may be passing in 

 the other direction, jjf tlie swift approach of a pow- 

 er that cannot but producL- a mighty concussion 

 wherever it comes in contact with any obstacle in 

 the way. 



Worn-out Iniids ill Mnrylaud aud the Dis- 

 tvict. 

 The dawn of davlight found ns within the limits 

 of Cecil county iiwAIaryland ; and after passing in 

 an immense steam boat, on board of which retresh- 

 ments are furnished to the passenger.;, across the 

 Susquehannah river at the upper end of the dies, 

 ake bay, a rapid approach is mad 



apea 



parallel with 

 the shores'of tlie'^hay through the lower part of the 

 county of Harford. In the distance are two long 

 bridires, one a mile and a half in extent, over bays 

 setti'^i'^ back into the country from the main bay. 

 The railroad in this distance passes through much 

 land that has never been cultivated— some of it 

 covered v/itli a thick growth of .wood, which ex- 

 tends to within a few miles of Baltimore. Other 

 portions of this ground, and a large portion of the 

 ground between Baltimore and Waslungton, have 

 been worn out hv tobacco cultivation. It is more 

 sterile than any land we have ever seen in any part 

 of New Eii'^land. The surface of the ground is 

 (venerally eitlicr sand or red clay ; and much ofit 

 i's broken by the water running into the ground 

 and washing out fissures. The most of this land, 

 when at first cleared, v.'as undoubtedly fertile. 

 With cultivation and the application of manure, it 

 is easy to be reclaimed. '1 he contrast between the 

 ground reclaimed and that which is suffered to re- 

 main in its sterile state is equally gratifying and 

 surprising. This contrast never struck us with so 

 much force as it did on ilie day after our arrival at 

 Washington in taking a long walk from the west 

 end of iTie city to the Capitol. 

 Kenovation of the District of Columbia. 

 The cultivation by private hands of the grounds 

 nliout Washington and Georgetown has progressed 

 wonderfully. "Fruit trees of almost every kind 

 flourish naturally in that soil ; and there are now 

 growinf peach, plum and pear trees on beautiful 

 iilats of ground that yielded little or nothing and 

 were not^even enclosed in the year 15'2!). To ef- 

 fect improved cultivation no very great quantity of 

 manure is necessary u;)on this ground. The dry- 

 ness of the land in seasons of drought being great- 

 er than in some other kinds of soil, is the greater 

 inconvenience ; but it is already a]iparent that the 

 soil becomes more retentive of moislure the longer 

 and better it is cultivated. 



In the long sessions of Congress, the editor o( 

 the Visitor, while a member of the Senate, was in 

 the habit of exercising by an early walk along the 

 pavev.>:ents of the "city of great distances," so^de- 

 nominatcd because a portion of the public oflices 

 are iiearlv two miles distant from the Capitol — and 

 throui'h the public grounds about the Capitol, the 

 President's liouse and the office grounds, in ear- 

 ly spring, soon after the budding and blossoming 

 of the threes and the springing of the luxuriant 

 clover, the fragrance of the flowers, the music of 

 the many birds beginning their nests already in tlie 

 boucrhs of each considerable tree, the mild and soft 

 atmosphere under the early sun, the passing to and 

 fro of those who were on foot betimes to procure 

 the provisions of the day at the markets ; every 

 thin"- animate and inanimate contributed to feed 

 liigirthat mental appetite which can scarcely be 

 cloyed in the enjoyment of the many good things 

 on which the mind may fee brought to feast. 

 Eariy Ilaymaliing. 

 Our first wa-lk before breakfast at the seat of the 

 "National Government revived the recollections of 

 four to six and eight years ago, with the beauty 

 ■which additional improvement had thrown about 

 these o-rouuds. .\ii index of the climate may be 

 "taken from the fact that on Monday, April -27, the 

 clover in the yard at the west end of tha Capitol, 

 Yacing the north-west wind, and of course in the 

 coldest point, had gained a sufficient height to be 

 fit for the mower. "The workmen employed in the 

 public grounds were cutting itdown. It was prob- 

 aijly four or five inches out of the ground, but had 

 notnearlv attained to its natural growth. 



The Capitol and its grounds. 



The grounds fronting both long sides of the 

 Capitol were more beautiful at tli» time of our visit 

 at Washington than any grounds we had ever be- 

 fore seen. The Capitol itself covers something 

 over an acre of ground. The circle enclosed with 

 iron paled iVnce around its cast and west fronts, 

 embraces nearly a distance of one mile. The yard 

 for the entrance of carriages is on the easterly 

 front, and consists of several acres of gravelly 

 walk surrounded by a brick pavement on all sides. 

