Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1881-12-14
their growth has been truly marvellous.
But more of the citias hara.ft.r

their growth has been truly marvellous.
But more of the cities hereafter.
Many people suppose that throughout
Minnesota and Dakota there exists one
uniform character of soil. and generally a
farm here is as good as farm there, 90 it
is within their limits. This is not the
case. Care is required in selection. 1t Is
quite important to secure not only a rich
soil Of good depth and a favorable loca.
ton. but subsoil that through dry, hot
summer will retain the moisture of early
spring. that the suns rays may draw it TO
the surface to nourish the roots of the
growing grain; while the roots, on the
other hnnd. are dried and parched for
want OF the moisture which has leached
through sand or gravel subsoil. While
the one will yield golden harvest, the
other will scarcely repay the cost and
labor OF cultivation. The process OF
thawlng seems to go on altogether from
The surface-Lhere is no heaviug or break
ing through Of frost crust, and seeding
may be done when at depth of only two
or three inches the earth is frozen rs solid
dy as In midwinter Flowing is done in
the fall ready for the crop in spring.
Winter breaks. and not infrequently with :
IN two weeks after the first appearance of
spring the harrows are upon the wheat
fields.
1t may not be wanting in interest to
your readers TO know how these lands are
surveyed and la out, so much in contrast
is it to the meets and bounds of the good
old Green Mountain state, where the
writer was BORN and spent twenty-five
years of his early life, and where he has
many times tried in vain to trace the claim
OF title to some piece Of land through the
labyrinth of imperfect descriptions, and to
the wholly mythical "stake and stones. -
Fhe government has surveyed this land
into blocks or squares, called townships,
which are six miles square. These town
ships are divided again into thirty six sub
divisions called sections, each Of which is
one mile SOU You commence at the
upper right hand corner and number the
sections across the top to the left; then
follow back to the right on the next tier of
sections below, and 80 on back and forth
until you have numbered all the sections,
and you will have a township with the
sections numbered as in the surveys. The
sections are divided into quarters and are
described as, say, the N E. IA, (northeast
quarter) of Section No 9, in Township No
l39 of Range No. AZ. The townships are
numbered in tiers running east and west,
and range is a tier of townships running
north and south. A quarter section is
one-half mile square and contains one
hundred and sixty acres. A section con-
tains six hundred and forty acres, and a
township twenty-three thousand and forty
acres. You can for a moment imagine
yourself in the center of farm contain.
ing two or three townships, as some OF
them do, and take your cradle and set in
and while you are turning a double swath
down and back-fearlng | have already
taken too much of your valuable time-I
will lie here upon the grass and think
what will write you in my next. Take
it easy, now; don't hurry! dinner will be
all ready by the time you get back,