CE
71
VOLUME IX.
BRANDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1848.
NUMBER 45.
0
FREEDOM.
VOICE OF FREEDOM.
PUBLISIIKD WEEKLY AT BRANDON, VT.
JEDEDIAII IIOLCOMB,
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER.
TERMS.
One Dollar and twenty live cents, in advance.
One Dollar nml fitly cents, in four months.
One Dollar and sc runty live cents, in eight months.
Two Dollui-8 at the close ol'the year.
U7 To person? receiving the Voice by Mail, after the
nrstot April tS4i, twenty live cents per year win oe
ocuueteu iromtneauove rates, so long as me subscrib
ers are charged with the present postage.
C7 AGENTS who obtain subscribers for the Voice,
when sent by STAKE, will be allowed 25 cents on
each subscription paid for a year.
'Xy Bio'i responsible subscriber is authorised to act
at a jent in obtaining subscriptions.
TERMS OF ADVERTISING.
1 iquare 3 weeks $51 00
& squares 3 weeks 1 75
4 do do 2 50
8 do do 3 25
1 do do 4 00
1 square 1 year
2 squares 1 year
3 do do
4 do do
5 do do
$500
S50
1100
1400
10 00
L-ga! advertising to be charged at legal rates.
C5"3rsnivo Notice. I'ostmastersareoflicially bound
to notilV I'ublishers of papers of a wish on the pnrt of
subscribers to discontinue their papers. Those subscri
bers therefore, who tax me postage on such notices will
be ohured the amount in account for the Voice of
Freedom.
fx?" Subscribers residing in the vicinity of the
paper mill, neav Middleburv Village, will be credit
ed for whatever kind of barter Messrs Parker &
O'Flanagan will receipt to them on my account.
poetry.
THE BLUE JUNIATA.
BY E. 1.. WHITE.
Wild rov'd tlio Indian girl
Bright Alfnrata,
Where swept the waters
Of the blue Juniata j
Swift as an antelope, 4
Through the forest going,
Loose wcro her jetty locks,
In wavy tresses flowing.
Guy was the mountain song
Of bright Alfarata,
Where swept the waters
Of the blue Juniata ;
Strong and true my arrows ar,
lc my painted quiver
Swift goes my bright canoo
Adown the rapid river.
Cold is my warrior good,
The love of Alfarata i
Proud waves his snowy plume
Along the Juniata.
Soft and low he speaks to me,
And then his war-cry sounding,
Rings his voice in thunder loud,
From hight to hight resounding.
So sang the Indian girl,
Bright Alf.irata,
Where swept the waters
Of the blue Juniata j
Fleeting years have borne away
The voice of Alf..ratn,
Still sweeps the river on,
Blue Juniata.
( 0 m m u n x ca t i o ns.
NATIONAL REFORM.
At an adjourned meetingnf the PittforJ National
Reform Club, held Saturday evening, Feb. 12, ISIS,
the following Address and Resolution, which were
read at the previous meeting, ivcro read a second
time and adopted.
To tie landless Laborers of Rutland County.
Fellow laborers : We have frequently heard of
enquiries in relation to the character and object of
our Society, and of answers being made by those
who have not enquired into the merits of the prin
ciples aud measures we aim to promulgate, or who
either lack sufficient intelligence, or aretoobigotedly
attached to some of the popular dogmas of the day
to perceive and appreciate a principle that is in
advance of what has already become popular.
To enable such as have a desire for correct infor
mation to form a proper estimate, as to whether our
objects are worthy of your attention and co-operation,
we propose to give you an exposition of them,
and of the means and probability of their attainment.
The object wo have in view is 110 less than that of
securing to every family throughout our country, n
j 'fee , permanent and independent home. Without this,
we consider the objects set forth, in the great char
ter of our independence, as being those for the main
tenance of which, the fathers of our country pledged
to each other thtir " liis, their fortunes, and their
tacred honor ;" are incomplete, and Hot wort'.iy of
the glorious sacrifices they made.
