Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1872-12-05
VERMONT

ar. G. H." in the New England
Homestead, it responsible for the foil
owing:
Start northward some morning and
in the course Of the day you will strike
that little cluster Of green hills and
fertile valleys, called Vermont. As
you travel on, you will find a good
deal Of uphill and some down, but
never mind-life has its ups and downs,
and why shouldn't Vermont? Don't
get discouraged one old fellow who
had travelled a good deal in these re-
gions said he never felt discouraged as
the hills were perpendicular. Once in
a while, up Jamaica way, he found one
that leaned towards him, and then it
was rather hard scratching for his old
mare. But there is some level ground
They say there are two places in the
State, where they can play croquet,-
one is on the Connecticut river, be-
tween Brattleboro and Bellows Falls,
and the other is over on Lake Cham
plain some where. We'll, never mind
the hills cattle and sheep get around
on them first rate after they get used
to it, and seem to do well. 1t is true,
imported cattle do sometimes turn a
few sommersaults trying to feed with
their heads down hill till they get the
hang of the pasture, but then, they
the farmers up there-have knack Of
raising imported cattle, and they
take naturally to the SLOPES. There's
one advantage in havingsuch farms;-
One can cultivate or NOW both sides
Of his land-having it set on edge so.
The farmers contend it is not nearly so
hard work to plow or NOW up there
as on more level land-don't strain the
muscles so continuously. A soldier
once went up there who had had one
leg amputated at the knee, and took a
fam.-He could do more work than
any two men in town and stand up as
straight as gun. They called a
town netting in that town to see if
they shouldn't oblige every man to
havs one leg amputated, but it was
good sugar weather on the day Of the
meeting, and the only man present
was the doctor, and he didn't think he
had better decide. They are green
the hills I mean, not the folks-to the
very top-most of EN- afford good,
sweet pasturage. They never-as
they do over in New hampshire
have to have their sleeps noses steel
pointed to keep them from wearing
out in one season nor do they have
to plant peans with rifle, unless it's
up in Stratton or Mendon or some of
those places.
As you travel through the State,
two of the most prominent featuIes of
the landscape which you will notice
will be the wood pile and watering
trough. The former you will gener-
ally find about the size Of Bunker Hill
monument would be should it blow
down. fyou peep around behind it,
you will Sc a snug red farm house and
barn, all nice and cosy, but the wood
pile is the chief pride of the Vermont
er. 1t is so suggestive. In every
cord of it he sees big pitchers Of cider
and pecks of butternuts, rosy-cheeked
apples, and possibly, if he is a young
man, other roses bloom from the stur-
dy beech, and something more spark
ling than cider beams from its chinks.
A halo of outings and pairing bees
hovers over this structure, and as he
contemplates it, he thanks God he
lives where they have long winters.
About once in half-mile you can
stop and give yourself and your horse
a cool drink from a trough hewn from
a huge log and filled from a spring on
the mountain side just above, or a
brook that dashes down adross or un-
der the road.
This suggests another picture too,
that's the saw-mill. AS in Connecticut
every man goes peddling sometime in
his life. so in Vermont every one
must, before he can write himself man,
learn to "tend a saw-mill. Now,
down country at these institutions,
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 thorough
won't do for timber is cut
up into lath and ribon boards, and in
some cases they don't leave a silver
that is big enough to make a shoe peg
or pill box. | have heard the foil
owing story told as fact | don't ask
one to believ it. A man was riding
along one day on one of these noun
tain roads passing one Of these little
mills, when he heard crash on the
hill above him. He looked up and
saw a huge hemlock log come tearing
down the declivity. 1t rolled across
the road and into the mill which was
on the lower side of the road, and dis
He jumped from his horse
and ran down path which led under
the mill, expecting to see scene of
destruction where the monstrous pole
had made its way through the ediice,
before but he got to the lower side it
had come through all made into white
ash rakes, nicely tied up dozen in
bunch. A man and boy were quietly |
and serenely piling up the punches,
and with the suavity and kindness SO
common in these regions, kindly ex-