Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-04-24


, FRIEND WILLARD Il hav'nt written t.
: you for some time and 1 ought to have goo'
} excuse for waiting SO long, but as l hav'nt
good ono, l won't make any. You know w
poor fellows who have left old Vermont t.
make us home out here on the prairies
find SO many things pressing upon our atten
ton that we are apt to forget ourselves ant
neglect our friends.
That which seems just now to be the grea
topic of interest among the people, is the ex
ceeding inclemency of the weather. W.
have had long cold winter, and March ha,
been colder than the months preceding. The
winter has hung on beyond all precedent
and the end is not yet. 1t is not unusual fol
people here to commence their blowing il
February, and by April have their springs
work pretty well along, but this year the
ground has remained frozen nearly all the
month Of March, and even to the last day
greeted with u snow storm. The
ground it is true is thawed out, except in
places covered with heavy grass or under the
fences, but it is SO thoroughly soaked with
would be two weeks before we could use the
pillow, except, perhaps, in some peculiarly
favored localities
Last year during the month of March the
ground plowed beautifully, but this year
there was not furrow turned during the
month. The 18th day Of March the Their
mometer stood two degrees lower than it had
stood any day before this winter. 1t was
then six degrees below zero, and before that
the mercury had not been below four degrees.
What has made the weather still more tedi-
Gus is the keen north winds that have pre-
vailed the most of the time. This kind of
weather is new to the - oldest inhabitant. :
Stock of all kinds has suffered severely. One
man living not far from here has lost two
hundred head. Many others have lost less.
Several of my neighbors have cattle - on the
lift, that is, they get 10 their feet only
as they are lifted on. People did not pre-
pare for tedious winter, and consequent
~ this cold weather found them without any
hay for their poor animals. Everywhere feed
is scarce, and not only that but the going,
has been so bad the most of the time, that if
there was hay to be had it would be next to
impossible to haul it
Mr. Larncd. who has a large herd of cattle.
said he could not look up hay and haul it
home fast enough to save them. His losses
i'll this way have been great. What few cat
tie had have lived 80 far, and are in com
paratiyelv good condition. | persisted in
putting up an extra stock Of hay last season,
after had been told repeatedly that had a
plenty. | have had no shelter for them. and
consequently they have been exposed to all
the cold winds and pitilcss storms that have
occurred If they had all died | could mt
have blamed them. | shall consider it sin
of the mcancst magnitude if | allow myself
70 enter upon another winter with no better
protection for them than had this.
People here are alive with curiosity To
know what the grasshoppers viii DO when
the warm weather shall have Matched out the
millions Of eggs that were deposited last fall
upon every square inch, lit Is said the num-
Der cannot he exaggerated) Of soil in this
part Of the country. Some think they viii
destroy everything; others think or try to
think they will DO no harm This is not
grasshopper country, and the invasion last
fall by them as singular it was uncx-
pected. Their path extended east to the
Missouri line. and west as far as Fort Riley.
Outside of these limits-cast and west-thcv
entirely escaped their ravages. They came
from the north, but how far south they went
do not know Last fall they took every
thing before them Even fork-handlcs and
lenccposts did not escape their teeth. and
the winter wheat that had come up was
everywhere destroyed. If they commence
their work this spring where they left it off
last fall. there will be hut little raised this
season
Emigration l. continually pouring in here
The population of our little town is fast IN
creasing. I'm Academy building. hotel, and
several dwclling-houscs Will he added to our
village a. soon they can be put up. The
railroad from Lawrence to Fort Gibson now
i'll process of construction. viii pass within
Il few miles of IL, thus adding materially t.
oar prosperity. Ia consequence of 50 much
emigration, farm products of all kinds bring
a high price. W heat i selling for 5000 per
bu-hcl; corn for Il 90; oats 10 cents and
- forth. Stock is somewhat lower than
usual owing to the scarcity of feed this back
ward season but it still brings very good
prices. Vt auction last week | saw some
two-vcars old steers sold for $1,000 per
pair. and other kinds Of stock in proportion.
The people appear in no wise discouraged by
the unfavorahlc signs of the times.
WILBUR.