Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-09-11
Letter nom g. II. Nebraska. ~.

The season thus far has been very
favorable for crops In this vicinity; no
violent storms but plenty Of gentle re-
fr,shing rains. Indeed. Il is not often
We have In this climate OF extremes. saeh
. SUMMER neither too vet nor too dry.
Our farmers are anticipating an unusual.
ly large yield OF corn; and our sres,
corn. fields. now In full tss,el. are truly
. magnificent sight. II is ,hoaght that
some Of them will produce q, least six,y
bushels 10 the acre.
The landscape Of Oak Creek valley at
the present time has . wonderful rich.
ness Of eoloiing-,he ripens" 81 late
summer With no hin, as ye, Of the near
approach Of autumn. except here and
there. . field Of yellow s,ubble from
Which the grain has been taken. Nor
doe. the scene lack variety Of feature.
for no, only Is the mono,Vny Of the level
bottoms broken up by the winding creek
With is border Of brush and u,,s. bu,
there ere numerous artificial groves scat.
tered up and down the valley. Nearly
every old settlers residence IL adorned
With one Of these. end sl,o With heds.
90 and "-ihdbrsh." for the protection
Of his dwelling. and frui, ,res'.
Nebrs.ks has taken the lead asa tree
planting state. II ~s. here that "Arbor
Day" Vas instituted by the State Agri.
cultural Society ~hieh Gifted premium
TO the county aud the individual ~ho
would .t out the greatest number Of
trees. Recent statistic. 'ho- that since
Arbor Day ws. instituted, which Vas 10
1872. over THREE hundred and hfiy mil.
lion. Of tree. aud vines have been plant
I'd Ia the state. and !, hss mote ,hsn
seven hundred thousand acres Of sr,ih.
ei.l forest. The cottonwood. soh maple
and ~illo--the ~illo~ for hedges aud
windbre.k.-~,r. the kinds principally
used =, fri by the early &c ,,lsr. in these
psfts In later year.. the bor eld,r-a
specie, Of mspls-snd other binds have
been 90, on, more sI,snsi,sly. The
cottonwood. once 80 popular. he. loo, f..
,or soms~hs, I, 10 rather shof,.liv,d.
compared 9TH many other trees; IL
grow. too tell and slender for . psrfec,
shade tire. and for fuel. fencing or any pur-
po.e Of ths, Kind l, !. ss WORTHLESS &c the
poplar. Of ~hieh IL s'peei,s. Ne',r,he-
ls,. | have . Partially for the rs. be-
cause Il grow. 90 rapidly aud thea. to
my eye. there sre fec things more beau.
,iful IN the ~sy Of trees, than . stately
en,ton sod in summer 9TH i,s gli',ening
leave. Away. Ia motion.
Last year the ~n,sr took trip to
Rock Creek which lis. some sish, or ten
mile. ,.., Of Oak Geek. beyond .''re'sh
Of hns rolling prairie. The first settlers
In that region -sre . colony OF en,srpri..
ing lo-sn,. and although they came there
some ys.r bsioie ArbOr Day ~. in.'i,u,.
ed. they seem 10 h.,, We'd 9TH each other
20 see ~ko could yet GA, the mos, trees
Every farm had Il, laSurian, grove; the
oiehsid.-msny Of them IN bssrins-
-,ie surrounded by Thick ~indbrsk.
and some homs.,esds -sfr wholly en-
closed by neatly trimmed willow hedge,
What charmed me mos, ~.. thu, the
road. sometime. fr mile. IN succession,
~.. lined by single OF double io- Of
tree. Tier. "a. . VARSITY VI kinds -
DO, elders. willows. oo,,on~cod', loeu',',
I.omb.rdy poplsr,. .Of, NAPLES, silver
naples. e.i.lp., and perh.P. other.
Altogether u vas . beautiful section OF
county. A few years ago, bad .
bird. eye ,is- Of some % the ",.ble
lands" Of batter County ~hieh lie. ~,s,
Of Saunders. Here too found the
farmers bad made . bushes. Of uve
planting The mono,ony Of those gres,
level tract, ~.. .grsssbly broken, 90 f.r
a. the eye could reach, by the more OF
lee. eI,sr.is, grove, surrounding every
farm house.
After ell, however rich the scenery Of
the prairie in the laiuri.nee Of summer,
one ~ho h.. been reared .mons the bills Is
sometime, conscious Of certain tame
nee. in It. The very nehns'. Tires. ]
confess ,hs, 10 my syu. the lsnd'esPe
would be vastly improved II beyond these
smooth. emerald .loP. ,hs, line out
lovely valley on either side. there ~sfe
range. of rugged moun,sin peaks. blue
OF purple in the distance. Bu, doubtless
my western hsighbor would strongly
objse, 10 any such chang, 10 the eonhsa.
ration Of the state. Zoe although the
mountains may
-wsye brsa., deep -i,h the potts grain
the farmer, grain does no, grO- 50 vel
on their rocky sid,.. An educated
German Who h.d lived many years In the
sect. once said TO me rather sadly. "Ab
y,,l the prsiriss ATE fN aud the people
grow lie, Who live on them" Possibl,
ihi, 10 tru. in some measure bu, OF
the other hand, Il SENS that not ever,
body -ho live. IN Eight Of the mountain
regard. them from az r,,hs'ic point o.
view. An emigrsnt from Oxford Coun'
~ Who Rad lived there I'LL be Was forty,
on q hillside farm. told me be never
wanted to see bill again a. long {. h
lived !
u T. NJ. A.
Agnev. Lancaster Co Neb Aug. IL.