110 



£!)e iTormcr'0 iltotitljto Visitor. 



sure health, and guarantee comfort— its tool 

 apartment, implement apartment, and gears - 

 room. The milk is conveyed from the cow sta- 

 ble to the dairy in pipes, and passes through two 



strainers before it reaches its place of destitia 



—there, it is drawn oft' into cans for market, 

 which before being sent away are cooled in a 

 massy granite trough, which is supplied with 

 cold water bv means of pipes leading from a 

 pump near by. Every thing in the dairy is as 

 sweet and clean as bands, soap and water can 

 make them, and the room itself is filled with the 

 purest air. 



In front of the stalls of the cows, there are 

 troughs lined with tin, for watering them in ill 

 winter— during the grazing season they get am- 

 ple supplies of the purest water in their pastures, 

 where springs and streams abound. The second 

 story of the front ham is appropriated to the 

 storing of hay, but spacious as it is, it will not 

 be sufficient to accommodate within fifty tons of 

 the growth of the present season. 



In the back barn is located the stable of the 

 mules, 21 in number, and a team of 4 splendid 

 oxen, all of which are in the finest condition of 

 /leslt as well as cortts, demonstrating that neither 

 food, curry-comb and brush, nor elbow-grease, 

 are spared" to ensure health, comfort and cleanli- 

 ness. In this wing of the barn is also the thresh- 

 ing floor, the horse-power, the threshing machine, 

 fee. — the second floor is occupied with the grain 

 in the straw, and the straw after it has been 

 threshed. The cows and beasts of burthen are 

 kept well bedded, and the barn stabling, and 

 barn yard, so constructed as that neither liquid 

 nor solid manure is lost or suffered to he wasted 

 — economy in all things, great as well as small, 

 being regarded by the Colonel as a virtue the 

 more to be treasured, as it enables him who prac- 

 tices it to he generous, hospitable, and just. 



The flock of sheep are Southdovvns, and num- 

 ber 30 bead— that they produce good lambs, we 

 can most cheerfully testify, as neither prince nor 

 peasant ever enjoyed a more delicious, savory 

 morsel, than did we while partaking of the Colo- 

 nel's hospitable board. It is not our wont to 

 speak of what we may have Paten, nor would 

 we now, but that it affords us an opportunity of 

 heralding forth our belief in the superiority of 

 the Southdown as mutton and lamb, over every 

 other breed. 



The mansion is built of stone, stands on a 

 beautiful eminence, overlooking the village, the 

 track of the railroad, and taking within the 

 scope of the vision one of the most beautiful 

 land-cape views that the eye could desire to 



look upon. The c t and lawn comprises an 



enclosure of some three acres, filled with shade 

 trees, shrubbery and flowers, which are arranged 

 with exquisite taste and judgment, — doubtless 

 the work of the accomplished lady of the Colo- 

 nel — for none other than woman's chaste views 

 of the beautiful, could have conceived of an ar- 

 rangement so harmonious, and in such perfect 

 keeping — an arrangement combining at once 

 the loveliness of nature with the magnificence 

 of art. 



Having feasted on the improvements of the 

 farm, we paid a visit to the factory, foundry and 

 machine shop. In the first we found hundreds 

 of pretty girls and good looking women, on 

 whose countenances beamed the living evidences 

 of comfort, contentment and virtue— in the two 

 latter, sturdy men, whose skilful workmanship 

 prove them to be worthy representatives of the 

 American mechanic, while their joyous faces in- 

 dicated that employment at Laurel, vouchsafed 

 not only the reward due to toil, hut that it was 

 the home of happiness. 



The village contains two cotton mills, one 

 foundry, one machine shop, four churches, a ly- 

 ceum, a ball-room, and about two hundred and 

 fiftj tenements, mostly built of stone, in the cot- 

 tage style, with flower-gardens in front. It has 

 a population of about 2500 persons — and we 

 hazard nothing in saying, that there is no com- 

 munity in our country where the obligations ol 

 honor, honesty and truth, and of religion and 

 morality are more scrupuously observed. 



