Litchfield enquirer., 1867-07-11

tion of Ohio, and doubtless you will be pleased to learn how the people thereof flourish, especially those descended from Connecticut percentage. The Northeastern portion of Ohio was called the Reserve be- cause it once belonged to- Connecticut, and the proceeds of its sale furnished the foundation of our popular school fund, which, under Hillhouse, and our own la- mented townsman, Seth P. Beers has done so much towards producing the superior intelligence of our State. The tract is about one hundred and fifty miles long by from thirty to seventy wide, the southern side being a strait line on the 41st parallel of latitude, the northern side the irregular shore of Lake Erie. It was surveyed into townships of five miles square, with the roads running at right angles, and all oc- casional diagonal road between shire towns The surface is varied, i'll some places being level for miles, then uneven, but in no place mountainous, though near Painsville is a. hill some three hundred feet high, called through courtesy '' The Mountain The greater portion is under high cultiva- tion, but there are some sections but little cleared up, which are heavily timbered with oak, maple and beech; there are also many cucumber trees. In the southern portion only have I seen any chestnuts, and but very few whortle- berry bushes. There are few townships in the extreme eastern range not yet in market, owned, I was informed, by some one in New Haven, Conn. Such land will bring about $lO per acre. Good farms range from $45 to $150 per acre, according to location, soil, improvements, &c. Land near the Lake Shore often rents at an annual rent of S2O per acre, to grow potatoes on. The soil is generally clay or sand, but in either case, bears good crops, with proper cultivation. Very much attention is paid to the dairy ing business, and great many cheese fac tories are in operation, some of them ma king sixty cheeses a day, each weighing about seventy pounds.
 The Reserve is thickly settled but it is not increasing in population, except in the cities. There are several large towns or cities, among which are, Cleveland, the Forest City, with a population of about 10000, and many beautiful buildings and streets. It possesses a large wholesale and retail trade, and is worthy long descrip- tion. Then there is Sandusky, Painsville, Akron, Ravenna, Warren and Youngstown, each large, wide awake, business towns The inhabitants are generally of New Eng land descent. Many of the old men have conversed with, were born in Litchfeld County, and I have had to answer ques- tions concerning every body in the Coun- ty. You may recognize in the names of townships various familiar names. For instance; Pierpont, Trumbull, Spencer Talmadge, Wadsworth, Boardman, Can field, Thompson, Hartford Litchfeld, Hartland, Northfeld; thus showing the nativities of the settlers The people still retain many of their Yankee customs, go to church regularly, take many newspa- pers, and have excellent schools. In some things they far excel us; they are better farmers, using improved machinery, keep ing better fences, subsoiling, and while we are doing precisely as did our Revolution ary fathers, with here and there an excep-, tion, they are keeping posted on all i'm provements. In sections where dairy1ng is not profitable, wool is the staple. have seen focks of two thousand sheep, and the bleating of lambs, as you pass a farm CTS quarters during this sheep -shearing season, produces very ludicrous effect How my heart bleeds for them! Their mothers go into the barn, with nice long fleece, and come out like the priest in Jacks house, "all shaven and shorn." No wonder their family relations are sundered and their dearest friends fail to recognize them. Fast horses are all the rage. In every village there is a park for trotting purposes.
 And now my tour in the Reserve is end
 ed. I can even now hear the Pennsylv.,
 mia dialect, sand often "weans" meet
 "youans, ; and the pigs grunt their morn ing prisons beneath the window, while be- fore me is a church costing $1O0,OOO, built from the proceeds of an oil we'll. No more can drag my load through Ashta- bufa mud or over Geauga hills No longer do boundless east and west or north and south roads guide my way; nor longer IS my path by fertile farms and neat farm buildings; or in such tempting woods and shady groves-great massive trees, such as nature made at frst-so dense the leaves that never ray of sun shone on the ground ! 80 cool that the grass underneath looks i frosty. No longer does my way lie among great shady orchards and gurgling springs, all, all so much like home, one would
 dream himself in the second edition of ] Yankee land, were the people not all so in- tensely Republican that there is very lit: tie peace for man hailing from Coppery Connecticut. Even my s.Harps' have sold poorly, play them ever so loyalty. The bows looked Coppery, they said, to