PLANK ROADS. 
225 
distance, winding over the hills toward other valleys and other 
villages. Indeed, the number of roads by which the country is 
cut up in every direction, crossing each other at short intervals, 
hither and thither, might alone lead a foreigner to suppose it much 
older in civilization ; and when the great extent of the country and 
the date of its settlement are remembered, these roads bear very 
striking testimony to the spirit and activity of the people. It is 
true that many of them are very imperfectly worked, yet in sum- 
mer and winter they are all in respectable condition, and many of 
them as good as need be ; these new plank roads, which are just 
beginning, promise, indeed, to be admirable, and the workman- 
ship, filling up hollows and grading hills, is often quite imposing. 
It must also be remembered that the climate is much against us 
in this respect, owing to the deep frosts of winter and sudden 
thaws of spring, which are enough to injure greatly the best-made 
roads in the world. 
The soil, without being so rich as that farther west, is very 
good, and the school of agriculture respectable, though scarcely 
very scientific. A portion of the farmers are graziers and dairy- 
men, and large herds are seen feeding in some pastures. Wool 
is also a staple of the county, and one cannot go very far without 
coming upon a flock of sheep, nibbhng quietly by themselves, un- 
watched by dog or shepherd. During the summer months, the 
cattle of these valleys have generally good cause to be satisfied 
with their lot ; the grass seldom fails, and those excessive heats, 
accompanied by long parching droughts — almost a matter of course 
in the lower counties — are seldom felt here ; the continued warm 
weather of this last summer has been something uncommon. But 
though dryer than usual, our meadows are still greener than those 
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