USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Annals of Luzerne County; a record of interesting events, traditions, and anecdotes > Part 13
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LITTLE WAPWALLOPEN rises in Slocum township, and runs through Hollenback. It is thirteen miles in length;
SOLOMON'S CREEK was so called from a Mr. Solomon, who settled near its confluence with the Susquehanna in 1774. It rises in Wilkesbarre township, runs through Hanover, and is seven miles in length ;
MILL CREEK, so called by the first inhabitants who erected
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LUZERNE COUNTY.
the first grist and saw mills upon its banks in 1772, rises in Pittston township, flows through Bear Creek, Jenkins, Plains, and Wilkesbarre, and empties into the Susque- hanna one mile above the borough of Wilkesbarre. Its length is eight miles.
SPRING BROOK has its rise in Covington, runs through Spring Brook and Lackawanna townships, and empties into the Lackawanna river above the village of Pittston. Its length is twelve miles.
BLACK CREEK is so called from the dark color of its waters. It rises in Foster and runs west through Hazel, Sugarloaf, and Black Creek townships, emptying into the Nescopeck. It is eighteen miles in length.
NAYAUG or ROARING BROOK rises in Covington, runs through Madison and Providence townships, and empties into the Lackawanna at Scranton. It is twelve iniles long.
BEAR CREEK, which is twelve miles in length, rises in Bear Creek township, runs south-west, and empties into the Lehigh.
Many of these streams have their sources in the nume- rous lakes and ponds which abound in this county, and others have their rise in small mountain springs. Their waters are generally clear and cold. They afford excel- lent water-power, chiefly occupied by grist and saw mills, and abound in trout and other delicious fish.
The streams of this county are crossed by numerous and excellent bridges. A few of the largest and most costly may be noticed.
THE NESCOPECK BRIDGE, across the Susquehanna at Ber- wick, was erected in 1816 by the Nescopeck Bridge Com- pany, incorporated in 1807. It was built by the celebrated bridge builder, Theodore Burr, and was 1250 feet in length. It cost $36,000, a portion of which was furnished by the
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
state. 3 This bridge was carried away by the ice and high water in 1836. The second bridge, now standing, was erected in 1837 on the site of the old one, and cost $27,500. The constructors were Eliphalet Edson and Janet Samuel Millard.
THE WILKESBARRE BRIDGE was completed in 1818 by the Wilkesbarre Bridge Company, incorporated in 1807. The constructors were Messrs. Wernwag and Powel, who were two years in building it, at a cost of $44,000. In 1819 the pier next to Wilkesbarre was undermined, and two reaches of the bridge were lost. The damage was repaired by the state, at a cost of $13,000. In the winter of 1824 a tremendous hurricane swept over the valley, uprooting trees and blowing down houses. It lifted the whole superstructure of this bridge from the piers, and, carry- ing it several feet up stream, lodged it on the ice. To rebuild the bridge the Legislature appropriated $15,000 of state claims, or liens, due from Luzerne county, and appointed George M. Hollenback, Garrick Mallery, and Calvin Wadhams, commissioners, to carry out the pur- poses of the Act. The commissioners appointed Andrew Beaumont to collect the money, and let the work. Reu- ben Fields became the architect. The state then had $28,000 of stock in the bridge, which was sold a few years ago. It has four arches, each 175 feet in length.
THE PITTSTON FERRY BRIDGE was built in 1851, at a cost of $16,500. It is a wide single-track bridge, with stone piers, and its length is 750 feet. The constructor was Enos Trescott.
