LI E) RAR.Y OF THE U N I VERSITY Of ILLl NOIS 630.973 R56s v.a cop.S llllniiis Historical Sarvey Solon Robinson, about 1872 [Courtesy of Mrs. Jenny Gross, Orleans, Vermont] INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Volume XXII SOLON ROBINSON PIONEER AND AGRICULTURIST Volume II 1846-1851 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS I-II. Constitution Making in Indiana (Volumes I and II), by Charles Kettleborough. (The Introduction, covering the period from 1816 to 1916, was reprinted separately.) III. Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers, by Harlow Lindley IV. The Play Party in Indiana, by Leah Jackson Wolford V. The Indiana Centennial — 1916 VI. Gold Star Honor Roll VII. Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison (Volume I, Governors Messages and Letters), edited by Logan Esarey VIII. War Purse of Indiana, by Walter Greenough IX. Messages and Letters of William Henry Harrison (Volume II, Governors Messages and Letters), edited by Logan Esarey X. A Sergeant's Diary, by Elmer F. Straub (Out of Print) XI. George W. Julian, by Grace Julian Clarke (Out of Print) XII. Messages and Letters of Jennings, Boon and Hen- dricks (Volume III, Governors Messages and Letters), edited by Logan Esarey XIII. Swiss Settlement of Switzerland County, Indiana, by Perret Dufour XIV. William Henry Harrison, by Dorothy Burne Goebel XV. Fort Wayne, Gateway of the West, 1802-1813, edited by Bert J. Griswold XVI. A Bibliography of the Laws of Indiana, 1788-1927, by John G. Rauch and Nellie C. Armstrong XVII. Constitution Making in Indiana (Volume III), by Charles Kettleborough XVIII. Indiana Book of Merit, compiled by Harry A. Rider XIX. Indiana Boundaries. Territory, State, and County, by George Pence and Nellie C. Armstrong XX. The Laws of Indiana Territory, 1809-1816, edited by Louis B. Ewbank and Dorothy L. Riker, with a foreword by Governor Paul V. McNutt XXI. Solon Robinson, Pioneer and Agriculturist, 1825-1845 (Volume I), edited by Herbert A. Kellar STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Floyd I. McMurray, Superintendent INDIANA HISTORICAL BUREAU Christopher B. Coleman, Director Nellie C. Armstrong, Editor SOLON ROBINSON PIONEER and AGRICULTURIST SELECTED WRITINGS Edited by Herbert Anthony Kellar Director, McCormick Historical Association Chicago, Illinois VOLUME II 1846-1851 Published by the INDIANA HISTORICAL BUREAU Indianapolis 1936 Copyright, 1936 BY THE Indiana Historical Bureau State Department of Education FORT WAYNE: FORT WAYNE PRINTING CO., CONTRACTOR FOR STATE PRINTINO AND BINDING 193 6 L 30. 97-3 PREFACE AS THE numerous illusions, with which one begins the . joust with life, slowly vanish with the march of time, it is heartening to record that the fine courtesies of ^ the field of scholarship still abound and flourish. I allude ^ in particular to generous aid in identifying numerous persons referred to by Robinson in the years 1846 to 1851, given by Carl R. Woodward, of Rutgers Univer- sity; Julian P. Boyd, of the Historical Society of Penn- -sylvania; V. Alton Moody, of Iowa State College; Peter _ Nelson, of the Division of Archives and History of the "^ University of the State of New York; Charles Sackett Snydor, of the University of Mississippi; Wendell H. I Stephenson, John Andreassen, and E. Merton Coulter, of ^^^Louisiana State University ; W. H. Tayloe, of Uniontown, Alabama ; Marie B. Owen and Peter A. Brannon, of the Department of Archives and History, State of Alabama ; Kathryn T. Abbey, of the Florida State College for Women ; Dr. John F. Townsend and Theodore D. Jervey, of Charleston, South Carolina; D. D. Wallace, of Wofford College; A, R. Newsome, of the University of North Carolina; D. L. Corbitt, of the North Carolina Historical Commission; Wilmer L. Hall and Morgan Robinson, of the Virginia State Library; Frances M. Staton, of the Public Library of Toronto ; Fred Landon, of the Univer- sity of Western Ontario ; J. J. Talman, of the Provincial Archives, Toronto ; Pierre Georges Roy, of the Provincial Archives, Quebec; the staff of the Newberry Library of Chicago; and especially Walter Prichard, of Louisiana State University, who furnished information relative to some twenty-seven planters of his state. My sincere thanks for assistance in the preparation of the present volume are renewed to all the individuals and institutions to whom acknowledgment was made in Solon Robinson, Pioneer and Agriculturist , Volume L Herbert A. Kellar Chicago, Illinois July, 1936 vii CONTENTS— CALENDAR Documents — (Items printed in this volume are starred.) Page 1846 Jan. ? *"Scraps from My Note Book.— No. 2." Cherokee Rose and Michigan Rose. American Agriculturist, 5:90-91 (Mar., 1846) 3 Mar. 20 Letter to W. G. and G. W. Ewing. Regarding land owned by Swings in Lake and Porter counties. Ewing Manuscripts Mar. "A New Arithmetical Sum." Prairie Farmer, 6:151 (May, 1846) Mar. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "A Review of the March No. of the Agriculturist." American Agriculturist, 5:159-60 (May, 1846) Mar. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "A Review of the March No. of the Agriculturist.— No. 2." Ihid., 5:179-81 (June, 1846) Mar. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "A Review of the March No. of the Agriculturist.- No. 3." Ihid., 5:219-23 (July, 1846) Apr. 9 *"Scraps from My Note Book. — No. 3." Mark Cockrill's sheep farm. Ihid., 5 :211-13 (July, 1846) . 5 Apr. ? *"Fence and Other Matters." Prairie Farmer, 6:151-53 (May, 1846) 11 Apr. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "A Review of the April No. of the Agriculturist." American Agriculturist, 5:243- 46 (Aug., 1846) May 15 *"Practical Facts about Pork and Bacon." Ihid., 5:282 (Sep., 1846) 17 Aug. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of the August No. of the Agriculturist." Ihid., 5:347-49 (Nov., 1846) Sep. ? *Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of the September No. of the Agriculturist." Ihid., 5:374-79 (Dec, 1846) 20 Oct. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of October No. of the Agriculturist." Ihid., 6:125-27 (Apr., 1847) Dec. 23 "More Facts about Pork and Bacon." Ihid., 6:63 (Feb., 1847) Dec. ? *Reviewer [RoVjinson], "Review of the November and December Nos. of the Agriculturist." Ibid., 6:155-57 (May, 1847) 39 X INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Page 1847 Jan. "A Cheap Farm-House." American Agriculturist, 6:216-18 (July, 1847) Jan. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of January No. of the Agriculturist." Ibid., 6:188-90 (June, 1847) Feb. ? *"Warming Houses with 'Hot Air' and Stoves." Prairie Farmer, 7:85 (Mar., 1847) 49 Feb. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of the February No. of the Agricultiu-ist." American Agriculturist, 6:208-11 (July, 1847) Mar. ? "A Buckeye and Hoosier Correspondence. Quite Original and Rather Amusing than Otherwise." Daily Cincinnati Gazette, Mar. 15, 1847 Mar. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of March No. of the Agriculturist." American Agriculturist, 6:243-45 (Aug., 1847) Apr. 25 "Comparative Weight of Pork and Bacon." Ibid., 6:186-87 (June, 1847) Apr. ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of the April No. of the Agriculturist." Ibid., 6:282-84 (Sep., 1847) Apr. ? *"A Lecture upon the Early History of Lake Co., Ind." Amos Allman Collection 50 May 24 Letter to W. G. and G. W. Ewing. Concerning land in Lake County. Ewing Manuscripts May 26?*"Temperance Song. A new version of 'Come, come away.' " Western Ranger, Valparaiso, May 26, 1847 84 May 27 *Letter to Dr. John Locke. "A Rambling Letter upon Geology and some other Matters." Daily Cin- cinnati Gazette, June 14, 1847 85 May ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of the May Number of the Agriculturist." American Agriculturist, 6:309-10 (Oct., 1847) Jime """Odds and Ends from an Odd End." Prairie Farm^, 7:204-5 (July, 1847) 89 Jime ? Reviewer [Robinson], "Review of June Number of the Agriculturist." American Agriculturist, 6:349- 51 (Nov., 1847) July 20 Letter to W. G. Ewing. Concerning sale of land to George Earle. Ewing Manuscripts July *"Western Agriculture — Corn Cobs." American Agriculturist, 6:338-39 (Nov., 1847) 96 Aug. 11? Letter to editors. Formation of agricultural associa- tions; importance of general diffusion of agricul- tural information. Western Ranger, Valparaiso, Aug. 11, 1847 CONTENTS— CALENDAR xi Page Aug. 31 Letter to W. G. Ewing. Concerning sale of land to George Earle. Offer for other property. Ewing's defeat as candidate for Congress. Ewing Manu- scripts Sep. 23 Letter to W. G. Ewing. Concerning land in Lake County, taxes, etc. Ibid. Dec. 14?*"Free Homesteads." Indiana State Sentinel (tri- weekly), Dec. 14, 1847 101 848 Jan. 15 *"Fences a Direct Tax to the Farmer." American Agriculturist, 7 :87 (Mar., 1848) 107 Jan. 26? Letter to editor on "Gambling and Drinking." West- em Ranger, Jan. 26, 1848 Feb. 10 Letter to W. G. Ewing. Comment on route of rail- road from Michigan City to Chicago; land in Lake County. Ewing Manuscripts Feb. 15 *"Choice of Trees and Shrubs for Cities and Rural Towns." A7iierican Agricidturist, 7:114 (Apr., 1848) 109 Mar. *"Cheese Making." Ibid., 7:211 (July, 1848) Ill July 10 "Plantation Tools." /feid., 7:270-71 (Sep., 1848) July *"Experiments among Farmers." Ibid., 7:282 (Sep., 1848) Ill Sep. *"Ventilation Essential to Health." Ibid., 7:335 (Nov., 1848) 112 Oct. 28 *Letter warning purchasers of canal lands to beware of speculators. Western Ranger, '^ov. 17, IMS. .. . 113 Nov. 14 *"Agricultural Tour South and West. No. 1." In- diana, Illinois, Missouri. American Agriculturist, 8:18-20 (Jan., 1849) 115 Nov. 22 *"Agricultural Tour South and We.st. No. 2." St. Louis to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Ibid., 8:51-53 (Feb., 1849) 124 Nov. ? *"The Pumpkin Dance and Moonlight Race. One of the Western Border Tales." Daily Cincinnati Ga- zette, Dec. 2, 1848 131 Dec. 8 *"Agricultiu-al Tour South and West.— No. 3." Mississippi. American Agriculturist, 8:90-92 (Mar., 1849) 135 Dec. 9-15*"Agricultural Tour South and West.— No. 4." Mississippi and Louisiana. Written Jan. 12, 1849. Ibid., 8:117-19 (Apr., 1849) 146 Dec. 15 *Visit to General Zachary Taylor at New Orleans. Daily Cincinnati Gazette, Jan. 4, 1849 155 Dec. 15 - *"Agricultural Tour South and West.— No. 5." Lou- 19 isiana. American Agriculturist, 8:143-44 (May, 1849) 158 xii INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Page Dec. 28 *"Agricultural Tour South and West.— No. 6." Louisiana. American Agriculturist, 8:177-79 (June, 1849) 163 Dec. 29 *"Agricultural Tour South and West.— No. 7." Louisiana. Ibid., 8:219-20 (July, 1849) 171 1849 Jan. 12 *"Agncultural Tour South and West.— No. 4." Mississippi, Louisiana. Ibid., 8:117-19 (Apr., 1849) 146 Jan. 16 *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — ^No. 8." Louisiana. Ibid., 8:252-54 (Aug., 1849) 178 Jan. 24 *"Mr. Robinson's Tour.— No. 9." Louisiana. Ibid., 8:283-84 (Sep., 1849) 185 Jan. ? "The Sugar Crop." Farmer and Mechanic, 3:204 (Apr., 1849), from the New Orleans Picayune. Feb. 11 *"High Water in the Lower Mississippi — Prospect of an Overflow — Present Sugar Crop — Effect of High Water upon the next Crop, &c." Daily Cincin- nati Gazette, Feb. 28, 1849 191 Feb. 16 *"Frost and Snow at New Orleans." American Agri- culturist, 8:125-26 (Apr., 1849) 194 Feb. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 10." Louisiana. Ibid., 8:314-16 (Oct., 1849) 195 Feb. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 11." Louisiana. Ibid., 8:337-38 (Nov., 1849) 201 Mar. 25 *"Recipes for the Ladies." Ibid., 8:161 (May, 1849) 205 Mar. 27 '^"Alabama Wheat— Early Corn, etc." Ibid., 8:183 (June, 1849) 206 Apr. 8 *"Facts in Natural History." Ibid., 8:194 (June, 1849) 207 Apr. 29 *"Manufactuiing in the South." Cotton. National Intelligencer (triweekly), May 10, 1849 210 Apr. *"A Few More Trifles for the Ladies." American Agriculturist, 8:193 (June, 1849) 214 May 6 *"Cotton Manufacturing at the South." Ibid., S -.212- 13 (July, 1849) 215 May 9 *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 12." North CaroUna. Written Oct. 6, 1849. Ibid., 8:366-67 (Dec, 1849) 219 May 13ff.*"Mr. Robinson's Tour.— No. 12 [13]." North Caro- lina. Written Nov. 7, 1849. Ibid., 9:27-29 (Jan., 1850) 223 May ? *"Farm of Mr. Bolhiig, in Virginia." Ibid., 8:254-55 (Aug., 1849) 231 June 3 *Letter to Leila Robinson describing visit to Mount Vernon. Daily Cincinnati Gazette, June 13, 1849. . 