We aim to accomplish this without infringing the
rights of any, through means already in possession.
When we are accustomed to read almost weekly
accounts of men, women and children, starving to
death by thousands, and hundreds of thousands, in
a country unsurpassed for its productiveness, upon
the soil they had cultivated with their own hands,
and caused to produce a sufficiency for all their
necessities, while others are fleeing by thousands
from the laud that gave them birth, to foreign
climes, and there famishing and rotting with famine
disease among strangers, we might be led to doubt
the existence of an over ruling providence, but from
a knowledge of tho fact that nil misery is but the
natural consequence of an individual, or social wrong,
somewhere antecedent to it.
While we commiscrato the condition of our fellow
leings who have been thus overtaken, it seems both
natural and proper to turn our attention to causes,
that wo may ascertain in what the wrong consists,
the consequences of which have been so destructive ;
and also to 6oe if it may not bo lurking among us,
producing the samo diseases ; differing only in de
gree, and waiting but for a few nioro revolutions of
the wheels of timo to become ns disastrous in the
new, as it has in the old world. If God has so ar
ranged the code of nature, that society shall suffer
in proportion to the wrong it commits, or duties it
neglects, wo apprehend no difficulty in identifying
the wrong that has been tho cause of such a degree
of suffering ns that which the people of Ireland have
recently undergone, when we shall have probed our
way to it.
The fathers of our country declared the proper
duties of government to bo, to secure the inaliena
ble rights of men ; nnd thoso rights they said, were
"life, liberty, and tho pursuit of happiness;" in
which wo understand arc included nil those rights
and privileges which God or nature has conferred
upon man, and which ho cannot create for himself,
and nre essential to his physical comfort, and tho
full development of all the powers with which na
ture has endowed him, including tho free use of
earth, and all tho other elements, together with all
thi faculties of body and mind, so far as is consis
tent with tha equal rights of all.
Man is so constituted, that to live, there must be
11 constant connection between his respiratory or
gans and tho atmosphere. To intercept that con
nection, or impose any restrictions upon it, is as
much a violation of the right to life, as imprison
ment would be of the right to liberty. The same is
true with regard to all other ri. hts and elements.
As in case of light and the pursuit of happiness;
man being so constituted as to render light essential
to tho pursuit of happiness, to intercept it from
those organs placed within him for its reception, or
impose any restrictions upon his access to it, would
be an infringement of this right. There is also a
connection between a man's stomach and the earth
he inhabits, which, if cut off or destroyed, will cause
as certain death, as to destroy the connection be
tween his lungs and the atmosphere ho breathes.
To throw any obstruction, then, between him and
tiio earth he is under the necessity of cultivating for
a subsistence, or to put it in the power of the few to
extort and Appropriate to themselves, the means of
living produced from the earth by the many, through
tho power of title deeds, or by whatever means, is
manifestly violating the foundation of all right. To
acknowledge a man's inalienable right to "life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and then de
mand of him a price for water to slake his thirst,
atmosphere to breathe, or such a portion of the
earth's surface as is necessary to supply his natural
wants, is nbsolute mockery. However plausible
it may seem in the light of time-honored practice, it
is a system that originated in the darker ages, and
when earned to its legitimate extent, aud viewed in
the light of self-evident truth, is no less nn outrage
upon Humanity, than the tearing of a child from its
mother's bosom and demanding a price for its return.
Herein consists the giant wrong, the awful pen
alty which has fell with such destruction upon
the people of Ireland. The beautiful green earth,
spread out by a bountiful providence for the com
mon su-tennnce of all, has been wrested from the
hands of the cultivator and passed into those of land
monopolists, or money lords ; so that he can no
longer enjoy it as an inheritance from his creator,
or as an inalienable right, and can find access to it
only through the mercy or caprice of such ns have
it "represented upon parchment, and filed away in
iron safes." The produce of his labor that should
have been used to feed, clothe, and educate his
children, has been taken from them in enormous
rents, nnd lavished upon idleness and luxury, or :
' ,,,.,,,,' I
uuiiy iu uus. 1 uu uecus 01 lliu uumioru, uacKCll
by the power of the government, have intercepted j
the connection between their stomachs and the soil
on which they were born, and they have starved.
