^\)c iurincr's iHontl)li) Visitor. 



123 



Nvitliuut property: he was, as lias been stated to 

 'IS IVci]ticiuly, very poor wlieii tlie ilealli of Gcii. 

 Ilurritioti unexpectedly threw ii[)()n liiiii the du- 

 ties and llie salary of President. IJuring tlie time 

 he held that otJice, he purchased one of those di- 

 lapidated farms in lower Virginia, on which so 

 many " poor gentlemen " have been raised, to use 

 the general term made use of in that country. — 

 The fault here has been that every thing has been 

 done by slave labor ; ami that iht; inelliciency 

 and lack of energy in agricultural operations have 

 run out tho farm, and in the course of two or 

 three generations placed its owners in a worse 

 position if possible than the slaves who have re- 

 ally no physical ability to earn upon the land a 

 sufficiency for their own supi)ort. The Ex-l'res- 

 ident, two or three years in advance of leaving 

 his office, piuchased one of these plantations 

 beautiful in its natural .slate, and commenced its 

 renovation. In the middle States, linie is mure 

 relied upon than any other manure for the reno- 

 vation of lands : in one season Mr. Tyler pur- 

 chased eight thousand bushels of linie on con- 

 tract, which was carried to his premises by wa- 

 ter. We have not had the means of knowing 

 what has been his success on the farm to which 

 he has retired. A short time before leaving his 

 office, he married as a second wife a young and 

 beautiful lady of New- York, at the age suitable 

 for the companionship with the eldest of hisown 

 chilihen by the wife of his youth. His habits 

 and dl.sposition at all times were such as to make 

 him as agreeable lo a younger generation as to 

 those of his own age. We believe he has enjoy- 

 ed life quite as much since as before he retired 

 from office. In his present position he will do 

 great good by the example he has set in the " mi- 

 gracious office of road overseer," if it shall be- 

 come general in the old coinmouwenlth to make 

 goo<l roads under the summary power which the 

 statute gives to that office. We have no hesita- 

 tion in saying that, with roadsand means of trans- 

 portation such as are enjoyed by the people of 

 the New-England States, the value of the soil of 

 Virginia would be double what it now is. Wi;h 

 means of ready travel in all dir<?ctions, Virginia 

 hospitality and kindness would make the ancient 

 conimonweallh one of the most di?sirable places 

 for residence in the world. — Ed. F. M. Visitor. 



Influence of RailroiVDS. — A short time since 

 we met a heavily loaded team a linie ili.-iaiice 

 from town, carrying chesnnt sleepers lo the de- 

 pot. Ucing of a pccidiar shape, \\c incpiired to 

 what use they wtre lo bo appropriated. The 

 icanisler replied that lliey were engaged by a 

 contractor, and were to be shi|'|icd lo Havana, to 

 build a railroad in Ihe island ol t'uba ! Concord 

 clicsnni, once nearly woriliL'ss, now bringing ii 

 high prii:e,and sliijiped 2000 miles to build rail- 

 roads ! We believe the teamster's load was worth 

 above S^SO.OO, all clear gain through the magic 

 influence of r:.ilroads. 



A respcclalile citizen of oiu' loun, once a resi- 

 dent in Springfield, on the dreary height of land 

 between the IMeniniack and Conneclicnl, near 

 which the Norlhern Kailroad is lo pass, lately in- 

 formed ns he had tried long and earnestly losel| 

 a lot of liinljti land for §4.00 per acre, bnl all in 

 vain. Not long .'since some gentlemen called 

 upon him, and oUV'red $10.00 per acie, which he 

 accepted, though he might have done better by 

 waiting. 



t-ee Ihe wonders of railroads, nnl merely in the 

 chea|>ness and rapidity of loconioiion, but in ilie 

 new value they give lo real estate. — Congrrga- 

 lional Journal. 



Great as has been ih;' rise of property near the 

 railroads in Neiv England in price lo ihe pur- 

 chaser, the nominal price by no means re])rcsenis 

 the diHerence in the intrinsic value. A track of 

 land willioul an income, uilli no immediate pros- 



pect of any practicable income, has no value: a 



track of land which presents an immediate avail- 

 able value in what it may be made to produce, 

 in what is uiK)n il, has a value beyond its first es- 

 timate. 



