SOLON ROBINSON, 1841 241 



scattered over the ground, the chaff blown out, and the 

 grain deposited in a box, nearly clean enough for the 

 mill, as the machine moves along through the field. It 

 appears to operate well, and is a great saver of grain, 

 time and labor. 



The contrast between this "go ahead" way of getting 

 out grain and the old fashioned flail, is not however so 

 great as the contrast between this country now and ten 

 years ago. Then, an Indian wild, an unbroken, broad 

 waste of prairie and timber : Now, a succession of smil- 

 ing fields, and happy homes of an industrious and thriv- 

 ing population. 



Michigan City, often mistaken at the east for a Michi- 

 gan town, is in this county. It is the only shipping port 

 in the state of Indiana upon Lake Michigan. Vast quan- 

 tities of wheat have been, and still more vast quantities 

 of wheat and other products of one of the richest soils 

 and most arable land in the world, of which the five or 

 six contiguous counties are composed, will continue to 

 be shipped from this port. 



I am sorry to say that the farmers' prospects of realiz- 

 ing a profit upon pork this fall are very poor. So many 

 packers lost money from their last fall operations, that 

 but few will be tempted into the trade the coming fall. 

 I am sorry for this, for I like to see the farmer well 

 remunerated for his labor, and I am anxious that he 

 should soon get rid of his land-pikes and alligators at 

 such prices as will enable him to buy a better breed, of 

 which there is a lamentable deficiency. The same remark 

 is applicable to stock of all kinds. 



But I must close and press forward on my long jour- 

 ney, and I hope I shall be able to meet with many inci- 

 dents that will be interesting to those who have become 

 familiar with the name of their old friend, 



Solon Robinson. 



