692 



FARMERS' REGISTER* 



[Nolo* 



lake?," like tiie ever-nrliides of Florida, to the 

 highest rolling, dry land that abounds in thecoun- 

 try. In the prairies in the north of Indiana, the 

 streams are generally boniered with "marsh prai- 

 rie," sometimes very soil and miry, extending the 

 whole width of what you would call the first bot- 

 tom, or interval heiwe"en the bank and high land, 

 and often covered with the most luxuriant growth 

 of grass and rushes, and in shallow streams ex- 

 tending entirely across, so that the old proverb of 

 "can't set the river on fire," dont apply here, for 

 streams of three or four leet depth often burn over. 

 Some streams have no banks— the ground rising 

 in a true grade from the boiloni of the river for 

 miles — such for instance is the celebrated Kanka- 

 kee, the marsh of which in places is several miles 

 wide, and a stranger would approach near the 

 channel without once conceiving of the presence 

 ot' a river which is as large or larger than the 

 Licking, or Great Miami. 



This marsh is interspersed with islands of dry 

 prairie and timber — some of which are celebrated 

 in Indian history as having afforded an almost un- 

 approachable retreat (or the discomfited army of 

 Tippecanoe. A pursuit of the retreating foe alter 

 that battle, would have been found as impracticable 

 as a pursuit of the same kind of foe has been 

 found in Florida. The Kankakee being entirely 

 inaccessible, except in two or three places, from 

 the upper rapids, near the Illinois state line, to the 

 south bend of the St. Joseph; so that the only 

 method of pursuit would have been by boats up 

 the river, past the very muzzles of the Indian ri- 

 fles, the ov/ners of which could have lain conceal- 

 -ed in the tall grass on the banks within ten yards 

 •of the passing boats. 



It is from the burning of these or similar marsh 

 prairies, that the thousand and one poetical flour- 

 ishes have been painted, to convey an idea to the 

 uninitiated, of the "sublime and awfully grand 

 spectacle of a burning prairie." And 'tis these 

 descriptions that have conveyed the idea that all 

 prairies are covered with grass so tall that a horse- 

 man is in danger of losing himself if he happens 

 to get "off the trail;" when in truth the ordinary 

 growth on a dry prairie is only about 8 or 10 inches 

 of thick, fine grass, that resembles timothy when 

 about half grown, and is usually called "buffalo 

 grass." And when burning, which it generally 

 does about Noventiber, it makes a fire about as 

 large as the burning of leaves in wood-land and 

 occasions no more danger; as it rilns through an 

 oak rail fence without creating blaze enough to set 

 it on fire. 



The prairies hereabouts are moderately undula- 

 ting, surrounded or interspersed with groves of 

 timber at no inconvenient distances, and watered 

 with durable mill streams and small creeks, springs 

 and lakes, and ponds, varying in size from the 

 fourth of an acre to a thousand acres. Wells of 

 good water are easily obtained, at all depths, from 

 five to a hundred feet, of clay and sand digging. 



The quality of the soil is very various, or rather 

 the subsoil — for the whole country appears to be 

 covered with a rich, loose black mould, varying in 

 depth Irom three to four inches to as many leet. 

 In some places this mould rests on a bed of loose 

 sand, almost quicksand, with a surface as level as 

 water — in others, it rests on a more compact bed of 

 sand and gravel, that takes up the water as fast as 

 it falls, leaving the soil at all times dry and pleas- 

 ant to work, though very liable to be exhausted. 



In other places a bed of sandy loam lies belovv 

 the top soil, and this sometimes rests on sand and 

 gravel, and sometimes on a compact bed of strong 

 white clay, from one to fifty feet through to the 

 sand. In other places the soil is exactly similar 

 to the upland ol' Ohio, very strong and durable, 

 and very muddy in wet wea'her. 



Stone is scarce. On some prairies you could 

 not find one as big a;s your head in a month. On 

 others, detached masses ol" granite are so plenty 

 as to maki' ploughing, at first, difficult. Limestone 

 is scarce — thouixh it is beginning to be found, and 

 undoubtedly will be discovered in sufficient quan- 

 tities as the country grows old. Marl is very 

 abundant, and is used as a substitute for lime. 

 You may think that the want of stone subjects 

 the new settler to serious inconvenience in build- 

 ing his first cabin, where neither brick nor stone 

 can be had to build a fireplace — but "want is the 

 mother of invention." It rnay be curious, if not 

 to you, who have grown up with log cabins and 

 clearings of the west, yet to some, t(j know how a 

 good fireplace can be built without either brick or 

 stone. Here then is a specification, and one of 

 far more importance than many a one tor which a 

 patent has been granted. After having made the 

 cribbing or wooden frame which forms the outside 

 of common cabin fireplaces, mark ofi the exact 

 size you wish to have the fireplace, and then set 

 up posts and nail clapboards on to form the shape 

 of the back and jambs, and fill up tlie space with 

 dry dirt, which must be pounded compactly to- 

 gether as fast as put in, and when of sufficient 

 height; put on the wooden mantle, which should 

 be of white walnut, (butternut) if possible, fas 

 this wood is almost incombustible) and continue 

 the chimney with sticks and clay in the ordinary 

 way. The hearth is made by pounded clay in the 

 same manner as the fireplace, and then a fire be- 

 ing built, gradually burns out the frame of the 

 mould; and if the dirt used was of a quality of 

 clay that would answer for making brick, the fire- 

 place will stand as long, and answer every pur- 

 pose except in the looks of things, as brick. The 

 hearth will want repairing once a year. With 

 such a fireplace, in a room 16 or 18 feet square, 

 built of round poles or small logs laid up in the 

 form of a rail pen, one above another, and notch- 

 ed together at the corners, and the cracks filled 

 with chunks of woods and daubed with mud, and 

 the floor made of logs split in halves or quarters 

 and roughly hewed, the roof formed of clap- 

 boards splitabout 4 feet long and 6 or 8 inches 

 wide, laid upon poles and held in their places by 

 other poles on top, a door made of the same kind 

 of stuff, hung with wooden hintres, and a ^ew 

 shelves put up on pins fixed in the logs, have lived, 

 and still live, nianv of the best citizens of the 

 west. You, Mr. Editor, if I mistake not, can 

 speak experimentally upon this matter. Do any 

 of the cits, who have been reduced by the 

 "grippe" from high life above, "to high lile below 

 stairs," ever think that as good men as them- 

 selves, who have enjoyed life in a parlor, draw- 

 ing-room and dining-hall, are now enjoying life 

 better in such a cabin as above described. And if 

 the deranged state of commercial business should 

 have a tendency to drive a few thousands more 

 into the same kind of enjoyment of life, and to the 

 cultivation of such a soil as I have described, you 

 might truly say that good had sprung from evil. 



