SOLON ROBINSON, 1845 441 



as well as many other subscribers, would like the Culti- 

 vator to give a price current of several leading articles 

 in several eastern cities. Mr. Griddle's land is rolling, 

 yellowish clayey soil, and produces hemp as well as 

 tobacco. 



The town of Jackson is on a hilly location, 12 miles 

 from the river and contains several good buildings; the 

 court-house, bank, &c, and has a land office, in one of 

 the officers of which, Mr. Davis, I found a very warm 

 friend of agricultural improvement, and through his as- 

 sistance and information, some dozen of the spirited and 

 intelligent gentlemen of this town became subscribers to 

 the Cultivator. If the U. S. government had the same 

 liberal views that this one of her officers has, they would 

 not only graduate the public land to a grade that it 

 would sell at, but much of the land that I have passed 

 over between here and St. Louis, they would give away 

 to whoever would take it, and be well rid of it at that. 

 Indeed, as much as Missouri has been boasted of for rich- 

 ness of soil, it is a fact that many do not seem to be aware 

 of, that the south half of the State contains vast tracts 

 of mountainous barren soil that is scarcely inhabitable, 

 and will undoubtedly so remain for a long time. True, 

 it has great mineral wealth. The celebrated "iron moun- 

 tain" lies only a few miles west of the route I traveled, 

 and although only some 40 or 50 miles from the Missouri 

 river, yet the impediments in the way of making an easy 

 mode of transporting this richest of all iron ore in the 

 known world, has hitherto kept it in the deep forest 

 buried. And our government is not one to lend much 

 aid to those who buy her lands, whether to improve the 

 science of agriculture or develop mineral wealth. But 

 let us jog on. Though before I leave Jackson, let me 

 say that from experiment of several of the citizens, they 

 find the valley land best for orchards, and old rotten wood 

 the best manure. The hill land appears too dry in sum- 

 mer. I have noticed several orchards that were planted 

 by the French, that are 40 or 50 years old — and don't 



