160 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



is a recent formation of land by deposite from the muddy 

 water of floods, until it gradually rises so far above low- 

 water mark as to make good pasture land, and at length 

 is enclosed by a levee for cultivation. Mr. C. has some 70 

 or 80 head of horned cattle, among which are some very 

 good shorthorns for this part of the country, though not 

 at all to be compared to this breed at the north. He also 

 has a flock of some 150 sheep that are much above the 

 average quality of the south. 



In his lawn in front of his house, Mr. C. has had the 

 good taste to plant specimens of all the forest trees native 

 to his region, among which I noticed the live oak, the 

 water oak, the willow oak, the white oak, the yellow oak, 

 the chincapin oak, the cypress, the sycamore, (Platanus,) 

 red elm, slippery elm, sweet gum, (Liquidambar), cotton 

 wood, pecan nut, white ash, hackberry, and many others. 

 To these might be added the pride of China, now almost 

 ever present upon every plantation of the south. 



About one half of the planters along my ride today 

 have done grinding, (or, "rolling," as it is most com- 

 monly called,) their cane, while others have suspended 

 operations on account of the long-continued rains that 

 have fallen of late. 



I passed the night with Mr. William B. Walker, son-in- 

 law and partner of Mr, Johnson, whom I mentioned as 

 having abandoned his cotton lands, and put his negroes 

 to raising sugar. Mr. W. has great faith in the opinion 

 that bagasse cannot be disposed of in any way so eco- 

 nomically as in the chimneys. He thinks that manure is 

 an injury to his land rather than a benefit. Three years 

 ago, he manured a field of sweet potatoes which all run 

 to vines. The next year, he planted the same ground with 

 sugar cane, which grew large and watery, and lodged so 

 badly that the yield was not so good as upon the land ad- 

 joining, that never had been manured. 



Noticing some very pure water on the table, and know- 

 ing that the river was very muddy just now, I inquired 

 how it was purified. This I found was done by pounding 



