Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 2, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 November 1858 — RURAL CARREPONDENCE. [ARTICLE]

RURAL CARREPONDENCE.

Vermont and l»er Korses, Addison County, Vt., Oct, 30. friend Davies: This is the shire of -the i horse country. It was here that old I “Blackhawk” lived and died. The place ' where he breathed his last is held in reverence, and men make pilgrimages to it. In the same stable the famous “Lady Suffolk” : gave up the ghost, carrying her grey hairs with honor to the grave, and peacefully wrapping about her finely shaped limbs the , soil that is prolific in noble horses and men. Just across the road, an arrow’s distance, an elegant residence is building for the reception of the most honored son of the “Old .Horse," the “Sherman Blackhawk." who retires from the bustle of life on a princelv fortune , and kingly laurels. A few miles below, on the shores of the beautiful Champlain, is the home of a reputed son of •Blackhawk's, the “Ethan Allen, - ’ who has lately achieved great lion irs in Boston, and, like the one of old, lias come out more than conqueror in his contest .with the “York” gentry. A ferry-boat’s length from this is old Blackhawk's promising grandson, a son of Sherman Blackhawk, “Capt. Lightfoot,” who, last winter, surprised the people with some long strides on the ice; This is also the home of “Cqlumbus” and qJ the owners : of the 2:17 pacing mare “Pocahontas;” while the hills are dotted with younger colts—who are throwing up their heads-with honest pride and snorting defiance in lace <i>f the world. In view of all this thou would’st not expect me to keep silent, although the President should lay an embargo on manuscripts and poems. For natural scenery I think Vermont may safely challenge comparison with any State in the Union. The country certainly looks handsomely now that the leaves of the trees* are changing from green to purple and from purple to sear,. Indeed,, it is hardly possible to conceive of a finer picture than that which the State now presents with her hills, like ridges of velvet, stretching across the\ country, variegated with clusters of pine ai.ff fir, that resembles the crochet-work of a Lady's basket; the mountains beyond, blue with the distance, rolling one above the other like waves of the sea; her broad, clean acres hemmed in by fences that must have been laid with compass and plummet;, pure white cottages nestling by the roadside among clumps of evergreens and maples, and adjacent to capacious barns which seem fine enough for kings and princes, but none too good for Blackhawks and bucks; her fields clouded with flocks of dark-colored sheep whose progenitors came from the remotest boundaries of France and Spain; her glistening hills laid open to the sun, ex-hibiting-untold weilth'of marble and slate; spires of colleges, and churches, and academies pointing their fingers to the skies; a tall shaft of marble rising majestically over the birth-place of Silas Wright; the crystal streams alive with trout, and turbulent with the hum of shops and mills and factories; the air sonorous with the voices of birdsand men and Line, and tremulous with “the music of the leaves”—and over all the scene is spread an atmosphere of summer mildness and, withal so pure and bracing that it gives renewed vigor to the blood, arouses all the , energies of the man, and stirs up the finer feelings of the soul. A great deal is said in regard to the early struggles of the State, i and men delight to honor the names of Ethan Allen,-Seth Warner, Anu Story, and I the rest of the Green Mountain boys who periled their lives for her welfare. It'is fit that they should, for those men were of a class, such as is not often fopnd; but the man who would not fight for a country like this is possessed of little manhood, and utterly devoid of patriotism. A small portion of the State is.arable, and only about one third o! the cultivated country is subjected to tillage. The amount of grain raised is barely sufficient for the home demand. The crops, this fall, what there is of them, were never better. The export of the State, however, is stock, and in this Vt. excells, and will always excell. There is something in the herbage and climate 'which renders her stock superior to that of any other' State. The animals of this country seem to have more life and energy than elsewhere., and the same is the case with the men. Besides, stock-growing is made an especial business, and the inhabitants are versed ip its mysteries. The boy is reared by the side of the horse and sheep, and the two become of one flesh. Moreover, it is an occupation in which they take an interest, in-, a-mi.ch as the affections ar.* strongly eirnsted ‘ ... ... < r !,r. .... *4- ‘4O V U _ r . " • ■ growth and strengthens with their strength. ,

It is, also, a love which is reciprocated by the brutes, and when they have arrived at maturity, and are rounded and filled in harmonious proportions and ready fbr- market, it is a heavy falchion of gold that severs them from the household. The farmers also, believe in the efficacy of blood, and breed from only the purest stock. Another reason for the superiority, is, that in this country, colts are not put to work until they are fully grown. They mature slowly, and last long. A horse here al twelve yesrs old, is as young as one in thy country at seven or eight. This is a part of the grand secret of the success. Even the timber of this State is of slow growth, but it is compact and strong and lasts for ages. As an instance of the interest taken in stock, I will state that the contest between “Ethan Allen” and “Hiram Drew” at Boston on the 15th inst.-created more exci'e-j meat in Vt. than the recent elections did in I thy State. In that trot Ethan made his ■ mile in 2:32.]. He alto trotted against the ' "Patcher” horse, on Long Island on the 28th inst. Men waited for the result in breathless anxiety, expecting that he would be badly beaten—and they were not “jockeys” either, but men in high, standing, honest farmers, and even whole families; his success or defeat was table-talk. But when the wires brought the news that “Ethan”; had distanced his competitor in the first heat, in 2:28, men breathed freely. A load was taken from their minds, and had the Governor seen fit to appoint a day of thanksgiving ami prayer, the inhabitants would have joined him with heart and hand. I will'not say that the ministry would actually have sent up a.prayer for the success of, a horse; but its thoughts would have reverted to “Ethan Allen,” as they did to the one of old, when his memorable words rolled j over the country —“In lhe name of the I Great Jehovfih and the Continental Con- , gross.” That I may not seem to practice up >n thy credulity I will give the-* a solution ot the niatter. Independently of their, affection for the horse, his success was 1 money in the pockets of the farmers and ' others; his defeat was their loss. Since I that trot the value of Blackhawk colts has advanced ten per cent. Now that his reputation is up, “Ethan,” will, probably, like the “Sherman Blackhawk’’ and other noted horses, be taken from the turf and devoted to the improvement of the breed. 1 have already trespassed upon thy columns, and will reserve the remainder of my notes for another occasion

Yours, &c., ~,

BROADBRIM,