738 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



The niitural history of dry prairies has been less 

 necfiected than that ol' tiie vvet. The rnaunifi- 

 cence of their scenery has invariably been the 

 theme of the traveller, and the extent of iheir 

 boundaries, and varieties of production, both ani- 

 mal and vegetable, have contriiiuted hiriiely to the 

 embellishment of the pages of descriptive writers. 

 The poet, and the painter have also resorted to 

 them, in search of objects to engage either the 

 pen or the pencil. The wide unbrolieu phsin, cov- 

 ered by a rich carpet of green, gold and purple; 

 the tall grass waving in the summer breeze; the 

 mimense variety of flowers mingling their odors 

 with the winds; the occasional clump of trees 

 rising above the other vegetable growth; the dis- 

 tant herd of buffalo, cropping the grass or Hying 

 from the hunter, and the sun sinking amidst grass 

 and flowers, must furnish a scene which can be 

 but laintly described by either, but well worthy 

 the genius of both. Late in the autumn, the fires 

 which destroy the growth of the preceding year, 

 in both wet and dry prairies, are frequently awful- 

 ly sublime. When seen at night, from a distance, 

 a chain of fire seems to extend, in every direction, 

 as far as the eye can reach. The blaze often 

 rises, in vast corrr.scations, far above the plane of 

 the horizon. All beyond, [iresenis to the imagin- 

 ation, a chaotic waste, while the earth and the 

 heavens seem to be last terminating in one grand 

 conflagration. But we will leave the description 

 of such scenery to the grapiiic pen which has al- 

 ready delinerated it, atid |;roceed to the proposed 

 detail of our observations, on some of the wet 

 prairies in the northern sections oj" Ohio. 



These marshy plains, though frequently quite 

 extensive, are always much less so than many of 

 the dry prairies of the western stales. They are 

 always surrounded by hills, which vary in bright 

 according to the extent of the prairie. Their 

 bases contain large c|uaiitities of wiiter-wor.'i peb- 

 bles, with a tew fi-agmeiits of fresh- water shells, 

 in a state of partial preservation. Tliesoll of the 

 prairie consists of a deep vegetable loam, covered 

 by tall grass and flowering herbs, except where it 

 is too wet to produce any ihing but moss and 

 other water plants. In every part of the prairie 

 the tufts of grass and flovveriuir plants rise three or 

 four inches above the most inferior surluce, which 

 is covered, except in the dryest part of the season, 

 with water to the depth of from two to six inches. 

 These tufts, however, are so nearly connnected, 

 that the water is never seen, pxcepf where the 

 grass is cut, or thrown aside. The soil and pro- 

 ductions gradually change, as we proceed from 

 the edge to the interior of the grassy flat. Here 

 we find a number of ponds, or small lakes, vary- 

 ing in size from a ihw rods to one or two miles in 

 circumference. The largest of these ponds are 

 well stored with fish, many of which differ but lit- 

 tle, except in size, irom those found in the north- 

 ern lakes. The only woody plant that grows on 

 the edges of the ponds, belongs to the salix, or 

 willow tribe, except in a lie.w instances, where 

 they are thickly surrounded by a dense growth ol' 

 alder, (alniis semilata.) These "ponds, however, 

 from causes which will be presently noticed, are 

 gradually disappearing, and their places being 

 BU()plied by the surronndinir prairie growth. 



The bogs, or marshy flats, so abundant in wet 

 prairies, constitute one of their most singular It^a- 

 tures. They are occasionally covered, either by 



a thin sod, or large tufts of grass, similar to those 

 constituting the grassy surfi\ce of the prairie, only 

 much larger. Upon attempting to walk over 

 either of these, the ground beneath will shake for 

 the distance of several rods. Sometimes they are 

 very narrow; at others, they cover an area of 

 manj' acres. Animals are often lost when at- 

 tempting to cross these shaking bogs. Their 

 depth must be great, for |)oles have been thrust 

 into them thirty feet in a veriical direction, without 

 reaching a hard bottom. Horses and cattle were 

 frequently lost by the early sellers in such humid 

 marshes. These are, also, generally disappear- 

 ing, by being covered with a dense sod, which 

 supports a luxuriant growth of grass, and other 

 vetretables. Still it is dangerous to drive heavily 

 laden wagons or carts over them, lor the surface 

 occasionally gives way, and the whole sinks into 

 the dark mud below. An instance of this kind 

 occurred, a lew years since, in the district which I 

 have been attempting to describe. 



But the woody islands, which rise far above the 

 tali grass, contribute nmch to the beauty of a wet 

 prairie. Their limber consists of oaks, and other 

 trees and shrubs, similar to those fouial on the 

 neighboring elevations. Pebbles and shells, even 

 more perfect than those imbedded at ihe base of 

 the surroundinnr hills, are also abundant below the 

 soil, at the termination or shore ol" the islands. 



A stream of water passes either throuijh those 

 prairies, or in their immediate vicinity. When it 

 overflows its banks, so as to cover the low grounds 

 with water, the whole presents the appearance of 

 a fresh- water lake, with a variety of small islands 

 scattered over its surface. 



Marshes, thickly set with willov/s, alders, and a 

 creat variety of flowering shrubs, principally of 

 the rose kind, are sometimes abundant along the 

 margins, or even in the central portions ot vvet 

 prairies. Here water animals, such as the musk- 

 rat, otter and mink, were once abundant, and are 

 so still, except in the immediate neighborhood of 

 settlements. The first of these animals appears 

 to delight to dwell in villages, placed at some dis- 

 tance from each other, while they keep up a con- 

 stant inlercourse by travelling. This is done late 

 in ihe evening. Their houses are usually six or 

 eight feet in diameter, at tlie base, and about four 

 feet in heiglit, gradually roumled at the top in such 

 manner as to turn the water in every direction. It 

 is said, by most writers, that they build a new 

 house every year; but this is not correct, for I have 

 known iheni to occupy the same dwellings for 

 several years in succession. I have counted fifty 

 of these houses, in a shallow pond, within an area 

 of one or two acres; and seen hundreds of their 

 inhabitants playintj in the eveniiiir. in one of their 

 villages, apparently in the full enjoyment of all 

 ihe pleasures of association. They always enter 

 their houses by subterranean passages, which 

 commence beneath the water some feet distant. 



Beaver-dams have been abundant along the 

 streams in the vicinity of ihc'se marshes, but their 

 remnants only are now to be seen; the animal 

 having fled, with the Indian and bufliilo, far be- 

 yond the confines of civilization. It is singular 

 that this anim;d always chose to construct artifi- 

 cial ponds, rather than occupy those already llir- 

 nished by nature, i hough but a short distance 

 from its adopted location. 



The hills, bounding the wet prairies, which 