 Fronting this farther cast is a square of some fifty 

 rods either way ; and next to the paled fence is a 

 belt of trees, shrubbery and flowers of numerous 

 kinds, all kept in cultivation during the summer. 

 Within this belt is a gravelled walk extending on 

 all sides of the square ; and over the whole plat at 

 convenient equal distances arc three other walks 

 extending from end to end and corresponding with 

 gates through which the visitor enters and passes 

 out at either end. This plat is upon a level; and 

 the walks are ail nnderdrained and the wafer passes 

 off underground every few rods. An oval reservoir 

 of water, in which gold and sun fishes are sport- 

 inn- in numbers, has been built and enclosed with 

 hewn free stone near the west end of tiie plat and 

 fronting the centre of the Capitol. J^oni this res- 

 ervoir to which the water i.3 brought from higher 

 ground eastward, the water passes ofl' in an aque- 

 duct running directly under the Capitol to its west 

 front, and here the mater pours from a stop-cock 

 directly into another oval reservoir in which sport 

 the fishes. At the centre of this last reservoir 

 stands the monument "mutilated by Britons" du- 

 ring the invasion uf the Federal City in the war of 

 lctl'2, erected to commemorate the. unparalleled 

 prowess of Wadsworth, Israel, Decatur, and other 

 gallant young spirits who v/eie martyrs to their 

 own heroism nearly forty years ago in the war with 

 the barbarian.: of Tripoli, which had been removed 

 from the Navy Yard. From this reser-ioir the 

 water is carried to the ground below and is lost in 

 the small stream called the Tiber which Tuns to- 

 wards the Potomac at the fOot of Capitol hill. 



The enclosed ground west of the Capitol is in 

 the shape of a halfoval ; and the rise from the ex- 

 treme point of this oval to the basement of the 

 Capitol itself (a story lower tlia;i the ground on the 

 east front) is from fifty to seventy-five feet rising 

 on an inclined pavement of hewn stone and two 

 several flights of stone steps. The margin of this 

 oval and the circular walks are similar to those on 

 the square upon the east front. An esplanade or 

 circular walk on an elevation still above the base- 

 ment extends from end to end of the west front of 

 the Capitol. From this esplanade and from a bal- 

 ustrade entered from the great room of the Capi- 

 tol a story higher appropriated to the library of 

 Congress situated in the centre and on a level -ivith 

 and fronting the rotunda, is a splendid view of the 

 Pennsylvania Avenue and the President's house 

 directly in front — the village near and the bridge 

 across "the Potomac on the left; and the City Hall, 

 the Patent Oliice and new General Post Olhce now 

 erecting and the more elevated and compact part 

 of the city itself, on the right. At the four corners 

 and equi-distaut from the President's house, stand 

 the oifices for the accommodation of tile four groat 

 Departments of the Government, the Treasury, 

 State, War and Navy offices, with their several 

 appendages. The new Treasury building, which 

 approaches its completion and is already occupied 

 with many of the offices, is constructed so that it 

 can never be burned ; it is entirely fire iiroof. The 

 stories rest on arches ol stone. It is a building of 

 free stone something like two hundred feet in front 

 and fifty or sixty feet in depth, with a wing per- 

 hapii a iiundred'feet back. Such is the extent of 

 the business of the General Ixind Office, that the 

 whole upper story is occupied by the olKces of that 

 Department. 



The grounds about the public ofSces lire laid out 

 and cultivated with beautiful trees, though not ex- 

 actly in the style of the grounds about the Capitol. 

 Until within the last few'years the grounds in t'ront 

 and rear of the President's house were entirely 

 neglected. Since that time preparations and im- 

 provements similar to those of the Capitol with 

 paled fences have been made here. The ground 

 has been excavated and carried away, leaving two 

 mounds of considerable elevation on the south 

 front where some fifteen or twenty acres have been 

 surrounded by fence. The growth of vegetation 

 has not yet arrived at perfection here ; but the ex- 

 cavated ground,after it shall be exposed a sufficient 

 length of time, v.'iU present with the aid of vege- 

 tabfe manures all the' constituents of fertility. 



The seat of jrovernnient of the United States, 

 when the plan "of cultivation shall be jierfected, 

 when the trees shall have attained to their medium 

 .Trowlh, in the fea^on when "'be primrose and the 



daisy bespangle every lawn," will be one of the 

 most enchanting spots of grdund on earth. May 

 this enchantment contribute to dispel that ferocious 

 spirit of anger and ]jrejudice which of late years 

 has entered too much into tlie character and delib- 

 erations of some of our public men! 



