Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1877-08-29
ChE frEEm
Letter From Minnesota,
'iEEBoRN, FREEBoRN Co., MINI, }
AnnnSt 90th 1877. {

hsHeht it to final close. The farmers
e3Hinenced to lay aside their harvesters
us frst of the week and at the weeks
baae they were all silent again. They
WeEs brought into action three weeks ago
loay. 1t has been emphatically a busy
slm8 Harvesting always makes lively
work. Men, women and children were
aFAned into the service, and doctors, law
Y6Is and ministers hardly escaped. Every
muscle was put to the test and every nerve
strained to the utmost to secure the boun-
iifsIl harvest given to us this year. Some
at tho close run their halvesters day and
night; in fact, night was the best time to
bind The grain after the straw became dry
and brittle. Worn-out hands and aching
backs are pretty plentiful just now, but
time for recuperation can hardly be afford
% los stacking follows swiftly on the heels
oi cutting, and it is scarcely less impor-
kant hat it be promptly done before the
iitll rims commence. Wages have been
from two to three dollars per day, and
hahds scarce at that.
When the fields whtened for harvest
llIis year they presented glorious specta'
ole. Let person stand on some eminence
more prominent than the rest and look
abroad over these rolling prairies and the
sight was more than magnificent. Rich
IIoldsof waving grain in every direction
IS far as the eye could reach, and us it is
thB higher lands that arc plowed it looked
almost rs if the whole country was one
VasE field of wheat. One might very nat
ufAilv wonder how so much grain was 90
ihn to be cut and secured in the short
fins in which wheat will wait for the
tlokleafler it is ripe, but thanks to the in
entiye genius of the country that problom
ID solved. Machinery has made things
nossible in wheat raising that would moi
AiVB been thought of thirty years ago
INo good men on harvester with any
anIightly young girl or boy for driver,
NIII cut and bind their ten acres day OF
ha.Fy grain. And now the self-bindeI
nfoinises to make it possible for the girl
b BOY to cut ten acres II day and bind
Il Nithout the help Of the men.
The wheat is better this year than it has
been for many years 1t seems to be
through this section universally good
lhefe are no poor fields to be found. The
Grain was everywhere waist high, the
llaaas long and well filled. Not many
fields will yield less than twenty bushels tC
iIIe acre, while some will bring the figures
up ID pretty near thirty. A neighbor who
bought piece of railroad land last yeal
and broke up ninety acres of it, says The
crop this year on it will pay for the grount
Il lands on over and above all expenses
Iharc is not only marvellous quantity o
l|sat produced here this year, but it i!
aEyelous in its quality also. If nothing
btIalls it from this time there will be bu
Isils that will not grade No. /.
here is an unusual feeling Of thankful
ne0s for this crop and quite naturally ther,
n|iNht be, for there never has been II crop
il his immediate vicinity, sown with s,
I|l|e heart or hope as was felt for this on
when the seed was put in last spring. Tn
round was full of gaasshopper eggs pos
asaing Il vitality which no experiment o
icing or thawing could destroy, which
9AYc us but little reason to expect that w
Mbald escape the ravages they have ex
rsfienced in counties west of us. Never
|a|ess, it was generally determined t.
make the trial. We will do our part tn
iners said, and trust Providence for tn
fesplt. When the juvenile hoppers bega
make their appearance, which in thi
nnly was not till the first of June, ther
was a grand rally for fight. War o
Na hopper - was the word. Various ir
Hons devices for destroying them wa
W in operation The one most eXter
|aly used was the one known as the ta
ada sheet iron hopperdozeI." A piec
81 bheet iron from eight to sixteen iet
long, common width, with back rivete
o BONE ten CT twelve inches wide, IN
llIhed up just II little in front was coatc
th coal tar and drawn broadside bac
eai forth across the fields, sometimes /
Nahd, and sometimes with u horse, wit
|al effect to the young hoppers. Million
sFe destroyed in this way. The hopper
Wonld hop up rs the I'd ozer" came alor
md if they fell on the coal tar it was the
lust hop. When once they were thoroug
II coated with coal tar they were etfectua
IN Done for OF course not all were xii
"a but the numbers destroyed were so ii
6lBnse that it must very materially hay
ecled the result of their depreciation
here seemed to be plenty left, but Il
Neat grew so rapidly that it out-gre
en, and when it was ripe they arose al
w away. Whittier they went is my
ry They almost invariably took
htberly course, refusing to fly unless Il
nd was favorable. No tidings have be-
lard from them since they left and if th
I've gone to the Gulf of Mexico we W
d them good-by without pang of |
ret.
Not only was there bountful harvC
yen us this year but we have had an u
snally good season to secure grain. N
drop of rain has fallen since harvt
pmmenced. Although the ground is We
BY, there having been no rain for eig
eeks, the farmers are quite content
ave the drouth continue till their grain
blely stacked. They know too well 4
imatic disposition of this fertile sta
othing is done by the halves. The ia
nd the sunshine is dispensed on ma
tcent scale. When it commences 1t W
Probably not sprinkle but pour. 1t is n
rainstorm we fear, but II deluge. TV
ears ago the grain had to remain in t
took for over six weeks, and of coul
pc damage was great. Huge stacks
Vheat are springing up all over
s. Drairips inst now ns If I,v mario q