252 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Juke 



of the county are provided for. Thia plan has 

 some advantages over tliat of town provision, 

 adopted throughout New England. It equalizes 

 the burdens, and probably lessons the aggregate 

 expense. 



We liave the Harrisburgh road h&re, and turn- 

 ing eastward, go on to Wrightsville. This is a lum- 

 bering village, on the west bank of the Susque- 

 hanna, where the tide water and Susquehanna ca- 

 nal crosses the river. There are some large lum- 

 ber mills here, owned by lumber merchants in 

 Baltimore. 



Wrightsville is connected with Columbia, by a 

 bridge across the Susquehanna a mile and a quar- 

 ter in length. This bridge is an object of some 

 curiosity. It has two railway tracks, two canal 

 Sow paths and accommodations for public travel. 

 It is said to have cost $230,000. 



Here we are in Columbia ! Hail Columbia, hap- 

 py land I what a passion we Yankees have for at- 

 taching big names to little things. Well, the 

 names may haul them' up and make them sound 

 large, if they are not really so. Columbia is a 

 great lumber land. Most of the lumber, cut up- 

 on the several branches of the Susquehanna, is 

 hauled up at this place. Iron is abundant in the 

 immediate vicinity on both sides of the river. 



Several furnaces are in full blast. The popula- 

 tion is about COOO, and rapidly increasing. We 

 observe here, what is common in this State, and I 

 ])elieve, through the South. All marketing is done 

 at stated times ar«J in the market place. Qn cer- 

 tain fixed days, the buyers and the sellers congre- 

 gate early in the morning, in the market-place, 

 the one to be rid of cash, and the other of what 

 they deem equivalents. I think this far better, for 

 all concerned, than to have marketing dribbling 

 along through the whole week. 



From Columbia to the Gap so called, on the 

 fDorders of Chester county, we pass through the 

 most beautiful agricultural region I have ever seen. 

 I have travelled in fourteen of the States and up- 

 per and lower Canada, but have seen nothing that 

 will compare with Lancaster, for farming purpos- 

 es. The land is gently rolling. No hills, no marsh- 

 es. Most of the land cleared, — laid off with great 

 regularity, — enclosed with high and substantial 

 fences and under the highest state of cultivation. 

 You might go over thousands of acres and not find 

 a briar or bush , or useless tree. Every foot of 

 ground seems to be made productive ; such an ex- 

 hibit of wheat, rye, oats and clover, I have never 

 seen. Should a landscape painter color his pic- 

 ture so highly, as many of these fields appear to 

 me, I should have accused him of extravagance 

 A New Englander, after passing through this re- 

 gion, will understand the meaning of the language 

 so often applied to the land of his nativity, "rock- 

 bound and barren." 



Three reasons may be given for the fertility of 

 these lands. The soil is naturally good. Where 

 excavations have been made for the railroad, the 

 grass grows up in few years and- covers the slope 

 down to the track. Indeed, the very track is com- 

 pletely turfed and produces grass abundantly. A 

 gentleman who acted as engineer on the first road 

 constructed through the county, remarked to me 

 that the earth, taken from 15 feet below the sur- 

 face, exposed for a short time to sun and rain, 

 would support vegetation as well as the surface 

 soil. 



2. Lime is abundant and is freely applied. Al- 

 most every farm has a limestone quarry, and the 

 ma,king and applying of lime constitutes an essen- 

 tial part of the business of every good farmer.—^ 

 Lime may be had at any of the kilns, for nine 

 cents a bushel, and often for seven. This is spread 

 upon the surface, at the rate of about 50 bushels 

 per acre and plowed in. Once thoroughly limed,. 

 the land needs nothing more for many years, un- 

 less it may be a crop of clover. 



3. The farmers here understand their avocation. 

 The German farmers of Pennsylvania "can't be- 

 beat." They are intelligent, in their way, pa^ 

 tient, industrious and economical. Their barns are- 

 models for imitation. The basement or cellar, of 

 stone or brick, and is devoted to stabling and shel- 

 ter. The second story, where the hay and graia 

 are deposited, is approached by a causeway. Many 

 are burlt entirely of stone ; others have stone base- 

 ments and brick above. The houses are generally 

 large and commodious, and everything about indi- 

 cates comfort and independence. 



But these fiirmers have their peculiarities. — 

 Among these, the Yankee would notice thei? 

 teams. The Yankee wishing to remove a quanti- 

 ty of wood draws it. The I>utchman hauls it. — 

 The farmer uses one horse or at most, two, or a 

 pair of oxen, with a wagon or cart adapted to hig. 

 team. The latter, hitches six horses, each as large 

 as a small elephant and so fat as to be seemingly 

 uncomfortable to a nondescript vehicle, resem- 

 bling nothing of v/^hich we read in history, either 

 sacred or profane, unless it be Noah's Ark ort. 

 wheels, — the tongu* projecting from 4 to G feet in 

 advance of the heads of the wheel horses, and so- 

 low as almost to strike the ground, each horse 

 having so much leather about him, as to render a 

 fly screen vinnecessary. He then mounts the near 

 wheel horse and Vvfith one rein in his left hand and 

 a short whip in his right, he cries out yea — aup. 



Another peculiarity is the plow. The Dutch- 

 men in plowing are all Benjaminites, — they turn 

 the furrow to the left. The only reason I could 

 get for this foible, is that they guide their horses 

 with one rein ; this is attached to the near horse,, 

 and if he is permitted to walk- in the furrow, he 

 needs less guiding from the plowman. A plow in 

 common use there, is made of iron entire. 



The price of land in thia county answers to its 

 quality ; from one hundred to one hundred and 

 fifty dollars per acre, taking a whole farm, the 

 buildings included. I was shown a tract of 80^ 

 acres, without buildings, which was sold recent- 

 ly for $140 per acre. At this rate, a form of one 

 hundred acres would bring the clever little sum of 

 $14,000. I was told by several farmers that, not- 

 withstanding the good quality of their lands, far- 

 mers did not generally get more than three per 

 cent, on the estimated value of their farms. 



Labor is very high and difiicult to obtain. The 

 farmers say that the Legislature, in their zeal to 

 protect and aid the poor, in other words, to be 

 very Democratic, have legislated poor laboring, 

 men all out of the State. It is generally admit- 

 ted, I believe, that the Pennsylvania Legislature^ 

 have for some years past been legislating for ev- 

 ery body else, rather than for their own people. 

 But I am spinning a long yarn, or plowing a long 

 furrow, I should say, and against this, you cau- 

 tioned your correspondents last week. But I sup- 

 pose that was intended for prosy writers. Now 1 



1 



