Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1854-10-04
Maintain Lands of Union County


countv lands advertised in the Philad' At1sn' .
has brought out pleasant rcJoihdef, ""''"
will h., found nader the Real Estate mead
on the second page. Accompanying IT. MI
CI,Rx sends us an argument, so ingenious
and co truthful that we select it for The mis-
eeeaneous page of the Chronicle
It's not expected that all Of this prop
ertv is "good farm land" and some Of it
may not be very good for any purpose
the term being merely designed to convey
the idea that the purchaser might thereby
procure the kind Of land described, disln-
.erestcd persons having certified that the
lands are worth, as body, four times the
price at which they are offered.
The adjective ''good'' has comparative
as well as a positive sense, and though
lands on White Deer and Spruce Bun may
be much inferior to those on Penns Greek,
Middlecreek, aud Buffaloe, yet, even for
Turning purposes, they may be superior
to some of the soils Of Ohio, Indiana, Hi
no;s, and Iowa, high as the reputation of
these stand.
Your reference to the "table lands Of
Jacks mountain" in connection with the
very low price, is taken in good part, since,
for anything which the seller knows to
the contrary, they may be equal in value
to the stable land Of Nittaay, where a
part of these lands lie, on each side Of the
new road from Lewisburgto Sugar Valley,
and where, it is said, there is basin call
ed the Kettle hole, which, for farming
purposes, is superior to much Of the land
within few miles from this city which
sells at any price above slo0 per acre to
which imagination may delight to extend.
Union county lands have, both at home
and abroad, an enviablc reputation and,
great as the diversity of soil and other at
fractions may be, it is fair to presume
where much is valued at from $50 to Sl20
per acre, the most inferior should be worth
t,co per cent. of the latter price. Even
when the timber is sparse, and soil "aoa
est" there is frequently valuable depositc
of some kind beneath the surface, to CON-
pensatc for the stcrility alone, thereby
making the rugged mountains of our State
her greatest trcasure-the Ell Dorados of
her wealth.
Whether such is the case with the
mountains of Union county, or not, time,
accident, or geological surveys must deter
mine; but while they retain the power OF
reproducing the forest after fire or the axe
has swept it away, there is greater value
in them, than short-sightcd economizers,
see or acknowledge.
1t is to be regretted that disposition is
so general among cmigrants to run past
the lands of our own State, if somewhat
rough or broken in character, and to leave
its wooded hills, its pure water ,ard health
full breezcs, for the purpose ofpeopllng the
prairies of the f'far west" where the
advantages of fertile soil aud easy cul-
ture are too frequently counter-balanced
by want of timber, bad water, climate
which wrecks the constitution, and a
market so remote as frequently to preclude
the attempt to derive any advantage from
it.
To cultirate the greater part of our
mountain lands-wcre it ble,-would
be neither desirable nor profitable, since
they constitute our resource for timber in
its varieties, for all time to como, and it
should be our special duty to protect them
against the reckless conduct Of those who
"scatter fire brands aud DEATH" and ruth
lcssly destroy forest growth which an
age cannot restore.
The wanton waste Of timber within the
century past, il. addition to the de' tue
tion required by necessity or cxpedicncy,
will most probably be dep.ored in the
next, and failure on our part to extend
protection to the forest land, and to foster
the growth of trees, when the soil does
not offer attractions for the plow, viii
justly subject us to the reprobation Of our
successors.
Already, in many parts Of the State,
where timber was recently declared NUS
ance, it is now purchased with avidity.
The wooded valleys, mountain slopes,
and "table lands" where wave the pine,
hcmlock, oak, and chcsnut, should not be
held in light esteem because fOrsoo.h they
are not deemed to be "good farm land'
when compared with the alluyial bottoms
or the limestone soils Of the plain. All
have worth and value which few persons
at present appreciate, but of which time
will continually furnish new DEVELOPMENTS.
Ii denuded Of their timber by the saw
yer, tanner, cooper, iron manufacturer,
and others to whom our forests furnish
employment and wealth, our mountains
and interior valleys, if divided into tracts
Of moderate extent, should furnish the
spectacle Of numerous small farms and !
homcsteads, occupied BY a yeonaary per-