It often ocours that land owners improve small 

 fill Is, comprising a few acres of land, but we 

 doubt much, whether there is half a dozen in- 

 stances! in our State, where so much laud, in so 



gle individual, and we doubt still more, whether 

 the fertilization has ever been so thorough and 

 complete before. This example, which has been 

 so laudably set, will, doubtless, be followed by 

 many others, as the brilliant results of Col. Ca- 

 pron's intelligent labors, are calculated to stir up 

 a spirit of emulation, that must speedily tell ad- 

 vantageously, not only in the improvement of the 

 exhausted lands of our own State, but every- 

 where else where the soil has been impoverished 

 by that ruinous system which has gone upon the 



principle of taking everything out of, without 

 restoring anything to the earth. 



Things that Change. 



BY MRS. HKMANS. 



Knowest thou that seas are sweeping 



Where cities once have been 1 

 When the calm wave is sleeping, 

 Their towers may yet he seen j 

 Far down below the glassy title 

 Man's dwellings where his voice hath died. 



Know'st thou that flocks are feeding 



Above the tombs of* old, 

 Which lungs, their armies leading, 

 Have lingered to behold ? 

 A short, smooth green-sward o'er them spread, 

 is all that marks where heroes bled. 



Know'st thou that now the token 



Ot temples once renowned, 

 Is but a pillar broken. 



With grass and wall-flowers crowned ? 

 And the lone serpent rears her young 

 Where the triumphant lyre hath sung 1 



Well, well I know the story 



Of ages passed away, 

 And the mournful wrecks that glory 

 Has left to dull decay, 

 But thou hast yet a lale to learn 

 More lull of warnings sad and stern. 



Thy pensive eye but r-tnges 

 O'er ruined lane and hall. 

 Oh! the deep soul has changes 

 More sorrowful than all. 

 Talk not, while these before thee throng, 

 Of silence in Ihe place of song. 



See scorn, where love has perished : 

 Distrust, where friendship grew : 

 Pride, where once nature cherished 

 All tender thoughts and true 1 

 And shadows of oblivion thrown 

 O'er every trace of idols gone. 



Weep not for tombs far scattered, 



For temples prostrate laid ; 

 In ihme own heai t he shattered 

 The altars it had made. 

 Go, sound its depths in doubt and fear ; 

 Heap up no more its treasures here. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 



A. Tour to and through a portion of the West- 

 ern Country. 



The writer, in company with a son and a ne- 

 phew, left EHisburgh, the place of their resi- 

 dence in Jefferson county, N. Y., on the first day 

 of June, 1846, and went to Snckel's Harbor, a 

 small and flourishing village on the borders of 

 lake Ontario, and probably the most sale and 

 commodious harbor there is on the whole chain 

 of the great western lakes; from thence we look 

 passage on board a small steam-boat — St. Law- 

 rence; arrived at Oswego the following morn- 

 ing, another flourishing village on the mouth of 

 Oswego river, where much commercial business 

 is Irausai ted — the mouth of the river, with arti- 

 ficial work at its entrance into the lake forming 

 the harbor— a canal running from this and inter- 

 secting the Erie canal at Syracuse ; thence 

 up we proceeded to the Genesee river, four miles 

 from its nioiilh to the landing, but found nothing 

 particular worthy ol note here except the eleva- 

 ted and lofty banks of the river; thence we 

 proceeded to Lewiston, at the head of navigation 

 on Ihe Niagara river: leaving very soon in the 

 horse cars on the railroad, we came to Niagara 

 Falls, a small but pleasant village: left in steam 

 ears to Buffalo, anil although within a stone's 

 throw of the Falls, we did not go and view 

 them, but immediately proceeded to Buffalo, 

 where we arrived at 8 o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, 3d of June: this is a large and flourish- 

 ing cifj near the out-let of lake El ie. the second 

 m size and population in this State, and pro- 

 bably about the tenth or eleventh in the United 



short a period, has ever been improved by a sin- Stales; Buffalo creek forming the harbor and I tween them. 



