' JttjmJ B iwou e 



^l)C iTarmcr's iHontl)lti bisitor. 



121 



tnuny of tliein not behind the best in New-Eng- 

 liind. When tliey begin to feel the advantages 

 of disposing of tht'ir surplus at ii large profit, 

 iheir soil will produce cipial to the same given 

 quantity in any jiart of the oouiury. Haying 

 commenced in Vermont this year u full fortnight 

 earlier than it did in the towns twenty and thirty 

 miles out of lioston. There was little or no rain 

 iii this region for the six weeks prior to the 4ll) 

 of July : the strong soil at that linie evidently 

 began lo show the efteels of drought in some 

 of the light lands about Chelsea village : farther 

 north-west the drought had become even more 

 severe. On the 4lli and 5lh July, E. C. Reding- 

 ton, Esq., of Chelsea, weighed of dry hay in the 

 field three tons cut upon 154 square rods: Judge 

 Steele, in the same village, showed us a small 

 plat near his garden where he had cut, as he be- 

 lieved, hay at the rate of nearly four tons to the 

 acre. The farmers of Orange county have now 

 just formed an agricultural society, the first ex- 

 Jiibilion of which is to take place at Chelsea on 

 the sixth of October next. We at first remarked 

 at Norwich, w here by the by there are many fine 

 farms and some elegant seats, the garden of Airs. 

 Partridge, widow of the brother of Capt. Alden 

 Partri<lgc, whose decease was mistaken for his 

 in the newspapers, the cleanest and best arranged 

 garden we had seen this year : at Chelsea, the 

 gardens of Judge Steele and his neighbor, Mr. 

 Dicker.son, forced us to concede to Vermont the 

 credit for more careful and neat garden arrange- 

 ment than some of the proudest villages of our 

 own State can exhibit. 



Chelsea, other than for the proceedings of "us 

 courts, 1ms not a location for present large busi- 

 ness. If they do in Veririont as they have been 

 and are doing with ihcir railroads in Massaehu- 

 sptls, within five years .i branch will come from 

 the central road through Tunbridge to this vil- 

 lage, where the business for several ujiles around 

 may concentrate, if the road shall not extend 

 further up. A new county court house is erect- 

 ing at Chelsea the present year, at an expense 

 of about sis thousand dollars : ibis, with other 

 improvements, will add much to the beauty of 

 this village : it was the place of residence of the 

 first lawyer and Judge Buck, who lost a limb in 

 one of the battles of the Revohuion, and who 

 was n member of Congress from Vermont at the 

 time of the adoption of the Brilith Treaty in 

 1794, and also of his son, the Hon. D. Azro A 

 Buck, several liincH a member of Congress, who 

 died at the city of Washington a lifw yeair ago. 



liecently the road over a nuuh shortened dis- 

 tance through Hanover and Chelsea to Blontpe. 

 lier, on the way to lake Champlain, has been 

 much improved. It pursues out of Chelsea vil- 

 lage a stream having its sources at the highest 

 point of land in the town of ^Vasl]ington. 'J'lie 

 lieighl is surmounled in a long distance, avoid- 

 ing any very steep acclivity, coming down upon 

 a handsome village about a mile after the range 

 takes its turn westward. Granite rocks, which 

 are less common in Vermont than New-Hamp. 

 shire, show themselves north and west from 

 Washington in the naked whitened tops of the 

 liigher tnounlains. Of this granite range, the 

 material for the ereeliuu of the State house at 

 Montpelier, was taken in llie quarry at Bane, and 

 drawn with teams of rattle and horses about n 

 dozen miles : it is said the expense of drawing 

 this material for that public edifice was equal to 

 what might be the cost of construction fur a 

 lailroad the whole di>tanco. While oiu- slage 

 was passing over the Wathinglon heights wc n;c 



on the way the prepared granite doorstep intend- 

 ed for the new court-house at Chelsea, which 

 was transported from lite quarry over the hill 

 more than twenty miles. A geological fiict wor- 

 thy 10 bf noiicerl here is, that in the range north- 

 west and south-east, all ibe-way liom the Barre 

 quarry to Connecticut river, isolated granite boul- 

 ders of thousands aiid less tons dimensions are 

 scattered over the w hole distance to Connecticut 

 river, while, it is said, out of the range south- 

 west and north-east no rocks of the kind out of 

 place are to he seen. Pursuing our course lo 

 the north-west of Barre in the same line over 

 another mountain range lying between Onion 

 and Lamoile rivers, there was granite an<l its ac- 

 companying perfect blue clay near the confines 

 of Waterbury and Sto\»e. 



Excessively dry and dusty, with the thermome- 

 ter above dO degrees, leaving Chelsea at eleven 

 o'clock, we arrived at Montpelier between 4 and 

 5, P. M., on Saturday. Three young gentlemern 

 anticipating a load of twenty upon the stage, pre- 

 ceded us a few hours on the way in trout-fishing 

 up the stream. Overtaking them three or four 

 miles out of Chelsea, with each having a com- 

 menced string of fish, they concluded lo pursue 

 the way to the mountain height on foot, and 

 trust for n conveyance other than the stage, 

 avoiding the excessive heat of the day by coming 

 in of the evening. Corn was rolling up from the 

 heat and ihougbt upon the Barre intervales, from 

 which all the way into Monlpelier the light dust 

 covered the leaves of trees and other vegetation 

 along the road-side : this fine dust of a fine soil 

 catne to our faces to be inhaled by mouIli("uIs_ 

 In times not long gone by we used to conqmre 

 Montpelier to Concord : probably more mer- 

 chandise was bought and sold at the Vermont 

 than the New -Mauipshire capital. Now Mont- 

 pelier is a much sfiller place than Concord. 



