Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-12-11
Vermont

i And dead, dry uu Ks OF the wasted years
But laden with golden wheat.
Vermont.
r. c. H., in the New England Home
stead, Is responsible Tor the 10 loving:
Start uorthward some morning and in
the course Of the day you wall strike that
little cluster of green hills and ierti
valleys, called Vermont. y you travel
on, you viii fuda good deal ol up-hil
and some down; out never minJ-hfe has
its ups and downs, and why shouldn't
i Vermont Don't yet DISCOURAGED: one
old fellow who had trave ed a good deal
IN these regions, SAID he pever felt DIS
courayed as long as the hills we're per-
j pendicular Once IN while, up Jau.ai-
ca way, he found one that leaned toward
/ them and then 1t was rather hard scratch
ing tor his old mare. But there is some
/ level grouni. Tney say there are TWO
places IN the State where they can play
croguet,-one Is on the Connecticut riv-
f er, between Brattlebor0 and Bellows
Falls, and the other Is over on Lake
+ Cnamp.a.a some where. Well. never
mind the hills: cattle and sheep get
+ around on them first rate after they get
used to It,. aud seem to 90 well. 1t Is
true. imported cattle do sometimes turn
e lev somersauits trying TO feed with
their heads down hill till they get the
hang of the pasture, bu then. they-the
farmers up theEe-have a kuacS OF rails
+ lug imported cattle, and they take nat
ura.ly to the slopes. There's one aIyaut
age 10 having such farms; one can cu.-
tyate or nov beth sides OF his land
having it set on edge. so. The farmers
contend it Is not nearly so hard work to
p.ow or NOW up there as on more level
lGud-l0n't strain the muscle 50 c0uttn-
uously. you know. \ soldier once went
Up there who had one leg amputated at
the kuee, aud took farm. He could do
more worS than any Two men ia town
and stand up As straight as gun They
called "a town meeting In that town to see
# they shouldn't oouge every man to have
one i-- amputated but II was good sugar
weather 9u the day OF the meeting. and the
only man present was the doctor. and be
didn't thInk ne had better decide Tney
are .reeu-the hills mean. not she folks
% tue very top-mo-t OF 'em afford good
sweet Pastura-e, Tney uever-as they
do over 10 New Hampslire-have to
have their sleeps noses Stec.-p0iuted TO
Aeep them from wearing out In one sea-
sou nor DO they have 10 plant beans
with a rife, unless it's up ia Wo0itord or
Mendon, or some of those places.
rs you travel through the State two
of the most prominent features OF the
landscape which you wall notice will be
the Wood pie and watering trough.
The former on wIil generally dud about
the size BIaker fiji. monument would
5e. should t blow down. 1t vou peep
around behind it, you viii see snug red
farm house and barn, ali nice and cosy
but the wood-pile Is the chief pride OF
the Nerm0nter. 1t Is 50 suggestive In
every cord of 1t ne sees big pitchers OF
eider aud pecNs of butaruuts rosy
checked apples, and possibly, If he Is
young man, other roses bloom from the /
sturdy beech, and something move spark /
ing than cider beams tron its chunks /
\ nalo Of outings aud pairing bees how /
ers over TINS structure, and as he con .
templates it, he thanks God he lives .
where they have long winters.
About once in halt-mile YOU can
stop and give yourself and your horse a
cool drInk from a trough hewn from a
huge log and filed from a spring en- the
side just above, or a brook that
clashes down across or under the road.
Tins suggests another picture, too thar Is
the saw-mill. As in Connecticut every
man goes pedding sometime IN his life.
50 m Vermont every one must. before be
eau write himself man. learn 40 tend
Now, down country at these
they Just content themselves
with taking the logs and making them
INTO boards, Joists, &c, and have some
vulgar things called slabs left but up {
here they do things more thoroughly. {
W hat won't do for timber is cut up into {
ath and ribbon boards, and in some eases
they don't leave a silver that is big !
enough to make shoe peg or a pill box ;
have heard the following story told as b
/ fact | don't ask any one TO believe it. I
4 man was riding along one day on one a
II these mountain roads, passing one OF o
these little mills, when he heard a crash on o
the hill above him He looked up and p
aw huge hemloek log come tearing {
lown the declivity. 1t rolled across the
Dad and into the mil which was on the o
over side Of the road, and disappeared. t
He jumped from his horse and ran down t
path which led under the mill, expect ;
ng to see a scene Of destruction where a
he monsrous pole had made its way e
through the edIfce but before he got to Il
he lower side 1t had come through all s.
made into white ash rakes, nicely tied b
p, dozen in bunch \ man and 81
10Y were quietly and serenely piling up p
he punches, and with the suavity and 2
indness 80 common in these regions, Il
indy explained the whole process so RI
hat he understood it perfectly, except o.
be tying up; that remains mystery to n
i'm yet, and probably will till his dying d
ay. L
Another feature you will not fail to
otice-at every fork Of the roads you OIL
yill see 4 little brown school house IL
sometimes up Brandon way. where paint "
5 dug out OF the ground aud comes cheap, a
hey paint them, but not as a ge0eral ol
hing But there's a tremendous sight n
+ work done in these little knowledge b
oxes. On the whole they are greater j.
-onder than the saw mills, and the raw o
material receives greater traDsmutation a