Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1870-09-30
sr. ALBANs, ME-. Sent. Q. 1870.

Mcssrs Editors Since writing Of
my first letter L have had more time
for making observations about the
country and country life in Maine,
ana desire to make some corrections
and additions. The trees are not ex-
actly as ! first supposed there is less
pine and more hemlock and fir; what
you term cedar is rot seen here at all
and the abor vitae of Virginia is the
cedar of Maine. Peaches are not
grown here; Il ate peach this week
of u quality which | would almost be
ashamed to offer a decent hog when
in my former home oaks and poplars
az rarely seen and the whole growth
is different.
The people here use phraseologv
so different from the people of Virgil =
Ia that il nearly amounts to another
of the same language. A few illustrG-
tions will show the idea L intend to
convey. The principal difference is
they give a broad sound Where you
give short and vice versa. For in
stance; rdy-tions instead of ra-tions :;
idtfn9 for idBing; earn for can,
hdrf-pdSt for hdf-pdst, etc; And then
ton are far more different than one
might suppose. Remember am com
pairing the mass in one section with
the mass in the other, taking each as
u whole. An example or two will
make the idea clearer. They say pail
instead of buckt'.; husk corn for shuck-
corn barn for s. ole guess for reck-
on and 80 on for dozens of little
words which casual observer cannot
fail to detect. Then the expressions
used are different. One asks the que, =
ton, How is your mother?r the a =
swer comes, "Oh, she's nicely" in
stead of "She's pretty UcH." Num-
hers Of similar examples are i'm my
min0, but these will serve for iIlustra-
tiOns.
Generally speaking the houses are
more convenient than in Virginia,
the outbuildings being connected with
the main house; This is necessary on
account of the severity of the climate.
The barns are usually larger and often
better looking than the houses they
are also larger inpropOrtion than those
at the South, from the fact that they
use more hay and are forced to keep
up their stock so long during the win
ter months. More attention is paid
TO the trotting of horses; parks are
plenty and on trotting days draw out
some of the best blood in the country.
The land is poorer and rocky than |
conceived at iirst-it being one of those
things which must be seen to be ap-
preciated. | speak now of this imme-
diate vicinity, within tiify miles of
Skewhegan. Tie farmers say that the
ground has to be cleared twice; first of
the trees and then of the rocks, but Is
hard to tell which is the costliest lob.
The soil is very thin, consequently
the roo,s of the trees don't take n vei Y
deep hold. Large stumps, of which a
similar size the Virginia farmer would
never think of touching at home, are
constantly Seen by the roa lside, mai y
OF them being almost Hat on the bot
tom. Often they are trimmed, set on
their edges, and used for fencing,
though ii is very rough affair it al
fair il affords ample protection against
depredations.
The season has been quite dry here
this summer, and scarcely half crop
will be raised though the grasshop-
pers have been go very bad and have
destroyed every green thing in some
sections. The extreme dryness hns
caused the fires used in clearing TO
spread to a fearful extent; several
tOwn1 have been threatened and all
the men been forced to turn out and
fight fire. AS | write the air is fitted
with smoke from these buring forests.
Hoping that the above noted points
will be of interest To your subscribers,
l am Yours, ETC.,
EnoTr