235 June 4 *"What Does it Cost a Pound to Grow Cotton?" Weekly National Intelligencer, June 9, 1849 240 CONTENTS— CALENDAR xiii Page June 7 *"Visit to Col. Capron's." Maryland. American Agriculturist, 8:250 (Aug., 1849) 245 June 10 Letter to Samuel Sands, Delaware. "A New Drill, or ^^'lleat Sowing Machine." American Farmer, 4th series, 5:22 (July, 1849) July 10 *"A FUght Through Connecticut." American Agri- culturist, 8:321-22 (Oct., 1849) 247 Aug. ? *"Negro Slavery at the South." An extended essay on the slavery question. De Bow's Revieiv, 7:206-25, 379-89 (Sep. and Nov., 1849) 253 Oct. 2 *"FUght Through Connecticut, Continued." A?neri- can Agriculturist, 8:346-47 (Nov., 1849) 307 Oct. 6 *"Mr. Robinson's Tour.— No. 12." North CaroUna. Covering May 9, 1849. Ihid., 8:366-67 (Dec, 1849) 219 Oct. 25 *"A FUght Through Massachusetts." Ihid., 8:372-73 (Dec, 1849) 310 Oct. 27 *"Benefit of Railroads to Agriculture." The New- York and Erie Railroad. Ibid., 9:58-59 (Feb., 1850) 314 Nov. 7 *"Mr. Robinson's Tour.— No. 12 [13]." North Caro- lina. Covering May 13 and following. Ibid., 9:27- 29 (Jan., 1850) 223 Nov. ? *"The Traveller. — No. 1." New Jersey. Ihid., 9:107-8 (Apr., 1850) 319 Nov. ? *"The Traveller.— No. 2." Delaware. Ihid., 9:138 (May, 1850) 326 Nov. ? *"The Traveller.— No. 3." Delaware, /bid., 9:298-99 (Oct., 1850) 329 Dec. 18?*"A Plain Talk — Agricultural Resources of Lower Virginia." Richmond Inquirer, Dec. 21, 1849, from the Norfolk Beacon, Dec. 18, 1849 334 Dec. 20 *"Agricultural Talk" made before members of Virginia legislature. Ihid., Dec. 25, 1849 338 Dec. 24?*Letter to Richmond Enquirer suggesting subjects for agricultural discussions. Ihid., Dec. 25, 1849 340 Undated Robinson business card. Lists various activities in which he was engaged. Harry Robinson Strait Collection 1850 Jan. 27 *"To a Connecticut Farmer." Am,erican Agricul- turist, 9:95-96 (Mar., 1850) 342 Jan. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour — No. 14." South Carolina. Ihid., 9:49-51 (Feb., 1850) 344 Jan. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 15." South CaroUna. Ihid., 9:93-95 (Mar., 1850) 349 xiv INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Page Feb. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 16." Georgia. American Agriculturist, 9:118-19 (Apr., 1850) 355 Feb. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour.— No. 17." North Carolina. Ibid., 9:148-49 (May, 1850) 359 Mar. ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 18." Governor Aiken's rice plantation, South Carolina. Ibid., 9:187-88 (June, 1850) 364 May 9 *Letter to Mari ah Robinson. Strait Collection 369 May ? *"Yaupon Tea." American Agric^dturist, 9:194-95 (June, 1850) 370 May ? *"Benefit of Guano." Ibid., 9:202-3 (July, 1850) 372 June 22 Letter to Charles T. Robinson. Strait Collection June ? *"North-Carolina Farming." Atnerican Agriculturist, 9:205 (July, 1850) 378 June ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 19." Sea-Island cotton planting. South CaroUna. Ibid., 9:206-7 (July, 1850) 378 June ? *"How Much Lime Will an Acre of Land Bear without Injury?" Ibid., 9:207 (July, 1850) 383 June ? *"Easy Method of Drawing Water from a Deep Well." Ibid., 9:207 (July, 1850) 384 June ? *"A Virginia Housewife." Ibid., 9:227 (July, 1850). . 385 June ? "New Patents." Machines for lightening housework. Ibid., 9:227 (July, 1850) June ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour — No. 20." South CaroUna railroads. Ibid., 9:255-56 (Aug., 1850) 386 July 17 ""'Wheat Versus Cattle; Which is the most profitable for the Western Farmer?" Prairie Farmer, 10:278-79 (Sep., 1850) 393 July ? *"A Specimen of Agricultural Knowledge — Are Corn Cobs Good Manure?" American Agriculturist, 9:250 (Aug., 1850) 396 July ? *"Mr. Robinson's Tour. — No. 21." Virginia fencing. Ibid., 9:289-90 (Sep., 1850) 398 Aug. 19 *"Sketches of Canada." Ibid., 9:307-9 (Oct., 1850). . 400 Aug. 20 *"Sketches of Canada." Ibid., 9:343 (Nov., 1850). . . 408 Aug. 21 *"Jeflfer son-County Dairy Farming." New York. Ibid., 9:331-32 (Nov., 1850) 411 Aug. ? *"Further Notes on Jefferson County." New York. Ibid., 9:372 (Dec, 1850) 416 Aug. ? ""'Connecticut Farming — Reverse of the Picture." Ibid., 9:266-67 (Sep., 1850) 418 Aug. ? *"The Sense of Smell." Ibid., 9:283-84 (Sep., 1850). . 422 Oct. 20 *Letter to Leila Robinson. Strait Collection 426 Oct. ? ""'Storing Turnips and Other Roots for Winter." American Agriculturist, 9:347 (Nov., 1850) 428 CONTENTS— CALENDAR xv Page Nov. 13 *"The Great Poultry Show at Boston." Ibid., 10:27- 29 (Jan., 1851) 430 Nov. 14 *"Hen Show and Hen Fever." Ibid., 10:56-58 (Feb., 1851) 434 Nov. *"A Day in Westchester County." New York. Ibid., 10:31-32 (Jan., 1851) 437 Nov. ? "Cattle Shows and Fairs." /6id., 9:377-78 (Dec, 1850) Nov. ? *"Carts, Drays, and Other Things." Ibid., 9:370 (Dec, 1850) 440 Nov. ? *"New-York Markets.— No. l.'7&id., 10:77-78 (Mar., 1851) 443 Dec. 16 *Affidavit for W. G. and G. W, Ewing regarding In- dian reserve in Lake County for 0-kee-chee. Ewing Manuscripts 446 Dec. 25 *"The Traveller.— No. 4." New York to Charles- ton. American Agriculturist, 10:91-93 {Ma,T., 1851) 448 Dec. ? "Editor's Table." Awards at State Fair at Albany, N. Y.; Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution; Dwarf Cherry Trees; Downing's Country Houses. Ibid., 9:381 (Dec, 1850) 1851 Jan. 6 *"Georgia Burr Millstones." Ibid., 10:86-87 (Mar., 1851) 454 Jan. ? *"Salt for Cattle and Sheep." Ibid., 10:63 (Feb., 1851) 456 Jan. ? *"The Traveller.- No. 5." Georgia and Florida. Ibid., 10:147-49 (May, 1851) 457 Mar. 9?*"The Traveller.— No. 6." Florida and Georgia. IMd., 10:234-36 (Aug., 1851) 463 Mar. 17?*"The TraveUer.— No. 7." Georgia. Ibid., 10:308-9 (Oct., 1851) 470 Mar. 19?*"The Traveller.— No. 8." Georgia. Ibid., 10:335-36 (Nov., 1851) 474 Mar. 23 *Letter to Mrs. Mariah Robinson. Strait Collection.. 479 Mar. 24?*"The Traveller. — No. 9." Georgia. American Agri- culturist, 10:373-74 (Dec, 1851) 480 Mar. ? "Plant Trees." /bid., 10:111 (Apr., 1851) Mar. ? "Curious Facts in Vegetable Physiology." Ibid., 10:114 (Apr., 1851) Apr. 13 *Letter to Leila Robinson. Strait Collection 483 Apr. 14 *"How to Use Guano." Southern Cultivator, Augusta, Ga., 9:70-71 (May, 1851) 484 Apr. 27 *Letter to Leila Robinson. Strait Collection 488 May 22 *"Benefit of Deep Plowing." Southern Cultivator, 9:114 (Aug., 1851), from the Soil of the South 491 May ? *"A Virginia Plantation." Sabine Hall. American Agriculturist, 10:209-10 (July, 1851) 493 xvi INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Page June ? "Guano — How Used in Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware." American Agriculturist, 10:208 (July, 1851) July ? *"Goth8 and Vandals vs. Shade Trees." Ibid., 10:237- 38 (Aug., 1851) 495 July ? *"Strawberries — The Secret of Growing this Fruit Six Months Continuously," as practiced by Charles F. Peabody of Columbus, Ga. Ibid., 10:253 (Aug., 1851) 497 July ? Letter to Wilmington (North Carolina) Commercial calling attention to the fact that straw braidwork for bonnets can be made of common long-leaf pine. Extract in Daily Cincinnati Gazette, Aug. 5, 1851 Aug. ? *"A Farmer's Ivitcken of Old Times in New England." American Agriculturist, 10:298-99 (Oct., 1851) 499 Oct. 16 Letter to Leila Robinson. Strait Collection Nov. 11 *Letter to Board of Commissioners, Lake County. Requesting payment for room used by Robinson as county clerk's office, 1837-1844. Ibid 503 Nov. 13 Letter to J. S. Holton, Crown Point, instructing him to collect and send to New York all money due Robinson in Lake County. Ibid. Nov. ? *"New York Markets. — No. 2." American Agricul- turist, 10:364-65 (Dec, 1851) 504 Nov. ? *"An Old-Fashioned New England Farm House." Ibid., 10:368-69 (Dec, 1851) 508 Dec. ? *"Sketches of Canada." The Ploiv, 1:20-21 (Jan., 1852) 510 Undated Northern Almanac (1851) Undated The Planters' Pictorial Almanac (1851) Bibliography 515 Index 535 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Solon Robinson, about 1872. Courtesy of Mrs. Jenny- Gross, Orleans, Vermont Frontispiece Pennock's Patent Seed and Grain Planter. From Balti- more American Farmer, July, 1850 28 Robinson Account Book, 1845-1846 40 Types of Hogs. From One Hundred Years' Progress of the United States, pp. 61, 62, Hartford, 1870 122 New Orleans, about 1850. From American Historical Prints. . . from the Phelps Stokes and other Collections, New York Public Library, 1932 170 Cotton Plantation in South Carolina 212 The Turpentine Industry. From One Hundred Years' Progress of the United States, p. 95 222 Tumbledown Mansion — The House of Farmer Slack. From The Plow, April, 1852, p. 121 308 House of Farmer Snug. From The Plow, April, 1852, p. 120 332 Solon Robinson, 1854 404 Hen Show and Hen Fever. From American Agriculturist, February, 1851, p. 56 434 The Plow 488 Old Fashioned Farm House 509 xvu DOCUMENTS [Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization used in manuscript and printed s-^urces have been retained. No attempt has been made to reproduce type fonts.] Scraps from My Note Book. — No. 2. [New York American Agriculturist, 5:90-91; Mar., 1846] [January ?, 1846] The Cherokee Rose^ Hedge. — South of Natchez, for miles, I rode between continuous lines of hedges of the "Cherokee, or nondescript rose," then, March 1st, in full bloom, of pure white fragrant flowers, single, with bright yellow centres, and rich bright green foliage, that gave the whole a most lovely appearance; but the beauty of the scene was greatly marred by the fact that blossoms and foliage could not disguise that the whole was in a most slovenly state of keeping; for the long straggling runners have grown up some ten feet high, and bend over upon each side, till the fence is often 25 or 30 feet wide, and owing to the hardness and sharpness of the briars, is as impenetrable as a stone wall for all kinds of stock, negroes included. Dr. Phillips^ and Mr. Affleck,^ who were my travelling companions, assured me that a good fence could be made in four years from the cuttings of this plant, and that by proper attention every year, it can be kept within reason- able bounds. I did not, however, see an instance where it was. I saw many places where the runners had climbed up some convenient tree at least thirty feet. To get a fence started is a very easy matter, as it is only to take those long runners and cut them up with a hatchet on a block, into slips about a foot long, and lay these in a furrow, with one end out, and tread the earth down tight; it will be a rare thing if they fail to grow. Though, whether from failure to grow, or from being ^ A Chinese climbing rose (Rosa laevigata). The fragrant white blossom of this plant is the state flower of Georgia. 'See Solon Robiyison, Pioneer and Agriculturist, l:465n and Index (Indiana Historical Collections, volume 21, Indianapolis, 1936). "/bid., l:213n and Index. (3) 4 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS killed by frost, or something else, I observed in all these hedges, the same unsightly gaps that mark nearly all the live fences in the United States. These frequent gaps in the hedge are filled up vi^ith one, two, three, or perhaps a dozen pannels of rail fence, and in the joining together of the live and dead fence, holes are very apt to be left, through which that animal which strange man permits to run at large, to the eternal torment of himself and neigh- bors, will be very likely to insinuate his porkship about "roasting ear time." "But why don't they fill up these gaps with new sets, if it is so easily done?" Exactly the question that I will answer after the most approved Yankee fashion, by asking why we are not civi- lized. Christianized, rationalized enough to enact laws, or rather to repeal all laws, all over the Union, that compel one man to fence against every other man's cattle, some of which nothing but a Cherokee rose hedge would stop, and even that must be free from gates, bars, or gaps? And again, "if this hedge can be kept from spreading so as not to occupy four acres of land in every mile of length, and it makes such a beautiful as well as efficient fence, why is it not more extensively used? Exactly the other question that I will answer after the same approved fashion, by inquiring why you — "ivhat me ?" — Oh, yes — you are the very man I mean — I want to inquire if you love peaches, apples, grapes, and other fruit? "Why, certainly." Well, the hedge is not planted just for the same reason that you have never planted fruit trees and vines. "And how far north will this rose flourish?" I cannot say ; but I believe that it would be dangerous to rely upon it north of latitude 33°. Major Green, of Madison County, latitude 321/2°, told me that he had 60 or 70 yards of Cherokee rose hedge growing very thriftily around his yard, in the winter of 1831-2, and nearly the whole of it froze to death. In the spring he cut it all off, and but here and there a sprout came up. His house SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 5 stands on a high piece of ground — the soil, reddish yellow clay — timber, mostly black oak, rather scrubby. Whether this has any influence, or whether this plant will answer for fences further north, I cannot say; but I do say to those living further south, it is well worth your attention, and you ought to try it forthwith.