OUR KIN ACROSS THE SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7824, 18 December 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

OUR KIN ACROSS THE SEA.

By J. C. Firth. V. OVER THE PLAINS. Leaviko Ogden, we passed up tha valhy of the Jordan, covered with irrigated alfalfa fields and orohards; up the Webar, Echo, and other oafione (pronounced canyons) or ravines, their rugged cliffs of red sandstono raptdiy disintegrating under the influence of the intensely cold winters, and presenting striking picture* of rocks ia ruins. Slowly climbing the western elopes of the Kooky Mountains to Sherman—thedr highest point, 8200 feet above oea level—wo left behind us the weary sage bush, and entered upon grass iauds covered with a thiok sole of green herbage. These eastern slopes of the mountains are oooupled as cattle ranches, or as we iihould call them, cattle stations. Great herdu of rather coarse cattle roam over these extensive prairie lands, owned by wealthy " cattle kings." The centre of this immense cattle district appears to be Cboyenne, a small town of about GOOO inhabitants, said to be one of the wealthiest towns, for its size, in the United States.

We were now approaching the great Valley of the Missisippi; passing the Iμ orth Plattu River —little better than continuous shingle beds—a large portion of its waters being said to be used for irrigation purposes in the State of Colorado. Of the irrigation system, and the great question of riparian rights connected with it, I shall treat in a future chapter, THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. What can be said of this groat valley ? How shall I describe it ? So vast, so fertile, teeming with agricultural wealth, so studded with great cities ! But ot deeper interest to every well-wisher of the great nation, in whose veins flows a blood kindred to our own, are the millions of industrious freeholders, who mainly cultivate their own moderately sized farms, in this magnificent valley. I have termed it a valley. It is rather a vast plain spreading from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Alleghaniea in the east; from the Canadian frontier in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south, covering an area, probably, of two million square mileaof generally level, fertile land, well watered everywhere. I traversed chiefly the Northwestern and Central States of this vast plain. Everywhere I made copious notes of the quality or the land, of the cattle, of the cultivation, and of the productions of the States I traversed.

FARMING. It is perhaps only due co myself to state, that a long and extensive experience as an agriculturist and cattle breeder, both in England and New Zealand, has. I venture to think, enabled me to form a fairly reliable opinion of what I saw in an extended travel, of perhaps 5000 miles, over this grand region. Some portions were prairie lands naturally destitute of forest, others were well wooded with oak, hickory, walnut, and other trees. Some districts had richer soils than others, but I think I am not far wrong in classing the great proportion of the lands I traversed, as coming fully under the description of fertile soils. The great prairies have been enriched by the decay of the grasses growing upon them for centuries ; whilst the forest areas have been in like manner, rendered fertile by the decomposition for a long period, of the annual fall of leaves from deciduous forests. From the numerous entries in my notebooks I may advantageously make a brief selection, as conveying a fair general view of what I saw; bo, avoiding an endless, and perhaps wearisome repetition of similar notes and opinions:— > - "We ran through another section of the great valley, Like so much that I had already seen, the land was level and good farms of 150 to 500 acres; principal crops, Indian corn (some of it still in etooks). Wheat was also grown in 'consider quantity; grass abundant everywhere, and, for the time of year, looking remarkably well, and consisting (so far as I could see) chiefly of poa prattxnsis, timothy, and redtop, with some others with which I was. not familiar.

In another district I noted "that more wheat was cultivated,the young winter wheats looking fairly well, many of the fields having been ' pnt in' in a workmanlike manner. I noticed a general absence of turnip cultivation, Indian corn apparently answering every purpose. The country at intervals is slightly undulating, but retains the general oharaoter of level land." Again I find noted : " Land good, but inolined to be wet, with a heavy subsoil." "The natural readiness with which the soil everywhere grows grass, offers great encouragement to a wise system of rotation farming, which I learned, to my regret, does not prevail to any great extent. Cattle abundant and in good condition, but not generally too well bred. Horses light and active, showing fairly good breeding." I find in my note-books the too frequent entry that " many farms show a slovenly system of cultivation, weeds and dirty stubbles being i?r too common; with, it is only fair to say, many instances of fairly good farming. I find that fertilisers are rarely or never used, even the farmyard manure being in many instances only partially need, or practically wasted. Many farming implements remain in the fields after being used, where, I am told, they frequently remain through the winter, till they are again required in the following season." In another State, I find noted " good land, deep black soil, grows abundant Indian corn crops. Farming system very exhaustive here, as in nearly all the Central and Western States. I find the opinion very generally held by many farmers with whom I conversed, that Indian corn is not an exhaustive crop. In this conclusion Ido not agree, unless the crop be cat green. Though not so rich in phosphates aa wheat, the ripened Indian corn contains many mineral elements which can only oome from the soil, and which, continuous cropping will sooner or later extract the soluble portion from the soil; later, if open fallows are used, but certain to seriously and permanently injure the soil unless fertilisers are applied."

