ver allowed to
cross a carriage-road on its own level, but is carried either under or
over each. The soil is usually fertile and well cultivated, though not
so skillfully and thoroughly as that of England. There are places,
however, in which the cultivation could not easily be surpassed, but I
should say that the average product would not be more than two-thirds
that of England, acre for acre. There are very few fences of any kind,
save a slight one inclosing the Railway, beyond which the country
stretches away as far as the eye can reach without a visible landmark,
the crops of different cultivators fairly touching each other and
growing square up to the narrow roads that traverse them. You will see,
for instance, first a strip of Grass, perhaps ten rods wide, and
running back sixty or eighty rods from the Railroad; then a narrower
strip of Wheat; then one of Grape-Vines; then one of Beans; then one of
Clover; then Wheat again, then Grass or Oats, and so on. I saw very
little Rye; and if there were Potatoes or Indian Corn, they were not up
sufficiently high to be distinguished as we sped by them. The work going
forward was the later Weeding with the earlier Hay-making, and I saw
nearly as many women as men working in the fields. The growing crops
were generally kept pretty clear of weeds, and the grass was most
faithfully but very slowly cut. I think one Yankee would mow over more
ground in a day than two Frenchmen, but he would cut less hay to the
acre. Of course, in a country devoid of fences and half covered with
small patches of grain, there could not be many cattle: I saw no oxen,
very few cows, and not many horses. The hay-carts were generally drawn
by asses, or by horses so small as not to be easily distinguished from
asses as we whirled rapidly by. The wagons on the roads were generally
drawn by small horses. I judge that the people are generally industrious
but not remarkably efficient, and that the women do the larger half of
the work, house-work included. The hay-carts were wretchedly small, and
the implements used looked generally rude and primitive. The dwellings
are low, small, steep-roofed cottages, for which a hundred dollars each
would be a liberal offer. Of course, I speak of the rural habitations;
those in the villages are better, though still mainly small,
steep-roofed, poor, and huddled together in the most chaotic confusion.
The stalls and pastures for cattle were in the main only visible to the
ey