The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1866-11-02
The Switzerland of 4merica and
the Switzerland of Europe.


and thirty thousand inhabitants, while
Switzerland contained two million five
hundred and thirty thousand. Of these
about five hundred thousand are in the
Alpine section, leaving two millions for i
territory about as large as the western
half of Vermont. How do they live
What Is their occupation Are they
progressive or stationary! Is it possible
for New England TO maintain population
equally dense These are practical ques-
tion>, deserving attention, for il 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 articles in
return. The question of climate comes
first New England has hot. short sum
mers and cold winters. with from three TO
five months of snow on her hills. Switzer-
land has longer, cooler summers and
warmer winters Here, as | write, on
this second day of October. | can look
from nv window upon the roses in bloom
in the garlen. and upon the Alps white
with SHOW. No frost as Vet has touched
with cold fingers the vines upon the sur
roundin. hills but it Is not climate alone
which enables the Swiss TO produce two
crops of grass yearly ON their moving
lands, but hu>landry such "a New Eng
land farmers know nothing of In 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 formation-dark gray lime
stone
The next question IS that of labor, which
IN Vermont l. worth dollar or a dollar
and a quarter a day. while here it RANGES
from ten 10 tewenty cents. No woman of
Vermont wields the hoe all day long by
the side nt her husband. but here the wife
performs quite as much labor in the fields
a. the head of the family In a popula-
tion ~ dense. every rod OF arabic land *
under cultivation. But | wish that the
farmers of New England could have 4
Swiss plow on exhibition at their agricul-
tur:,l fairs. | know of nothing which
could be more attractive, Riding across
the country last week. laid NV hands 10
one OF them and saw il in operation And
such plow. The Swiss plowshareS viii
not be beaten into swords when the
Millennium comes round: the reason why
Will be shortly apparent
The instrument Is on this wise: piece
of oak iol>t. three feet long and three
inches square. form the foot one end OF
the timber is scarted and upon the scarf a
thin piece OF iron Is nailed, which forms
the point of the plow. Two uprights,
framed into the foot. hold the beam; a
straight board. without iron. without a
line of curvature, projecting from one of
the uprightS. turns the turrow. while two
handles complete the instrument, which
simply scratches the ground | measured
the filrrow, which WAS about five inches
wide and three deep, | noticed in one
field where the sub soil was hard that
men and women followed the plow with
hoes TO deepen the furrow, dare say
that Your readers will be aStoniShed 10
learn that the largest part of the land Is
never touched even bv this rude instrument,
but is turned solely by hoe
| There are thousands of acres which
might be plowed. which are aS free from
stone and rs easy of cultivation a. the
magnificent meadow lands of the Connect
cut. but which are dug over every season
/ bv men and women. with great clumsy
hoes, which contain more weight of mctai
than The plows.
! There Is i remarkable Discrepancy IL
the industry and mechanics of Switzerland
for in railroad engineering, in tne CON
struction OF locomotives, in architecture
in the manufacture of watches they ar
unsurpassed; but in mill machinery, IL
agricultural implements. carriages, IN
labor-slving machines, they are away hack
In the 18th century.
WHY 10 YOU not plow YOUR land In
stead of digging it over!!'' | asked of on,
OF the people.
"Oh, labor is very cheap" was his re
ply
The multitude have no conception o
the true principle which underlies coOnom.
that mind is more powerful than muscle
80 ignorant are they Of this principle tha
they Use the hoe instead Of the plow
themselves instead OF horses They trans
port everything possible ON their back
instead of using carts Their wheele'
vehicles are mainly handcarts-
Rut in the utilizing OF manures and O
fertilizers New England men can com
. here and take lessons, These hills an,
valleys of western Switzerland are no
green the year around, because the win
: tiers are milder than at Boston. not be
cause they are naturally more fertile, bu
because fertilizers are saved instead Z
wasted, and because they are applied Il
the best manner to the growing crop
: verify believe that If the husGandry u
, New England was equal to that OF Swli
zerland in the matter of saving and apply
; ing fertilizers that the state OF Vernon
1 might sustain population OF millions
inhabitants,