The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1894-02-09

road, as they soon become very deep
with sand.I
The hogs and cattle are sight, that is,
if YOU have sharp eyes, 1t is fact that
if COW stands facing you at very short
| distance, back of one foot pine YOU
cannot see her. There is little for them
to Craze, they just keep alive, and SO
with hogs. Cattle cost 80 cents to brand,
| and when wanted for beef, 81 to "rom d
up" Beef costs 3 cents per pound, and
an extra COW will dress 200 pounds:
this leaves $3.50 and the hide for profit.
as the time required to dress is consid-
cred nothing. 1t does not pay TO fat
them.
One is at loss to describe the trees
covered with moss. They resemble
weeping willows, but the moss is of a
light gray color and hangs in festoons, in
some instances reaching to the ground
1t gives peculiar, weird appearance to
the woods. Turkey buzzards are here
protected by fine of $50, and are useful
scavengers in warm climate. They re-
semble young turkeys, and very grace
full, but not particular as to food. They
circle around like hawk, but are three
or four times as large. Air plants are
very common and can be found in size
from sprout up to as large as a bushel
basket. They grow on oak trees without
visible means of support They are a
species of orchard, and will thrive in the
North, If suspended in room and wa
tered occasionally. One finds in them
the little chameleons, so much in de-
mand for pets. We have several for
friends. In our rambles we caught a
rabbit three inches long, and shall try
and get him safely home. The flies and
mosquitoes cling to one with a tenacity
worthy of better cause. As one goes
south they increase at an alarming rate,
here they are not plenty, for which we
are very thankful. Birds are few; we
looked for many. Flowers grow in
abundance, and the choicest varieties.
Marchal Neil and others, in the North so
rare and costly, here blossom in profu-
sion outdoors, requiring no care. Many
are shipped North, the stems being
dipped in melted wax to preserve them
in transit One finds no stones here, if
we except petrified trees. These are
plenty at a short distance below the sur
face. This doubtless explains the alb
sence of any foundations under houses,
the better class of which are set on piers
of brick, Windmills are very much used
and the iron pipes used are, in many
cases simply placed on the ground, or if
necessary to cross, placed under board,
there being no frost to contend with.
To-day we visited the celebrated or
ange groves of Col. JAS L, Clarkson, 10
Gated on high land, overlooking Lake
Pasadena. The Colonel is native of
Virginia. but came here some nine years
ago from st. Louis. He has 55 acres in
bearing and more nearly ready. Where
shown tree 30 years old, with % boxes
of fruit still on. His packing housa is a
sight. Here all oranges, are assorted by
running them through troughs over holes
of assorted sizes, each trough is num-
bered and runs into corresponding box.
The numbers run 80, 90, 100, 125, 100,
175. $50. 200, 25O 2SR. These are wrap
ped in tissue paper containing the name
of the grove, etc, and placed in boxes
holding one bushel each and marked
with stencil. We. noticed some read:
''For Export to England"
This grove is kept free from weeds by
eultivatoTs, for If left to themselves they
will, in the wet season, grow up TO the
fence tops. The Colonel owns the incest
house in this section, built with money
made on lumber during the war He is
a gentleman whom it is a pleasure to
meet, and in common with all growers,
delights in showing off his grove. He
has sweet grape fruit-the only one in
this vicinity. Peaches are a specially,
and we saw them as large as walnuts, but
fiat like tomato, a peculiarity common
in this locality.
We fear this letter has been a rambling
one, but have written between show
ers,'' or rather, "on the jump" Every
day brings up something new, and all so
from our North, we are at q
loss how to present it to your readers.
Thoughts occur to us after writing,
which, sooner than lose, we note again.
Trusting we may have in a measure,
covered some points of interest, to which
we shall add more in the future, is the
wish of II. L. EATON.