72 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



November, 1842 



portion of that which was e.iiliest settled. From 

 H view of the map it wotiltl soem that a tract of 

 the State of Maine Hi for ciillivalion yet remains 

 to he taken up anil settled nearly eipial to the 

 whole extent of Massachusetts proper united to 

 New f lumpshire and Verinoiit. This beautiful 

 villai;e, whose settlement extends back hardly 

 forty years, is proof of the fine country in whicli 

 it is iiKMtcd : we need only look at the face of 

 the si.il as wull in llie lowest valley of the rivei 

 as upon its surrounding hills to i>e convinced 

 that common industry and perseverance must 

 forever make it a fjarden. I have been surprised 

 to Hud peaches and oilier frifits growinjr here 

 which have been considered as requiring even a 

 warmer climate than the vicinity of Boston, situ- 

 ated one hmidred and fifty mile's south. Better 

 Indian corn than 1 have everseen at any previous 

 exhibition in Massachusetts or New Hampshire 

 was yesterday presented amonfr your agricultural 

 productions. The land tliat call perfect a crop 

 of the larger eared corn may be relied on as a 

 safe climate for agriculture ; and the farther 

 north we go in the corn-producing country, the 

 better is the climate for a prosperous agricultural 

 people. 



The beautiful soil upon your river at first pro- 

 duces spontaneously, and will not be worn out 

 in many years ; but even here if a constantly 

 exhausting system is pursued, the crops sooner 

 or later nnist fail. It will be fortunate for the 

 farmers of the county of Franklin if they culti- 

 vate their fine lands with a constant view of 

 making them more productive. Their superior 

 soil will, when commerce and trade shall be 

 brought to that eipfdihiium to which an indus- 

 trious and a moral people cannot fail to force 

 them, give them an advantage which will fully 

 compensate for the more favorable location of 

 fanners near a market on poorer lands uiion the 

 seaboard. 



After all, even to the people near the seaboard, 

 it will he found that the great and permanent 

 reliance of the State of Maine is on her Agricul- 

 ture. They have found no stability and prosper- 

 ity in the timber trade and in the fisheries; and 

 necessity has forced them into Agriculture. An 

 intelligent gentleman informed me on my way 

 liere tliat tvverity-five years ago there was not a 

 proilniiivo (arm in the then rich and prosperous 

 town of Wiscasset. Revulsions in trade drove 

 laboring poor men into the cultivation of the 

 ground upon the rock-bound land ; and in the 

 space of a few years that town presents a rom- 

 niunity of independeut farmer.*, who have made 

 a handsome property iu the improvement of the 

 soil alone. Anothrr gemlcmau of Saco informed 

 me when he went to that place some twenty 

 years ago — and Saco is ne.ir the southerly line 

 of yciin- State— that it was not supposed corn 

 wiiuM grow there as a crop to be relied on: he 

 made the first experiment of producing at the 

 rate of sixty bushels ol" corn to the acre by the 

 due preparation of manure and cultivation ; and 

 on the second trial from a single half acre he 

 obtained a crop as high as fifty bushels or at the 

 rate of one hundred bushels lo the acre. I nm 

 exn-emely happy lo be iiilo"med that the State 

 of Maine will this year produce sufficient bread- 

 stuffs for the consmnplion of ils whole popula- 

 tion. And this is surely a great thing, consider- 

 ing how many of her iidiabitants are engaged in 

 ships, commerce and manufactures and In the 

 various preparations of hiuiher and the clearing 



The severity of a norihern climate will be no 

 lasting ohslacie to the exlension of agriculture 

 np t.i viiin- vcrv noitlr-rn line. Cattle and sheep 

 and lini-rsnnd uiiil.'s vill alwavs be the staple 

 p...,ln.is of il,e nuMv liiily and" rough country; 

 .■iiiil hullcr, rhci-se and wool go along with them 

 IS a nntinal concomitant. In the rich river val- 

 h-ys .uid upon the easier soil of the hills, wheat 

 and corn and other gjains will be produced with 

 equal certainty and much greater profit than in 

 the gre.xt grain gmwiii;; cunntiies of the West. 

