The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1862-01-14
LEA TER FROM KENTUCKY.
BARDsrows KY, Dec. 9th, 1851

mail should close without IL; aud though
many Incidents of interest were omitted, lest
it should appear like making two bites Of a
cherry, will leave them and take look at
the country.
Leaving Louisville We passed through a
beautiful farming country u It'll We reached the
neighborhood Of Salt River,-slightly undu.
lating and we'll wstered with spring brooks.
The Salt River country is very broken, though
not mountainous or much more difficult of as.
cent and descent than the Chicago road eas.
of Moscow. Very many Of the crooks aud
curves might have been saved. 1t looks as
If tho work was done by the job and The con-
tractor wanted to make rs many miles Of il as
he could. The last six miles is much like
the first in the lay Of the land. The country
the whole distance is under good state Of
cultivation. Land for miles from Louisville
is valued at $500 per acre; eight miles out at
$500 per acre; twelve miles out at 800 per
acre; and no land on tue whole route is val
ued at less than $50 per acre. Back from
the turnpike, however, l presume lAnd could
be had as good as any We passed, at rates bet
ter adapted to light pockets worn BY hard
working husbandmeu.
As said in former letter, the turnpike is
we'll constructed, Leautifu; ROAD, Dut al, otL-
er roads are miserable apologies for lanes. iu'
stead of ofstraight, sectional.line and rgbl.angle
Cross roads, they are all made to diverge at an
angle, and to secure an easy grade, winding,
if necessary, according TO the lay of the land.
The cross, or rather dvsrging rcads, are mar
row-not over twenty FIVE feet wide, and
many of them not as wido as that; and all
are shut Oft from the turnpike by gates or
bars. l supposed they were merely lanes
leading to residences which could be seen in
the distance, until, upon inquiry, learned to
the contrary. The country residences and
there are many fine ones-ars nearly all 10.
Gated upon these divergng roads. Occasion.
ally they face the pike but then they are
situated several rods back from the roal, af.
fording an opportunity for the display of taste
and refinement 10 the cultivation aud orna
meDtation Of the ground in front, which is
rarely neg !ectcd. We passed number Of
places where the location Of Il buildings and
the surroundings indicated that once they
were the stopping places Of the way faring
man as he wended his way over this great
highway, either by coach or private convey.
snce, before the snort Of the iron horse was
heard in the vallc y Of the Mississippi. Desc.
late looking places now they are.
One popularity attracted US. The chin.
Deys are all built at the gable ends and upon
the outside Of all wooden buildings. Fire.
places have not yet given place to stoves,
which, even for kitchen purposes, are almost
an unheard of thiug-reminding ono Of days
long since gone by at the North, when stoves
wero too few or too expensive to admit Of be.
ing used by the toiling millions. The dwell
ngs are generally two story, square build.
ings, in good condition, though showing age
but the barns, when they have any, are poor,
DID, dilapidsted affairs. saw but two good,
Norlhern-looking barns on the whole route
Their road fences, be it said to their credit,
were uniformly in good condition.
The chief crop appears to be corn, large
tracts Of which are annually cultivated. 1t
uniformly nds ready and profitable South.
en- market, which, unfortunately, is not the
case this year, as all the usual venues of CON-
merce aud channels Of shipment in that di.
rection are bockaded by Uncle Sans "mud-
sals."
Wheat is raised to limited extent. As
the winters do not, iD this part Of the State,
afford covering ofspow to protect the grow.
ing wheat from the effects Of freezing end
thawiug, it is sown among the standing coru
and cultivated in. The stalks are left stand.
ing until spring-tho corn being husked on
the hill-when the field is rolled to level the
stalks and hills. Little or no use is made Of
the stalks as fodder, being thought Of more
value as manure on the field where they grew,
and the mldness Of the climate admitting of
pasturage almost the year round. We saw
some fine hogs and few small focks Of sheep;
no cattle, but heap Of mules. The soil IS
red clay--very sticky-un'eraid by lime.
stone r ok which crops out among the Salt
River bills and in this section.
Between Louisville and Bsrdstown tLere is
but one villsge-Mouut wasbington-and
that has but one store, one grocery, one black.
smith shop, one grist mill, aud eight Union
men, out Of voting population Of seventy five
or eighty. At this place the rear guard, Capt.
Mudge's Company, we're presented with flag
by the Union ladies Of that place and the
surrounding, circumjscent vi,inage," which
was received with three rousiug cheers for the
donors and the Union.
Bardstowp, where we are now eucamped,
is the oldest city in Kentucky, having receiv-