Thiirsdaij, Jlprll 28. The industry of the market- 

 men of Washington equals that of New England. 

 Market day at the great central market on Penn- 

 sylvania Avenue comes three times a week. The 

 carts were on their way into the city from east and 

 west as early as two and three o'clock in the morn- 

 ing. There was, for the season, a fine disphiy of 

 every thing connected with good eating. The beei", 

 mutton and veal were excellent — the vegetables 

 were all large for the season. Prices of best fresh 

 beef 10 cents per pound; corned beef 6; mutton 

 10; veal 8; dried beef 12 cents; eggs 14 cents the 

 dozen; butter 2.5 cents; small chickens 25 to 37 

 1-2 cents each; Potatoes 80 cents the bushel. 

 Large and full headed lettuce, beautiful asparagus, 

 and large green gooseberries were plenty in the 

 market. The prices paid well ; and it was pleas- 

 ant to see in this District nothing but the solid 

 specie paid oat to the farmer for a less amount than 

 five dollars. 



The remainder of the week spent in Washington 

 presented new views of interest daily that might 

 be worth the relation had we not already spun into 

 an enormous yarn the little materia! derived from 

 our rapid hurried view. 



Mondatj morning, May 4. Left the seat of gov- 

 ernment after the most gratifying visit ever made 

 to the Federal City; and made the r4onumental 

 Cit}' in from six to Iialf past eight o'clock, arriving 

 in season to take breakfast. The political events 

 of the Convention occupied our time here to the 

 exclusion of almost every thing else ; and if that 

 matter is to be detailed at all, it is more proper for 

 the political newspapers than for our ajrricultural 

 sheet. We were only one of a comparatively 

 small Convention; and if we had not been very 

 busy we might not have seen and marked one of a 

 thousand of the numerous events that occurred in 

 the larger Convention to which we did not belong. 

 Tuesday morning. May 5. Visited th" Balti- 

 more market. Strawberries and cherries, brought 

 up the Chesapeake from Norfolk, and raised about 

 two hundred miles south, were plenty in the mar- 

 ket. Green peas raised in the vicinity of Balti- 

 more had just come into the market. Prices, best 

 beef, very line, 10 cents ; pork 12 ; mutton 8 ; veal 

 8 ; chickens 25 to 37 1 2 cts each. Potatoes, very 

 good, raised in Harford county, one dollar the - 

 bushel. 



The gardening about Baltimore is equal to that 

 of any other part of the country. Farmers in this 

 vicinity find the best encouragement for thorough 

 cultivation. Never did we realize how much and 

 how great is the advantage of high cultivation as 

 we did in the course ot' this journey ; the most 

 luxuriant fields are to be fo-and along side oi other 

 fields almost entirely destitute of vegetation from 

 want of cultivation. The truth is, that labor and 

 pains will not be lost if applied with judgment on 

 scarcely any soil. 



Farms below Piiiiadcii>hia. 

 Thursday, May 7. On our return we this day 

 gained what we lost in going to Washington pas- 

 sing over the ground in the night— a good view of 

 the land on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware 

 from Wilmington to Philadelphia, passing about 

 six miles in the State of Delaware and through 

 Delaware and Philadelphia counties in Pennsylva- 

 nia. This country is better adapted to the grazing 

 of cattle than almost anything else. _The farmers 

 make great gains from purchasing cattle driven 

 from western New York, Ohio, Kentucky, &c. 

 keeping tlicin for one or more seasons, and fatten- 

 ing them for the market of the city of Philadelphia. 

 The best beef in the world is found in tliis market. 

 In the cultivation of Pennsylvania much use is 

 made of lime in conjunction with vegetable ma- 

 nures. Ibis costs very little, as almost every far- 

 mer has limestone at hand which is converted into 

 quicklime only with the expense of digging and bur- 

 ninn-. Grounds preparing for crops of corn and po- 

 tatoes were covered with piles of stable raiuure; and 

 lime in quantities was spread over the same ground. 

 A veteran farmer and grazier who lived afew miles 

 from the river in the interior of Delaware county, 

 informed us that he had gone over with lime the 

 whole extent of his premises. He cultivated his 

 pasture grounds as he did his mowing, and changed 

 by alternate crops from arable to mowing and from 

 mowing to pasture. His land thus prepared would 

 pasture a bullock or voung ox on one acre, and af- 

 ford full feed for a liiilch cow on every two acres. 

 There are hundreds of acres on the Pennsylvania 

 siile ".f the Delaware l.'clow the junction of the 



