Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1848-10-26
Che GrnpcItr.
FROM TRAVELLING CORRESPONDENT.
NUMBER :.


NUMBER :.
PecaGiari'es o'Wcstern Sccnery-A Contrast w'th The
E,s.-The Emigrnt-DlGeem Modes Of Clearing
Limit and their Cost Comparison betyeen D.f5rem
Locations, as to Sol and Valm- Coniition Of The
ROl}G, and The ,iiode o. Travcltng pttot Repars -
True Interests Of Me Set er and Non Res;Lent.--TM
Forests and "OM Opensngs."-.A Beautiful Prospect,
Night Closes the Scene.
JAMEsTowN Indiana, July "a. 1913.
With the descending sun quietly pursued my way,
on horseback on the new rout from Angola to Cold
wq'e II vas, and had heen one Of those clca beau
tfll Ju,y days in which there is Just breeze enough
to moderate the heat of SIMMER, and Tut new life
and Onnation as it we're into every surrounding OBJ
iect. The traveller WIN, such an occasion, cannot
throw care and anxiety Ito the winds" and enjoy the
wepth THE prospect and the scene, with zeSt,
fruition- sbrm ftT' Of hylt-su.lsflc hls
weight. IA depth of glef which deserves the warnest
sympathy and conmsserltion. If anything can have
tendency to
"Mnlser to a mimi dseased
Pluck from the memory a rooted Sorrow
Rase out the written troubles Of the bran
And with some sweet obvion's antdote,
Cleinsa the stuf'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart
it Is with careless case to enjoy the ever varying
scene witt no company but the horse that carries you,
surrounded by they Prairie, the Opening, the F resi-
the River an the Lake-by nndnerable wild flowers,
feitharai songEefs, AMI natures animals, which gam
BOZ unl folio undisturbed with the largest liberty"
in their prineva hluntS.
Amid Stch scenes IN | over such countries the
above have Travelled, on ho'e5ack two tn 'us mi
miles IN this western world; with degree of pleasure
and enjoyment that never rlve, and expect to
realize by any other mole of crngeylnce. Mich
the largest share of this distnca hive travelled with
out bridges and without roads, except by Inlln trls
AMI b,azri trees-o:del strelm3 50 1eap they would
wet my horses stlle nearly to its seat, and caused
him to swim others fofty rods in width swollen by
rains to nearly full banks. Your Railroads, Steam
and Packet boats, hive become mere common place,
and Travelled by everybody They are nothing
plred with trip through a new country on horse
back. But hopping my former, will return to my
present trip.
To an Eastern trlv eIer, many things impress the
mind strongly in travelling these Western regions.
And Mt anDnI thu lie Of these is tn striking
trast presente bet geonshe woods" Or forests Of this
and those of his nltive county. There is a majesty
in the SIZE the he ht and th staelness of the trees
here which almost exceeds the conception of those
not acquainted with them. 1'e'e a tree seldom ex-
cetds two or three feet in diameter with proportion
ate heights while here | passed, during the present
day. through the forests of Pigeon, Beaver and Bean
.bn (!I;ttlo G,;, 0Nhnr tllo
wood, The Black Walnut, the White Oak, the Hicko-
ry Elm AMI the Sycamore, vie with each other in size
AMI grandeur. Their tail, erect FORMS to be
towering towards the Clouds while at the base they
measure from to 8 feet i'll diameter, and from II to
"a feet in circumference. Their stems or Trunks are
straight and upright Tor great distance before reach
inc the limbs and the taper is so triing that large
slw logs Gun be obtained Immediately under the limbs.
:so,e of the largest specimens | saw in my former
lou ney between the Great and Little Vermillion riv
ers. and on the west bank of the Wabash If the
ancient C tnanite5 and Isiteltes who familiar
with the tail Cedps ojfoi Lebanon" had witnessed
some oil these western "Sdp'ings" perhaps they would
ha e had clearer comprehension of the import Of the
word "t,H"
1t might be supposed that it required an immense
amount of labor to clear these forests and put the land
under cutvutiOn; yet it must be iecoected that the
trees are at much greater distance from each other
anil consequently much less number on the acre
than on land covered by smaller trees. | have been
tod, Oh the best authority, that the heavy tinbeed
lands on Pigeon and other places have been clear
ed, put under fence and crop of wheat put in, for
So ana $40 per payable in barter. But to the
emgraut, especially those i'll Strengthened clrcumsan
ces, tbeIe is consideration connected with this sub
ect, of vast imporance-for OH it depends in many
instances the question of his triumphant success or
remedless ruin, 1t has been tested by actual expert
once, that if the trees on timbered lands merely
"girdel" in the DIST instance, al of the year
when it will most elfectually kill them, root and
branch and the smaller bushes cut ont, good croE
can be obtained the succeeding with as little
labor in getting in" and harry sting, as if the land
cleared and the stumps left Ina few years these
old grid ed trees will decay and crumble, and during
the winter, while the ground was frozen with snow
upon it. let the trees be cut down, and they fall on
the frozen ground they will break in pieces, which
Can be easily piled up and burned.
This process Of clearing land has the following ad-
vantages:
Ist It leaves the soil it finds it, in its virgin
stale. The rich vegetable deposit Of centuries arts
ing from declyed substances remains untouched by
fire, leaving the soil with almost exhausess resources
for future crops. The immense quantity of timber
burnt on the ground, by the fist process of clearing
lands creates such degree of heat that this vegeta
bic deposit Or dark colOred surface earh is destroy