Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1866-11-07

'i"S0o' Juo' aS you may lit up an emu OF
a pack of cards? But all of this belongs
to geology. and we can only gaze in won-
der at the evidence of the great commo-
tions of the past, without reading the stu
penduous history. We need Agassiz with
US to comprehend these leaves written by
| the hand of God. We leave the noun
tains and 60 over into the western section
to see the people.
THE PEOPLE.
By the census of 1860 Vermont and
New Hampshire contained six hundred
and thirty thousand inhabitants, while
Switzerland contained two millions five
hundred and thirty thousand. OF these,
about five hundred thousand are in AL
pine section, leaving two millions for a
territory about as large as the western
half Of Vermont. How do they live ?
What is their occupation? Are they pro-
grcssivc or stationary Is it possible for
New England to maintain population
equally dense? These are practical ques-
tiops, deserving attention, for it has been
said that New England has exceeded the
limit of agricultural production that she
can only exist by importing bread from
the West, and giving manufactured arti-
cles in return. The question of climate
comes first New England has hot, short
summers and cold winters, with from
three to five months of snow on her hills
Switzerland has longer, cooler summers
and warmer winters Here, as | write
on the second day of October, ! can look
from my window upon the roses in bloom
in the garden, and upon the Alps white
with snow No frost as yet has touched
with cold fingers the vines upon the sur
rounding hills; but it is not climate
alone which enables the Swiss to produce
two crops of grass yearly on their moving
lands, but a husbandry such as New
England farmers know nothing of. ln
climate, Switzerland has the advantage,
but the hills Of Vermont are naturally as
fertile as those of this Republic; they are
of the same geologic iormatlon-dark
gray limestone.
The next question is that of labor,
which in Vermont is worth a dollar or u
dollar and quarter per day, while here
it ranges from ten to twenty cents. No
woman of Vermont wields the hoe all day
long by the side of her husband, but here
the wife performs quite as much labor IN
the fields as the head of the family. In
population SO dense. every rod OF ar
able land is under cultivation. But
wish that the farmers of New England
could have Swiss plow on exhibition al
their agricultural fairs. know of moth
ing which could be more attractive. Rid
ing across the country last week, laid
, my hands to one of them and saw it in op
Grafton And such plow The Swis
plowshare will not be beaten into swords
! when the Millennium comes round th'
reason why will be shortly apparent
The instrument is on this wise: a pice'
of oak ioist, three feet long and three in
ches square, forms the foot; one end o
the timber is scarfed and upon the scarf
thin niece of iron is nailed, which form
the point of the plov. Two uprights
framed into the foot, hold the beam
straight board, without iron, without
: line of curvature, projecting from QUO
! the uprichts, turns the furrow, while tw
! handles complete the instrument. whicl
0 simply scratches the ground ! measure'
G the furrow, which was about i've luche
d wide and three deep. noticed III OIL
e field where the sub-soil was hard tina
d men and women followed tho plow t
c deepen the furrow. dare say that you
: readers will be astonished to learn t. III
the largest part of the land is r..ever toucl
i ed even by this rude instrument, but
turned solely Oy hoe,
J. nnere mere are thousands of acres whic
st might be plowed, which are as ir'
G. from stone and as easy OF cultivation
le the magnificent meadow lands OF the Co'
* pecticut, but which are dug over ever
d season by men and women, with gre
Of clumsy hoes, which contain more weisl
c, of metal than the plows
IN There is a remarkable discrepancy
n ;,l,otrv and mechanics of SwitZe