AVe came down through Orange to the south 

 of the granite quarries, meeting the gulf road 

 route at the lowest or largest village of Barre* 

 This gulf road ( omes up from the centre of 

 White river branch, and is said both to siu'uiount 

 the height at a less elevalion and In be several 

 miles shorter than the more southerly route se- 

 lected for the Vermont Central railway, now un- 

 der the |irocess of speedy completion to Norlli- 

 field, the nearest town eastward of Montpelier. 

 That infiuence which in old times used to cany 

 luriqiikes over (lie highest hills as the best way 

 by the premises of some individual of conse- 

 (]uence, has since bee;i often fell in the construc- 

 tion of railroads. We have hnown men and 

 whole villages so obstinate in this respect as lo 

 threaten fatal opposition lo a road which did not 

 personally accomuiodale ihem, carrying the point 

 by their superior infiuence. We now caji think 

 of three points of correction between Bosiou and 

 lake Cham[)laiii, whore ihe r.iilroad may be in;- 

 proved by cutting ofT a distance of some six to 

 eight miles in each case, and in two of them en- 

 cotmtering rises of much les.s elevation than in 

 the ground chosen for Ihe road. One of these 

 points between Mancdiester and Boston, by an 

 unanimous grant of Ihe New-Hajii|)shire legisla- 

 tiu'e of the present year, will he coriected within 

 the next few monlhs, leaving the first road with 

 plenty of business fi)r ils two tracks by Nashua 

 and Lowell, which are relieved of an over bur- 

 den by the other. The two other shortened dis- 

 tances will probably be adopted within the next 

 five years— in all, shortening the central New- 

 Hampshire route to Burlington some twciily to 

 twenly-four miles 



We have said that cotn|iared with Concord 

 the former Imsy village and capital of Vermont 

 was sidl as a place of business. It is surround- 

 ed by most luxuriant liirining towns, abounding 

 in pastures covered wiih sheep and oxen, and in, 

 fields of beautiful grass, grain, potatoes and other 

 vegetables. The people of this region have us 

 yet but a faint conception how great will be the 

 added value lo their liirms by the new induce- 

 ments to be offered in the belter and more ready 

 facilities for a market. 



The railroad, as it now goes, docs not come 

 down that valley of Onion river passing directly 

 through the village of Mont[>elier : it comes in 

 a mile below the town, to which it is made to 

 turn out that distance, the inhabitants satisfied 

 that this compidsory process of ingress and 

 egress would be belter for them than rinming 

 directly through. Just as the Concord railroad 

 was obliged for several years to back out and in 

 for the accouunodation of the two villages at In- 

 dian Head, which controlled the road fifteen 

 miles below them on the way lo Boston. Quito 

 sure may we bo that the travelling public, west 

 and east will never suffer for any great lengili 

 of time Ihe backing in or out of a mile, with de- 

 tention, for the accommodation of any village. 

 The travel on all the great thoroughfares must 

 be suffered to pass directly on ; especially must 

 this be the case on the great central roadway 

 through New-Hampshire and Vermont. 



Montpelier is as fiivorably situated as any in- 

 terior business place well can l)e to maintain the 

 advantages of the railroad : it has several ave- 

 nues which must concentrate at this point. Her 

 local position will soon cause a spread of her 

 village beyond the coulracted valley to which it 

 has confined itself The Slate house at Mont- 

 pelier, erected mainly of granite at a cost to ihe 

 Slate of about one hundred and fifiy thousand 

 dollars, is one of the handsome edifices vvbicli 

 iloes credk to New-England : it cost more, and 

 is an iin[)roveuient upon the model building of 

 the Granite State,'(;rectcd twenty years before it_ 

 Wc have, in comparison wiih almost any other 

 ereclinn, reason slill lo ihink well of our own : 

 for chaste neatness and elegance, tlie New- 

 Hampshire Senate chamber, never yet supplied 

 even with a carpet at the public ex()ense, may 

 vie wiih any room of the Capitol of ihe Union, 

 which cost len liuies as much. 



The capitol of Vermont is so situated from 

 necessity that it can show only to the village on 

 which it is located : fronliug the main street 

 passing towards Burlington, its view is bcauliful. 

 Larger than the room of the capiiol itself has 

 become the great judili.-. house of Mr. Collrell. 

 The enlargement of this eslablishment, well 

 known lo all who travel on this road by stage, 

 was mainly to accommodate, in addition to ils 

 iransienl business, some himdred or more mem- 

 bers and others attending ihe annual sessions of 

 the Legislature. The crack houses of the great 

 summer resorts furnish no better or more com- 

 forlable places than the house of i\Ir. Collrell 

 for the weary traveller. Among the green nionn- 

 lains of Vermont every thing which comes lo the 

 use of man ii the production of the soil, is 

 abundant, and cheap, and of the best kind. Good 

 living there is still hetier, because every thing is 

 fresh, than the best of good living in the cilia's. 

 Never have we tarried iii the heat and dust of a 

 dry midsinnmer, in a position presenting more 

 inducements lo linger o:i the way, thrui at 

 the great iMonlpclier stagchouse : its capacious 

 rooms, auii'ly l"iu iiiilicd, airy and cleanly bcuMid 



