VIRGINIA LANDS. 



287 



pletion is congenial to the coHStilulion and growth of the hog, the gluttonous 

 man surfeits himself against light and reason, to the destruction of his health 

 and his usefulness. 



True, too, the stronger hog will boat ofi' the smaller, and rob him of his corn, 

 or potatoes, or apples ; but does not, all the world over, the stronger nation 

 trample on the weaker (as the hawk devours the sparrow), and go out of his 

 Avay to take their lands or — knock oAl their brains ? What have we done with 

 the Indians, who owned all this country as much as a man owns the pen in his 

 hand ? 



Well, of these superb English black hogs, we sent a pair to Gen. Lafayette, 

 and the old General, (blessed be his memory !) whenever distinguished English- 

 men and foreigners would go to La Grange, would take them out to his barn- 

 yard, and show exultingly and boast of his American hogs I " There," would 

 he say, " you have no such hogs as these in England ! " By the by, the old 

 General's chamber looked out upon his barn-yard, to the economy of which he 

 paid great attention. It was one of his habits to go, the first thing every morn- 

 ing, to the barn-yard, carrying in his pocket a hard-boiled egg, and the first 

 animal attended to was a one-eyed American Raccoon ; to whom, with his own. 

 hand, he gave the egg for his breakfast. 



We were going to give some extracts from The Cultivator, but, as they would 

 necessarily be brief, we think it better to postpone ; and, besides, we much doubt 

 the propriety of our copying much, if anything, from American agricultural jour- 

 nals, for two reasons : first, we have a right to presume that we could not re- 

 turn the obligation we should be under in eating out of their basket, since they 

 never dip into ours ; and secondly, because we hope all these cheaper papers 

 are taken, and that more for their merit than their cheapness, by all our patrons, 

 as we sincerely think they should be. 



VIRGINIA LANDS. 



Mr. Editor: I herewith give you some 

 extracts from a letter I received from a friend 

 of mine who is now living in Siin-y County, 

 Virginia. You are aware that much is said 

 aud a gi'eat deal written and published about 

 the advantages of going to Virginia, to buy 

 land, and farm. Feeling an interest in giv- 

 ing the experience of others well calculated 

 to judge, for the benefit of your readers, I 

 liave coj)ied part of the k-tter in order that 

 eome might be benelited — the writer is a 

 gentleman somewhat advanceil in lii'e, raised 

 a farmer, and always followed tiirmiug ; he 

 had a good training and good land to operate 

 on, in a part of Chester County, I'a., that will 

 compare with any other land in the State, at 

 least in any other part of Chester Co. Added 

 to this, he is an agricultural statistic — a plain, 

 bhint man, who writes what he thinks and 

 sees, without fear of being called in question 

 by any. I had written to him and stated 

 several points that I wished information on. 

 His letter takes these up separately and an- 

 swers them very satisfactoril}'. 



" Beptkmber 1, 1816. 



" Never in my recollection have I enjoyed 

 good, tmintemipted health so loug, as since I 

 (575) 



came here, and all the family have been well 

 except M., who has had something of her old 

 complaint (I believe erysipelas.) I see noth- 

 ing here indicative of sickness ; if people 

 anywhere would live as many do here, they 

 would be sickly — out late at night, hunting, 

 and going home drunk, and reckless of every 

 means to preserve health. If not so, why 

 the undue proportion of sickness and death 

 among the males, which is about 4 to I ? In 

 most counti-ies they are about equal. I do 

 believe, all things considered, there cannot be 

 a better place to live in — a more delightful 

 climate. I have felt far warmer weather in 

 Pennsylvania than here ; and my Philadel- 

 phia newspaper says it has been \Tarmer at 

 New-York than here. We have as kind 

 neigiiijors as ever honored a neighborhood; 

 some of them have endeared themselves to 

 us beyond what you could imagine. I speak 

 advisedly when I say, a man can fix himself 

 here better for $1,000 than he can for $10,000 

 in Pennsylvania. Two gentlemen, one from 

 near Lancaster and one from Franklin Co., 

 wese here to see the place, through a letter 

 I wrote to Rev. M. H. They alf like the 

 place very much, and wonder why I slioidd 



