532 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



tough iron, while the edge of the wing part and base of 

 the land-side is made so hard by being chilled in the 

 mould, that the hardest steel will not cut it, and the 

 point never wears blunt. 



In the blacksmiths' shop I found eleven men at work, 

 some by charcoal and others by Lehigh coal fires, blown 

 by one machine which furnishes wind to each forge 

 through pipes, and is let on or shut off by stop-cocks. 



In the paint shop seven men are employed painting 

 and varnishing, the latter being preferred by some be- 

 cause they can see the quality of the wood — though I 

 must recommend paint as far preferable; and where all 

 the work is done by upright men who put their names 

 upon every article, buyers need have no fear that bad 

 timber is covered up with paint and putty. 



Never have I spent a day more to my satisfaction, 

 than in looking over this establishment for the manu- 

 facture of that first and most important of all imple- 

 ments — the plow — where I found near forty different 

 kinds and sizes adapted to all kinds of land and work, 

 including five sizes of side hill plows, some of which are 

 peculiarly adapted to that remarkably light soil found 

 upon the steep side hills of Mississippi. Messrs. Rug- 

 gles, Nourse, and Mason, are also making some excellent 

 cast-iron road scrapers (ox-shovels), and several sizes 

 and kinds of cultivators and harrows, among which I 

 rank the Geddes Harrows as the very best. 



They also make or have made almost every other kind 

 of agricultural implement; though as you will readily 

 perceive, the principal energies of their active minds are 

 devoted to manufacturing the most perfect set of plows 

 that human ingenuity is capable of producing. There 

 are two other plow establishments in the vicinity which 

 in consequence of my feeble health I was unable to visit. 



I am rejoiced to say, that Messrs. Ruggles, Nourse, 

 and Mason, are so constantly crowded with orders for 

 their plows, that they cannot accumulate a stock on hand, 

 which certainly shows that the spirit of improvement 



