The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-10-04 00:00:00

RURAL COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA.

The Times of Monday publishes an Interesting letter from
a Correspondent under date Canandaigua, Central New
York, September 12, from which we make the following
lengthy extract :
" The ordinary tourist in this country on pleasure
bent generally sees little of the most important class in
American society and political life - the farmers. In
such pleasant towns as that from which I write—a
village of, perhaps, 6,000 inhabitants—the traveller
will find pictures of wide streets bordered by overarch-
ing trees and lined with what Americans fondly style
'palatial mansions;' he may make the acquaintance
of the local aristocracy, consisting of the professional
classes and wealthy tradespeople, and may gain a fair
idea of provincial life in this country; but he will not
see the farmers. Having recently spent a week in a
rural neighbourhood in this vicinity, with special
opportunities for acquainting myself with the pro -
peels, present advantages, and home life of the people,
some impressions of my visit may be of interest to
English readers.
-

'-Imagine, then, a cluster of half-a-dozen houses
I situated in the open country where four roads meet,
and constituting the oentre, or village, of the farm-
ing community. A meeting house, quite like
other dwellings in that it is constructed of wood,
painted white, and with green window blinds, occu-
pies a conspicuous corner; while at a short but re-
speeful distance is the country 'store '—an institution
which supplies the inhabitants with groceries, house-
hold utensils, farming implements, cotton and woollen
goods, ready-made clothing ; and serves, moreover, as
the post-office. There is no inn or tavern ; it could pro-
fitably exist as an ale-house only; an establishment they
do not want in this neighbourhood; but a traveller need-
ing accommodation would find a hospitable welcome
extended to him on every side. Then at distances
varying from a few rods to a mile apart are the
farmers' homes, usually of wood, painted white or
drab, and, excepting some eccentricities of architec-
tural pretension, not unlike Swiss chalets in their
general appearance. Near the house stand the out-
houses, barns, stables, Szc. One will find good horses
even in the plainest and most unpretending stables,
for the American, like the Italian, never walks when
he can afford to ride, and the first ambition of every
country lout is to own a horse and phaeton. The road-
side is planted with rows of trees, and these also adorn
the grounds in front of the house. I notice that since
I was last in the States the practice of swinging in
hammocks under the trees has been introduced and
has become almost universally adopted.
"The interior of the houses is often exceedingly
plain and antiquated, but always scrupulously neat.
Many of the inhabitants, especially such as are de-
scended from the original settlers, belong to the
Society of Friends, whose members have always borne
a laudable reputation in this respect. In the parlour
will often be found a piano, and some attempt to-
wards a library, which leans, however, somewhat too
heavily in theological and agricultural directions.
In point of intelligence the farmer occupies a position
much in advance of other labouring classes in this
country. He sends his sons to Agricultural Colleges;'
his daughters graduate at 'Female Academies,' He is a
subscriber to several newspapers or Journals' an agri.
cultural weekly, a New York political journal, and the
organ of his particular religious seat are apparent
necessities of his intellectual life. He is a firm par-
tisan, both as regards his religious faith and political
principles. Pie oonsiders the Pope of Rome to be the
Beast of Revelation, and holds the Government of the
United States the best ever established under the sun.
You may possibly excite him on subjects connected
with the Civil War (there are few families that did
not lose some member in that strife), but on subjects
such as free trade, for instance, he is either profoundly
indifferent or slightly opposed to any change. I
am writing upon paper which cost me three times
the price I should pay in England for the same
quality; but on this and a thousand other articles the
American pays a voluntary tax as the supposed neces-
sary means of promoting the national prosptrity and
developing the resources of the country. No people
are prouder of their country and their homes. Talk-
ing recently of the beauty of English scenery with a
venerable matron of 90, whose hands had never
known an idle moment she remarked, looking out over
the landscape, 'I have lived on this farm over 60 years,
and I do not believe a more beautiful spot exists on
earth' Well, though ignorant of the world's beauty she
had very good reason to be °outwit

"Axe the farmers of this part of the country growing
rich? To this query they give you a decided negative.
There seems to be little opportunity for a New York
farmer to make money so long as any portion of the
Great West remains open to pioneers. In the first
place, railway competition is so great, that a bushel of
corn care be sent to Europe from Minnesota as cheaply
as from Rochester, in this State, a thousand miles
nearer the coast, thus causing the newly.broken
prairie fields of the West to compete on equal terms
with land costing ten times as much. It is the same
difficulty that confronts the English agriculturist.
Then of late years the price of all kinds of farm
produce has fallen, till it has now reached figures
lower than ever before. The beet fresh butter costs
but 93. a pound, cheese 4d., and good beef 6d.
Indeed, nothing is more striking to one revisiting
America after many years' absence than this uni-
versed depreciation in prices of everything, but
especially in the cost of food. The New York Tribune
recently published a long communication, proving by
actual statistics that the cost of provisions consumed
by residents of the city living in good style did not
exceed Bs. a week for each individual. Good board,
by which term one here understands lodging, atten-
dance, lights, and three meals per day, can be had in
New York in private families for a guinea a week, and
in provincial towns for 165.—1 mean with first-clase ac-
comuaodatian in every respect, such as cost double these
prices five years ago. Hotel charges are now two-
thirds what they were formerly. One day last week I
dined at a first-class hotel in Rochester. The carte
consisted of some 57 different dishes, which one ordered
at discretion; yet the bill was but 25., and no waiter's
fee expected. In many resturants in New York one
can get a plate of roast beef or mutton, with potatoes
and bread and butter, for 6d. It is the fall in cost of
food which makes living in America just now very
cheap, but keeps the farmer poor.
"Still farmers about hare appear to be very com-
fortably situated, and if without prospect of increas-
ing wealth, they are equally free from apprehensions
of poverty. Nineteen out of twenty own the land they
till; they are sure, therefore, of a home for them-
selves and their families, whatever may happen.
They have an abundance of good food; I almost
doubt whether one could find in any London market
so great a variety of fruits and vegetables as are
produced under these Italian skies. Arriving at
a farmhouse recently about noon, I was invited to
sit down to dinner, which happened to be ready
at that moment, and tie invitation was accepted.
Democratic theories of equality were exemplified by
the presence at table of the farmer's labourers and
house servants. Ido not believe that the table of any
other countryman or peasant-proprietor could display
SO many articles of food generally regarded as the
luxuries pertaining to wealth. Some of themarer.
strange to English palates. There 'vein sweet pot _ato_
_ed,
I a ktntl of yam, rarely seen on lloalrob tablas, but blip

