220 Transactions of the American Institute. 



childs) is the terminus of the St. Louis Iron Mountain and Behnont 

 railroad, and is directly opposite Columbus, Kj., the northern termi- 

 nus of the Mobile and Ohio, and the New Orleans and Mississippi 

 railroads. With the facilities of getting coal on the river, and iron 

 by rail, it will doubtless become a large manufacturing place. But 

 little snow falls, and the thermometer seldom gets down far below 

 the freezing point. Those who appreciate comfort will hardly settle 

 -in such countries as the northern parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, 

 and Ohio, when they can find such a climate as that of southern 

 Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Land can be had at 

 all prices, from two dollars an acre up to five dollars ; and ten dollars 

 will buy good land. Improved lands will sell higher in proportion. 

 To those who are looking for new locations, we say as Phillip said to 

 Nathaniel, " come and see." I see by your reports that my old fi-iend 

 who dosed me so frequently with castor oil some fifty years ago. Dr. 

 J. V. C. Smith, is a member of your club. If he will come out here, 

 I will repay him in the oil line, as the bean grows plentiful, and is 

 A^ery productive. 



Mr. N. C. Meeker. — I have been through this country, and can 

 indorse all that is said of the fertility of the soil. Perhaps it has no 

 superior in America. Apples do very well, especially Rawle's Janet ; 

 also all other kinds of fruits. Most of the farming used to be done 

 by slave labor. In high water much land is subject to overflow. 

 The musquetoes are so numerous at times that no one can count them. 

 There is no doubt but the people have some ague. Formerly levees 

 were built, but they have decayed, or they were imperfectly con- 

 strueted. Wild fowl and game of all kinds, including wild turkeys, 

 are abundant. 



Adjourned. 



May 19, 1868. 



Mr. Nathan C. Ely in tlie Chair ; Mr. John W. Chambers, Secretary. 



How TO iiAKE Good Yinegar. 

 Mrs. Kate, Warren, Penn., furnishes the following : To one gallon 

 of molasses add nine gallons of soft water, and put the mixture in an 

 open-ended barrel. It should then be stirred, and the barrel covered 

 with a cloth and board, that nothing but the air can get in. 



