178 Advantages of Travel. — Review of Agricultural Works. Vol. VI. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Advantages of Travel. 



Worthy Friend, — I believe that you virill 

 be gratified to hear that I am once more in 

 the enjoyment of the comforts of home ; for 

 however it may be less splendid than many 

 of the mansions in which I have enjoyed hos- 

 pitality during the past summer, it is yet a 

 happy home — the home of the wife of my 

 bosom, and the children of our love. It is 

 the home of those who had, for many days 

 before my arrival, been anxiously looking 

 and praying for my safe return ; for at this 

 late season of the year, a voyage around our 

 northern lakes is always attended with anx- 

 iety, if not danger. But at length I came in 

 health, and found health, and an abundance 

 of joy ! It is good for a man to be separated 

 from his family occasionally, merely to enable 

 him and them to enjoy the great gratification 

 of meeting after a long absence. 



You will please assure your family, that the 

 joy of meeting my own wife and children, 

 has not crowded out an affectionate remem- 

 brance of them, and therefore you will make 

 my best respects to them. I hope it will be 

 long before they do, or wish to, forget their 

 old friend of the Western Prairies. 



My late tour through the United States has 

 formed many links with my heart, that will 

 always vibrate to the tune of sweet and plea- 

 sant sensations. I am well persuaded that I 

 return home a better man than I left ; at all 

 events, a wiser one. I have formed a great 

 many new and excellent acquaintances, and 

 I have seen a good share of what every man 

 ought to see — that is his own country, at 

 least before he yearns after foreign ones. 

 My opportunity to learn a great deal that 

 will be useful to me through life, has been 

 greater than many travellers, because my 

 association has been with the nobility of the 

 land — the cultivators of the soil. I have seen 

 and observed the different kinds of soil, and 

 mode of cultivation, and the different kinds of 

 stock, and their adaptation to different sec- 

 tions of the country. I have carefully exa- 

 mined a great many improved implements of 

 husbandry; and above all things, I have ob- 

 served that there is an evident spirit of im- 

 provement abroad that has, and that will 

 elevate the character and standing of the 

 agricultural population of the United States. 

 I have found a strong evidence of this good 

 spirit in the cordial manner that I have 

 everywhere been received throughout my 

 journey. I had no claims from political noto- 

 riety or official station to draw attention, but 

 everywhere I found myself known and wel- 

 comed, as a friend of the agricultural interest 

 of the country, in a manner that astonished 

 me not a little. I have often asked myself 



the question, What have I done to cause all 

 this ] It is true that I had devoted a share 

 of the talent which nature had endowed me 

 with, for the benefit of my agricultural bre- 

 thren ; but I did not feel that on that account 

 I merited the honour and respect which I 

 have met with. But let this fact encourage 

 others to do likewise. Let them bear in 

 mind that a good reputation, so easily earned, 

 is worth their attention, and will prove of a 

 value that cannot be computed in dollars and 

 cents. I have reason to hope, although I 

 may never meet a return in that currency 

 for the time and money spent during the past 

 summer, that I have done some good. I have 

 aided in awakening the public mind to pay 

 more attention to the best interest of the 

 country ; and I am fully persuaded, if agri- 

 cultural writers would take the trouble to 

 make themselves more personally known, 

 that they would increase their own useful- 

 ness, while adding days of pleasure to their 

 lives. 



I reached home on the 13th instant, by 

 way of the lakes, from Buffalo to Chicago, 

 having had rather a rough passage, though 

 not more than could be expected at this late 

 season of the year. I hope to be able, after 

 I recover from the fatigue of my journey, to 

 let you and your readers hear from me occa- 

 sionally. I remain with respect and esteem, 

 Your friend, 



Solon Robinson. 

 Lake Court House, Ind., Nov. 22, 1841. 



Our amiable friend must excuse us for making pub- 

 lic a private communication ; we knew not how to de- 

 bar his friends in this jjart of the country from the pe- 

 rusal of a document so honourable to the head and 

 heart of the writer, to say nothing of the pleasure it 

 affords us, showing that we enjoy the happiness of his 

 friendly recollections. May Iw long continue an orna- 

 ment to his country, a treasure to his neighbourhood, 

 and a blessing to his family. — Ed. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Correction. 



Mr. Editor, — If, instead of cutting off 

 three inches from one leg of the triangle or 

 span level, (see page 161 of the Cabinet for 

 December,) our friend of the Southern Plan- 

 ter had merely raised it by placing under- 

 neath a block three inches in thickness, to be 

 removed when the bob-line had marked its 

 proper deviation from the plumb, he would 

 not, perhaps, have fallen into the error of 

 directing the short foot of the level to be 

 placed forward, while laying off drains on a 

 descent. Both feet of the level must be of 

 the same length, if the bob-line is to mark 

 the obliquity properly, and there can be no 

 declivity in the drains if this be not the case. 



T.B. 