PADDY'S RUN BRIDGE COMPANY was incorporated in 1857 with a capital of $50,000. Their bridge crosses the Susquehanna at Shickshinny. It has a double track, with a railroad laid on the carriage track. It connects the Newport coal-field with the canal, and with the Blooms-
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LUZERNE COUNTY.
burg and Lackawanna Railroad. It is what is called a Burr bridge, with stone piers and stone ice-breakers. Its length is 676 feet. The constructor was Jedidiah Irish .*
There are several beautiful and fertile islands in the Susquehanna, within the limits of this county. I men- tion Scofield's, above the mouth of the Lackawanna; Wintermoot's, a short distance below Pittston ; Monocko- nock, or Monockacy, above the village of Troy ; Fish's, immediately below Wilkesbarre; Park's, at the mouth of Toby's Creek; Richard's next, about two miles below Park's; Lyon's, at Lyon's Ferry ; Smither's, near Beach Grove, and Rocky Island, at Beach Haven. These islands contain from five to two hundred acres of land. The largest are cultivated and inhabited.
LAKES AND PONDS.
"The polish'd mirror of the lake, In which the deep reflected sky appears, A calm sublime immensity below."
CARLOS WILCOX.
North America surpasses all the world besides in fresh- water seas or lakes. These lakes contain more than half of the fresh water of the globe. The lakes on the North- ern Plains in British America are almost innumerable. The whole country is interspersed with lakes, ponds, and rivers. The Great Lakes are five in number-Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario.
Lake Superior is the largest body of fresh water in the New World, and its surface is almost equal to that of all England. It is 600 feet above the level of the Atlantic, and is nearly 1000 feet in depth. It is 355 miles in length, and 160 miles in breadth.
* This bridge was carried away by the flood of 1865, and is being rebuilt.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
Lake Michigan is 320 miles in length, and 100 miles in breadth. Its elevation is 578 feet, and its depth 900 feet.
Lake Huron is 260 miles in length, and 160 in breadth. It has a depth of 900 feet, with an elevation of 574 feet.
Lake Erie is 240 miles in length, and 80 in breadth. Its elevation is 565 feet. It is a basin of comparatively little depth, but is exposed to tempests and dangerous fogs.
Lake Ontario has a mean depth of 500 feet. Its ele- vation is 232 feet, extending in length 180 miles by 33 miles in breadth. It is estimated that these lakes drain 335,515 square miles of territory. The four first named of these lakes discharge their waters over the world- renowned Falls of Niagara. The thickness of the water on the Falls, in the centre of the Horse-shoe, is twenty feet, and it is computed that five thousand million barrels of water are precipitated over them every twenty-four hours. The hydraulic power of the Falls has been esti- mated as equivalent to that of four millions five hundred thousand horses-a power sufficient to set in motion all the manufactories of the world.
As we advance southward into the interior of North America the lakes grow smaller. In New York state there are several beautiful and extensive lakes, as the Oneida, Seneca, and Cayuga. In Pennsylvania the lakes are still smaller than those of New York. In Luzerne county their number, great and small, is about forty. Many of them are mere ponds. They are, in truth, springs of pure cold water, having, in most cases, no visible inlet. They furnish fish in abundance, such as pike, pickerel, perch, sun and catfish, but no trout. The
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LUZERNE COUNTY.
shores and bottoms of these lakes and ponds are gene- rally composed of sand and gravel, and the depth of water is seldom less than five feet or more than two hun- dred. Here and there, surrounding these bodies of water, are cultivated fields, with woodlands interspersed, and frowning mountains beyond, forming beautiful scenery, and sheltering the fisherman from the rays of the burn- ing sun, as he rows gently along the shore, or casts his line beneath the trees or in the mountain shadows. Deer are frequently shot at night, as they approach these lakes for water, by hunters in boats with torch-lights. The deer gazes with astonishment at the slow-moving light on the water, his eyes glaring like balls of fire, when he suddenly falls before the hunter's rifle.
HARVEY'S LAKE, 1000 feet above the level of the Susquehanna, is situated in Lake township, twelve miles north-west of Wilkesbarre. It is an immense spring of pure cold water, with a beautiful clean sand and gravel bottom, and varies in depth from five to two hundred feet. It was first discovered by Benjamin Harvey, who settled upon its outlet prior to the Revolutionary War. It was surveyed in 1794, when covered with ice, by Christopher Hurlbert, who found it extended over an area of 1285 acres, a little more than two square miles. It is the largest body of fresh water in Pennsylvania, and furnishes an abundant supply of fish, which, owing to the purity of the water, are of superior quality.