We think it must be apparent to all, that the gov
ernment which sways the destiny of Irelandhas
4b ' :
not nnlv fililn.l nf iliclinr. in., ilu lii.rlw.ct .Int.- l,.,t I
of securing to the people their inalienable rights,
but, if not the principal, it has been accessary to her
greatest suffering.
But, let us seo how tho case stands in our own
country, among ourselves.
It is generally supposed that our government has
discharged nil of its highest functions, viz : the se
curing to tho people their inalienable rights ; and
that all the people, with the exception of about three
millions of chattel slaves, are in full possession of all
their natural rights; and that every person might,
by industry and economy, secure a comfortable
home; and that nil tho means of moral, physical,
and intellectual development, so far ns nature has
provided, aro within the reach of all ; and that pov
erty nnd want are exclusively tho result of individu
al, and not of any social wrong.
Wo arc of the opinion that the reverse of this is
true ; that the government of the United State', and
of the several States, instead of securing to the peo
ple their natural rights, have actually usurped them,
and arc doleingthem out at a price; nnd that pover
ty, ignorance, and crime exist in the most favored
parts of our country in consequence of this usurpa
tion, and by forco of circumstances within reach of
legislative enactment, combined with individual ef
foi t.
Tho first, and most essential right with which
man is endowed, we consider to bo, the right of each
individual to so much of tho earth's surface as is
necessary for tho supply of his natural wants.
Man cannot live without land. Neither can he
live without bread. But it is not essential to natu
ral equality that lie should havo bread furnished
ready for his table; for God has only furnished tho
elements out of which it can bo obtained, nnd has
ordained labor as a means of obtaining it But if
one man has to labor for the support of another a
part, or all of his life, ns a condition of using these
elements for himself, while the othor hns free access
to them, or is enabled to control a greater portion of
thein than ho needs, there is manifestly an inequali
ty that does not exist in tho order of nature
Terhaps we can illustrate our views on this point
no better than by the universally acknowledged
right of all to the sea. No man or nation of men
created tho sea ; therefore 110 nation has n right to
monopolise it. It is the free gift of God to nil, there
fore nil have an equal right to it. This right is in
alienable. No man can divest himself of it so as to
invest his neighbor with a doublo right, or subject
himself and posterity to the payment of a price for
its recovery. Should tho government of enrth
usurp this right, and throw it into tho market as an
articlo of traffic, like stock in a railroad, as they
have done with the land, there would then bo a
monopoly of tho sea as there is now of tho land ; so
that no individual could have access to it except on
such terms as the monopolists would bo able to ex
tort ; and-these would be high or low, according to
the demand for the products of the sen, or the use of
it as a means of communication between nations.
It is plain to be seen that whoever should attempt
to live by fishing, would have to contribute from
the products of his labor to the support of idleness
:ind extravagance, as those now do who draw their
sustenance from tho soil under the present system
of land monopoly. That land monopoly was the
primary, if not the solo cause of the recctit fainino
in Ireland, we have no doubt. That cause was im
ported into this country with tho first grant of land
made upon this continent. That it is fast reducing
us to the condition of a dependent tenantry, as in
Europe, is everywhere manifest to all who examine
this subject. " By it, the laboring masses of every
civilized country have been robbed of their freedom,
nnd the proceeds of their labor." That equality,
declared to be the birthright of all, is not, and can
not be realized with it. Amidst the fast increasing
means of human elevation in our country, there is
even now, as rapidly increasing an amount of mise
ry nnd wretchedness, staring our statesmen and pol
iticians in the face, which neither banks, sub-treasu
ries, tariff,!, or free trade, or any other nostrum pro
posed by them can remedy. Wo hnvo in the town
of Pittsford no less than sixty families living jn hired
tenements, paying an average rent of So each,
making nn annual draught of 1,093 upon their earn
ings, to bo distributed among those who uro able to
control mora than they are able to use ; buin.,' thirty
families to each thousand inhabitants. Apply this
ratio to the population of the State, and we have
S,7G9 families that can say, " the birds have nests,
and the foxes have holes, but we have not w here to
lay our heads ;" and upon whose aggregate earnings
there is nn animal draught of S "0,000; a sum more
than sufficient to have paid for our State House, and
saved to the rising generation their school fund of
which they have been robbed. There is not the re
motest probability that any considerable portion of
these can, by laboring at wages under tho present
laws, become the owners of a home, or a sufficient
amount of capital to sustain themselves as indepen
dent laborers.