 We need only look at tlie pr-seut prosperity and 

 wealth of the farmnri in the interior of >Iassa- 

 cluisetts in the midst of whom manufacturing 

 vi!lngfs have sprung up — ro tlie country from 

 uMrli m my of ymi iniigr.iiid— to congratulate 

 ourselves iu the convii-fion that all of New Eng- 

 land, of which the Stale nf Maine embraces more 

 territory than the other live States united, is des- 

 tined, in u steady mnreb of industry and enter- 



:)rise, to become 

 ivetdthy, as it is air 

 best educated conn 



posterity. 



[ie most independent and 

 ily the most intelligent and 

 uiity on the known habita- 

 hlessing of God, which rest- 

 he continued to their latest 



From tlie New Orleans Picayune. 

 Sketches of Mexico. 



THE CITY OF MEXICO. 



Matters in relation to New Spain and its gor- 

 geous capital !U-e every day rising in interest; so 

 we have drawn out an old pencil note-book again, 

 and the mail conveniently staying auay yester- 

 day, we found time to scratch up the present 

 sketch. 



The most impressive notion that strikes a new 

 traveller while progressing through the large cit- 

 ies of .Mexico, is the inordinate thirst of gold 

 that does still, and always must have characteri- 

 zed the rulers and priesthood of the country. 

 While a great ma.as of the population are in ac- 

 tual poverty, verging on starvation, the churches 

 and palaces are gorged w ith wealth and treasure. 

 The tyranny of the old conquerors is also still 

 alive, and tlie miserably degraded state to which 

 the poor aborigines have been reduced, and in 

 which the pauper portion of even the Mexicans 

 themselves exist, is truly pitiable. 



Much has been said about the mild climate of 

 iMexico, and little is left to say of it that would 

 not assume the apjiearance of repetition. Vet 

 the traveller beneath those sunny skies can 

 scarcely repress a disposition to record his emo- 

 tion, if once a pen comes between his fingers; 

 and, indeed, it would be difficult for even the 

 most poetic fancy to be too warm and glowing 

 upon the subject. Fire places and stoves are no 

 common things in the city of IMexico, and houi 

 are built without thought of such a provision as 

 a chimney. Conking is done out of doors, and a 

 daily spectacle in the public squares is beggars 

 and'others with small furnaces preparing their 

 scanty fare for use. This fiict shows emphatical- 

 ly the nature of the climate. 



The great cajiital is situate in a broad and 

 beautiful plain, encompasse<l by gigantic moun- 

 tains, 10 the summits of which riie eye is contin- 

 ually roving; the bold contrast of nature's stu- 

 pendous work with the domes and steeples be- 

 low irresistibly forcing wonder and admiration 

 on the mind. Ileganling the city itself, the trav- 

 eller will not always form favorable impressions 

 w hen first beholding it, and, in liict, lliose win 

 have indulged in excitement over warm descrip 

 lions of the cmmtry, are very apt to be stricken 

 with the chillness of disappointment. Nor 

 even a sojourn of some w-eeks sufficient to change 

 this frame of sentiment. It lingcrB upon yon, 

 and Is likely to remain your stronaest bent of 

 feeling when you leave. It is certainly true that 

 there are many buildings — most [lublic, however 

 — chnrches, convents, inomisteries, &c., of great 

 and striking proportions, which never fail to ar 

 rest the observation of the stranger ; but It ii 

 more from their antiquated style of structure 

 than any thing like real architectural elegance. 

 These buildings are mostly old, and already re- 

 markable for venerable appearance, though they 

 are all likely to stand as long again and longer, 

 for their durability would seoni really to defy the 

 progress of lime. The old Spanish mode of 

 building prevails, of course, throughout the city, 

 L'ivir^s rich niivcliy, at any rate, to the eye of the 

 Ameiioan visiter, and making the scene quaint 

 and pirturis(|Me. The houses are all similar in 

 .III: :, lii ! I inir of stone, and very seldom 

 1. ,.;, I,, nn. This sameness, however 



,111.. ill- I ;,/,;,,, ..ining ill contradiction with the 

 nnnui.iic I'eali. is of the city which we have just 

 mentioned, and its efTect is materially to mar the 

 pleasures of the traveller. 



The general appearance of every thing in the 

 way of architecture is massive, and but liitle of 

 grandeur is to lie found save in the interiors of 

 the churches and palaces while real elegant 

 to he seen nowhere. A heavy and sombre effect 

 is produced by the ancient style of structure. In 

 the houses (he floors are of tile or common brick, 

 and the stranger will not fiiil to observe immedi- 

 ately the absence of fire-places. 