^ And as your paper, Mr. Editor, circulates so extensively at the South, if some of your southern correspondents would give you an article every month upon this subject, it would not be too much of a good thing. It is also worth the trial whether the "Michigan Rose"^ will answer a good purpose at the North for hedging. Here, upon the prairies of the North West, where it is supposed there is no timber, fencing material is alto- gether too plenty and cheap to think of using hedges yet awhile. But as we contrive to burn up what rails we have once a year, we shall soon come to the necessity perhaps. SoLON Robinson. Scraps from My Note Book. — No. 3. [New York American Agriculturist, 5:211-13; July, 1846] [April 9, 1846] Mr. Cockrill's Sheep. — This is the ninth of April (1846) , a clear bright morning, but the ground is frozen stiff, and so it was one year ago this day, but it was not so where I then was, 500 miles south, but there it was cold enough to kill nearly all the peaches in the Ohio valley, and much other fruit, and some wheat. These reminiscences are now called to mind, because this is the anniversary of my visit tothe"Tennessee Shep- * Philips believed that, except in an extraordinarily cold winter, the Cherokee rose would thrive at least as far as 34° north, and would probably outlive the American agave, Bengal rose, and oth- ers. He described his method of filling gaps in hedges. American Agriculturist, 5:210-11 (July, 1846). * The prairie rose, a climbing vine (Rosa setigera) usually hav- ing trifoliolate leaves and large deep pink flowers. Among several cultivated varieties, the Baltimore Belle is notable. 6 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS herd ;" a title which some of the readers of the American Agriculturist need not to be told belongs to Mark R. Cock- rill. Mr. Cockrill's sheep walk is at and near his residence, seven miles west of Nashville, the drive to which is over one of the fine smooth Macadamized turnpikes which lead out of that city of rocks in every direction. He was born on the banks of the Cumberland River, near the place where he now lives, some fifty-seven years ago, at which time all the uncultivated land in that region was filled with immense cane-brakes, intersected here and there with buffalo roads and Indian trails, upon which some of the early settlers paid a higher toll than we do now upon these paved ones. Mr. Cockrill is one of those western woodsmen that in his young days could outrun an Indian, or outclimb a bear. He is medium size, spare built, "smart as a steel trap," with a great flow of pleas- ing conversation, and unbounded hospitality, and in whose family the visitor cannot but feel at home and comfort- able. He owns sixteen hundred acres of land, mostly very rough limestone hills, in places almost, and occasionally, quite bare of soil; and a small tract of very rich river bottom (interval) land. Fifteen hundred acres (counting the bare rocks), and including the woodland, are in grass, the most of which is Kentucky blue grass. He usually plants about 50 acres of corn, which affords him as much as he needs. The corn land is exceedingly rich natural soil, on the banks of Richland Creek, near the Cumberland. The land occupied by Mr. C, is composed of twelve dif- ferent farms, which he has bought up since 1835, at which time there were not ten acres of cultivated grasses upon the whole ; and if the farms ever were good, it was long time ago, neither are the buildings worth bragging about. The fact is, he has been so intent upon providing pastur- age and accumulating acres, that with the personal atten- tion that he pays to his flocks, together with the care of 2,000 acres of cotton plantations in Mississippi, upon which he works 135 hands, he finds little time to devote to ornamental improvement. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 7 When I was there, his flock, as I stated in the March No.,^ consisted of 1,400 fine- woolled, and 600 long-woolled, and, all things considered — that is, quality of wool, weight of fleeces, size and healthiness of sheep, long life and pro- ductiveness of lambs, I think cannot be excelled in the United States. He also had forty head of very fine Dur- ham and grade cattle, none of which were less than three- fourths blood, and some of them were very valuable milk- ers:— 30 jennies, breeding from a fine blood horse — one of the jennies is the biggest animal of the kind I ever saw — keeps about 30 high-bred horses and brooding mares, upon which he serves his big jack, and raises fine mules, one of which at work in his team is about 17 hands high, and heavy in proportion. His stock is all first-rate, except hogs, and not one of them will he keep on his place — because hogs will eat lambs. And if you ask why he don't keep them shut up in the pen, I can tell you that restraining the liberty of a hog in that despotic manner, is contrary to the free institutions of the Southern and Western States. His flocks were at grass when I was there, but in the great drouth then prevailing, his land was overstocked and the feed poor ; but he intended to shear his long wool in a few days, and start them for Mississippi, which would give him more room and feed at home. Mr. C. as- sured me that he takes care of this farm and stock with four field hands, assisted occasionally by some female house servants. But the wonder is accomplished by the never-tiring vigilance of the active master. I have never seen a shepherd more devoted to his business. There are few old sheep that he does not know by name on descrip- tion, and can name the quality of the fleece. And he pointed out to me several ewes which I judge were Saxon Merino, that were part of five hundred lambs got by one ram in 1826, which I think a very extraordinary perform- ance. It was accomplished by keeping the ram up, and very judiciously fed, and serving him only once to each ^ See Robinson, 1:549. 8 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS ewe, which was then immediately removed. Some of these nineteen-year old ewes had fine healthy lambs by their side. The foddering season where Mr. Cockrill lives, which is about latitude 36°, does not average over three months a year. He feeds hay, millet, oats in sheaf, corn fodder, and a moderate supply of Southern corn, by one gill a day, which Mr. Allen says in his note to my article in the March No., is not so oily as Northern corn. At any rate, Mr. Cockrill finds it good feed for his sheep, and is well paid for feeding a moderate supply, by an increased quantity and quality of wool, besides the advantage of having the ewes in fine condition at the lambing season, which is in April, and after the grass has got a good start. A visit to the old shepherd is not only pleasant but profit- able. I have scarcely spent a day more satisfactorily than while riding one of his beautiful blood horses over his place, and examining his flocks, and listening to the interesting and instructive conversation of one of so much experience and good sense. Mr. Cockrill has a number of sheep which he drove when he moved his flock from Tennessee to Mississippi. In 1835 he sold his cotton plantation with the intention of quitting the business, and following that of wool-grow- ing solely, and brought up his flock and drove them to Lexington, Ky., in search of a home, which he did not find to suit himself, until he returned to his own native hills on the Cumberland. Notwithstanding all this driving in a warm climate and hot summer, he takes pride in the fact that some of his sheep on exhibition, won the prize cup, over some of the pampered flock of Henry Clay and other wool-growers of Kentucky, that fall. His original fine-woolled sheep are from a Saxony importation of 1824. His fine clip of 1844 averaged 621/0 cents a pound, and was sold for shipment to France. He has some sheep which he has made by crossing Saxony and Bakewell to- gether, that for long silky fleeces exceed anything I have ever seen. All the long-woolled sheep are sheared twice SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 9 a year. In Mississippi, about 5 or 6 degrees farther south, both fine and coarse-woolled sheep are sheared twice a year. Mr. C. still prefers that country to grow wool, but not for his family residence, and he says what I have often said, that no man can succeed with sheep who de- pends upon his negroes — the master himself must be the slave. And this is why he keeps his flock in Tennessee instead of Mississippi ; not on account of the sheep-family, but his own. The grasses cultivated for hay are timothy, orchard and blue grass, and clover. The soil, as I have said, is strong limestone, and supported a natural growth of large timber, of oak, elm, sugar-tree, walnut, ash, hack- berry, poplar, hickory, &c. Fencing timber is already becoming scarce, but whenever they shall learn how to build stone fences, they have the material in great abun- dance. Mr. C. trains his sheep not to jump, and if they were not so, his fences would not restrain them. The object Mr. C. has in view in sending the long-woolled sheep to Mississippi, instead of the fine-woolled ones, is, that he intends to feed his negroes largely upon the heavy, fat mutton of this breed, and use the wool for negro clothing. By shearing them twice a year, their fleeces do not become burthensome, and the gain upon shearing twice a year instead of once, he finds to be fully 15 per cent. Mr. Cockrill keeps his sheep in moderate sized flocks, in summer as well as winter, with the rams always separate. I mentioned his manner of feeding in the March No., upon the ground, without rack or trough ; and I am well satisfied that it is not the slovenly way that some of your Eastern readers will be inclined to think it is. It is the natural way for the animal to pick up its food from the ground, and by the manner of feeding in alternate lots, so that the hay is laid upon the ground before the sheep are let in, they do not waste it. There is another advan- tage, the seed does not get in the wool as it does from racks. 10 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS It must not be supposed, because the land of Mr. C. is hilly and rocky, that it is never muddy. You, Mr. Editor, can endorse for me when I say that no land in the world can exceed some of the steep side hills of the West, that are apparently half stone, for deep sticky mud. But by shifting the feeding ground and giving plenty of room, the sheep can be kept out of the mud. There is a great error prevailing in the West, in my opinion, in confining sheep in winter in too close quarters. Give them a chance to range and browse and get their noses to the ground. They will be more healthy. Mr. Cockrill thinks it a great folly to keep a large capital in Tennessee invested in "woolly heads," when "woolly backs" afford so much bet- ter returns of interest. In fact, he is well satisfied, and so am I, that the raising of cotton so far north, will not pay any interest upon the capital investment. Indeed, taking the United States altogether, it is doubtful whether it does. Mr. Cockrill has had a large experience in both kinds of business — raising cotton and wool; and has a very large capital now invested in both branches, and he is confident that wool-growing in Mississippi would be bet- ter than cotton, at present prices. His figures are, that he owns 2,000 acres of first quality of cotton land in Madison County, Mississippi, and with his 135 negroes, he made in 1844, 1,035 bales, not quite 8 bales to the hand, which is more than an average crop, and which will not average over 5 cents a pound, is $20 a bale, exclusive of freight, commissions, and stealings. Besides the land and working hands, there is a large sum invested in teams and implements, and supernumerary negroes, besides a great outlay for medicine, clothing, and provisions, over and above what is produced upon the plantation. In fact, some plantations fall short of 8 bales to the hand, and make no clothing and provisions, but buy everything. I have stated the quantity of land and flocks and hands upon the sheep farm. These 2,000 head of sheep will produce $2,000 worth of wool a year at least, SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 11 besides all the profit of the other stock mentioned. It is easy to see which capital pays the best interest. Why, then, does he continue the cotton business? — simply, be- cause he has not been able to get rid of it. He sold out when the business was much better than it is now, but the purchaser failed, and he had to take back the whole again. If Mr. Cockrill would tell us his experience, it would be far more valuable to your readers than these scraps and items which I have picked up by the way. I have some more scraps of interesting matter in my notes which I have taken during my travels that I may be able to give you at a future day. Solon Robinson. Fence and Other Matters, by solon robinson. [Chicago Prairie Farmer, 6:151-53; May, 1846] [April ?, 1846] Messrs. Editors: Although I do not intend to com- mence the office of 'commentator,' yet I am tempted to comment a little upon some articles in late numbers of your paper. And I will commence with that in the last number upon 'Fencing the Prairie, by Mr. Kennicut.'