Our State will soon be traversed by rail-roads,
which will cause a rise in the price of land, a scar
city of fuel, greater competition among laborers, an
increased demand for rent, and ultimately a more
inadequate compensation for labor. So long as the
present land system continues, we see nothing better
in reserve for the laborer at wages, but something
altogether worso. That ' overgrown wealth a dis-
posilion to oppress luxury pride and immorality,
poverty degrading dependence and servility-
Abasing
ignorance and crime," are its certain and unavoMa
ble results, we fully believe.
Were there no laud monopoly, society, instead of
being as we now sec it, broken into isolated antago
nistic fragments, would be one continuous congenial
neighborhood. Each individual would be the owner
of a portion of his mother earth. Says Giiiiinr
Smith, " were tho soil properly distributed, the rich
and the noor would r:mii!k- mmi-.wli tlmf lin.krw..
f , .,,.., , ,. , , , ., . . , ',.
of all conditions, which lies mid-way between them."
"I would." savs he. " havo imrr ir,n o
, f ., . mnJi. ... pm.fi, T,,B ,,.., !
no garden and no time to cultivate it, should at least I
own a flower patch, or a grass plot ; ami even the
half !i ilnznti vrvira. clinnl.l filnivn o tn.u.1. ,.r.,..l.
.... . . pvii ui iuiii,
which he may think of when upon theil blows, and
hasten to at the close of his voyage."
There arc natural resources in Vermont, sufficient
to sustain comfortably and independently, five or ten
times the present population. The amount of wild,
uncultivated land, within tho jurisdiction of the
United States, is estimated to be equal to two acres
to each inhabitant of the globe. There can be no
reason in nature then, why a single family should be
without a home, or labor for tho support of others
as a condition of owning.
This rendering one portion of the people depen
dent on another, for those primary means of produc
tion, which a common providence has so abundant
ly bestowed upon all, is an abuse that ought to be
no longer tolerated.
The National Reformers proposo three, plain, sim
ple, practical measures, based upon man's inalienable
rights, which if adopted and carried into efl'ect, would
do moio to harmonise the interests of capital, ma
chinery, and labor, and to promote the happiness of
t':e whole people, and render permanent our Repub
lican institutions, than all tho legislation for tho last
half century.
" Homestead Exemption Land limitation and
Freedom of the Public Lands to uetuul settle ."
We place homestead exemption first, because it is
more immediately eomeutablc ; it being but an ex
tension of an established p.ineiple. This measure,
if adopted, would go far to give to vfliut among us
is commonly called the credit system, that equili
brium w hich would render it a blessing, instead of a
curse, to both creditor and debtor. It would leave
the unfortunate debtor, who, through a want of
necessary prudence and foresight, should find him
self involved beyond his depth, an opportunity to
retrieve his credit and standing instead of being
driven with his family away from home, to become
ever after a prey to a swarm of avaricious creditors.
It would render tho creditors' collection more cer
tain in proportion as it would render tho debtor
less liable to become reduced beyond hope of re
covery. It would secure many a wife, widow, and orphan
from want, when their natural protector, tho hus
band and father should bo stricken down by mis
fortune or death.