To give an example of the influence of rail- 

 roads:" Hundreds and thousands of acres of our 

 poorest lands along a line within ten miles of the 

 ("oncord railroad track were covered with a sec- 

 ond growth of wood of from one to two feet di- 

 ameter. Much of this was chesnut wood, not (it 

 even for fuel, and only used sjiaringly where it 

 was wanted for posts and rails to be used about 

 ordinary farms. As standing timber, every body 

 was willing to give it away for the cutting and 

 carrying off. Chesnnt tindier is found lo be a 

 most durable and excellent article for fencing or 

 any other purpose where there is exposure to the 

 weather. At first thought to be inferior to swamp 

 cedar, it was chosen for the foundation limber of 

 railroads where cedar could not be produced : 

 the experience, of a few years gave it a decided 

 |)reference over cedar for that purpose. The de- 

 mand for the article has so increased that the 

 price of these cedai' beams or rails suitable for 

 the road has gradually risen from ten cents to 

 thirty cents or nearly three for one. The value 

 of this inferior timber standing upon a single acre 

 is frequently fifty and up to a hundred dollars 

 where it was heretofore counted to be as nothing 



As with the chesnnt grovvlh, so it has become 

 with every acre of wood growth located near a 

 railroad. The pine growth even exceeds that of 

 the chesnut. If the original beautiful white [)ines 

 had been left standing, the land would have been 

 worth a hundred for one in some cases. The 

 pine lumber upon Connecticut river, one hun- 

 dred miles to the north of the Concord railroad 

 depot, is carted all the way here; and a gentle- 

 man informed ns recently that this opening had 

 doubled tk.e value of a lot of pine timb'jr which 

 he purchased three years ago. 



If the supply of wood and limber in New ling- 

 land from the o|)ening and extension of railroads 

 all over the interior could become greater than 

 the domestic deiinind, the foreign demainl froin 

 the opening of new avenues of trade will always 

 keep up its value. The spur given to the de- 

 mand for Imnber, boards, shingles, chipboards, 

 square timber and round logs, by the great build- 

 ing carried on by Manchester, Lowell, Lawrence 

 and other places below, has raised the prices ful- 

 ly one-third in the last three years — it has more 

 than (lonblod the value of standing wood and 

 timber in this region. The town of Concord has 

 more acres of growing wood than any other set- 

 lied township of New llarhpshire: a gieat por- 

 tion of this, for years since we took iqi our abode 

 here, was considered merely nomiiial in its val- 

 ue. The largest and best timber had generally 

 been taken off where it could be accessible to 

 winter teams: what was h^ft was considered a 

 taxalile burden to its owner of little or no value. 

 Climbing the up-hill road upon Rattlesnake iq> to 

 Little pond a few days since, we foimd |)repara- 

 lions making for a new farm-house and buildings 

 near the heigh'. Ten acres of this rough part 

 had been measured off to a ])urchaser — it was all 

 of the sei'ond growth aiul exceedingly fidl of 

 rocks. Its wealthy owner, who had a number 

 of hundred acres alongside of better liinbered 

 lands left, was asked what he had (d)iained |)er 

 ticre for the spare notch sold. Of the family 

 which always has the porringer right ."ide up 

 when it rains gold, we susjiected the lanri did not 

 pass wiihoiit a pi ice. The inquirer guessed he 



had obtained fifty dollars the acre, as other land 

 with a late growth only of bushes upon the hill 

 had been sold for that price : the late owner tak- 

 ing his sight from the compass that not an inch 

 should go over ihe nicasnre, whispered " .9i"x(_i/- 

 Jive dollars ."' The railroad lo Concord has in five 

 years increased the value of ihis land at least four 

 for one. 



[l''rom Tucker's Cultivator.] 



Germnii Ebcnczer Society, near Ruffhio, N. Y. 