^ It is one of the most sensible, plain, common sense articles you ever pub- lished. It is passing strange that such men as Mr. K. and every other sensible man that reads such articles as that do not become completely disgusted with our whole system of fencing, and have their eyes opened to the enormous and unjust tax annually levied upon industry in fencing against "other folks' cattle" ; but time alone can correct this evil, and only when our fertile prairies are needed to raise sustenance to a population as dense as that of China perhaps — for the means and method of fencing these ^ Hiram Kennicut, of Wheeling, Cook County, Illinois, writer of a series of articles for the Prairie Farmer on fencing, prairie breaking, plowing, and wool growing. 12 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS vast timberless plains has not yet been discovered, except indeed your worthy correspondent, Col. McDonald,^ has furnished you the wherewithal in the "Cherokee rose hedge." As an improvement to Mr. Kennicut's post and bar fence, I would recommend setting the fence on a ridge after the plan of Mr. Ellsworth, with a plow having a mould board six or eight feet long. But then this cannot be well done except on old ground. The bank thus made is cheap, and if sowed with grass, will last; and then three bars make a good fence. If you had 'capped' your board fence with an upright strip over every post, nailed on with 12d nails, how could the cattle pull off the top bar, or any other one. True it will be better with split posts, and those much larger. The greatest difficulty that I find with fence posts is in con- sequence of the extreme softness of our rich soil that they soon begin to lean towards every day in the week but Sunday. In consequence of this disposition of posts to go astray, I tried an experiment two years ago by using small posts, framed with a tenon into a sill about 21/2 or 3 feet long, with braces nailed on each side. These sills lie across the fence, buried partly in the ground, and the fence stands very firm, without 'yawing' one way or the other. I believe where hauling of timber is an object, that this kind of fence will be found cheaper and more durable than setting posts in the ground. The tenons and braces will most likely last as long as common sized posts in the earth. ^ Colonel Alexander McDonald, of Eufaula, Alabama. Interested in scientific agriculture. Raised diversified crops, but specialized in cotton. Correspondent of the Cultivator, American Agricultur- ist, Prairie Faryner, Nashville Agriculturist, and Southern Culti- vator. For a description of his plantation operations in 1845, see American Agriculturist, 5:22-23 (January, 1846). See also Mc- Donald's letter to editors, Prairie Farmer, 6:12 (January, 1846). McDonald died August 16, 1846. Cultivator, n.s. 3:324 (October, 1846), and Prairie Farmer, 6:358 (November, 1846). SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 13 By making this kind of fence with posts to each panel separate, and when set, fastened together with a pin, or strip nailed on, it could be moved from place to place as well as 'ladder fence,' and perhaps would be as cheap, and better. Perhaps sod fence may answer in moist ground, for a season — I doubt its durability while frosts, rains, mice and wolves, to say nothing of cattle and hogs, are among the things that 'fret our gizzards.' I like the looks and cost of that picket fence pretty well. I would use the posts, sills and braces that I have de- scribed, and I would split my pickets, if I could — they are cheaper and better. Be sure to nail on strips over the pickets, so that if a picket nail breaks, the picket will still be thar. But now, nonsense, Mr. Kennicut, what is the use of you or me spending our time in pointing out the best way to fence the prairies? Don't you see that they are all to be hedged — and that with roses too? Col. McDonald, a very worthy Alabama planter, has recommended them, and sent our editors some seed. Mr. Affleck, of Missis- sippi, too, it seems, has some words in favor of this plant for hedging.^ If their recommendation is not enough, I will give mine. I have seen many miles of Cherokee rose hedge, and a better fence cannot be. No cattle or hogs can penetrate one after it attains its growth. The manner of setting a hedge is to make a furrow, and * The editor remarked : "Mr. R. has probably seen before this, that Mr. Affleck did not recommend the Cherokee Rose for hedge. It is not singular that Col. McDonald should suppose it would stand our winters, in the absence of any trial. We have heard perhaps a hundred southern men recommend it as he has done; who, in answer to our doubt respecting its want of hardihood were positive it would answer. Mr. Affleck is the first man who has ever given us any positive, reliable information on the subject. Since then, several others have confirmed his testimony. The idea of acclimating south- ern plants at the north is by no means an absurd one. The potato is a southern plant. And though there are certain data which de- termine the probabilities in a given case, t7-ial is the only sure test." 14 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS then the rose vines are chopped on a block along side of the furrow, into cuts 8 or 10 inches long, and planted with one end sticking out, and they grow readily, and in four years will be four or fivs feet high, and as wide; and as the foliage is the most beautiful green, and the roses most perfect white, with large, bright, yellow cen- tre. No fence can be prettier, or more delightfully fra- grant in the spring. But every thing is progressive, except trimming Chero- kee rose hedges; and as the briars are so excessively sharp that that don't progress, the consequence is that the progress of growth is so rapid that in a few years the fence is 25 or 30 feet wide, and as high; and I defy all sorts of ravenous beasts to get through it. It is a good fence. No matter for the amount of ground taken up; surely there is land enough in the United States, and if not, can't we 'annex' some? As to its growing and mak- ing a good hedge upon our prairies, there is no doubt about the matter, if managed right, (for which I will give directions,) and I rejoice that the advocates of fencing our country with hedge have at length discovered a plant with which it can be done. You know I have been very skeptical upon the subject of hedging heretofore. In all my travels over the United States, while peering into every thing I could find worthy the notice of one seeking for agricultural improvement, I have seen but little hedg- ing that could be depended upon for fence against all kind of stock. Observing in Delaware last summer some cattle in very scanty pasture, while there was adjoining, some rich feed in stubble ground, enclosed with very beautiful hedges, I said to the owner "pray, why don't you feed the stubble?' 'Oh, the cattle would destroy my hedges, and as soon as the feed got poor, they would would walk right through into my corn.' And that is American thorn hedge, is it, and its value as a fence, besides its liability to be destroyed by an in- sect, a mile at a mouthful. But that is not the case with SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 15 the Cherokee Rose. It ivill make a fence if managed right. [See directions.] And what a romantic appearance our wide prairies will present while under this system of management. But now to the Directions for groiving a Cherokee Rose Hedge upon the northern prairies of Illinois, &c. As the cuttings of the rose can be obtained in any quantity from Natchez, I shall not give any directions for growing the plants from the seed ; the editors of the Prairie Farmer will try that experiment and 'report progress,' and have leave to try again. I will suppose you have the requisite quantity of cuttings on hand to set one mile of fence to begin 2vith. The ground being in good tilth, make a mellow bed about two feet wide and open a furrow in the centre six inches deep. Then take the cuttings — and mind you work with leather mittens on — and set them up in the furrow about a foot apart ; haul in with hand or hoe the loose earth and squeeze it tight around the sets. They are now ready to grow. The next step necessary will be to set posts upon each side of the hedge row about four feet from the row and eight feet apart the other way. Now get 16-feet boards and board up the posts two feet high, and saw the posts off by a line level, and nail a board one inch and a quarter thick and six inches wide, on the top of the posts for plates ; then put on rafters, and cover the whole with glass frames in sliding grooves. In summer time keep the frames open in pleasant weather, and closed in winter; and also bank up the earth against the boards, and keep the whole warm by hot water, stove pipes, or steam — and in four or five years you will have a most beautiful Cherokee Rose hedge in Illinois. It will add to the picturesque eifect to diversify it with a few orange trees, magnolias, and an occasional patch of sugar cane. As the glass fabric will need some further protection, it can be obtained by extending "the area of liberty" so as to bring up from the South a few slaves for that pur- pose. Otherwise to guard against accidents, it would be necessary to build a good substantial fence on each side. 16 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS at a convenient distance — say about four rods — so as to give room for the team to come in with wood and water. After four or five years the frames and fences might be moved ahead, and another mile put down. Be very careful during the fall after the frames are removed from the hedge, that the adjoining prairie does not burn, as there is usually a good deal of dead wood in the hedge, which it is very difficult to remove without danger of tearing your shirt ; and should this take fire it will be very likely to kill the hedge. In the spring you need not take any pains to guard against fire, as the whole concern — "lock, stock, and barrel" — will be "as dead as a herring," and "fit food for fire." In the mean time, the second experiment will be going on — unless indeed the experimenter should be fully satisfied with the experi- ment of fencing prairie in lat. 41-2 with a plant that will not stand the winter of lat. 32, and can never be grown here except in a hot-house, any better than can the most tender varieties of your monthly roses, which require so much care to preserve them in the parlor through the winter. But upon the whole I don't know as it would be much more expensive or inconsistent than our present mode of splitting and hauling rails all winter, to be burnt up in the fall. I wonder, Mr. Editor, if you really suppose you can induce "our folks" to put the "fixings" around the school house that you illustrate in your article upon that subject in the March number.^ Why, do you suppose that the children would learn any thing but play, if so much ex- pense was devoted to making a play-ground, nicely fenced and set with shade trees? I suppose you would recom- mend the school house to be painted, and have green win- dow blinds! And perhaps you would insist on having comfortable seats, and not put 40 children in a log cabin 16 feet square, with 16 light of glass, and sorter warmed by a smoking stove. Supposing you carried out all your * See "Situation of School Houses," Prairie Farmer, 6:87-88. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 17 improvements, how do you think we could get a school- master for $8 a month or a school-mistress for $1 a week and "board round?" A pretty state of things you would bring about, truly. Why, sir, I thought you were in favor of economy, and cheapness, and all that. Another thing — who would settle in a neighborhood where they saw such a school house as you describe? Why, none but the most wealthy and "high larnt" class of folks, until there wouldn't be a poor man nor ragged boy in the district — and how could folks live where there were no poor folks ? I guess the neighborhood of such a school house would soon get the name of "aristocratic." Lake C. H., la. 1846. Practical Facts about Pork and Bacon.^ [New York Amencan Agriculturist, 5:282; Sep., 1846^] [May 15, 1846] What is the loss in weight on tnaking pork into bacon? This question is often asked, and every farmer, particu- larly in the West, ought to know how to answer it. As a general and safe rule, from facts within my own knowl- edge, I have always contended that it is better for the purchaser to buy pork in the hog, and make his own bacon, when he can do it for one half the price per pound, than to buy it ready made. That is, if pork is usually worth 3 cts. and bacon "hog round," 6 cts., it is better to buy the fresh pork. I am writing for the West, and in Western language. That your Eastern readers may un- derstand, I will say that "hog round" means 2 hams, 2 shoulders, and 2 sides — out of which latter the bones should always be taken. I always trim off belly pieces for lard. Hams and shoulders too are well trimmed. The ' Robinson contributed "More Facts about Pork and Bacon," to the February American Agriculturist, 1847 (6:63), and an article on "Comparative Weight of Pork and Bacon," to the June issue (6 :186-87) . These are not reprinted. ^Reprinted in the Daily Cincinnati Gazette, September 23, 18 IG. and in part in the Prairie Farmer, 7:32-33 (January, 1847). 18 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS method of salting often astonishes some of the new emi- grants from Yankee land. Nobody ever made better bacon for 15 years than I have, and I never use a pork barrel. I sprinkle about 2 oz. saltpetre and 6 lbs. of N. Y. salt to a hundred of pork, piled up on a bench, or in the corner of the smoke-house, like a pile of bricks. I let it lie about as many days as the hams weigh pounds each — overhauling once. Then hang up far away from the fire, in a very open and airy smoke-house, and smoke well with hickory or other sweet wood. Then draw loose cotton bags over each joint, and tie round the string by which the meat hangs. Do this before the flies come in the spring, and you may let it hang as long as you like, and it will be good — at least, mine is so. For many years our house has not been without a supply of this most excel- lent kind of meat, which is a much more healthy food than the eternal round of fresh beef, &c. But to return to my subject. On the 20th of January, 1846, I killed 5 hogs, about a year and a half old, and one about half that age, of the Berkshire and China breed, fattened upon corn fed in the ear, the quantity not counted, as it was too cheap to regard that. The following table will show the weight of each hog, and the weight of each piece of meat cut for bacon. Hogs. Hams. Shoulders. Sides Heads. 312 lbs. 30 lbs. 32 lbs. 44 lbs. 23 lbs. 30 ' 30 " 38 ' 308 " 29 ' 34 " 40 ' 21 " 30 ' 35 " 38 ' 295 " 30 ' 35 " 37 ' 19 " 32 ' 35 " 34 ' 289 " 29 ' 29 " 34 ' 21 " 27 ' 30 " 38 ' 259 " 27 ' 23 " 26 ' 21 " 27 ' 24 " 26 ' 181 " 20 ' 19 " 19 ' 20 ' 22 " 19 ' 12 " 1644 331 348 393 117 SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 19 Scraps, &c. — 21 lbs. of feet; 213 lbs. of sausage meat, and ribs and back bones and trimmings off; 150 lbs. of leaf lard and fat trimmings; 71 lbs. loss in cutting, and difference in weighing; 331 lbs. weight of 12 hams; 348 ditto 12 shoulders; 393 ditto 12 sides; and 117 do. 6 heads:— 1644 lbs. This pork when killed was worth 3 cts. a pound — I will say it would only shrink the 44 odd pounds in taking to market, at which it would amount to $48. The lard tried out 129 lbs., a most beautiful article, the scraps not being much squeezed, as that would rob the good wife's soap tub. On the 28th of April, the bacon being well smoked and dried, was ready to bag up. I weighed it, and found that the twelve hams weighed 304 lbs. (loss 27) ; 12 shoulders, 331 lbs. (loss 17) ; 12 sides, 259 lbs. (loss 34) ; I am inclined to think that an error of 10 lbs. was made in the weight of the shoulders, as I have heretofore found the per centage of loss about the same on these as on the hams. I will therefore throw off ten pounds on these, and we have 1,113 lbs. of bacon and lard in good weight and order, for market, which at 6i/4 cts. a pound, which is a fair average price, will come to $69.56. The heads and sausage meat are worth one cent a pound, $3.30; 24 feet, 14 cts., will make an even sum of $73; from which take the $48 price of hogs before cutting, and it leaves a very pretty little sum to pay for a dollar's worth of salt and saltpetre, and the little trouble of handling. But it must be small-boned fat hogs, as these were, to do it. In this case I could sell the bacon and lard at 4i/^ cts., and be well paid for trouble and cost of making bacon, because the heads, &c., are worth much more than I stated them at in any family. The principal object in this statement is to inform those who have had less experience in this matter than I have, whether it is most advantageous to sell their hogs fresh, or cut and salt; and for that purpose I have en- deavored to be accurate. Each person in his own place 20 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS will judge of his own market and relative prices, and if his hogs are not so good as mine, make greater allowance for loss and offal. Will someone who keeps a pork barrel, make a similar statement, and publish for the benefit of your readers? Solon Robinson. Lake C. H. (noiv called Crown Point), ^ Ind., May 15, 1846. Review of the September No. of the Agriculturist. [New York American Agriculturist, 5:374-79; Dec, 1846] [September ?, 1846] French Mode of Making Apple Butter. — Now, with all due deference to French cooking, I do not believe that this French dish is a better condiment than the old-fashioned Yankee apple sauce, when composed of three-fourths rich, sweet apples, and one-fourth quinces, thoroughly cooked in good sweet cider, after boiling five gallons into one. [Neither do we, and we wish we knew where we could get a half barrel of it for our winter supplies.] I am sure the domestic is the best, but let those who can, try both. Who will tell how the western or southern apple butter is made? In a journey we once made from Massachusetts, through those states, we found this article good and cheap. [We hope some of our readers will answer our correspondent in the matter of apple butter.'] Preservation of Apples. — Strike out from the direc- tions for packing all the articles but the sand, and be sure it is very clean, very dry, and that it fills all the inter- stices so that no two apples touch. Any warm upper room is better to keep the cask in than a cellar, unless it is a very cool one, and unusually dry. It will take a very hard frost to injure fruit so packed. All kinds of vegetables may be preserved a long time fresh in the same way. I ' The post-office designation was not changed from Lake C. H. to Ci'own Point until June 26, 1845, although the new name had been used locally since late in 1840. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 21 have known potatoes so kept at sea, much longer than any other way. One voyage in particular I recollect, our decks were often swept by the sea breaking over them, and leaking down through the hatchway among the potatoes, endangering them by the moisture. Who knows but pota- toes might be kept thus from being affected in winter by the rot? [We doubt whether sand-packing would pre- serve them, but are confident fine charcoal dust would. The latter would also be a much better preservative at sea, as it is a great absorber of moisture.] Such articles as these are among the most valuable of a work like the Agriculturist, but the directions should always be very plain and simple, and, above all, correct. Importation of Pure-bred Merino Sheep. — I am well pleased that we have got one importation of pure Meri- nos, about which there can be no dispute. It is pleasing to see such a devotion of wealth to such a national object of benefit to the cultivators of American soil, as this act of Mr. Taintor,^ who is entitled to receive a meed of praise from all the friends of agricultural improvement in the country. It is a great pity that many other men of wealth do not "occupy their leisure hours with as useful a hobby." It is my opinion that this kind of fine-woolled sheep, taking all things into consideration, are the very best of any in the United States for profitable wool- growing. Though, indeed, I entertain serious fears that, under the new tariff, that branch of American industry is destined to be prostrated. [We have no fears of the kind. We will turn out American intelligence, industry, and perseverance, in growing wool, against the whole world, tariff or no tariff.] Patent Fence.- — I do abhor this disposition to patent every new thought. In fact, this is not new. and is un- ' John A. Taintor spent fifteen months in France, Spain, Saxony, Prussia, and Austria examining sheep. He brought home four Saxon bucks and four ewes and three Merino bucks and twenty- three ewes. Avierican AgriculUirist, 5:266. "^ Posts made of the same composition as common bricks, burnt or baked to consistency of hard arched brick. Ibid., 5:267. 22 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS worthy a patent. I have thought and talked of the same plan years ago, but gave it up as worthless. The interest on the cost extra over wood posts, will amount to enough and more, than to pay for replacing them. I cannot dis- cover "its cheapness." And unless made very heavy, these posts will not prove "imperishable." They are not so strong as stone; and unless very hard burnt, will rot about as soon as locust or cedar timber, and be very likely to be broken by frost. If this country must continue for ever to be taxed one hundred millions of dollars a year for useless fencing, the sooner we commence building iron fences the better. (See January No., page 171.) I mean my language to be plain enough to show that I am not "on the fence." Symptoms of Disease in Animals. — Will you please to tell us where to feel the pulse, and how to know whether it is "full and frequent," or not? Otherwise this article is not of much practical benefit to us unlearned diggers of the soil. Veterinary surgical knowledge is at a very low ebb in this country. [The poets say, "there is a pulse in every vein ;" so now, Mr. Reviewer, we think you will be at no loss to find it. If you are, call upon the arteries; and if you cannot find these, the next time you skin an animal, just map them out on a paper or wooden animal, and set the same up on your kitchen mantel-piece for the study of yourself and family. All this is easier done than plowing straight lines.] Use of Gypsum, &c. — Although you "presume that most intelligent farmers are perfectly acquainted with every- thing concerning it," I assure you that not one-tenth of them know anything about it. To many of your readers, I presume your remarks of its uses and benefits will be new; and it will also be new for them to learn, that by using a small quantity of gypsum at a trifling expense, they may absorb and prevent nearly all the unpleasant smell of a privy, &c. Will one in ten do it? Tan bark applied daily will effect the same purpose; so will ashes or lime in a great measure. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 23 Anderson's Patent Hammer.