In a treeless district I note that "the country is undulating, soil fairly good, but has a parched appearance, and evidently suffers greatly from the absence of trees both in appearance, shelter, aud rainfall." The farmhouses were rarely pretentious ; gene rally they were plain and inexpensive, with inferior outbuildings. I understood that Western farmers were a hard-working, industrious olaes, living simply, with few luxuries, and little display. The farmers' wives, I was told, were very economical, industrious, and, in too many cases, overworked. The introduction of cheese and butter factories in many districts has, however, greatly diminished this household drudgery, besides enabling American cheese and better to be put on the market in larger quantities of a more uniform quality. Being a great drinker of milk, I was particularly pleased to find it everywhere abundant, and of moat excellent quality, not only at all the hotels in city and country, but at innumerable roadside railway stations. Though the cattle looked generally well and in good condition, I was greatly disappointed with the quality of the beef. Compared with the juicy tenderness aud fine flavour of New Zealand beef, I found it hard, dry, and of inferior quality. In California the beef in all these respects was better than in the Mississippi Valley, though even that, was much inferior to New Zealand beef. The quality of the Californian beef is injuriously affected by the long dry summers ; in the Mississippi Valley the poor quality of the beef is, I think, due to the excessively severe cold of winter; in all the States I visited, the thermometer, I was informed, frequently sinking from 20deg. to 30deg. below zero. Fahr. Under ouch adverse influences, with an almost entire absence of housing, the long and severe winters can hardly fail to harden the fibres of the animals, as Nature's provision to enable them to resist the intense cold, by making them hardy at the expense of that tender juiciness characteristic of the beef produced in the mild, equable, genial climate o£ New Zealand, in most parts of which, snow is rarely seen, except on Southern mountain ranges, and where the frost is so slight as to cauae little inconvenience to man or beast.

Comparisons are, I know, odious; but they are necessary, if a standard is to be fixed ; and, whilst sincerely desirous of noting the special advantages of this magnificent region, I should be wilfully misleading my reader*, if 1 omitted all reference to its disadvantages. CLIM4.TE. The States I visited in the Mississippi Valley, with their great fertility and many advantages, have one great disadvantage in the wide range of temperature. During my visit in the early autatnn I frequently noted the temperature at 903egs. in shade, which, in the earlier months, I learnt, often stood at lOOdege., and occasionally, even higher; whilst in winter, as already noted, the temperature frequently falls from 20degs. to SOdegs.—9ometimee in the north-west, even to 40degs. below zero. Thia intense cold, by freezing the ground to a depfch of two or three feet, practically sobsoiliog it. and so admitting water and air, which, by rendering the mineral elements more eoluble, keeps up a supply of plant-food and postpones to some extent the date of the impoverishment of the soil. Such au enormous variation can hardly be conducive to health or long life in man. As one evidence of this, I did not observe anything like the proportion of old men or women in America, which may be seen everywhere in New Zealand. Everywhere I fouud a general prevalence of sallow complexions, both in men and women, contrasting with the clear fresh complexions so general in New Zealand. The breaking up of new lands, whether forest or prairie, developing miasma and fevers, has a bad effect upon health in new districts. This will naturally disappear <*8 cultivation advances. Of course, there may be, and probably are, other reasons, such as a too general disregard of the laws of health, upon which, as I shall state the result of my observations in a future ohapter, it is unnecessary to remark upon further here.