Its tendency would bo to Increase the number of
freeholders, by inspiring thousands who nro in des
pondency, with courage to exert themselves to ac
quire a home.
But, asido from this; Tho Home ! where the re
ligious man erects his altar; around which the fami
ly aro accustomed to bend the kneo in worship;
where parents and children, brothers and sisters,
relatives and friends, are accustomed to meet and
exchange with each other their joyous mhitations
and mingle together their tears of sympathy for
each other's misfortunes, should, above all things
else, be held sacred ami inviolable,
As to land limitation, if mankind in general have
a right to till tho earth, it necessarily follows that
each individual must have a right to till a portion
of it; and that 110 one can rightfully extend his pos
session so far as to interfere with this right in
others.
If our premises aro correct, that all thoso rights
conferred upon man by nature, which ho cannot
create for himself, are inalienable, nnd that it is tho
duty of the government to secure to each of its con
stituents their inalienable rights, we seo not why it
should not fix some limit to the amount of land
hereafter acquired, the peaceable possession of
which it will guarantee to any 0110 individual
Upon what principle the powers of the government
should bo taxed to protect a few in the possession
of that which violates the rights of all, wo aro un
able to perceive. There is evidence that cur city
populations nre increasing in great disproportion to
the agricultural population ; and wo aro not without
danger from their becoming festering sores upon
our country, engendering and diffusing moral and
physical disease throughout society. The stock in
our railroads is chiefly owned by city capitalists.
That which was originally taken in the country,
mostly flows to tho city before the enterprise is com
pleted. When these reservoirs for tho surplus capi
tal of the cities shall become full, and capital shall
seek an investment in the soil, land will begin to
rise, and wages fall in a corresponding ratio. Let
tho niillionarcs but become the owners of tho soil in
the country as extensively as they aro of the stock
in the railroads, and their property in tho bones nnd
sinews of the working bipeds of the north, will bo
far more complete, yet much cheaper than is that
of tho southern slaveholder in his chattel man. It
matters not how wealthy an individual or a com
pany may become, provided they do not transcend
their natural rights so as to deprive others of the
primary means of wealth.
The soundest political maxim we conceive to be,
to keep the soil as far as possible in the hands of
those who cultivate it. We see no way of accom
plishing this more effectually than by fixing a con
stitutionnl limit to land monopoly. Were our far
mers sufficiently informed on this subject, to pro
cure from the Council of Censors such a proposition
of amendment to tho Constitution, the v would ac
complish more by way of securing homes for their
children, than by a life of exertion spent in any
other way. Without land limitation one half of the
people must ever remain the virtual slaves of the
other half.
As regards the public lands, we hold it to bo the
true policy and the duty if tho General Govern
ment to keep them surveyed into town-hips and
farms of reasonable size, free to actual settlers, re
quiring only satisfactory security for their cultiva
tion and improvement as a condition of title. As
fast as new Territories arc admitted to the Union,
remaining unoccupied sou snouiii ue transferred
10 mu oia.e, on conumon 01 sucu a disposal being
made of it. Says Dr. U'ayland, in his Elements of
Political Economy, "divi-ion of property, or the
appropriation to each, of his particular portion of
that which God has given to nil, lays at the founda
tion of nil accumulation of wealth, and of all progress
in civilization." This being the case, tho selling of
the choicest lands in large tracts to non-resident
capitalists, must bo any thing but conducive to
public interests; for, it is not only depriving a part
ol their particular portion of that which God has
given to all, but it is manifestly a errant of newer
''"om tlie tlovcrnment to appropriate the earnings of
those who nre thus robbed of their rights, to an ex
tent proportioned to the power of land monopoly.