^ — Of all the improvements ever made upon this important and indispensable little tool, this last is undoubtedly the best. The greatest won- der is, why it was not thought of before. Tomatos. — Of all the modes of cooking them there is none quite equal to "our way." Scald and peel them; then stew them in their own liquor a long time, till there are no lumps; then add crumbs of dry bread to absorb nearly all the juice. They are good when first cooked while hot, and equally good when cold, or when warmed up again, morning, noon, or night. In fact, I may say of them what the sublime poet says of another standing dish : — Bean porridge hot, and bean porridge cold, And bean porridge best at nine days old. Dandelion Coffee. — What! that common plant that grows in everybody's door-yard? Is it a fact? Who has tried it on this continent? Anything that will help to stop the enormous consumption of coffee in this country, I shall look upon as a great blessing and saving of health and life. The Alpaca. — This is a very interesting article, in which much useful information is conveyed in a concise form ; and if passed over by the reader might as well be referred to again. By the by, what of the project for importing alpacas? Will it fall through for want of funds? I shall feel ashamed of my country if such is the fact. It does not seem probable to me that the alpaca or any cross from them will ever be used in this country as beasts of burden. Although very useful in the moun- tains of Peru, where it is necessary to carry packages over regions entirely destitute of roads, I do not think they would suit this railroad region of go-a-head-i-tive- ness, where every man has, or may have, a good carriage- road by his door. Though I must acknowledge that many ' The claw was to be bent back to the handle, clasping it with a strong ring. American Agriculturist, 5:269. 24 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS of said roads are very rough ones, and show that the dwellers thereon are but a small remove above the un- civilized llama-drivers of Peru. Manure. — Will manure deteriorate if kept under a shed, or if well piled up out of doors? If lime, gypsum, ashes, or charcoal, were mixed with the heap, will it "undergo a degree of combustion and become dry rotten, mouldy, and useless?" In using fresh, hot stable dung, I never have found any difficulty if plowed in deep. The best way to do it when much mixed with straw, is to spread it upon the ground before the plow, and then let a boy follow with a rake and rake into each furrow the width of the next. To Prevent Smut in Wheat. — It is truly strange that smutty wheat should ever be grown, when it can so easily and certainly be prevented. The most expeditious way to wash a quantity of wheat is, to have a large trough full of brine ; let the wheat be in a tub or basket at one end, where the washer can dip it up conveniently into a sieve, a small quantity at a time; plunge the sieve suddenly down into the brine, and nearly all of the smut will rise up and float over ; then empty the wheat into another tub of brine, and the remainder of the smut, if any, will float; brush away to the other end of the trough the floating smut, and repeat the operation until your second tub or trough needs emptying. I don't think it will need to stand and soak, and I don't think you can grow smut from wheat so treated. Dry your seed as directed, with lime, ashes, or gypsum. Side-hill Plows. — Ruggles, Nourse & Mason, manufac- ture a very strong and easily worked implement, which needs only to be seen to be appreciated. There are fifty thousand of them needed at this moment in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri, upon the soft easily washed side-hills of those states. Repeal of the British Corn Laivs. — You and I, Mr. Edi- tor, differ very widely in our appreciation of the benefit likely to be derived by American farmers by this act of SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 25 Great Britain, As a philanthropist, I rejoice to think that the half-starved English and Irish slaves may par- take of some of the blessings enjoyed by our American slaves. For, among the latter, suffering, for lack of food, is almost an unknown thing. I most sincerely wish that the British starvelings could have a goodly share of the eatables of this country that daily go to waste; or, the good, rich food that our hirelings turn up their noses at, and would utterly refuse to live upon. I do not dispute your axiom that there is a tendency to produce a surplus of grain in this country ; but I do say, that it would place this country in a far more prosperous condition if there was sufficient inducement for that portion of the popula- tion which tends to create that surplus, to engage in other pursuits to an extent that there would be a home con- simiption of all the agricultural products of our fertile soil. If the cultivators of American soil are only to look to a foreign market for their surplus productions, it will take more millions than there are in your arithmetic to compensate them for their loss of a home market. Again, all the exports of agricultural products, even should it (which I doubt) amount to $20,000,000 a year, will be returned to us in the manufactured products of pauper labor, such as every country should always make at home. While it is recollected that those engaged in the carrying trade are "consumers," that a goodly number of them are foreigners, and that a very much larger number of con- sumers would be engaged in carrying the surplus coast- wise, for the home consumption of home manufacturers of home-grown raw materials, into fabrics to export, in- stead of exporting the raw material and food for others to use to gain a power to level the agriculturists of this countiy down to the same level as the serfs of overgrown British land monopolizers. "Hence the disastrous effects" can and will be as "great as apprehended by some ;" and while "many of our farmers will grow richer by the sales of their produce" to English manufacturers, many, very many more, will grow poorer in consequence of the repeal 26 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS of our own and British tariff laws. We shall see. [We think our correspondent has slightly misapprehended the tone of our article. We simply congratulated the Ameri- can people, and those of Great Britain and Ireland, upon the repeal of the odious duty on corn. In stating the ad- vantages of enlarging a foreign, we said nothing of the home market, of the importance of which no one has a higher estimation than ourselves ; and we would do every- thing which we thought just and honorable to extend it. Do we understand Reviewer to assert that enlarging the foreign is likely to curtail the home market? If so, we should be pleased to know how this is to be accomplished. We are of opinion that taking off the late duty on corn, in Great Britain, will add at least five cents per bushel to its average value in this country, for the next ten years to come. Admitting the product now to be 400,000,000 bush- els, this would be a gain to the country of $20,000,000 per annum. Previous to the duty being taken off of cheese, in Great Britain, in 1841, we exported to the United Kingdom next to nothing ; and the price had got down in our own. country to 3 and 4 cents per lb., for a prime arti- cle, thus making it a losing business to the dairyman. Now that same article is worth fully 7 cents, and up- wards ; and one million pounds of it were exported, dur- ing the last week in October, from this port (New York) alone. Would Reviewer leave us to infer that this was going to benefit the pauper population of England, to the injury of the American dairyman? No; we will do him the credit to believe that he would draw no such conclu- sion; and yet we are sanguine in the opinion that corn and cheese will prove a parallel case.] Foreign Cattle. — I agree with you most cordially, neigh- bor Bement,^ that we have imported enough at present. If we rightly improve those we have, we might better be- come e.rporters than importers We might just as well import our wheat and potatoes, as any more cattle. Many now have learned to think that nothing American is good ' See Robinson, l:131n and Index. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 27 enough for their perverted taste. We have the seed, and if as good cattle cannot be grown upon our soil as that of Great Britain, let us acknowledge the fact, and own our dependence again upon our old mother for all the common necessaries of life. Southern Agriculture. — Perhaps it is as your corre- spondent from Louisiana^ thinks, "almost useless for any- one to waste paper and ink to write to the southern plant- er," &c., because he won't read. If your "plantations are too extensive to manure thoroughly," throw away one- half or three-quarters, and treat the remaining part ra- tionally. The fact is, your system of rushing everything is your ruin. I don't know how it is with you, as I have never visited your immediate locality, but I know in many of the cotton plantations, the most destructive system of farming is pursued that I ever saw. The timber is barely cleared from the land before the soil is literally washed away down the steep side-hills, and the land spoiled for ever ! Perhaps your land at "Redwood" is level, and only in danger of being worn out by the eternal round of cot- ton after cotton every year, which you cannot prevent, because you "have no time to haul large quantities of manure to the field." But I tell you that you do not need to haul manure ; your land can be kept in good condition for ever by green crops plowed in, and by doing all your plowing twice as deep as you now do, which I venture to assert is not over two inches. If you think differently, I beg you to go into your fields unknown to the plowmen, and stick down a dozen pegs two inches below the sur- face, and then follow the plows and see how many they will plow up. If the present low price of cotton contin- ues, it will drive you to cultivate other crops, which, if not otherwise profitable, will save your soil from utter prostration. I have seen as fine Cuba tobacco grown a hundred miles north of you, as ever grew upon that Island. As for the assertion that northern farmers would be as bad off as your southern farmers now are, I cannot 'James S. Peacocke, of Redwood, near Jackson, Louisiana. 28 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS agree to it. Look how they are renovating some of the worn-out lands of Virginia. When your present exhaust- ing system of farming in Louisiana has ruined the land, and its present occupants, northern farmers will then come and grow rich, where the system of starving the soil has ruined the owners. These are facts, however useless it may be to write them to southerners. But I am glad to see that one planter, the writer of the article under re- view, is in a fair way to be benefited by reading the Agri- culturist; and it is a great pity that many others could not be induced to follow his example in both reading and writing in agricultural papers. Re^noving Stains frotn Cloth. — This is one of those plain, concise articles, that all grades of intellect can un- derstand. It is the many such useful articles as this that gives great value to your paper. I like them. Yelloivs in Peach Trees. — No doubt the cure is effec- tual. But I wish to know whether it would not also answer to cut them off even with the ground, and then the roots will sprout up and make new trees? Management of Honey Bees. — I have only one remark to make upon this article. Mr. Miner condemns bee- houses in toto This is so contrary to old custom that I cannot at once agree to it. My bee-house is simply for the purpose of sheltering the hives from sun and storm, and I have never experienced the difficulties mentioned. But if Mr. Miner's plan of hanging up hives in the open air is best, it certainly is cheapest. But pray, Mr. M., do your hives never warp and crack, and leak water ; and is the sun not too hot without any shade whatever? Let us hear further from you on this point, and in a more seri- ous mood. Solving Machine. — For seeding, I prefer Pennock's, for that plants and covers ; but this may do well for spread- ing plaster, &c., which that would not. But this costs too much, and I think it can be simplified and cheapened. Construct the upper roller in the figure so as to serve for the axle, and by being made fast in the hubs of common PICTORIAL AMF/PJOAN FARMF.Il. 1 1 \N0(. iv ■> r\i tN r -1 1 1) \M> ( \iN I r \\ ivin -, B or 1 hj ;\ t )l I J 1 I 1 f I I Ihiju-., Turnips, Sec. i - -■^ P- 2 ^ - = i: ^ « H : = •^' i ^ c ~ 3 -^ a ,r # IF' . - c; '- ^. ci -T g .^ t: c T vi -; ■= - v> ^ ~ • « '^ : ^ -^ ^ ^ . ,;""•'" '^-*' _ £ i o. 'jft.^ r-s J a Wheat drilled ii). j..->. -./ / „'.' .vr ,...t.. -J, Wheat plou-hod in. ..