560 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Judge Meigs thouglit a good grindstone on a farm equal to one 

 hand, where several are employed, as they would save the labor 

 of one man by using sharp tools, such as a good farmer with a 

 good grindstone will have. This discussion of a subject that may 

 appear trivial is calculated to do much good. 



Solon Robinson — I rise to read a letter from J. S. Whitney & 

 Co., who have been thirty years in the trade. One paragraph of 

 this letter reads as follows : 



" As manufacturers, and importers of and dealers in grind- 

 stones, we desire to express our thanks for your eloquent tribute 

 10 the convenience and utility of the article, in your remarks 

 before the Farmers' Club." 



They state that they have grindstones from England, Scotland, 

 Sweden, France, Nova Scotia, and Ohio. Is it possible that this 

 country only furnishes one-fifth of the supply of this important 

 necessary of life, that is of farm life. For I contend that no man 

 can live without a grindstone, however long he may stay. We 

 probably have as good grit in the United States as can be found 

 in the world. In Ai-kansas there is stone that compares well 

 with Turkey oilstone. In White River, Indiana, there is an ex- 

 tensive bed of stone that makes the best grindstones I ever saw 

 for carpenter's tools, and the best whetstones for universal use, 

 being both sharp and fine. 



In the Lake Hui-on region there are excellent beds of rock for 

 grindstones of very superior quality. Yet it appears that, with 

 the exception of the few^ that come fi-om Northern Ohio, our supply 

 comes mainly from abroad. This is one of the grindstone abuses. 

 It is an abuse of the good gifts provided abundantly for our use. 



^Ir. Robinson also read an amusing and interesting letter from 

 a correspondent who signs himself " Grit." No doubt he is a 

 gritty fellow. It is quite evident that he has had his nose to the 

 grindstone when he turned that hard-headed old rickety affair 

 " for the hired man to grind his scythe." He says, most truly . 

 " There are reminiscences, pleasant or painful, about the grind- 

 stone in the life of , almost every one brought up in the country, 

 and most of them will feel a twinge in the back as they read your 

 late humorous description of grindstones, such as ai'e found about 