The Lake House, situated on an elevated spot near the south-western shore, is a large, commodious, and well- finished building, kept by an accommodating landlord, Mr. Nicholson, who furnishes boats for rowing or sailing, and, also, an abundant supply of well-prepared food, such as venison, fish, and wild fowls taken from the surround-
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
ing forests and from the crystal water. To all persons desirous of a pleasant, healthy, quiet summer retreat, we say, go to Harvey's Lake, where you can have plenty of fresh air, pure water, delightful scenery, and just enough of fashion to make your visit agreeable. The first canoe ever launched upon the bosom of this lake by a white man was made in Wyoming Valley, in 1800, by Andrew Bennet. It was shod with hickory saplings, and was drawn over the mountain by horses, and used in fishing and hunting.
CRYSTAL LAKES, in Greenfield and Fell townships, are beautiful sheets of water, and among the largest in the county. The upper lake, partly in Susquehanna county, furnished the first sand for Phinney's Glass Works, in 1832. It covers an area of 300 acres, and is one of the sources of the Lackawanna river.
CHAPMAN'S LAKE, in Scott township, is a tributary of the Tunkhannock Creek, and covers 100 acres of ground.
LAKE HENRY, in Covington township, extends over an area of 300 acres, and is the source of Roaring Creek. It is situated on the high range of the Moosic Moun- tains, which divide the waters of the Lackawanna front those of the Lehigh. It is 1882 feet above the level of the sea.
BEAVER LAKE, in Buck township, is one mile in length and a half mile in breadth. It is the source of Pond Creek, which flows into the Lehigh.
SHEIK'S POND, BASSETT'S, LONG, WINDFALL, and HAND- SOME Ponds are all in Benton township, and extend over an area of from 100 to 300 acres each, and form a consider- able portion of the head waters of the Tunkhannock Creek.
WALL. GRAVEL, and MUD Ponds pour their waters into
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LUZERNE COUNTY.
the South Branch of the Tunkhannock Creek, and lie in Abington township.
COBB'S POND, in Jefferson township, is one mile long by a half mile wide. It has a beautiful sand and gravel bottom, and is 1800 feet above the level of the sea. Its waters empty into the Lehigh.
RATTLESNAKE POND, in Springbrook township, covers an area of 60 acres, and has a mud bottom. It is one of the sources of Springbrook.
HAZARD'S POND, in Providence township, empties its waters into the Lackawanna river. Being situated near a densely populated region, its waters are often vexed by fishermen of various skill and character.
TRIANGLE POND, in Wright township, has an area of 150 acres, and is one of the sources of the Little Wap- wallopen Creek.
LONG and ROUND Ponds, in Slocum township, are also sources of the Little Wapwallopen, and abound in fish. The former is about a mile long by a half mile wide; the latter is smaller. Their depth is from twenty-five to fifty feet.
THREE CORNERED POND, in Lehman township, is a hand- some body of clear water, and constitutes one of the sources of Hunlock Creek.
NORTH and SOUTH Ponds, in Ross township, the former covering 250 acres, and the latter about 150, discharge their waters through Hunlock Creek.
MUD POND, in Fairmount township, empties into the Huntington Creek, which also receives the waters of Long Pond, in Sullivan county, near the Luzerne county line. At this latter point, on the summit of the North Moun- tain, 2636 feet above the level of the sea, Mr. C. Ricketts, of Orangeville, Columbia county, erected a large stone hotel. Long Pond furnishes plenty of excellent fish, and 12
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
the surrounding woodlands an abundance of game. The mountain air is pure and bracing, and all things conspire to make a visit to Long Pond Hotel agreeable to persons fond of exercise, and in search of good fishing and hunting grounds.
POPULATION.