-^::.:^i^^ ~^ i ;jh:^ % --£>;; <^^ »: •owed in. ^.;^|v^ Wheat harr SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 29 wagon wheels, revolve with them. Geer from the axle direct into the cylinder. Have a revolving band on the centre of the axle, to which the coupling rod can be at- tached, and then the whole of the sowing apparatus can be attached to a common wagon, and not cost over $20. If the present machine is patented, my improvement is not; so all creation may use it if they like. There is no doubt, in my mind, about the feasibility of the alteration. Colic in Horses. — The recipe is very good,^ but the dif- ficulty is to know whether the complaint is colic. I have seen a good many horses die with a complaint that ap- peared like colic, which no medicine on earth could cure after the horse showed symptoms similar to colic. The directions for prevention are therefore the most valuable of the two.^ The Superior Corn Bread, found at Bement's Hotel, I have eaten there, and endorse "good;" but I have eaten the superior of it made in a southern negro cabin, with meal and water only, thoroughly worked into stiff dough and palatably salted, then laid between two cabbage leaves and buried like a potato to roast in the hot embers of a wood fire. Such corn bread is good — cheap — easily made — but never grind the meal fine. This is where the English will fail — they talk of "flour of Indian corn;" that spoils it most surely. Succotash. — All right Mr. Farmer and Gardener. Hope all your readers have got the pork, and will follow your plain directions to cook this excellent dish, which is often spoilt in making Adulteration of Milk. — There is but one way that I can see which will be likely to secure us pure milk in the city of New York; and that is, by establishing an extensive milk company under the surveillance of the police, sub- ^ It prescribed "a strong decoction of soot tea, to which add half a pint of whisky ... if relief is not obtained in a few minutes, give an injection of soap suds, with a gill of strong decoction of tobacco, and a little salt added." American Agriculturist, 5:277. * The preventive called for lime, salt, ashes, or salt water used in the food. Ibid. 30 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS ject to a forfeiture of their privileges if ever found sell- ing adulterated milk. Having a large number of regular customers, it will be the interest of the company to sell nothing but pure milk, and certainly the interest of pur- chasers to buy from no other source This combination would brush down dishonest dealers. The subject is worthy of further thought and discussion. Wheat in Georgia. — I am well aware that good wheat crops can be groivn in all the Southern States ; but I wish to inquire of Mr. Terrell,^ how the grain can be preserved from the destruction of the weevil, which so infest all the country south of latitude 37° or 38°, that I have ever visited? If they do not infest Georgia, and wheat can be profitably grown there for "37 V^ cents a bushel," it is cheaper than it can be grown upon the boasted prairie lands of the West, maugre a late article in the New York Journal of Commerce, asserting that it can be grown for 16 cents ! Mr. Terrell is an observing and interesting cor- respondent ; but I would recommend to him to take great care that his observations made while travelling by rail- road, are not erroneous. We have too many railroad travellers' publications now-a-days. His observation upon the true policy of the South to raise her own provisions, is worthy of all credit, and should be much more gener- ally practised. But when that becomes the case, several of the North-western States will feel the loss of a home market, and at the same time learn that they have no foreign one. [Dear Reviewer, don't be so certain of that fact, otherwise we fear we shall be obliged to suspect you as one of the Editors of the New York Tribune.] Drovers' Dogs. — This cut is not quite "as clear as mud," though somewhat muddy; for to us unlearnt in dogology, we are not able to distinguish "Boxer" from "Rose," and therefore it is not so interesting as Domestic Fish-Ponds, with its clear, beautiful illustra- tions, and very lucid description, by an excellent writer, whose new work upon the "Trees of America," I will read ' William Terrell, of Sparta, Georgia. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 31 with pleasure, whenever the author sends me a copy.^ [You shall have one gratis, if we have to send it our- selves.] Practical Facts about Pork and Bacon.^ — This is from a prolific pen, from whence flow a great many practical facts upon a great many interesting subjects, and upon this one he writes exactly as though "he was brought up among the hogs." That this article is an interesting one, is proved by the fact that it is "taking the round of the papers." How to Destroy the Canada Thistle. — This is all very good doctrine; but how are you to induce "every man to weed on his own side of the fence ?" Weeds in fence cor- ners, is another of the evils of our wretched system of fencing, which has not been sufficiently adverted to by the advocates of cultivating land without fence. And until that day of wisdom arrives, I, for one, despair of ridding the land of this troublesome weed, as well as many other of the evils of the system of compelling one man to fence against everybody else's cattle. Be assured, "old farmer," that although you may "chisel" out the thistle, a thousand others will not; and "faith without works" will never rid the country of the Canada thistle, any more than in the negro's sermon it could make "de hog a gemman in de parler." Imported Cattle. — I have said my say in remarks upon Mr. Bement's communication. Mr. Vail is a very enter- prising friend of improvement, and has a beautiful herd of cattle;^ but suppose you admit similar articles from 'Daniel Jay Browne, The Trees of America; Native and Foreign . . . (New York, 1846). Author and compiler of numerous agri- cultural and scientific works. Employed in the agricultural ware- house of A. B. Allen & Co., New York, and also as assistant editor of the American Agriculturist, 1845-1851. Connected with the cen- sus and patent offices at a later period. See sketch in Dictionary of AvveHcan Biography, 3:164-65; also post, 37. ' See ante, 17-20. Robinson was apparently trying to prevent his recognition as "Reviewer." ' George Vail, of Oak Grove near Troy, New York. President of Merchants and Mechanics Bank of Troy. Director of a railroad from Troy to Ballstown Spa, 1832. Wholesale dry-goods merchant, 32 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS all the eminent stock-breeders in the country, including pedigrees, would it be interesting to the great majority of your readers? The half-dozen lines in your August No., with the addition of the importer's name, is all the space that should, in justice to your paying readers, have been occupied by this subject. Private Agricultural Schools. — Well, if you "cannot agree with Reviewer," we will not quarrel.^ Your poli- tics, which you proclaim in this article, are so different from mine, that it will probably be useless for us to attempt to "hitch our horses together." I believe the ob- ject of all governments should be to foster the interests of the people governed; and to collect and concentrate re- sources to accomplish great works, for great good, by a great combined effort of the whole people, through the agency of the rulers acting as managers for all the indi- viduals, that no one individual can do. And I do not con- sider myself a bad citizen, though you do, because I advo- cate this "plain political axiom." But while you depre- cate all governmental endowments of schools, why do you advocate "an annual appropriation for the collecting of materials and sending forth substantial public documents, containing real information to the agricultural commu- nity in regard to their business." The late bundle of trash from the Patent Office, I suppose you consider a substantial document of the class you wish to patronize. Verily, friend, thou art inconsistent, and I fear somewhat 1807-1835, when he retired and devoted his time to stock raising. Vice-president of the New York State Agricultural Society, 1854; president, 1856. Restricted his cattle to pure Shorthorns. Exhib- ited at Rensselaer County Agricultural Show, October, 1843, and at the State Agricultural Show at Albany, 1850. Contributor to the Cultivator, American Agriculturist, and The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil. Anderson, George B., Landmarks of Rensselaer County New York, 232, 256, 258, 318, 351 (Syracuse, 1897). ' A.R.D. of Hackett's Town, New Jersey, advocated private enter- prise in agricultural schools, fearing the entrance of office seekers and political speculators if the government took over their adminis- tration. American Agriculturist, 5:284-85. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 33 agrarianish in thy principles. At all events, thou art not well versed in true political economy. "Let us have no national school," you say. Then let us have no national monopoly of the public domain, which instead of convert- ing the proceeds into schools, and roads, and harbors, for the benefit of those who pay their money for them, have diverted every dollar so wrung from the hard toil of the poor pioneer in the forest, for the cut-throat purpose of "glorious war," upon a defenceless people, to gain more territory to devote again to the same purpose. But this is not, I suppose, in your opinion, "beyond the proper sphere" of government. Dr. Philips' Reply to Reviewer, is an interesting arti- cle, and I feel pleased to think that I have been the cause of drawing him out so fully. Still, he might have written more lengthily upon the several inquiries made, with equal interest. I am sorry to think from the closing para- graph of the Doctor's letter, that perhaps he thought my remarks were too much in a vein of ridicule, for an entire stranger to indulge in. But the truth is, he is no stranger to me, and I know he loves a joke and would laugh heart- ily now if he could "ferret me out," and learn how I know that peas "have a haulm." Gardening , No. 7, should never have been thus entitled ; for, although an interesting article upon geological sci- ence, it has not one word upon the science of gardening. "In uncultivated grounds, soils occupy only a few inches in depth of the surface," is an old theory that may be true in Europe when it was first written, but it is not so when applied to millions of acres of American soil ; which, in some of the western states, is deeper than the plow ever runs. I do not believe that "every gardener or farmer who know the sorts of plants naturally produced upon a soil," would be able to determine its value for cul- tivation. I recollect being told many years ago in Michi- gan, while "land hunting," that wherever I found the burr oak, I should find warm, rich, sandy land; and yet, in truth, I found it afterwards growing upon poor, cold, hard, clayey land. So "these plants are not absolutely to 34 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS be depended upon ;" in fact, only in extreme cases, not to be depended upon at all. Wool-growing in Western Neiv York. — I like this kind of articles. In reviewing it I wish to ask Mr. Peters a few questions, which I am sure he will answer freely, to make his statements more plain to some of us dull-brained city dwellers. You state that we can buy farms at $10 or $12 per acre, that will carry "300 sheep to every 100 acres of cleared land ;" but do you in the cost make allowance for woodland? Would not that be included in the price, and, of course, add to the capital? And, again, you allow no chance whatever for a poor man, or one even with $3,000 or $4,000, to engage in wool-growing in western New York. Must all of that class be driven to the prai- ries of the west? Now, it appears to me, if no man with a less capital than $14,000 can profitably engage in the business, that very few will undertake it without a better show of figures than yours. The truth is, that the capi- talist can make "11 per cent." so much more certain and easy, that he will not engage in the laborious business of a sheep farm, without a prospect of much larger profits. Will twelve tons (and what kind) of hay without grain, winter 100 sheep? Is 20 acres of pasture, on an average, not a small allowance? Do you pasture meadow and grain fall or spring? Feeding Large Dogs in Toivn. — If with the first feed described, you will give nineteen twentieths of these dogs, each a sixpence worth of strychnine, it will save much future expense, and add greatly to the comfort of many thousand citizens, and still leave all the dogs that can be of any possible advantage to their owners or anybody else — dogs included! Ladies' Department. — Not a word to say. I dare not look under that — what-d'ye-call-it? and I cannot see the beauty of the thing unless I do.