SOLON ROBINSON, 1843 373 



land of universal plenty. This calamity is not confined 

 to a small district of country, but extends over all the 

 north of Indiana and Illinois, and throughout Michigan 

 and Wisconsin, and probably much farther. And through- 

 out the greatest portion of this famished region, the 

 timber is mostly oak and hickory, so that keeping the 

 cattle alive upon browse, is out of the question. 



It is a gloomy time — the storm rages worse and worse 

 as night approaches. What a night for starving cattle — 

 without food & without shelter — for a great portion of 

 the sheds and stables have been covered with prairie 

 hay, which grows so abundant here, and those have 

 been stripped to furnish feed — I have allowed some of 

 my neighbors to strip the covering from some sheds of 

 mine that had been on three years. 



This picture will form a striking contrast with your 

 section of country, and ought to tend to make your citi- 

 zens more contented and happy, and cease to repine at 

 trifling misfortunes. You shall hear from me again when 

 we "sow Oats." 



Your friend, Solon Robinson. 



Lake C. H. IncL, March 30, 1843. 



Western Farming. 



[Albany Cultivator, 10:160; Oct., 1843] 



[August 17, 1843] 

 To MY friend "Richmond" — Your communication in 

 the August No. of the Cultivator, 1 as well as your private 

 letter to me, have both been read with pleasure. Your 

 detailed statement of the advantage of manuring, must 

 certainly be useful to all eastern farmers, and the time 

 will come when the same system will have to be adopted 

 in the west ; but at present, it is a mooted point whether 

 manuring our prairie soil will pay the expense. My own 

 opinion is, that for corn and potatoes it will, and for 



1 A letter from Oakland Farm, Richmond County, New York, on 

 the "difference of farming in Eastern and Western parts of the 

 United States." Cultivator, 10:132. 