The streets arc but roughly paved, and none of 

 them are at all over cleanly. They are not plan 

 ned with side-vvalks and gutters as ours are, but 



slope downwards from each side to the centre, 

 where there is generally a covered drain. By 

 far the greater portion of the thoroughfares are 

 neglected, and our pen shrinks from description 

 of the filth and wretchedness to be found in some 

 of them. 



Mexico lies in the heart of the mountains, high 

 in the torrid region, seven thousand four hundred 

 and forty feet above the sea; and here, in a vast 

 valley, overtopped by the huge Cordillera of ilie 

 South, sits the capital of New Spain. It Is a 

 great city, and one whose destinies, both of old 

 and 10 come, are now more than ever engaging 

 the. atteiitidu of surrounding nations. Strange 

 and semi-barbarous as have been the history of 

 the country through its career until this time, 

 the next ten or fifteen years promise even a more 

 eventful lecord. Fiercer days than those of the 

 Spanish invader seem likely to gloom over the 

 land, and a deadlier fight than that with Monte- 

 zuma's people may yet be storied of the new 

 Castilians and their newer neighbors. 



The population of the city is now called one 

 hundred and seventy thousand ; at least. It was 

 so estimated when Santa Anna was garrisoned 

 in his palace with many troops around him. Yet 

 to see the swarms of human beings that almost 

 constantly throng the streets, a natural Impres- 

 sion arises that the number must be much great- 

 er. Many composing these crowds, however, 

 are not residents In the city, but wander about 

 the country in all directions, having homes no- 

 where. One of the most distinct, and at the 

 stime time revolting features of the city, and in 

 fact the whole country, is its numer<ius and 

 wretched jiauper population. All cities have 

 their better classe.s, certainly, and even Mexico 

 has hers, but these are secluded and seldom seen 

 by the stranger. The intelligent Mexicans deeply 

 reprobate the idlenes.s, rascality, sloth and other 

 vices of the poor inass and will freely so express 

 themselves to Americans, but vast and mighty 

 convulsions must shake the nation before ever a 

 better state of things will he brought about. 



Crime prevails among the poverly-stricUen 

 wretches to a frightful extent. Thefts, robberies, 

 ami even murders, are of nightly and sometimes 

 tlaily occurrence. Two or more dead bodies 

 may he seen almost any morning, exposed at the 

 dead-house, victims of assassination during the 

 night. Horses are stolen impudently in daylight, 

 in the public streets, and persons robbed of their 

 money and clolhing almost with Impunity. — 

 Heaven preserve all decent travellers from these 

 loafers, niscals and kpros of Mexico. 



We have given all the space we can afford to 

 this sketch, and yet have scarcely touched upon 

 half the points that interest us. 



The Connecticut River Valley. 



Extract of Mr. Hill's Address alMwburij, Vl. 



Within the recollection of persons of my age 

 great has been the progress of population and 

 settlement at the West. It is wonderful that the 

 productions of the earth in so large a space 

 should in so short a time be multi|)lied as they 

 have been. Great avenues of communication 

 have been o|)ened : the introduction of steam 

 boats and the more recent introduction of steam 

 as a substitute for animal power upon travelled 

 roads have given such facilities as have lessened 

 the time and expense of transport to at least one 

 for ten. In the new settled countries the stajde 

 productions have generally been fortunate In 

 finding a cash market and good prices. If ca- 

 nals and rail roads had not been constructed — if 

 the navigation of the lakes and rivers had not 

 been connected with the seaboard — of what val- 

 ue had been the surplus fiour and pork of Ohio 

 and Michigan ? The opening of the New York 

 Erie canal about the year 1820 first brought Gen- 

 esee flour into our seaports. During the war of 

 1812 upon the New York frontier the bread and 

 meat consumed by the army was transported to 

 that wheat and meat producing country at an al- 

 most incredible expense. Not many years pre- 

 vious to the war of 1812, the greater part of west- 

 ern New York was a wildernes.«. The Erie ca- 

 nal running through the Empire State from the 

 Hudson to Lake Erie, at the moment of its open- 

 ing, doubled the value of its produce in its whole 

 western half, and doubled the value of every 

 acre of land fit for cultivation within the distance 

 of fifty miles on either hand. This grand com- 

 munication also gave an extraordinary impulse to 