^ So I will pass on to the ^ The article referred to described the construction of a "para- petticoat" from a parasol and a petticoat, to be used to cover a rosebush while green flies were smoked out. American Agricul- turist, 5:289. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 35 Chapter on Grasses, which is well calculated to give correct information to the boys. But, pray tell me, which is the real Kentucky "blue grass," Poa pratensis or Poa compressa? [Botanists have decided Poa pratensis.'] What is called blue grass in New York is a different grass from that which is so called in Kentucky. If "E. L." will write an article giving a plain description of each kind of hay and pasture grass — when sown — growth — size — duration — use, &c., and the editor will illustrate with cuts [we will do it], it will be a very valuable article for the Boys' Department of this paper. I think that the distilla- tion of spirit from the seeds of several of the true grasses, as well as from the juice of the sugar-cane grass, is no less "tLsefuV than the production of hay, bread, beef, pork, paper, hats, mats, bags, and ladies' bonnets, all of which are made of the "grass of the field that perisheth." And yet I am a strict temperance man. But I know that dis- tilled spirit is one of the blessings of civilisation, and for many purposes not only useful, but almost, perhaps wholly, indispensable. How dreadfully is this good gift abused ! Boys, he Kind to Domestic Animals. — I could write a long sermon from this text; but when done it would not comprehend more meaning than those six short words. Let me but learn the natural disposition of a boy to be cruel to domestic animals, and I will paint his horoscope most truly ; but it shall be an unenviable picture for him to look upon. Very likely the prison and gallows will form the end of the view. No trait in a child's character is more displeasing to me. No nation of people, except some of the very lowest grades of African barbarians, attempts to live without the use of domestic animals. Let them ever be treated kindly in all respects. Foreign Agricultural News. — Here I find an article from the Gardener's Chronicle, upon the subject of sub- stituting other seed wheat, with a view of shortening the growing season, and consequently bringing on the har- vest in summer instead of autumn. I should like to know 36 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS what is the reason our winter wheat cannot be grown in England, and whether the experiment has been thor- oughly tried with seed from this country ? In this country, our seeding is done before the harvesting in England. What they call spring wheat there, which I believe is usually sown in February, when brought here, becomes winter wheat, and must be sown in autumn to perfect its seed. Pulling Flax. — The directions will answer as well for this country as England. But there is so much labor at- tached to growing and preparing flax for the spinner, that other crops will usually be found more profitable here than flax, except when grown exclusively for seed, and then it need not be pulled. Making Rhubarb (pie plant) Wine, or preserving it, I cannot see the object of here where we have so many other better things. Bones Dissolved in Caustic Ley. — It seems curious that it should be necessary to publish this fact, known to every "old woman" who ever made soap, and much more curious that it should have ever been the subject of a patent. But that was in England, where one is restrained by an excise law from making his own soap out of his own bones, grease, and ashes. The Potato Disease. — The remarks upon this go to prove to my mind, that the cause of this lamentable mal- ady lies beyond the reach of all human skill; and I fear it is destiny that we shall no longer depend upon this crop as a means of sustaining animal life, I sincerely hope that my presentiments will prove false. I cannot read an article upon the subject without having vivid pic- tures of human suffering presented to my mind. The Editor's Table is not as sumptuously furnished this month as usual, and so we can the sooner pass over it. Results of Hydropathy seems to be the most tempting dish to a cold water man. This is undoubtedly a good curative system; but like a great many other new sys- tems, it claims too much — so much, in fact, that the whole SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 37 is pronounced a humbug. I have myself experienced re- lief from a medicinal application of cold water upon the spine, for neuralgia ; but it is far from infallible. Your recommendations of ablution as a preventive, ought to be rigidly practised, and although I doubt its effect to drive away "nine-tenths of the diseases" of the human family, it might affect one-tenth, and would be so much clear gain. Life in Prairie Land. — As you say the fair authoress is an acquaintance of yours, and as you are a bachelor, I am somewhat afraid to trust to your recommendation without an endorser. If you had told us whether the lady had been an actual dweller [she was] in the land she describes, we could have formed a better judgment of her ability to describe the wild scenery of that wild country. French Cookery. — There is decidedly too much of it already in this country for the health of the people. It is a poor book to recommend to "plain farmers." Better publish the manner of cooking, and style of living in New England, when your worthy father was a youth there. The Trees of America. — I really hope this is just what it should be, for upon no subject was a good standard work more needed. Your remark that "the engravings are executed with considerable skill," is such faint praise, that I am induced to think they are not what they should be. [They are very neatly and accurately done.] It is one of the great beauties of Michaux's work upon the same subject, that the engravings are superb. If by some means the public mind of America cannot be in- duced to preserve and cultivate forest trees, the day is not far distant when we shall be as destitute of timber as many parts of Europe, where the want of it is dis- tressing. I suppose I must not say it should be the duty of the United States government to plant and use groves of timber upon the vast tracts of western prairie land, lest some politician should tell me that "that was not the legitimate business of government," but "should be left to individuals," and therefore never accomplished. 38 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS Revieiv of the Market. — There are two or three facts in this of so much importance that I cannot close my re- view without calling the serious attention of American cultivators to their importance. Wheat in this market, the last of August, is worth 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 cents per pound ; manufactured into flour, only about 2 cents per pound. Rye is one cent per pound, and corn a little less. Sugar averages about 6 cents per pound, while mustard is from 16 to 31 cents per pound. Now is it possible that any farmer can grow and pay freight upon, to send to mar- ket, 16 or 20 lbs. of wheat at the same price as one of mustard, or that he can manufacture and send to mar- ket 12 lbs. of wheat flour, for which he gets no more money than for one of mustard? Or can the planter send 4 lbs. of sugar to pay for 1 lb of mustard? A crop of mustard can be grown and sent to market as cheap as a crop of timothy seed, and yet that is quoted at an average of about 3 cents per pound. Again, 6 lbs. of hops will bring as much as 60 lbs. of wheat; and 1 lb. of hops can be exchanged for 2 1/2 or 3 lbs. of sugar. As hops will grow wherever corn will, is it worth while for Northern farmers to undertake to compete with corn sugar against the southern cane? If you cannot afford to exchange flour, you can mustard and hops. It is singu- lar, too, if beans and peas, particularly the latter, cannot be grown as cheap as wheat; yet they are quoted 50 per cent, higher. Again, sumac is quoted at about four-fifths the price of tobacco, and yet it does not require so rich a soil, nor one-tenth the labor of tobacco. It is also worth more by the pound than wheat. There are cer- tainly great inconsistencies in these prices, which must wholly arise from the neglect of those who are the most interested, as to what is the most profitable crop for them to cultivate. Reviewer. SOLON ROBINSON, 1846 39 Review of the November and December Nos. of the Agriculturist. [New York American Agriculturist, 6:155-57; May, 1847] [December ?, 1846] Noxious Effects of Gases of Brick-Kilns on Fruits and Vegetation. — Now, it appears to me, that this matter all lies in a nut-shell. "Everybody knows" that the gas aris- ing from burning coal is injurious, but is it so from a wood-fire? Then if the kilns noticed by Dr. Underbill were burnt with coal, which I presume they were, the story is all told — for the gas is that arising from the sulphur burning in the coal and not from burnt clay. Bntish and Irish Flax-Cidture. — Its history, etc., but nothing of American flax-culture. For that is among the unknown things. And yet Solomon in all his glory could not convince me that it would not afford more profit to the culturist, either for seed or lint, than I have shown that the culture of wheat affords. I am satisfied from personal observation, that a vast portion of the virgin- soil of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Mis- souri, is well adapted to the growth of flax ; and yet how little of it is grown. The reason, it is said, is, that the price is too low. And yet in this No. of the Agriculturist, now under review, flax is quoted at seven and eight cents a pound, and flour at three cents. It is wondrous strange if flour can be delivered in New York City for less than one-half the price per pound of flax. Preservation of Potatoes. — I beg leave to call the atten- tion of the American Agricultural Association to this article, and that they take immediate steps to test its truth, and publish the result, as it is of vast importance if true.^ "BurralVs Corn-Sheller." — Is this the last improve- * The article stated that if potatoes were immersed four or five days in ammoniated water containing one ounce of liquor ammonia to a pint of water they could be preserved throughout the year. American Agriculturist, 5:337. 40 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS ment? For really they come so thick that I am in the condition of the drunken man that thought his bed was going round him, and did not know when to jump on. At last when he thought he was "all right" he jumped and fell into the fire and burnt his fingers. And so it is of these machines. The inventive genius of Yankeedom is so great, that these machines come and go so fast that I don't know when to jump on, for fear I might burn my fingers. Popular Errors, No. 2. — Shrinking and Swelling of Meat in the Pot. — And do you suppose that this error, that was so popular in your youth, is now a thing of auld lang syne? I assure you it is as popular now as it was before the commencement of this "age of improvement." And although you and I may deny the moon, there are others who will as religiously adhere to it as witch-ridden mortals do to their preventive horse-shoes. Treatment of Mules by Doct. Phillips is like all of the Doctor's writings — just like himself — busy, bustling — full of life and vivacity. But I am glad to hear. Doctor, that you have less colic than at Brandon Springs. No doubt that your systematic management of mules is the true cause of your success; but more particularly is it owing to the fact of your giving your own personal atten- tion to such "small matters," which saves you the expense and vexation of the enormous annual loss of this useful animal in your own "glorious south." Gardening, No. 9. — The interest of these articles of Mr. Talbot is still kept up, and if any of the subscribers of the Agriculturist have not yet read them, I advise them to make use of these long winter evenings for that purpose. The Enemies of Bees. — Mr. Miner in this article prom- ises in his next to teach us the philosophy of keeping the moths out of our hives. Well, I long to see it. I have been much pleased with these articles, and, on account of their general good quality, refrained from pointing out some minor errors. I am entirely sceptical upon the sub- '2U . s.yV^Uc^.'U. t4-:X^ ^ ^ -5^. :^-^.r &.. 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