Malthus and Sonnenfels have treated at large of the theory of population, its increase and subsistence, in whose works the reader will find much curious information. Some governments have found it necessary to stimulate the increase of their populations. In the earlier days of Rome, the citizen who had the greatest number of legiti- mate children was preferred before all other candidates for office, and the female who remained unmarried until she reached the age of forty-five years, was not permitted to wear jewels. Louis XIV. of France, gave presents to women who were the mothers of ten or more children. It has never been found necessary to increase population by such means in this country. A whole continent of fertile soil, spread out with inviting abundance, has drawn millions to our shores, and the natural increase has been enormous. The statistics of our own county may be taken as a fair specimen of the rapidity with which popu- lation increases in the United States. In 1774, the popu- lation of Westmoreland, then under the jurisdiction of Connecticut, was 1922, scattered over a territory now in- cluded in Luzerne, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Bradford, and a portion of Wayne counties. In 1790, when the same territory, except Wayne, was embraced within the bound- aries of Luzerne, the population was 4904, or one inha- bitant to each square mile. In 1800 it was 12,838, showing an average annual increase of 793. In 1810 the population was 18,109, exhibiting in the preceding
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LUZERNE COUNTY.
decade an average annual increase of 538. In 1820, without Bradford and Susquehanna, it was 20,027, and in 1830 it was 27,304, being an average annual increase of 727. In 1840 the number of inhabitants was 44,006, which shows an increase of 16,702 in ten years. In 1850, without Wyoming, the population of Luzerne num- bered 56,072, a fraction less than 40 to a square mile. In the same year, Wyoming had 10,653 inhabitants, which, added to that of Luzerne, makes 66,725.
The following table exhibits the classified population of Luzerne for the years 1850 and 1860 :
1850.
1860.
White males
29,465
46,613
Females
26,234
43,327
Colored persons
373
450
Families
9,672
15,065
Dwellings
9,587
14,920
Births
1,976
2,956
Deaths .
383
878
Married
597
925
Persons who could not read and write
2,228
3,981
Persons over 100 years
3
2
Between 90 and 100
6
8
Blind
10
14
Deaf and dumb
8
12
Insane .
12
16
Number of foreigners
12,567
23,486
1830, foreigners 785.
In 1790, Luzerne contained 11 slaves and 13 free colored persons; in 1800, the slaves were 18, free 78; in 1810, slaves 8, free 99 ; in 1820, slaves 2, free 111; in 1830, there was 1 slave and 186 free; in 1840, 1 slave, 194 free, and in 1850 there were 373 free persons of color.
Among the old county records, we find the following : " To Lord Butler, Clerk of the Peace, &c.
"June 19th, 1796. I, John Hollenback, of the town- ship of Wilkesbarre, county of Luzerne (miller), do certify, that I have a negro female child, by the name of Maria, born of a negro woman, which is my property. The child was born the 19th day of February last, and is
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
four months old to-day. This negro child I desire you to record, agreeably to a law of the state, passed March 29th, 1788." This law was passed in order to obviate certain evils and abuses which had grown up under the law of March 1st, 1780, enacted for the gradual abolition of slavery in this Commonwealth. When the law for the extinguishment of slavery was passed, there could not have been more than about 3500 slaves in the state, still nearly seventy years elapsed before it entirely disappeared from among us. It may be mentioned as a curious fact, that though the colored people numbered only about one- seventh of the whole population of the United States in 1850, yet in the year preceding the taking of the census, 318 of them died, while but 163 whites died, of the age of 100 years and upwards.
To show the difference in the increase of population in the agricultural and mining townships of Luzerne, we give the following statistics of townships, which were not divided between 1840 and 1850.
Agricultural Townships.
1840.
1850.
Fairmount,
594
958
Benton,
733
849
Huntington,
1510
1747
Salem,
1009
1130
3846
4684
Mining Townships.
1840.
1850.
Blakely,
570
1703
Hazel, including Hazelton,
895
2081
Providence, including Scranton, Hyde, Park, &c.,
· 1169
4469
2634
8253
·
.