FORESTS. All over the Mississippi States I visited, I noticed a remarkable absence of large trees. Neither in the pine forests of the North, west, nor yet in the deciduous f6rests of the Contral States, I do not remember seeing any tree, either standing or fallen, much over two feet six inches in diameter. Iα this, as in some other reapecte, this portion of the United iStates compares very dieadvantageously with the magnificent trees in New Zealand forests, where the trees range from four feet to eight feet in diameter, whilet some of the monarohs of the forest are much larger, and where, trees under two feet in diameter are rarely cut for " timber" or " lumber" purposes. I can only account for this great difference in the size of the trees in the two countries, by offering the opinion, that the length and intense cold of the American winters in the districts I visited, erercise a very marked influence in retarding and dwarfiug the growth of. trees. In some ot the States I noticed a general absence of forests. In others, they were in abundance, providing shelter for cattle, favourably influencing the rainfall, and adding greatly to the beauty of the country. DESTRUCTION 01' FORESTS. Immense areas of forest are being every year destroyed for lumber and for cultivation. However necessary the former object may be, it is a barbarous practice, and hardly less than a national misfortune, that so much valuable forest has % been recklessly burnt and destroyed, in order that more corn may be grown, and more hogs may be fattened. In some districts the grand black walnut tree has been practically exterminated. Considering the great; value of this fine tree for furniture purposes, it is perhaps uot too much to say, that much of these forest lauds would to-day be of more value in their natural state, than all the corn and pigs which have been produoed on their ruiue. Corn apd pigs have » present value, and the destruction of forests by cultivation is to some extent a necessity, but their wholesale and recklcse destruction is a calamity, which no generation of men has a right to bring upon their descendants.

AUTUMNAL FOUAGE. I was charmed with the woodland beauty of many districts. The open character of the forests—having no undergrowth—the brilliant autumnal foliage, with its endless shades of browaa, yellows, reds, and orim--Bons, presented a delightful medley of colour above, which, contrasting with the straight black trunks, and the play of. sunlit gleams and dark shadows below, made me long for a sylvan stroll in such leafy and lovely shades. But the remorseless steam giant ahead, dragged us out of the beautiful forest, and like many another "thing of beauty," the eunlit, sylvan scene, with its golden gleams, it 3 half-lights and dark shadows, glided away into the past, leaving only a dream of beauty behind, but leaving that, for ever, GOAL. The great valley stretching jn one grand plain of fertile land, between the Kooky Mountains and the Alleghany chain, is, undoubtedly, one of the chief foundations of the

wealth and prosperity of the United States. But in its numerous rich and equable deposits of coal, it posaesßea another element of wealth, which hue already made itself apparent, and in the futnre will still more stimulate the progress of the nation. This magnificent plain seems to me to have been the bottom of an ancient ocean, in which, after its first upheaval, primeval forests flourished for long ages, and which, in the mysterious movements of Nature's forces, were subsequently again submerged, forming the extensive coal deposits which have given the United States an area of ooal, perhaps more extensive than all the known coal areas of the rest of the world. RIVERS. The Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers, with their innumerable affluents, provide the great valley with abundant water supplies for all purposes. For transit purposes they were formerly invaluable, but since the country has bsen covered with a network of railways,, their value in this respect has been largely /reduced. At Minneapolis, the great " Falls of St. Anthony" furnish an available water force of 35,000 horae-power, about one-half of which is utilised in driving the largest and most complete flouring mills in the world, as wWI as for supplying power to a great array of sawmills; the timber for these mills being floated dawn the upper waters of the Mississippi from the great pine forests of the North, many hundreds of thousands of logs at the period of my visit, lying in a branch of the river above the falls.

I pointed out to some of the capitalists interested, that unless prompt measures were taken to store the surplus waters, a time would come, when the enormous forest denudation now going on. would certainly greatly diminish the magnificent water power which is the chief foundation of the prosperity of the great city of Minneapolis. From Minneapolis we ran a great distance along the Mississippi, through a fine, wellgrassed, rolling country. Very pleasant it was, to leave the crowded city—even when so handsome a city as Minneapolis—and glide into the fresh open country, full of sweet little homes, with cornfields, orchards, and cattle round them. The cities may overshadow and dominate the country today, drawing the healthy youth from their quiet peaceful homes, to fill the void created by the overwork, the bad habits, and the tainted atmosphere of the crowded and growing city; bnt, after all, it is not from the luxurious houses or squalid streets, not from the grimy, sallow-faced men and women of great cities, but it is from the sweet, cheery, country homes that the real manhood and womanhood of a nation must come. At Minneapolis the main branch of the river, above the Falls of St. Anthony, is 540 feet broad. Lower down, at St. Paul's, and at various other points, the noble stream reminded meof our own beautiful Waikato river at Mercer. As we descend the grand valley, the great river sweeps onwards with a majestic flow, between lofty bluffs, crowned possibly, in ancient times with Indian forts. Fields of brilliant green, diversified with woodland patches, render the journey most enjoyable. As we travel onwards, the great river gathers volume at every hundred miles of itn course, sweeping through broad plains mostly under cultivation. At one point the river widens out into a fine sheet of water, several miles across, called, I think, Lake Pepin. Bold bluffs flank the river here and there, round which our train winds along its devious course, revealing at every curve patches of shrub and forest, already showing, in their brilliant and varied hues, the first touch of the icy hand of advancing winter. As we rush along from hour to hour, we keep company with the royal river. Occasionally a small steamer makes its tiny ripple on the broad expanse, but generally, as I saw it, the Mississippi is a silent river. Lower down it receives the Chippeway River, down which large rafts of small logs were being floated hundreds of miles to various points below. Great rafts of sawn timber (lumber) were being towed down by oarsmen, who, during their long and tedious voyages, live in small houses built on the rafts.

