now worth five thousand dollars. They had scarcely gone, before a very decent looking man came on some business with Mr. Rose. After it was done, Mr. R. said to him, "Squire Bosworth," (for he had been a magistrate,) "this gentleman is desirous of procuring all the information he can, respecting this county; I believe your circumstances are very comfortable; I presume you were worth but little when you came, and I know you have so much good sense as not to be ashamed of it; tell him how you have prospered here." "You say right,” replied the other, “I am not ashamed of having been poor; there is no disgrace in that, when poverty is not attended with bad conduct. I served some time with a blacksmith, before I came here. When I arrived, I had a knapsack on my back, with some clothes in it, and twenty-seven dollars in my pocket. I was industrious, and moderately careful. I have lived very comfortably, and have never denied myself, or my family, any thing in reason. When my circum stances permitted it, I put others into my shop, and attended to my farm and other business. I do not know what my property is worth, but I believe I should not over rate it, to say ten or twelve thousand dollars." I am not surprised that these men, and others like them, should so rapidly improve their circumstances; but that, in this county, many should be found, with such confirmed habits of improvidence, that if the miracle of the manna were repeated, they would scarcely take the trouble of gathering it from beneath their feet. This disregard of the things around them, which is very conspicuous in the characters of many Americans, who appear strongly impressed with the notion of letting the things of tomorrow take care of themselves, is a cause of much surprise to an Englishman, who has found it necessary to exert his faculties at all times to the utmost, to avoid becoming a burthen to the parish. The only difference, therefore, to him, is between having enough to eat and drink, and more than enough-between being above want, and being far above it; and he is disposed to join with the enchanter in the Castle of Indolence, and exclaim, "O grievous folly, to heap up estate, 'Losing the days you see beneath the sun." However, this is not to be considered as a general character of the people; and I believe it is less seen in the old settlements than in the new. In the former, there is a pride of property, which does not appear to be much felt in the latter. This feeling stimulates to exertion, and serves in the place of that pressure, that vis a tergo, which we receive in Great Britain from our taxes and tythes. I believe there are few who would not think the former the most agreeable. The quantity of land in the farmer's occupation, even in the older settled parts of the United States, and in the vicinity of the cities, and the high rate of labour, prevent that F garden like appearance, so frequently met with in England; where a man will sometimes pay as much for the manure he puts on his farm, as he could purchase a farm of the same size for in the United States. The culture here is unsightly; but if a foreigner objects to it, the defence of an American is, look at our exports. These, indeed, loudly proclaim the opulence of his soil, and the rewards of his industry; and perhaps his statement may be true, that the labour bestowed by their farmers will produce more than if expended in the minute culture of England. Here, a man runs over an hundred acres, in what he calls cultivation, while an English farmer is getting over ten; while one is hoeing his crop carefully, the other passes over it rapidly with the plough; while one is attentively drilling his rows, the other scatters his seed broadcast. To a certain extent, this may be good. It is difficult to say where liberty degenerates into licentiousness; but when I see a woodsman here, extending his clearings beyond his power to keep them in subjection; when he is cutting down trees on the one side of his farm, while he is suffering the bushes to grow up on the other; then, I think, the liberty has grown into licentiousness, and that the plan pursued has ceased to be a proper one. It has been remarked by many, and I think by Dr. Franklin amongst them, that in most of the settlements in the United States, there are two or three occupants before a permanent settler is found. The first is entirely without property; he comes, builds a log house, clears a dozen acres, and is ready to sell his situation for a trifle, to any one that shall desire it. Such a person at length purchases, makes an addition to his house, builds a barn, and increases the improvement to fifty or sixty acres. Then comes the last, who builds a substantial house, increases the size of the barn and clearings, and leaves them an inheritance of his children. I believe there will be fewer of these changes in this county than common. This will be, in some degree, owing to a better population than is usual in new countries, and to much forbearance on the part of the land owners. Mr. R. has upwards of five hundred families on his lands, very few of whom have paid him any thing; yet he has never brought a suit against any one, however delinquent; and I have been myself a witness of his disposition to find excuses for those who go off in his debt. I have related the common mode of clearing, by burning the timber in its green state. This is the most expensive way, and generally costs about twelve dollars per acre; which expense, together with all others of sowing, harvesting, &c. is usually more than repaid by the first crop, which is raised in this place without the trouble of ploughing; the grain being merely sowed on the newly cleared ground, and harrowed in. It is surprising to me, that the ground, treated in this way, and with all the roots and stumps left in it, produces such crops as are mentioned here. It surely would produce double what it does now, if it were completely cleared, well ploughed, and cultivated by a good English farmer, in the manner he has been accustomed to at home. The clearing and sowing of new lands is found to be very profitable. In the third volume of the Memoirs of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, is a paper on the breeding of sheep in Susquehanna county, from which I shall copy a part which relates to the clearing of lands here, and in which results of the clearing, by some of the settlers, are given. The calculation is made on the principle, that every part of the clearing, harvesting, &c. is paid for, and not done by the farmer. "It is calculated with us that clear ing and fencing cost per acre, One bushel of wheat sowed on do.. Harrowing (we don't plough) do. Harvesting Threshing Dolls. C. 12-00 1 50 3 00 The crop may be estimated at 20 bushels of wheat, per acre, which at $1 50, the price it commonly sells for between spring and harvest, is 30 00 |