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LUZERNE COUNTY.
The agricultural districts show an increase of less than 22 per cent., while the mining regions exhibit an increase exceeding 213 per cent., the latter being nearly ten times greater than the former.
In 1860 the population of the foregoing townships was as follows:
Agricultural Townships.
Fairmount,
1190
Benton, .
.
1150
Huntington,
.
1548
Salem,
1396
Mining Townships.
Blakely, .
3751
Hazel, including Hazelton,
5539
Providence, including Scranton, Hyde Park, &c.,
16,671
Thus from 1850 to 1860 the agricultural districts show an increase of 15 per cent., while the mining regions exhibit an increase of 300 per cent.
CHAPTER VI.
BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
THE original townships, laid out by the Susquehanna Land Company, are named on the accompanying county map in open letters, and their boundaries are designated by dotted lines. These were called Certified Townships, for the reason that the compromise law of 1799, and its supplements, required certificates to issue for purposes fully explained near the close of the chapter on the Pennamite and Yankee War.
In 1780, the Luzerne Court divided the county into eleven townships, namely : Wilkesbarre, Pittston, Han- over, Newport, Exeter, Plymouth, Kingston, Salem, Tioga, Wyalusing, and Tunkhannock. The three last embraced nearly all the territory included in Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties. The names of most of the original townships were retained, while others, as Bedford and Putnam, were dropped. The Connecticut or certified townships embraced only the best land, but the new division by the court extended the old lines, and included in each a portion of the more sterile and mountainous country.
By referring to the county map the reader may learn the location of every borough and township ; the names and number of post-offices; the canals; the common, turnpike, and railroads; and, by tracing the dotted lines, can ascertain what proportion, if any, of each township,
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
is embraced within the coal-fields. Descriptions of the mountains, rivers, creeks, lakes, and ponds, have been given in another portion of this work, and consequently will not be referred to in the following sketches of the boroughs and townships.
The order, as to time, in which the several boroughs and townships, now constituting Luzerne county, were formed, is as follows :-
1790, Wilkesbarre, Hanover, Newport, Pittston, Exeter, Kingston, Plymouth, and Salen.
1792, Nescopeck and Providence.
1793, Huntington.
1806, Abington, and Wilkesbarre borough.
1809, Sugarloaf.
1813, Union.
1816, Greenfield.
1817, Dallas.
1818, Blakely and Covington.
1829, Lehman.
1831, Carbondale.
1833, Buck.
1834, Fairmount.
1836, Jefferson.
1838, Benton and Lackawanna.
1839, Butler, Denison, and Hazel.
1840, Dorrance.
1841, Lake.
1842, Ross, and the borough of White Haven.
1843, Franklin.
1844, Newton and Jackson.
1845, Madison, Hollenback, and Fell.
1846, Scott.
1848, Black Creek.
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ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
1849, Ransom, and the borough of Providence.
1851, Plains, Wright, and the city of Carbondale.
1852, Jenkins, and the borough of Hyde Park.
1853, Springbrook, and Pittston borough.
1854, Slocum, and the borough of Waverly.
1855, Foster.
1856, Bear Creek, and boroughs of Scranton and Hazelton.
1857, West Pittston borough.
1858, Kingston borough.
1859, The borough of New Columbus.
1861, Shickshinny borough.
1862, Dunmore borough.
ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, which received its name from Abington, in Windham county, Connecticut, was formed from Tunkhannock township, in 1806. The first set- tlements were made by people from Connecticut and Rhode Island, in the year 1794. Among them was Ephraim Leach, who made a small clearing, and erected a log-cabin near where Humphreyville now stands, a neat village, containing about twenty dwellings. Stephen Parker and Thomas Smith, also, cleared land and erected cabins north of Humphreyville, and Deacon William Clark and his two sons reared their cabin at Clark's Green, now containing about twenty dwellings. Besides these, Job Tripp, Robert Stone, George Gardner, James Dean, Ezra Dean, and Mr. Wall, settled here in the same year. The first saw-mills were erected on branches of the Tunkhannock in 1806, by James Dean and Wil- liam Clark, and the first church was built in 1809. "We entered the wilderness," says Mr. Clark, " with our knap- sacks on our backs, our rifles and axes in our hands, and depended on game for food until we cleared, and raised corn, which we pounded in a wooden mortar, or conveyed on our backs through the woods to Slocum's mill, at what
1
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BOROUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.
