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the tops. And what is remarkable in this country, this dry j^-rass, reachino- above 

 the snow, is eaten with avidity by the liorses; and from the fact that they keep 

 in good order on it, it must have considerable nutrition in it, even in that dead 

 and dry condition. 



There are, however, other means of grazing in the country. On some of the 

 islands and river bottoms, there are not only thickets of under-brush on which the 

 animals browse, but rushes abound in many places on which horses and cattle 

 will even thrive through the winter. These rush beds are not very numerous ; 

 they abound most in the thick timbered regions where the wild grass is thin, or 

 does not grow at all. In the winter of 1842-3, when the hay failed at the Falls 

 of the Chippewa, the cattle not wanted for immediate use were driven to, and 

 watched in, the rush bottoms. In the same winter, a party of us voyaging with 

 horses through to Lake Superior and back, our hay and oats having failed we 

 were obliged to resoi-t to the rushes, on which our horses subsisted three days 

 before we reached the settlement. 



The quality of our prairie hay is said to be better than the same article further 

 south. Those who have lived in the southern parts of Illinois and Missouri, 

 say that they can winter cattle easier in this region than in the former places. 

 They think the grass here makes more substantial hay, probably from not being 

 so much drenched in summer by the rains. But a principal reason why cattle 

 can be easier wintered, is the character of our winters. We are not one day in 

 mud and wet snow, nor being drenched with rain, and the next day frozen into 

 icicles. Cattle under such sudden and repeated changes, cannot do as well as 

 with us, where but few such changes occur, probably not more than one or two, 

 and sometimes not one through the whole winter. Diy snow, and dry cold 

 weather, even if somewhat severe, when it comes on gradually, and is uniform,, 

 does not effect man or beast, as does the contrary kind of weather. If it requires 

 nnich labor to provide a winter's stock of provender, we have good health and 

 ])hysical strength to perform it. And we are satisfied to woi'k if we have health, 

 rather than get along without it, and shake half the year with the ague and 

 fever. If our cattle cost us more to raise and keep, they bring a better price 

 when raised, than do those that eome up themselves in sickly regions. 



As between grazing and tillage, I think there is but little to choose, if 

 either is to be pursued by itself. But both togethei- is certainly pi'eferable; 

 because the straw and stalks from tillage go far in wintering cattle, which 

 would be a loss if we had no cattle to eat them. 



" Of Dairies" we cannot say a gi-eat d<ial, having but few ; but we could say 

 much in favor of their establishment. What few dailies we have ai'e on a small 

 scale, but have been and ai'e very profitable, and would, no doubt, be more so on 

 a lai^e scale. I have already sUited the facility we have for raising and winter- 



