Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-09-29

Tho Agricultural Complexion Of Ohio NJ Com
pared with the East and Prairie states.


10 undervalue Eastern or New England agri.
culture. nor the beneficial surroundings Of an
Eastern home for | verify believe that no.
where in the world can agricultural labor, to
the extent Of the lands to be cultivated, be
appropriated to more profitable results than
in New England and New York But in
these States after the wear Of the lands for
two centuries, and cxhausting the soil with a
succession Of crops for all that time, no half
way, hap-hazard culture can succeed. The
Eastern farmer must be intelligent and capa-
bic of Analysing Soils and know how to sup
ply its chemical Deficiencies to adapt it TO
particular crops and to ronovatc its produc-
tive qualities Aud then the value of East
orn schools, churches, and manufacturing i'm
dustries, and foreign and domestic trade, in
developing a high civilization, is not TO be
forgotten. But New England and the East
ern States are not generally open to a free
investment in land by everybody The old
homesteads are in the hands Of one or two
members of large families, while the rest, like
younger sons in England, or surplus children
in Scotland, must seek their homes and sub
sistence remote from the place Of their birth.
10 requires extraordinary energy, prudence
and economy, for young man starring life
with his bare hands in New England to ac-
quire q free title to farm there Of a hum
drcd acres by the time he is forty-fve years
Of age, especially if he roars a family and
provides for them New England education
So although the latitude and geographical
features Of the Northeastern States causes
them to produce on their mountain slopes and
high table lands the sweetest and best favored
fruits and root crops to be found in the world
yet it is equally obvious that thirty-fye or
forty millions of people would soon starye if
their resources for subsistence were confined
to those States. So in considering the agri-
cultural resources Of the West, the subject is
to be treated on its original Independent mer-
its, and not simply in comparison with the
East
In going West from New York city through
Western New York or New jersey, Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio the most noticeable feature
Of the lands is their division into small farms,
rarely exceeding two hundred acres each, and
on the average not exceeding one hundred
acres, differing from, New England only in
showing a later settlement, newer aspect,
with fewer and less substantial farm build
ings The stumps of the heavy timbcred
primitive forests are still standing black aud
defiant thick over the landscape. In passing
through these sections of our country, we can
not fail to appreciate the hard and persever-
ing toll through which the densely wooded
lands have yielded to the pioneer settlers and
to the wants of civilization. One benefit will |
be realized to posterity and the country from
the labor required in settling and bringing
into culture these timbered lands. The poor
settler judged truly that hundred acres
of these lands would be sufficient to OK.
haust the lifetime labor of the settler in
bringing them to the condition Of a cultivated
farm Hence, the evils of land monopoly
have been avoided and the number of actual
settlers has been increased, and social co.
operation in improvements and in material,
intellectual and moral progress has been real
led. 1t has been recently stated that the
United States now hold but FIVE hundred acres
Of public lands within the State of Ohio, and
ii is believed that less proportion Of the
lands in this State are held unimproved by |
Spectators than in any others Of the West |
ern States.
a stranger cannot pass over Ohio without
feeling that he is in a comparatively new
State, not in consequence of a sparseuoss Of
the population--as | believe through the
limitation in the size Of its farms, it is made
to support greater number of people to the
square mile than any State Northwest Of the
Ohio, But you see everywhere stumps that
ought to be pulled, and odd corners covered
with fallen timbers and abattis, with rank
brushwoOd, seeming to defy the courage of
the axmen, that ought to be cleared away
The farmhouse in many places is but what
remains of tho primitive Lighthouse or shanty
Of the settler; or if small frame house may
find its place on the farm it is often half fin.
ished, affording free access to winds and storms,
with but limited room to make its inmates
comfortable. Without rejecting on our West
ern friends we may say that there is room for
much Improvement in their domestic dwell.
ings' and that spacious barns, with vermin.
excluding granaries ought to a greater extent
to supereede hay and grain stacks and shell.
terless yards for farm stock, But time will
bring these improvements, and the New Eng.
land type of farms, farming and farm i'm.
provements, with the attendant incidents of O
high civilization and progress, will very soor
become the characteristics Of the great Stat,
of Ohio. In fact, in many respects the child
will make a smarter man than the father
CONCLUDED MKT WEEK