is now Scranton." Mrs. William Clark was the first white woman in Abington, and the fifth was the wife of the Rev. John Miller. This township contains 41 square miles, two-thirds of which are cleared and culti- vated, and, with the exception of Huntington, sustains the best agricultural character of any township in the county. The land is rolling, and the timber generally is maple, hemlock, ash, and poplar. It produces excellent grass, and large quantities of butter are made here, a considerable portion of which is sent to New York city. Wheat, rye, corn, oats, &c., are raised, the chief market of which is the Lackawanna Valley. In this township are 4 churches, 3 grist-mills, 9 saw-mills, 4 stores, 1 carding-machine, and 3 taverns. Its population, in 1850, was 2886. (For 1860, see Appendix X.) In 1840, 335 persons were engaged in agriculture.
BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP was formed from portions of Wilkesbarre, Pittston, Buck, Plains, and Jenkins, in 1856. It was settled chiefly by Jerseymen. The first log-cabin was built in 1786, on the old Sullivan road, about nine miles from Wilkesbarre; and the second was erected by Arnold Colt, Esq., on the site of the tavern-stand now occupied by Jonathan Pursel, at the time Mr. Colt was constructing the Easton and Wilkesbarre turnpike. The first saw-mill was put up on Bear Creek, in 1800, and it was owned in 1807 by Oliver Helme. This is the largest township in the county, containing 67 square miles. Only one-twelfth part of it, however, is , culti- vated. Lofty mountains cross it, interspersed with fer- tile spots which produce oats, corn, and buckwheat. The inhabitants being chiefly engaged in the lumber trade, consume more than they raise. The dense forests of pine and hemlock afford ample ranges for deer and the black bear, from which last the creek and township derive
186
ANNALS OF LUZERNE COUNTY.
their name. It has 1 church, Methodist Episcopal, erected in 1857; 1 store, 1 tavern, and 8 saw-mills.
BENTON TOWNSHIP was formed from Nicholson in 1838, prior to the organization of Wyoming county. It was named in honor of Thomas H. Benton, United States Senator from Missouri. It was settled chiefly by emigrants from New England and New York. It contains 28 square miles, one-half of which is cultivated. Its timber is principally maple, hemlock, ash, and poplar. The land is rolling ; and while wheat, rye, corn, and oats are raised, it is well adapted to grazing. In course of time, it is pro- bable, some of the best dairy-farms in the country will be found in this township. Improved farms rate from $25 to $45 per acre. Its market is at Scranton and Car- bondale. Being an agricultural township, and undivided since the census of 1840, Benton will afford in 1860 fair data for comparing the increase of its population with that of the mining townships. The township contains 1 grist-mill, S saw-mills, 2 churches, and 2 taverns. Its population in 1840, was 733; and in 1850, it was 849. Benton Centre, located near the middle of the township, is a pleasant village of about 30 dwellings.
BLACK CREEK TOWNSHIP was formed, in 1848, from Sugarloaf. It was originally settled by farmers from Northampton county, between 1785 and 1790. Bernard Hutsinger, George Miller, Mr. Heaster, William Ritten- house, and William Idenes, were among the first who put up log-cabins in the township. Mr. Idenes erected the first saw-mill, in 1789 ; and Mr. Rittenhouse the first grist-mill, in 1795-both on Black Creek. The first church was erected in 1817. It contains 21 square miles, one-third of which is improved. Its timber is chiefly oak, chestnut, and hemlock. The land is roll- ing, and is adapted to wheat, rye, buckwheat, corn, and
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