VERMONT, one of the United States of North America, extends between 42° 44' and 45' N. lat., 71° 30' and 73° 25' W. long. It is bounded E. by the state of Now Hampshire ; N. by the British colony of Lower Canada; W. by the state of New York; and S. by Massachusetts. Its length from north to south is 167 miles, its breadth varies from 40 to 92 miles. area •ie 10,212 square miles.
The population iu ]830 was 314,120, of whom 718 were free coloured persons : the density of the population was 30.76 to a square mile. The inhabitants being all free the federal representative population is the game as the entire population in 1350; this, according to the present ratio of representation, entitles the state to send three repre sentatives to Congress. To the Senate, like each of the other United States, Vermont sends two members.
Surface and SoiL—The surface of Vermont is for the most part mountainous. Vermont in fact constitutes a part of tint irregular mountain region which extends over the greater part of the United States which lies east of the River Hudson, and of Lake Champlain. A range, called the Green Mountains, traverses the state from south to north, and is a continuation of that known in 31aasachusette as the floosie Mountains. They form a continuous ridge to near 44° N. let, where they divide into an eastern and a western branch. Up to this point, their width varies] between 10 and 15 miles. The highest summit Is Killington Peak, 3675 feet above the sea-level. The sum mite of the mountains are rocky, and only covered with winter grass and a spongy green most Their sides are covered with forests of evergreen-trees, especially pine, spruce, and hemlock, which near the base of the mountains attain large dimensions, but towards their summits are only from 2 to 3 feet in height. There are some good farina among the hills, and much excellent pasture-ground.
From the division of the range the mountain regiqn widens till between Richmond and Danville it occupies more than half the width of the country. Of the two branches the eastern ridge is the lowest ;
it forms the watershed between the basin of the Connecticut River and the streams which run eastward into Lake Champlain. In the western branch are the highest summits of the Green Mountains, Carnet's Rump, west of Montpelier and south of the river Onion, being 4188 feet, and Mount Mansfield, north of Montpelier, 4270 feet above the sea-level. Betwecu the mountains are valleys of considerable extent, well eheltered and of great fertility, their soil, the debris from the mountain., containing a large proportion of mould. 'I ho lower part of these northern mountains is covered with large trees, from which great quantities of pearlashes are obtained. The extreme north of the state is much' inferior in fertility to the region farther south. The valleys are rather narrow, and contain a comparatively small portion of cultivable land; but as the hills are not very steep or elevated, they are covered with tall forest-trees, and iu most place. sfford good pasture. The tract of country which lies between the eastern ridge and the Connecticut River is very billy and broken, aud is the least fertile part of the state. Its elevation above the sea-level can hardly he less than 1000 feet, and It has a bad climate and a poor soil, consisting mostly of rock. and coarse gravel.
The country surrounding the Green Mountains on the south is of indifferent quality. The soil is chiefly stony and gravelly, it is well drained; and it is much used as pasture-ground, for sheep. A large part is still covered with beech, sugar, maple, elm, oak, button-wood, base-wood, ash, and birch ; and a number of same are fed in the forests. In proceeding northward the country improves. The soil is less stony, and contains a larger proportion of loam or clay: along the banks of the Connecticut Meer some very fertile tracts occur. In these parts an isolated summit, Mount Ascutney, rises, near the town of Windsor, to 3320 feet above the sea-level.