286 AGRICULTURAL NOTICES CIDER-MAKING. 



in America, and whether kept in enclosures or small pens I 

 never saw one of them have straw, and they make their beds 

 in mud or sand. The waggons seen moving tow r ards Cincin 

 nati were in charge of men who rode on the shaft-horse, whe 

 ther the vehicle was drawn by two or more horses. The 

 country for twenty miles east of Springfield is level, rather 

 wet, and not so fertile as that from Cincinnati. After passing 

 this distance, there are many small prairies, most of which are 

 wet and uncultivated. This tract is thinly settled, the soil, 

 clay of a dark colour, and inferior to the yellow tinged clay. 

 The bottoms of the Scioto are fine rich soil. 



After dining at Columbus, I strolled into the woods north 

 of the village in search of the pawpaw fruit, which I had 

 heard much extolled by some of my fellow-travellers. This 

 plant grows plentifully as underwood on most of the rich soils 

 in this part of the country. I found the fruit growing on 

 slender trees or shrubs fifteen or twenty feet high ; it resem 

 bles, in size, shape, and colour, the jargonelle pear of Britain. 

 I found them variable in quality, and the best might rank 

 with a third-rate pear of Scotland. The forests were now 

 clothed in the splendour of autumn, and the richness and 

 variety of their tints was of the most pleasing description. 

 The oak, maple, beech, and dogwood, seemed to vie in bril 

 liancy, and I often observed many leaves on the same lateral 

 branch, exhibiting every shade from vivid green to the darkest 

 purple. 



I found so much to interest me in the productions of the 

 forest and its feathered inhabitants, that my walk was insen 

 sibly prolonged, till at length the declining sun reminded me 

 of the necessity of returning to Columbus. On emerging 

 from the forest, I observed people engaged in making cider, 

 and walked towards them to enquire my way, having lost the 

 direction of the city, by wandering in the woods. The apples 

 were collected into an immense heap, from which two men 

 were engaged in carrying them to a mill, consisting of vertical 

 cylinders, turned by the power of two oxen, which reduced the 

 fruit to a pulp. A shovel was used in removing the pulp, 

 which, by means of straw and wattles, was piled above a re 

 ceptacle for the juice, and pressed by a powerful screw. The 