esteemed in this country; sweet corn or maize boiled
in the ear; succotash, an oboriginal dish, compounded
of maize and beans in certain proportions cooked
together; grapes of two vaieties ; large ltuicious
peaches; slices of huge water.melon, 2f I. in length,
and the small but more delicately•flavoured musk-
melor. All these were on the table, and all were the
products of his own garden or orchard. The farmer
told me that peaches are becoming a profitable crop,
although now produced in such great quantities that
in the height of the season the best varieties sell for
only Si. a bushel. All varieties of grapes flourish
here; and a few miles south extensive vineyards are
in cultivation for the manufacture of native wines.

"The story of the early settlement of this part of
New York is nob without its romantic side; and
although the original pioneers have long since
pasted away, some of their children yet linger, who
love to recall the history of those days. At the
conclusion of the struggle for independence this
entire region was an unbroken wilderness, inhabited
only by Indians and wild beasts. Reports, how-
ever, of its great natural beauty and probable
fertility began to find their way into older States,
and were eagerly heard by the younger generation,
dissatisfied with their surroundings; and about
1790, from different sections of the New England
States, parties of settlers, with wives and children,
began their journey westward. With oxcarts and
packhorses, by boats and rafts they -pushed their
way through the wilderness to this plaoe, the journey,
which is now accomplished in a few hour', occupying
over a month. The land, surveyed in townships six
miles square, was taken up according to the ability of
the new-comer; but as the average price paid was less
than is. per acre, and as a nian, by hiring out his
services to another for work at clearing land, could
earn three or four scree per day, the opportunity of
becoming &landed proprietor was within reach of a/1.
The first houses were only rude cabins of logs notehed
and fitted, the openings between plastered with mud,
the door of hewn plank, the windows of greased
paper to admit light and exclude rain, and the sleep-
ing apartment was a loft reached by a ladder. Then
began the work of clearing the land of its growth of
forest and planting corn. The soil required only a
slight cultivation to yield the moat ample returns.
Flour could be ground only at a mill twenty miles
away; and the first year one of the settlers made
a journey every week on foot through the forest,
returning with the flour and other provisions
needed on his back. The savages lingered about,
sometimes threatening, but never breaking into
open hostilities. Wolves made nightly chorus about
the cabins; and to exterminate them a reward of
five dollars was given by the town for each wolf
scalp. Game was plentiful; the lakes abounded
in fish and waterfowl; while venison was a frequent
article of the pioneer's bill of fare. Fruit was, of
course, unknown in the early days, but orchards of
apple-trees were planted between the stumps of the
cleared forest. One rugged farmer, passing through a
neighbouring settlement at a little later period, picked
up an apple from under a tree, and was roughly
ordered by the owner to replace it on the ground.
Obeying, the Quaker turned to the owner with the
remark, 'Friend, thou art a very clone man with thy
fruit. Next year, if I live, I will plant 100 apple-trees
by my wayside for the use of tzavellers ; ' and he ful-
filled his promise.

"As the country became settled, canals opened, and
railway communication established, the estates of
these original pioneers, frequently amounting to
several hundred acres, became exceedingly valuable.
Men who bought uncleared forest at is. an acre lived to
see their broad fields of pasturage and growing grain
worth from £8 to £lO sterling an acne. The rude
cabin gave place to the large and comfortable dwel-
ling. So far as I can asoertain, nearly all the original
settlers left large and valuable estates to their descen-
dants, but, as they were divided equally among several
children, the succeeding generation did not equally
prosper. The 1,000 acres of the pioneer became &cluster
of farms of about 150 acres each. The height of
prosperity appears to have been reached thirty years
ago. Then came new families; further subdivision of
the already small farms was manifestly unprofitable,
and a new emigration began. The names of the first
settlers are fast disappearing from the country; their
descendants are either in the great cities or acting as
pioneers themselves in far distant territories of the
Pacific Coast. New races have invaded their old
homes; Ithh, German, and English farmers till the
soil they first broke; and even in the humblest village
in central New York one sees somewhat of the cease-
less march of nations westward."