The immense length of the navigation on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers is very remarkable. From the Falls of St. Anthony, at Minneapolis—tho head of the navigation —to New Orleans, on the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi is navigable for some thousands of miles, not having a single rocky obstruction in it 3 course, so far as I could learn, between these far distant points, This circumstance, I think, confirms the theory, that these great plains are of diluvial formation, and indicates that the ancceasive upheavals and depressions were caused by the energy of a vast and long-continued seismic force, which, though intermittent, does not appear.to have been either violent or partial in its action.

WHAT AMERICA OWE 3 ENGLAND. Whilst traversing those vast and fertile plains in all directions, I was forcibly struck by the prevalence of French names of places, indicating tho strong hold which Franco once had on this magnificent region. Whilst the early English colonistu in the East were struggling against the difficulties of an inclement climate, an unfertile soil, and constant inroads from hostile Indians, the French—always greater favourites with the Indian tribes than the English—from their settlements on the River St. Lawrence, pushed their occupation of the Mississippi Valley between the Spanish settlement] on the Pacific, and the English settlements on the Atlantic, through the continent to the Gulf of Mexico. For three quarters of a century England and France maintained a continued and bloody struggle for the possession of the North American Continent, in which English blood and English treasure were freely expended, until in the middle of the eighteenth century, the star of France waa in the ascendant. In 1754 the fiercest, and happily, the last, great struggle for the mastery commenced. For five years the sanguinary conteet continued with varying fortune. In 1759 General Wolfe anchored in front of Quebec, with a large fleet and eight thousand troops. The great fortress was held by the gallant Montcalm, a French general as brave and chivalrous as Wolfe himself. A bloody and decisive battle on the Plains of Abraham was fought and won by the lion-hearted Wolfe. Both generals fell mortally wounded. Five days afterwards, on September 18,1759, the city and garrison of Quebeo capitulated, and, though Spain maintained a footing in the South for a while, the flag of England practically floated over the North American contineut from the Arctic Ocean to the Golf of Mexico.

The gallant Wolfe's gnat victory destroyed for ever French domination, and by that one decisive blow, changed the destinies of the North American Continent. Under Frenoh rule, the Bed Indian had roamed at will; his painted warriors, aided by tho French, continually attacking the frontier English settlements, torturing and massacreing their defenceless inhabitant?. Wolfe's decisive victory changed all this, rendered possible the settlement of this vast territory by the Anglo-Saxon race, and laid the foundation of a dominion which has become the greatest Republic of anoient or modern times. In less than seven years after Wolfe's victory, the ignorant tyranny of England over her American colonies, provoked the great struggle, which terminated fifteen years later in the Declaration of American Independence. Unhappily this strife of kinsmen left elements of bitterness which a hundred years had not obliterated. During the last seven years, however, more friendly feelings have prevailed between England and the United States. A spirit of '* sweet reasonableness" is taking the place of long continued' bitterness. The sentiment of kinship, the racial instinct, is beginning to make \t% power felt, giving promise of a coming brotherhood, which, if wisely fostered, will inevitably bind together the English-speaking race all over the world for mutual help, for mutual blessing. That this "good time coming" may be hastened—l hope our American kindred will pardon the suggestion—l think a modification might be made in the tone of bitterness I observed in American school histories, nob unnatural in the past, but certainly not necessary in the future. In re-writing these histories, this " root of bitterness" may be removed without in the least detracting from the heroic story of the sufferings, the valour, and the achievements of the patriots in the great struggle for Independence. May I venture to aak the consideration of one American friends to bo simple, yet so powerful, a mode of promoting the growing good feeling between two peoples who have so much in common? .-a o

At the same time, I may remind Englishmen travelling across the United States that Americans justly complain of the sneering tone some travellers affect towards everything American. Such a couree ia not only silly, ignorant, and an offence against good manners, but It tends to postpone that restoration of goodwill between England and America, which every good citizen of either country must desire.