A communily of German.s, idiout six miles east 

 of Hiiffulo, incorporated by ihe Legislature under 

 the above name, having, about four years since, 

 purchased 8,000 acres of wild land in one body, 

 embracing a number of water privileges, have 

 made such improvements in agriculture and oilier 

 matters, that I have thought a short sketch of 

 them mi:;lu not be nninleresling lo the readers 

 of the Cultivator. 'I'liey have been known in 

 Germany for one hmi(he<l and fil'iy years by the 

 name of Soparatifis ; and having sold out their 

 interest and dissolved their communily there, 

 they have removed here to the immber of 800 

 souls, and are expecting large additions from 

 Germany during ihe present season. They have 

 already built up three compact villages a mile or 

 two apart, numbering about 100 large and com- 

 modious dwelling-houses, some 30 or 40 barns, 

 from 80 lo 200 feet long, 4 saw-mills, 1 flouring 

 mill, 1 oil mill, 1 large woolen factory, a calico- 

 printing establishment, a tannery, a large variety 

 of mechanics' shojis, school-houses, &c. &c. ; 

 and have large herds of horses, cattle and swine, 

 and over 2,000 sheep. Their properly is all held 

 in common, s(miewhat like tiiat of the Fourier- 

 ites, or Shakers at New Lebanon, but, is many 

 respects, radically different from those comuni- 

 niiies. They have invested money in various 

 ways on their lands, and in this vicinity, to the 

 amount of more than $1,000,000. Many individ- 

 uals pill into the common slock from §3,000 lo 

 81.5,000 each; one put in ifOO.OOO, and one 

 $100,000. If they ever leave the community — 

 which they are permilled lo do ixi any time if 

 they choose — they can draw back tho sum they 

 put in, without interest. No one has yet left 

 them from dissatisfaction with iheir system. 15y 

 inulual agreement, ihey can dissolve at any fu- 

 ture time, and divide the profits. They marry 

 and are given in marriage, and each family lives 

 separate, except that lliey, in most cases, eat 

 some six or ten families Ingclher at a common 

 table. Tlie whole communily is under the direc- 

 tion and snperinlemleiici! of a set of trust'^es or 

 elders, cho.--cn aniinally by themselves, wlio buy 

 .■uid sell, and manage every thing as they think 

 will he best fo,- the uhole ; and as they have all 

 kinds of mechauies among themselves, they 

 have linie occasion lo go abroad for help. All 

 the chililren are ke|)l at school under Coinpclent 

 teachers, and Ihe older ones are inslriicled in the 

 higher branches, and also in Ihe En;;lish lan- 

 guage. 15esiiles being well supplied wiih books 

 in Iheir liimilies, Ihey all have free access to a 

 lar:;e public library. 



Religion seems to bo the governing and inspir- 

 ing clement in this ccwninunily : each day's labor 

 is preceded by a season of devoiiunal exercise's 

 in iheir several families, and afi(?r the close of 

 lahrir at nighi, they assemble by neighborhooils, 

 and spend an hour in prayer and praise. The 

 afiernoon of VVedne.«ilay and Saturday is devoted 

 lo religious improvement. The Sabbath is strict- 

 ly observed by an omission of all secular busi- 

 ness, and by vari<iiis religious exercit-es, both in 

 their /'aniilles and public assemblies. Thus (iir 

 all has been characierizcd by jierlc'Ct harmony 

 and peace. 



In visiting this comniunlty, a siranger will not 

 lail lo be slrnck with ihe nealness, order and 

 perfi'elion, with which all their farm operations 

 are c.irried on ; and the astonishing inqunve- 

 ments they have made in so short a lime, — most- 

 ly wiihin three years ; for, b(.'siiles Ihe buddings 

 they, have erected, ihev have cleared between 

 3,000 and 4,000 ae-res of hinil, from wirch nearly 

 every stump is thoroughly eradicated ; planted 

 about S.'ijOOO fruit trees, and made many miles 

 of durable fences. 'J'beir gardens, yards ;tiid 

 fields, display refined lasK'. and the hl;;hest slate 

 of cultivation ; and from present apjieaianccs. 



