Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1873-05-05
THE RESOURCES OF ORLEANS
COUNTY.

decade and as the leading pursuit In
this county is agriculture, it shows
that this, even, is remunerative If we
except few counties that border on
Lake Champlain, none are more fertile
than this. The very large area of allu-
vial land lying along the banks of the
rivers, the clayey soil which abounds so
generally upon the uplands and the fer
tility of the mountain slopes, make it a
productive county. If the soil has de-
Perforated in some sections, it is gener-
ally due to unwise husbandry, and bet
ter usage will restore it to productive
ness. The five rivers, each of consider
able size that have their sources in the ex-
tremes or beyond the limits of the coun-
ty, bring down from the forests and the
mountains an annual deposit of fertiliz-
ing matter, that keeps our intervals and
riparian lands constantly replenished
The lakes and ponds with which the
county abounds, not only beautify our
scenery, but make our climate more even
and moist during the summer months.
The "woodman has spared the tree in
many sections of our county, and
large amount of timber is now standing
ready to be converted into lumber, or to
yield its place to grass and grain. Many
muck and mari beds are lying in wait,
ready to yield their benefits when the
husbandman shall resort to them to re-
plenish the waste of his lands Iron
and copper are found, and the time may
soou come when these mines shall be a
source of profit. Everything that can be
expected to thrive in this latitude, grows
rapidly, and yields reward for the labor
bestowed upon it. Nature has done
enough, and it only remains for us to
develop the natural resources of the coun-
ty, to make it blossom like the rose. :"
Our farmers, though they may farm as
wisely here as elsewhere, have not re-
duced agriculture to science, and COM
PEELED the earth to reward them with its
best and most abundant treasures. They
need the stimulus that cheaper transpor-
tation or better home markets would
. bring, to encourage them to bring their
acres up to the highest state of cul-
tivation. To produce home markets,
it is onl y necessary to develop manufac
turing enterprise Could the labor of a
hundred thousand horses, guided by the
skill of man, be add,d to the laboring
power of this county, what marvels
would it perform; and yet this. or a
greater power remains unapplied in the
excellent water power that abounds in
our rivers. Who would be able to esti
mate the advantages of this idle power
could it be applied to the spindle or the
lathe Whenever water is brought tx
the assistance of man, and aids him il
converting raw material into fine fab
RIGS, stone, wood, or iron into costly ar
ticles. that water has given its labo
gratuitously, and the world is benefited
by the gift. When the rough block, o
the rude material, is wrought upon b,
the force of water, and the skill of man
it becames more valuable and whateve
that value is greater than the origina
worth of the material, so much is game
by the laborer, the manufacturer and tn
world. If, in the twelve or fifteen vii
lagos in this country, some smart manu-
featuring business should spring uI
how suddenly would they show signs {
improvement; and not within themselve
alone, would the influence be felt, br
every laborer within the county woul
find employment, every farmer woul
find market for his products, and
better market in which to procure h
implements and his necessaries ever
mechanic could be busy during the flu
months of the year, and every busine
would flourish as it has never fourisht
heretofore. To accomplish result
desirable as this, will require an effo
on the part of all; but by encourag
ment and liberality on the part of Il
people. men will be found, who will e
gage in manufacturing enterprises, al
after they are once started. they W
take care of themselves. as they a
abundantly able to do in Connectic
and Massachusetts. We cut timber, ST
1t into plank. ship 1t to Massachuset
in a rough and heavy state, paying on
half as much for freight as the timber
worth, and then buy the same timt
back, it having been made into chairs
furniture We can make chairs as che
here as they can i Gardiner or Fitc
burgh; and it is poor economy. to p
as much for the freighting of our timl
and our chairs, as they would cost
our factories, did we make them here
We can grow any kind Of wool in t
county, and it can be manufactured
well here as in Danville or SherbrooR
but if We have no factories here. and
compelled to sell it to the Boston W,
dealer, and it goes from thence to Ri
Island to be manufactured, and retu
to Boston in cloth, and finally, comes
into the the country and we buy it