Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1873-08-23
Correspondence Essex County Herald.
Letter From the West.
NUMBER SEVEN.

the cars the reaperS were going III
good shape, cutting the finest crop of
wheat for many years. The wheat is
stout, we'll filed, and straw as bright
as ever grew. 1T would do any East
ern man good to stand on the platform
of car and look to the right or left
and see 1000 acres of wheat and corn
on either side of the railroad, the
wheat either cut and set up or in pro-
cess of being cut, the corn large and !
just fitIto Teast. This is found all the
way from Algona TO McGregor, after
we got out of the grasshopper district,
which reached % miles east of Algona.
Arrived at Prairie Du Chen Wis, at
Z o'clock, beautiful place lying on
the Mississippi river opposite McGreg-
or. There is no railroad bridge at this
point; we took steamboat, went al
most two miles up md across the riv.-
er to Prairie Du CIiien. From here we
took the cars at z O'clock Aug. 2nd,
very soon struck the Wisconsin river.
The country here is broken till you get
very near Madison, the Capital of Wis
consin, which is beautiful place sit
uated on q side hill, or bluff, with four
splendid lakes, which can all be seen
from the State House, which is claimed
by some to be one Of the best in the
Union. There are some very fine res
licences here. The streets are wide
and shaded with trees. This is q great
farming country the farms and houses
good and look more as'they do East ex-
ccpt that the grain is all stacked about
the fields, or near barns ready to
tmesh. There is no grain put in barns
at the West, as it would take up too
much room, and could not be threshed
as quickly.
We passed GAINESVILLE, beautiful
place, the county seat of Rock Coun-
ty. Arrived at Clinton at o'clock,
P. M. (, 130 miles from Praire Du Chen.
Clinton is the place where six Harts-
horn boys from Lunenburgh came sew
eral years since. Three of them have
splendid farms, equal to any river
farm in Essex County, Vt. One of
them is an Express Agent here, at a
salary of 81 400 ayear, one is Express
Messenger on the. cars from Chicago
to Green Bay, one is Express Agent
at Mendoza, Illinois, the other sue
cessful merchant at Clinton junction.
All have good positions and show
what young men cali do by starting
out into a new country with deter
mination to work for living. This is
a fine farming country; the buildings
good, with good barns, as well as
houses. The first settlers were most
ly New England people, and others
coming in after patterned after the in
most cases. There is 8 sett lement of
Norwegians in one part of the town
that have their own way of living, and
are very industrious. They came here
poor at an early day, but by their hon
esty, industry and frugality, have be-
come the most wealthy population in
town. A merchant in the place says
OF them: eff Norwegian comes to
my store, although stranger, l trust
him, as they always pay" This. place
has been settled almost 81 years, and
now the land is all occupied and I'M
der cultivation. 1t is no uncommon
thing for a man to have 100 acres OF
! grain, and fifty acres of corn.
Grain is mostly cut and set up In
fields ready for stacking. 1t is O
. splendid sight to see all over town
fields of grain, just as bright straw as
: can be, and very stout, from 20 tC
| 100 acres, each of them as level as the
s river farms IN the Connecticut river
: valley. There Is wonderful amount
4 Of machinery used Lere for farming
e purposes. The grain is all soweC
d in rows six inches apart, with drill
0 a machine with eleven teeth which arr
hollow, the grain passing through TIN
r teeth which mark the burrows, afte
J, which tits narrowed. No grain in thi
country is sown broad cast, as at TIL
- East. There are several kinds of ma
e chimes for cutting grain. There is TIL
e self raker which is operated by on
:. man and apair of horses, the grain a
i. laid in bundles ready for binding. I
takes 5 smart men to bind and set III
grain as fast as one of these machine
10 will cut. But the best machine hay
: seen is the marsh harvester. Thi
t. machine is driven by boy and, tw
De men stand on the platform of the m;
. chine, the grain being carried up
trent Of thn,on hrr I, ninrn,, ,,rhi nh FL, N