468 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



OF IRON. 



The mineral wealth of the region of Lake Supe- 

 rior is ahuost beyond calculation or even concep- 

 tion. Nature has here stored away her mineral 



one deposit is iron enough to supply the whole 

 world fo'.' thousands of years. Here is revealed the 

 magnificent profusion of the great Author of Na- 

 ture. One wonders where are the gigantic labora- 

 tories where were mingled, and whence were sent 



treasures on so vast a scale, that ages will not ex- 1 forth, the untold masses of iron ore. One reflects, 



haust the deposit, even after the continent becomes 

 densely peopled. The rich copper mines of this re- 

 gion are already beginning to be unlocked ; but 

 perhaps it is not generally known to those who are 

 acquainted with these mines only through the "cop- 

 per stocks" which represent them at the Brokers' 

 Board, that the shores of Lake Superior are also 

 lined for miles by literal mountains of solid iron I 

 While the copper is found in a pure state in veins, 

 the iron is deposited in ore, and in masses. A late 

 visitor to the region furnishes the Chicago Congre- 

 gational Herald with an interesting account of 

 what he saw. Proceeding by boat to the flourishing 

 village of Marquette, he found that there was no 

 mode of conveyance to the mines but one's own 

 feet, or the rude cars, drawn by horses, constructed 

 precisely like the "dirt cars," on Avhicli earth and 

 gravel are transported on our railroads, but which 

 here are used for carrying the iron ore from the 

 mines to the shore. In one of these rough convey- 

 ances, seated on a pail and drawn by mules, we 

 proceeded to the interior. The road however was 

 excellent, benig made of plank where the mules 

 travelled, and laid with iron rails, on which the cars 

 moved. What he saw, at the end of the route, is 

 thus described : 



"About fifteen miles south-westerly from Mar- 

 quette, is a range of high hills, several hundred feet 

 high above the lake, and at least two hundred feet 

 above the land immediately adjacent. These hills 

 extend forty or fifty miles, and are in outward ap- 

 pearance much like other hills, covered v/ith earth 

 and trees. But they are in tnithmountains of iron. 

 When the thin covering of earth is scraped away — 

 which earth is perhaps from six inches to three feet 

 in depth — the rest of the mountain is solid iron 

 ore. There are no veins, no rocks, no earth, no ad- 



too, on the immense wealth which for ages can be 

 extracted from these mountains of iron ; wealth 

 more durable and valuable than that which comes 

 from the mines of CaKfornia." 



LETTER FROM MR. BROWN. 



jYew Ipswich, JV. H.,Aug. 21, 1856. 



Dear Sir : — A severe easterly storm has shut 

 me up closely here yesterday and to-day. For 

 nearly forty-eight hours the fall of rain has been 

 incessant ; the stage travellers report the streams 

 full, roads flooded and badly gullied, and fears are 

 entertained that some bridges are gone. 



In my last I spoke of the tendency of New 

 Hampshire lands to go back, first to grass and 

 then to forest lands. A fellow-travdller, detained 

 here, from Hillsboro', states that twenty farms in 

 that town have been deserted, and probably will 

 never again be occupied by man ; while a resident 

 of this place informs me that on a single mountain 

 tract in this neighborhood, ten farms are deserted, 

 and the buildings are in ruins ! Such are the strik- 

 ing features all over this region of country. 



New Ipswich is a pleasant and thriving town. It 

 has a good clayey loam soil, watered by the Souhe- 

 gan river, and numerous small rivulets, which af- 

 ford abundant and valuable water privileges. The 

 first cotton factory erected in the State was put in 

 operation here in 1803. An Academy was incor- 

 porated here in June, 1789, which has flourished 

 to this day. It has numerous stores and shops of 

 various kinds. The population is less than two 

 thousand, but active and intelligent. 



The storm has been too severe to visit farms in 

 the vicinity with comfort ; but I could not resist 



„ , . , , , . the inclination to look at Mr. Preston's stock and 



mixtures ot any kmd whatever, but iron ore : and ,, <.i-ttiiu j^ ti ,.i 



ore, too, of the very richest kind. It yields iron of l'^-""^^' "^ ^'^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^""'^ favorable reports be- 

 the very best kind, said to be of tougher, stronger i i^-re- I fo""^ him quite ready to gratify my wishes, 

 quality, than the best iron from Russia, or from and any thing but an "umbrella man," for the storm 



Salisbury. The per centage of pure iron extracted 

 from this ore, is seventy-five per cent. 



"There is no skill or expense hardly requii-ed in 

 mining. For no excavations are needed ; no drifts, 

 shafts, nor adits, no machinery nor artificial power. 

 When the earth is scraped away, the whole side of 

 the mountain of solid ore is exposed, like an enor- 

 mous stone quarry. A single blast will loosen many 



seemed to give him no sort of uneasiness. His 

 farm and stock are not only a credit to him, but 

 an honor to the art of agriculture. A brief account 

 of the management and products of a single field 

 will give your readers a pretty correct idea of what 

 he has been doing. 



, , . ..- ,. , . . • I The field in question contains nine acres, and at 



tons, peraaps thirty or forty, from the precipitous L, .• . c . i i •. n . * 



side of the mountain. The laborers shovel the frag- 1 ^^^ ^'"^^ ^^ ^""'^ P^°''^'^ '^ '^"''^^ ''°^ summer two 



menls into barrows, wheel them two or three rods cows. It was very stony. He first plowed one- 



to the cars waiting on the road, and the work is 

 done. 



"The mere inspection of the mines reveals noth- 

 ing very remarkable. One sees only vast masses of 

 rock, such as one may see in any common stone 

 quarry. But the wonderful fact is, the immense 

 masses of mineral wealth here deposited. In this 



half and sowed oats, without manure ; but a crop 

 of 35 bushels per acre showed the natural strength 

 of the soil. Stones were removed and the remain- 

 der of the field plowed. A barrel of plaster was 

 applied to the oats after sowing. In the autumn 

 25 ox loads of manure per acre were applied to 