Ol'the means and probability of the attainment of
these measures, we will merely sav that, " in lSI'i,
through the agency of the National Reform Associ
ation, a National Convention was called with a
view to effect as far as possible a union of reformers;
at which a plan of organization, by which the soil
may be restored to the people, by political action,
was completed." Of its success thus far, we may
judge from the fact that the subject is already oc
cupying tho attention of the constitutional conven
tions uud legislatures of several of the different
States of the Union ; and that there aro over one
hundred newspapers in the different sections of the
country committed to its support.
That this organization will go on, gaining acces
sions till it has power to influence the now organiz
ed parties to adopt these measures, we have not a
doubt.
Fortunately we nre in possession of tho ballot box ;
and with it, power to urrest tho further progress of
false, partial legislation. Not however by merely
following cither of the old political parties. They
have already led us a loiy dance in a downward
course. Kvery step taken in their direction will
but sink us and the country deeper in degradation
than wo now nro. With them, politics have be
come n trade, mid have ceased to be a principle,
they arc merely scrambling for power and p'.ui'der,
as is manifest from the getting up of tho present
war by the one, contravening their professed ob
jects, and the voting for it of men and money by
other, in face of their repeated protestations against
its justice nnd constitutionality.
With them, party ascendency is tho ruling prin
ciple. They both rob the poor of thoso means of
moral and intellectual culture which nature has
bestowed upon nil, and then cater to their ignor
ance and prejudices for votes to sustain themselves
in their infamous doing's.
All that is required for tho speedy success of theso
measures, is, that the friends of National Reform
disenthral themselves from all party trammels, of
whatever nature, nnd take a position to act in con
cert with whichever party will best promoto this
great end. Would tho laboring masses but strike
hands, and exert themselves politically for their
own interest, as pcrsevcringly as they now do for
their own injury in the ranks of tho different par
ties, they would rid themselves from the support of
drones and idlers, and recover their natural rights,
with far less of exertion than it now costs them for
either party to obtain a victory over the other.
Let them but assume their proper position, and lead
those pnrtioi instead of allowing themselves longer
to bo led by them, or in other words, use them ns
engines of power, for the attainment of high and
noble ond, lnstoad of allowing themtelves to be
used by them for demagogue purposes, and they
may rest asjurod of triumphant suroess;
Resolved, That a committee of three be
appointed to correspond with such persons
in other parts of tins County ns lire favora
ble to the lending measures of National Re
form, and to call a County Convention of
such persons as subscribe to these pi inciples,
to wit; that all men are created equally
free, "with certain inalienable rights, among
.1 - Ill ...... ... .1 .1
niiien uru mu rijjni 10 ine, iiueny, auu ine
pursuit of happiness;" to such a portion of
' he earth and other elements 11s will be suf
ficient to provide them with the means ol
comfort: to education nnd paternal protec
tion iroin society ; at. suen time ana place
ictween the 20di of Maraud the 20th ol
June next, 11s shall bo thought most advisa
ble; 10 adopt such iitensui es as in the opinion
of said Convention will best promote the
cause of National Reform.
Voted that this address and resolution be
signed by ihe Chairman nnd Secretary, and
nine tne Editors ot the Voice ol Freedom,
loung America and Spirit of the Aire, be
requested to give them an insertion in their
columns.
II. G. DERBY, Chairman.
W. C. Cottinc, Secretary.
Organ of the National Reform Society, N. Y.
For the Voice of Freedom.
Salem Coc.vrv, N. J.,
March 28, 1848)
Dear Sir: I left Vermont in September
hist and came south for the purpose of teach
ing. I urn located in the soul hern part of
New Jersey, in the county of Salem, near
the head of Delaware Cay, having obtained a
situation immediately after my arrival in this
place. The standard of education, here, is
ra'.her low, owing no doubt to the scarcity of
well qualified instructors. Intelligent and
enterprising young men, who are desirous to
follow this pursuit as a profession, will find
better opportunities here than at the north ;
not that the pay is so much more liberal, but
the employment is more permanent. A
change in the method of teaching, I believe,
is about be effected through a law lately en
acted by the legislature of tho State, to es
tablish Normal Schools for the purpose of ed
ucating teachers.