literally filled with steam-boats, sail-vessels and 

 canal-boats. Wo spent from 8 A. M. to 7 

 o'clock P. M. in viewing the scenery of the 

 city and harbor, which was very interesting 

 to strangers to such scenes: the largest class 

 steam-boats carrying from 1000 to 1200 passen- 

 gers, and setting a dining table 850 feet long or 

 more, a class of which boats formed a daily 

 line to and from Chicago, Illinois; and on board 

 of one of these (the Saratoga) we took passage 

 and left about day-light next morning: arrived 

 at Cleaveland, Oliio, at 8 o'clock in the eve- 

 ning of the 4th of June. Next day, 5ih of 

 June, we took the stage and went back into 

 the country twenty-seven miles to a brother's 

 of the writer, who joined us, and we returned 

 by private conveyance ihe next day, June 6th, 

 and took passage on board the steam-boat 

 Oregon — arrived at Detroit 10 o'clock the same 

 evening: the steam-boat and a schooner came 

 in contact near Ihe mouth of Detroit river, 

 which made quite a crashing, but what was 

 the injury or damage done I never learned. 

 Left Detroit just after day-light, June 7, and 

 proceeded up Detroit river, through lake St. Clair, 

 and up St." Clair river, entered lake Huron 6 

 o'clock at evening. 



In passing up these rivers, the country gene- 

 rally was rather low and barren : some on 

 the Canada shore above Detroit appeared tolera- 

 ble well. Arrived at Mackinaw at one o'clock 

 the following day, June 8. This is a small 

 island near the head of lake Huron and the 

 termination of the strait connecting lake Huron 

 with lake Michigan: this island, with the fort 

 bearing the same name, presents an appearance, 

 worthy of note. Although here but one hour, 

 we walked up something like half a mile to the 

 fort; it was very handsomely arranged, and be- 

 ing much elevated, it here presented a beautiful 

 spectacle. Off to the eye appeared to be hut 

 little business here except fishing and gardening, 

 from which they must, it would seem, chiefly 

 subsist. Appletrees, (then being the 8th of June) 

 were here handsomely in the blow ; and when 

 we left home, the first of June, apples were 

 nearly the size of wren's eggs: a great place 

 here for the fish called Mackinaw trout. Left 

 here at 2 o'clock P. M.. passed up the strait with 

 some prospect on laud [ill dusk, when all pro- 

 spect was lost till near or quite the middle of the 

 day, June 9lh. then we hove in sight of the shore 

 and timber in Wisconsin. Arrived at the city of 

 Millwankie two o'clock P. M. the same day; and 

 here on shore in this pleasant city — and before 

 we proceed further, let us pause and look back 

 a moment — retrace our steps and tour, and re- 

 flect a moment. From ten o'clock, P. M. June 

 1st, till two o'clock June 9 — making 187 hours, 

 and deduct from this 80 hours at least for stop- 

 page and detention, and it leaves 107 hours or 

 nearly four and a half days, in which time we 

 were pleasantly wafted over the bosom of this 

 chain of inland seas or lakes. The space of 

 about 1150 miles, with the exception of 2(i miles 

 of railroad, and propelled the whole distance by 

 steam with the exception of seven miles (horse 

 power) and from Buffido to the point of our 

 lauding, we were meeting or passing steam pro- 

 pellers or sail vessels almost hourly. 



We will now proceed after taking a little re- 

 freshment in this new and flourishing city of the 

 West — we travelled west ten miles; in this dis- 

 tance, the country considerably broken and un- 

 even, but fertile. June 10, we continued our 

 journey west — travelled over thirty miles— in 

 this day's travel we found ihe country a little 

 more even, yet with handsome swells; and here 

 were timbered land and oak openings or barrens. 

 The timber was various; much the same as our 

 own country east. 1 saw no beech trees that I 

 recollect, west of the lakes. The soil various — 

 frequently black sand, bordering on muck. The 

 oak limber on the barrens is very short— many 

 places hardly long enough for two cuts lor rails : 

 the soil rather lighter, more of the yellow or 

 clav color. We found some country here that ap- 

 peared to rest on a bed of loose fine gravel 

 about a foot or eighteen inches from the surface 

 — it was broken by many small lakes or ponds, 

 with frequent marshy or swampy outlets. We 

 crossed no considerable stream except Fox river ; 

 and that, was small here — passed between two 

 ponds, where was just room for the road be- 



