News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-10-04


Ne,rs and Citizen:
My rambles in the west are not end
ed vet, though since leaving the Green
Mountain State | have washed my
hands in the waters of the st. Law
renee, the Mississippi and Missouri
the Platte, the Gunison and Colorado,
on the western slope of the Rocky
Mountains, the Arllansaw, the Repub-
lican and the Rock rivers, and still L
! find | am the same Green Mountain
| Yankee | was before leaving home.
! Through the courtesy of friends
have found great help in learning the
resources of the country over which L
have passed, and the condition Of the
inhabitants. etc. | find the @. A. K.
badge is worn in the west very much
more than in the east, and by them L
have been received in the true spirit
of fraternity, which characterizes the
boys who wore the blue in the late
war, and while all seem ready to for
give, still they don't forget, and some
express their opinion that the Union
soldier is just as good a citizen and
entitled to just as much respect as the
man who fought in the rebel army.
The country here is fine and l
sometimes wonder why the hills Of
Vermont were ever cleared, or why
the farmer ever tried to cultivate those
strong hard farms when so many acres
here were waiting only for the pillow.
find there has been a great change
in the appearance of the country since
my visit % years ago. The broad,
open fields are all taken up by farm
ers, trees have been planted till the
country in some places looks like a
forest, and the city of Newton has so
many that the view is completely
spoiled The trees are so low and
brushy in many places that they hide
the light of the sun and darEen the
houses. They are not set with any
form, but each land owner sets them
in the corners or in front, just as he
likes, and with his own preference.
There are five varieties, the most COM
mon of which are the white elm, soft
maple and cotton wood.
Fruit trees are looking very bad.
Quite one-haif are dead and the rest
have the appearance Of some disease
which depriyes them of all vigorous
growth. Crops in this state are good,
corn is beginning to be outof the way
Of frost, though some will need sew
eral more good days yet. Wheat is not
grown here to any extent but oats are
a good crop, yielding so bushels to
the acre. The farmers here are now
turning their attention to grass and
stock raising, and feeding their corn
at home, while some are saving and
spreading all the manure they can get
on their fields, though many continue
to dump it into holes to get rid of it.
1t has been very dry and dusty here
for some weeks, but gentle rain this
afternoon is changing the dust into
mud. Land about here is selling
from $40 TO $50 an acre, as to loca-
ton and soil. Wheat is 75 cents,
corn 80 cents, oats 20 cents and pota-
toes 20 cents per bushel. The cOun-
try seems very well filled with old
corn which is being brought forward
as the new crop approaches maturity.
These prices would seem small to a
Vermont farmer, but here farming is
carried on more by machinery and on
larger scale. The people in town
and farmers generally burn soft coal,
which is sold at the mines for seven
cents a bushel, or delivered at the
door for eleven cents. This is cheap
and makes a good fire for summer.
While l am writing, two heavy COW
cred wagons have stopped in the
street just in front of the house, I'M
hitched the horses and the men are
feeding the teams while the women
are making ready for dinner. An in
terview finds them to be a family with
their goods on their way to Nebraska
where land is cheap, so you see peo-
pie here, 200 miles west of the Mis-
sippi, are going west just as much as
anywhere, and think more than from
the northeastern States. | have at
tended one county fair and expect to
90 to Chicago to attend the State fair
of Illinois, after which | can make
some comparison with oursin Vermont.
julius @. MORSE.