Rotenburg d 10ten Maetrz 1856.
                                Rotenburg the 10th of March 1856.

     Lieber Bruder!
     Dear Brother,

So aber, naemlich d 10ten Maerz Abends
Anyway, namely on the 10th of March in the evening

6 Uhr     erhalte ich die Saemereien und
6 o'clock I receive   the seeds and

morgen fruehe um 6 Uhr            faehrt der HE.
in the morning early at 6 o'clock departs HE.

Holl von hier ab._ Nun muessen wir
Holl from here.    Now we have to

uns eilen, damit wir die Sachen einpacken
    hurry, so we can get the stuff packed up
                  (? get the affairs settled)

D-- Saame ist voriges Jahr nicht gut ge-
The seed      last    year did not thrive well

rathen, deshalb  ist er sehr theuer (?).  Es
         so (now) it is very expensive. There

folgen anbei:                2 Pfund  Tannensamen
follow herewith (?enclosed): 2 pounds fir-seed

a lb. 18 Sgr;                    2 Pfund Fichten Saamen a lb.
at    18 Silbergroschen a pound; 2 pounds pine seed     at

18 Sgr;                    1/4 MetzeEsparsette 4 Sgr;     1/4 Me-
18 Silbergroschen a pound; 1/4 butcher's aspen 4 Silbergroschen;

tze Sengfeng       saamen wiegt  5 pfund a lb 7 Sgr.
1/4 Metze Sengfeng seeds  weighs 5 pound at   7 Silbergroschen

8 Hlr.    thut im Ganzen 3 Schld    25 Sgr            8 Hllr.
8 Heller makes in all    3 Schilder 25 Silbergroschen 8 Heller.

die Du an den HE. Holl zu bezahlen hast
that you have to pay HE. Holl

Ausser dem habe ich fuer die zwei Sicheln
Outside of that I have for the two sickles

bezahlt, das heisst aus gelegt 12 Sgr. Fer-
paid,    meaning    spent      12 Silbergroschen. Moreover

ner habe ich das Kaestchen  zu diesem Zweck
    I have   the little box for this purpose

(next page)
geKauft und dafuer bezahlt 10 Sgr.
bought  and for that paid  10 Silbergroschen.

Die schwache Kropfreiser sind von den Mark
The weak crop-travelers (unlikely to travel well) are the pulpy

birnen und die starken sind Citronen Bir-
pears  and the strong are    citrus  pears.

nen.


NB. Ausserdem wuerde sich der HE Holl
    In addition would HE Holl

 fuer die Wege, die er hat machen muessen, Etwas
 for the errands, that he has had to make, have charged something

 mehr angerechnet haben.
 more.

  Als der HE. Holl hoerte, dass du solche Saemereine
  When HE Holl     heard,  that you such seeds

 haben wolltest, sagte er dass er auch fuer sich   solche
 wanted to have, he said that he  also for himself such

 Saemereine mitnehmen wollte          und erbot sich, sich
 seeds      wanted to take with (him) and volunteered personally

 nach solchem Saamen zu erkundigen.
 after such   seeds  to make inquiries.

  Jn groesster Eile geschrieben
  Written in a great hurry

                                        A. Dute.

Notes:  "Germans to America" says Heinrich Holl didn't get to New
York till January 1857. This letter says he left on March 11. The
voyage  across the Atlantic only took maybe 10 weeks then.  Maybe
he made two trips.
     Kevan of  Heritage  Consulting  who  helped  translate  this
letter says  a Schild  was a  large coin  of those  days, and  he
translates Silbergroschen as silver penny and Heller as farthing.
He also says that a Metze Esparsette is probably a local name for
a particular  kind of  aspen, and  that Metze Sengfeng is a local
name for  some other  kind of  tree. Regarding  pulpy  pears  and
citrus pears, he says "As with many older letters, one often ends
up with  regional names  which denote different types of an item,
in this case types of fruit."