Tho surface of the country hereabouts, Is
quite low and level, there being no hills or
mountains visible in any direction ; a singu
lar prospect, indeed, to one who was never
before out of sight of the Green Mountain
ranges. The land is in an excellent state of
cultivation. The soil is variable, consisting j
in some places of clay, mixed more or less j
with loam; in others it is sandy, but rich, and j
very productive, raising wheat, corn, oats, j
potatoes, aimles and neaches in abundant:. I
Much system and economy is manifested bv !
the farmers in tilling ihe land, who, as a class, i
are very intelligent, moral and industrious, j
A large proportion of then, rent the farms on
which thev labor, or conduct them on shires, j
and although rent is high, yet the facility for j
raising grain, " truck,""&e.', mid tho proximi-1
ty to ready markets, enable the major part of j
their number to accumulate irraduullv a (torn-
pctence, and live almost as independently as
the owners of the soil.
They keep few sheep, more cattle, and
make considerable butter, but little cheese,
devoting the soil chiefly to (he raising of
grain and fruit. Lime and marl are princi
pally used for enriching the soil. Of the for
mer they apply from twenty to fiMy bushels !
to the acre, using less on worn out lands, lest I
it mar kill the soil entirely, but increasing !
Ihe quantity from rear to veur as the soil ,e-1
news its stiengtl, On good land o,,e apidiei:- :
tion is sufficient for five or six years. It is !
obtained in maiket at a cost of seven or eight
cents per bushel.
Since observing the importance attached
to the use of lime in this section, as a manure,
I have wondered why your fanners at the
north so seldom make use of it. to resuscitate
worn out lauds. It is, however, quite prssi
ble that it might not produce the same elicit
upon your soil in Vermont, that it dots here ;
but it seems to be the opinion of the most ex
perienced men here, with whom I have often
conversed on the subject, that, when proper
ly applied, it will benefit almost any kind of
soil.
Many farms in this vicinity have been
greatly improved by the use of marl, a kind
of green earth mixed with blue sand, and
shells. Its essential ingredient is lime, and its
value depends upon the proportion of calca
reous matter it contains. It is found in allu
vial districts, in beds from four to twenty feet
beneath the surface. The bones of marine
and land animals aro often discovered em
beiled in this material. The shells of oysters
and vat ions other testaceous fish, have been
dug up at a depth of many feet below lhe sur
face, sinnc of which exceed five pounds in
weight. The quantity of marl applied to the
acre varies according to its quality. In some
places the mart is so strong that five loads
suffice for an acre, and in others from twen
ty to 11 hundred tire profitably used. The
price is about twenty-five cents per load.
Tho winter has been very short and mild.
It set in late, the fields being quite green un
til near the 10th of December. Snow fell
but two or three times, not enough to make
good sleighing, and remaining but a few days
either time. The first full was about Christ
mas, the last near the beginniug of the pres
ent month.
The roads here during the winter were
very muddy ; but now they have become set
tled the traveling is good. The weather for
several days has been so warm that no fire has
been used in the parlors. "Wheat is looking
up the fields nre putting on their garments
of green, while the merry notes of the feath
ered songsters are chanting their sweet musio
in all directions, which give every indication
of a fast approaching summer.
The farmers are busily engaged in prepar
ing the soil for seed-sowing, and some even
have commenced planting." The time for
fishing is also at hand, and hundreds of fish
ermen are setting their gill-nets, elated with
hopes of reaping a rich harvest. During the
spring, abundance of shad ate caught in the
bay, the river and their tributary streams, a
more particular account of which I will give
you another time, provided my communica
tions are acceptable.
Yours very respectfully,
o. l. n
Send them on they will take well hero,
is the call from our readers. Fd. Voice.
Variety
For tho Voice of Freedom.
