1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



extreme length of staple, combined with great 

 fineness. They were the best samples on exhibi- 

 tion, and would have received a medal had they 

 been in sufficient quantity to come within the 

 limits of the premiums." 



He closed his Address by a well-merited tribute 

 of i)raise to the people of the State of Ohio, and 

 those of the great Northwest, many of the latter 

 being in attendance. 



Ohio State Board of Agriculture. 



On Wednesday, I attended a session of the 

 State Board of Agriculture, and listened to a dis- 

 cussion upon the question, whether the State 

 should accept the proffered aid of the government 

 towards the establishment of a State Agricultural 

 College. In the evening, Dr. H. S. Randall, 

 the author of the recent work on Sheep Ilusbandnj, 

 delivered an Address on this subject to a large 

 audience, and including ladies. It abounded in 

 valuable statistics, and was replete with sound 

 teachings and a condensed, but clear survey of 

 many collateral matters which affect this great in- 

 terest. The Dr. was listened to with profound 

 attention and evident gratification. This exercise 

 closed the proceedings of the first Wool- Growers'' 

 Convention of the great State of Ohio. It was 

 attended, however, by gentlemen from nearly all 

 the loyal States of the Union. 



City of Columbus. 



Columbus is a beautiful city. It lies partly on 

 the banks of the Scioto river, and originally was 

 a broadly-swelling mound, or hill, which the people 

 ■were unwise enough to cut down. The streets are 

 very broad, but seemed to me to have no end. 

 Broad street has four rows of trees, for a great 

 distance, and is embellished by rich dwellings of 

 the latest styles of architecture, with highly culti 

 rated and extensive landscape gardens. The 

 " Centred Lunatic Asylum, of Ohio," is on this 

 street, and stands as a monument of honor to the 

 good people of the State. Dr. Hills, the long- 

 tried, faithful, and efficient Superintendent, is en- 

 titled to my cordial thanks and respect, not only 

 for the affable manner in which he conducted me 

 through the Institution, but for the exercise of his 

 skill in restoring my frozen hand to life and action. 

 A ride to " Camp Chase," four miles out, a look 

 at the barracks and the rebel prisoners, the return 

 to the city and thence to the Asylum in the intense 

 cold, had sent the blood out of some parts of one 

 hand and left them as white as snow and as "stiff 

 as a stake.*' Fortunately, the Doctor's restora- 

 tives, the cold snow, and gentle rubbing, brought 

 back color and circulation in about half an hour, 

 80 that I attended him in his round of the halls 

 and rooms. 



Columbus has about 18,000 inhabitants, and is 

 the Capital of the State. The great national road 



— not a rail, but Henry Clay's road — passes 

 through the city, commencing at Cincinnati and 

 extending to Indianapolis. I visited the Peniten- 

 tiary, Imt did not see John Morgan's men. It has 

 puzzled jjcople to know what his diggers did with 

 the earth which they excavated, so that none of it 

 could tell the tale of their doings. In the first 

 place, they began to pick away the cement floor 

 and brick work under their beds. When they 

 got through this, they came to a large, arched air- 

 chamber, constructed of brick, which passes under 

 all the cells, and is a part of the system of venti- 

 lation. Into this, all the excavated earth and 

 stone were carefully placed, and it was capacious 

 enough to hold ten times as much more. They 

 dug under seven different cells at the same time. 

 John's cell was on the second story. Just before 

 the time for locking up came, he exchanged with 

 his brother and took a lower cell. Seven crept 

 out during the night, two of whom were re-cap- 

 tured, and the other five, if not dead with hunger 

 and cold, have probably found their way back to 

 the charming abodes of rebeldom. The Peniten- 

 tiary is a fine building, overlooking a large extent 

 of rich champaign country, bounded by a magnifi- 

 cent belt of forest trees. It is said that at sun- 

 setting, the scene from the West is one of unsur- 

 passed loveliness. The soil is a sandy loam, and 

 quite rich. I eaw a field of 300 acres, with the 

 corn standing in shocks upon it, which I was told 

 by a native of the place, has been planted for 

 more than fifty years in succession, m corn, with- 

 out any manure having been applied to the field ! 



"Want of Thrift. 



One might suppose, that in such a prolific soil, 

 abundantly supplied with several species of the 

 finest timber, such as, hickory, rock maple, oaks 

 of several kinds, white wood, or poplar, elms, and 

 here and there tracts of hemlock, and watered by 

 frequent and ever-flowing streams, the country 

 would present the most attractive aspect, and 

 abound in those minor graces of fruit and flower, 

 which adorn as well as sustain rural life. But it 

 is not so. For hundreds of miles as I jiassed 

 along, I saw very little orcharding, or fruit trees 

 of any kind, or gardens. The houses for nearly 

 the entire length of Lake F.rie, are little fifteen 

 feet by twenty things, with one to five small, 

 toppling, patched-up sheds, for a j)ig, cow, or 

 horse, and generally without a barn ! I did not 

 see half a dozen wood-sheds filled with dry wood, 

 in the whole distance ! A great many of the 

 houses are of logs, plastered between, the posts 

 not more than eight feet high, and ur.painted. 

 They are rarely enclosed, and are generally sur- 

 rounded with old stumps, rotten logs, fence rails, 

 a dilapidated wagon, and one or two dogs! No 

 garden — no little smooth lawn before the door, — 



