VERMONT. 



181 



and occupies a commanding and beautiful situation. The lake suddenly expands as the voyager 

 approaches the town from the south, and a fine semicircular bay opens on the view, skirted by 

 a crescent of high ground, under the shelter of which the town stands. The view from the 

 summit of the hills is delightful, embracing in the foreground the elegant gardens of the town, 

 with the streets below, the curving form of the bay, the whole breadth of the lake, here ten 

 miles across, and a chain of lofty blue mountains on the opposite shore. Population, 4,000. 



BraUleboro\ on the Connecticut, 50 miles below Windsor, has several manufactories of 

 cloth, paper, lead, &c., and considerable trade ; printing to considerable extent is carried on. 

 Here is the Vermont Insane Asylum. The scener} m the neighborhood of this town is highly 

 picturesque. Population, 2,500. 



Middlebury, on Otter Creek, contains a college and two academies, several churches, a 

 bank, and some manufactories. A quarry of fine marble was discovered here in 1804, and is 

 now wrought for various purposes. Population, 3,600. Bennington, near the southwest cor- 

 ner of the State, has several manufactories and a marble quarry ; a weekly newspaper is pub- 

 lished here. This is one of the oldest towns of the State, and is celebrated in the history of 

 the Revolution for the victory of General Stark over the British, in 1777. Population, 4,200. 



Vergennes, on Otter Creek, at the head of navigation, 6 miles from the lake, has many fac- 

 tories and mills ; this place was incorporated as a city some years ago, and is the only one in 

 the State. Population, 1,200. Rutland, on Otter Creek, 55 miles h orn its mouth, is a flour- 

 ishing and pleasant town, and has some manufactories. Population, about three thousand. 

 J^Torwich, on the Connecticut, and 8t. Albans, on Lake Champlain, are also considerable towns. 



3. Agriculture. What we have said upon this head in the State of New Hampshire, will 

 apply with little exception to Vermont. Wheat is only cultivated west of the mountains. 

 Maize thrives best on the intervals, but is also raised abundantly on the uplands. Farmers who 

 are industrious, seldom fail of having their barns filled with hay and flax ; their granaries with 

 maize, wheat, rye, oats, barley, pease, and beans, and their cellars with the best of cider, po- 

 tatoes, and other esculent roots. The raising of sheep has lately much increased, and wool 

 has become the staple of Vermont. The number of sheep is above 1,000,000 ; annual clip of 

 wool, 3,000,000 lbs. 



4. Commerce. Lake Champlain affords facilities for a considerable commerce between this 

 State and Canada. The trade in this quarter is chiefly with Montreal ; the exports are pot and 

 pearl ashes, beef, pork, butter and cheese, flax, live cattle, &c. The domestic trade is mostly 

 with Boston, New York, and Hartford. 



5. Manufactures. Except the domestic fabrics of linen and woolen which occupy almost 

 every family, the manufactures of this State are not considerable. There are, however, above 

 100 woolen and cotton manufactories, paper mills and oil mills, and also 100 tanneries. Maple 

 sugar is made in nearly every town and family in the State ; the average quantity made by each 

 farming family is estimated at 150 pounds, amounting to 6,0<}0,000 pounds a year. Pot and 

 pearl ashes, and iron are also manufactured in various parts. There are manufactories of cop- 

 peras from native sulphuret of iron, at Strafford and Shrewsbury. The ore is detached from 

 the bed by blasting ; it is then beaten to pieces with hammers, and thrown into large heaps, 

 where it lies exposed to the air and moisture until a spontaneous combustion takes place, and 

 the whole heap is converted from the sulphuret to the sulphate of iron ; this usually takes sev- 

 eral weeks. After this, it is removed to the leaches, and water passed through it, which dis- 

 solves the copperas and leaves the earthy matter behind. The water is then conveyed uuo 

 leaden boilers, and boiled to a certain degree. After this, it is transferred to other vessels, 

 where it cools, and the copperas crystalizes. These manufactures are sufficiently productive 

 to supply the whole United States. They are owned principally in Boston. In Peru and 

 Bennington are many iron founderies. 



6. Population. The population of the State of Vermont was, in 



1790, 85,417 1820, 235,764 



ISOO, .... 154,465 1830, .... 280,652 

 ISIO, 217,713 1840, 



7. Government. The legislature of Vermont is composed of a Senate and a House of Repre- 

 sentatives, called the General Assembly, and chosen annually ; each town has one representa- 

 tive. The executive officers are a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and a council of 12, 

 chosen annually, by general ballot ; all residents in the State of one year's standing are voters. 

 There is also a coupcil of censors chosen every 7 years ; they are 1 3 in number, and hold their 