Mr. Editor: Having noticed with grati
fication that you take a deep interest in agri
cultural affairs by promoting its interests
through your valuable paper, I would like to
have you publish the following : the result of
1 In ce years' experimenting; on thePotatoe Rot.
There has been so much written upon this
subject, it seems like, folly to offer any thing
new. But learning that New York has sent
a petition to Congress " praying that an in
quiry should be instituted to find a remedy
to stay this disease of vegetable matter;" I
thought it not amiss to lay this before the
public.
It is a common practice among farmers, to
plant their potatoes after their other spring's
work is done, and upon such land as fancy
dictates, which is always very moist. Now
this is the cause. Reverse this, and you havo
no cause. I planted a piece o! land to no-
tatoes in April, 1815, and apiece in June ;
the first were all sound, while the last were
all rolten The next year I planted the" first
of May, and my neighbors the first of June.
There was not a rotten one among mine;
my neighbors' were nearly all rotten. Last
year I planted the first of May, the first of
Jul,e",,ml of Ju,-V- TLoae of ,I,e JJi'-v I',,,nt'
wcro 11,1 ""'! i-toso of Jane were half
rolten : whilst those of July were completely
f0' 1 ,iavu t"T'"L'1' extensively, and m no
instl,,lcc lms h flllk,1' but w,lat an C!,,1-v I''""'
l"Pdueed sound crop ; and a late plant
an 'u'Wl cr0P-
Tllu ,la'or' of !t' is tllis ;-T1'e d!seas0
-"iumenees in the tops of potatoes about the
middle of July; without respect to the age
of the plant; Then of course, the early
plants are ripened so much, that tho diseaso
does not injure them ; the tops will decay,
but the potatoes will remain sound; whilst
those planted in June, (being scarcely in
the blossom when attacked by the disease
wllic, wi!1 be !,t lhe s:,me tiniu flrst P,:,nt
is MM) fl'om tir exceeding greenness,
tle:,-v' " t0P i,nd bot,om" !,t onw
Miiko this vour ru,' P,unt EARLi' on
,lr.v Pm1' mul kt,l"P o(r V0l,r " t0P ,,rcM-
! in"" and Congress will not be troubled with
any petitions relative to this strange malady.
Yours respectfully, J .
Rochester, Vt., lob. 22, '48.
Mi;iit)i:i:. The proprietor of a porter
house at the coi ner of Fourth-avenue and
Tliirly-lii'sl-st, by the name of Patrick Cogan,
was killed hist ceiung by being struck a
blow on the head with a heavy club by a
pedlar known as lJuf. h Jake. According to
1 be best infurtiiiuion obtained it appears that
ns Jake and sonic of his friends v. ere passing
the hoi.se of Cogan with a large log, tho
latter was attacked by another dog belonging
to a person then at Cogan's hoi.se, and on
Jake's attempting to separate the two dogs he
was knocked down by one of Cogan's ac
quaintances or customers, whereupon Jake)
and his companions, after providing them
selves with chilis at an engine house, lep.iircd
to the house of Cogan. and on being rclused
admission to find the person v. ho had knock
ed down cue of Jake's friends, Jake struck
Cogan 11 seeie blow on the head w hich caus
ed Cogan's death in about two hours alter
the occurrence. AM'. Trlb. 17i.
The i.atk John Jacob Astor. Tha
Sun avers that it is currently reported, and
that great credence is given to the report,
that the late John Jacob Astor has never
been naturalized. It is sail that upofl ex
amination of the bonks of tho United States
Com t from 1 i'i to the present time his name
docs not appear. If such is the case, adds
the Sun, his immense propel tr must revert
to the State, a sum which could amply pro
vide fi r the liquidation of the Stale Debt and
provide for the School Fund. N.Y.l'rib.
"That child don't look at all like its n oth
er," was the remark of tin old lady on see
ing a new born child. " cry likely, said
the mother honest Ir, "for fashions have
changed so much, and he came into the world
so long after me, that it could not be expect
ed he would."