THE ILLIIS^OIS FA.RMER. 



103 



the keeping of summer. But in all its 

 beauty, it brough ta paleor to the cheek of 

 the farmer as from his window he looked 

 out upon his garden enfolded within the 

 grasp of this now unwelcome visitor j and 

 before the sua had reached his noon-day's 

 splendor a great portion of the garden and 

 field crops lay dead and blackened beneath 

 his ardent gaze. From the Alleghanies to 

 the Missouri, from Lake Huron to the Ohio, 

 from "Egypt" to the farthest north was 

 the mantle of frost spread out, crushing to 

 earth the fond hopes of the husbandman. 

 Wherever the atmosphere was saturated with 

 moisture ; wherever the valleys spread out 

 tlieir wealth of soil; wherever the brooklets 

 sent their mists up the hill-sides; there the 

 dazzling frost, born of April, came 

 with its mantle of snowy white bring- 

 ing destruction to fruit and tender 

 plants. How different this morning ! The 

 balmy air comes up from the field sprinkled 

 by the clouds of night, and the fields look 

 gay with the promise of abundant harvests, 

 as the train whirls past the clearings, shel- 

 tered from the sweeping winds by the forest 

 walls that every where belt in the fields. 

 Here, instead of the prairie billows, ready 

 lor the plow, the massive forest had to 

 be carved down by the steady swing of the 

 woodman's axe, as blow by blow the tower- 

 ing monarch of the forest reluctantly yielded 

 to his sturdy efforts. Forty years ago the 

 great forest stretched far away in its almost 

 unbroken solitude ; but the iron rail is work- 

 ing like the magic of Alladin. and thousands 

 of happy homes are carved out of the great 

 reaches of forest that so lately lay in solemn 

 grandeur, mocking at the feeble effort of the 

 pioneer. 



As we remarked in our last, the crops are 

 not as forward as on the prairies. More to 

 the north, no doubt the open prairie offers a 

 more ready track for the volume of heated 

 air that at this season is forced north 

 through the valley of the Mississippi, and 

 thus sooner shows its efi'ects on the vegeta- 

 tion lying within its pathway. 



The crop of winter wheat looks well, 



though not of heavy growth. The orchards 

 are small, but well loaded with fruit. Our 

 Hoosier friends, like us of the prairies, make 

 no great pretensions to fine gardens. As 

 we write, the train is speeding on its way 

 through field and forest, towards the Queen 

 City of the West — the great Porkopolis of 

 the Ohio valley — and upon whose vine clad 

 hills we intend to feast our eyes and take 

 lessons in the beautiful. The increasing 

 undulations of the country and the windings 

 among the hills give warning that we are 

 fast approaching the river. The clearings 



are larger, the orchards more numerous and 

 a change in the soil shows that we have left 

 the heavy clay loom and reached the lime- 

 stone formations that give such value to the 

 slopes of the Ohio. 



From Lawrenceburgh we follow the Ohio 

 river. North Bend, so well known in the 

 political history of the country, is one of the 

 most humble stations on the route. The 

 vineyards on the south slope of the great 

 excavation that the Ohio has cut out are 

 beginning to appear, and now they grow 

 thicker and of greater extent as the onward 

 train gives warning that our journey is at an 

 end in this direction — and we must close. 



CisciNKATli, May 4, 1S60. 



Our last left us entering the city, and we 

 are now quietly located at the Burnet 

 House. It is said that " birds of a feather,'' 

 etc., all of which we believe, for we first 

 found ourself in the sanctum of the Ohio 

 Valley Farmer in the presence of our friend 

 Sandford, chatting as familiarly as though 

 we had been acquainted for a dozen years 

 at least, and so we have, but not personally. 

 We next turned up with Prof. Gary, of the 

 Cineinnatus, both of these gentlemen are 

 doing a good work, and we were pleased to 

 find that they are well appreciated by their 

 large list of subscribers. The Farmer is a 

 home paper, in quarto form ; while the Ciii- 

 cinnatus is octavo, with more scientific 

 tendencies, and has a wider field; they 

 difier from each other, but each fills an im- 

 portant place in the agricultural literature 

 of the day. 



Manufacturing is the great feature in this 

 city, and which give it so much importance 

 to the north-west and south. One firm, in 

 1857, tilled orders of engines and machinery 

 for the south alone to the amount of $800,- 

 000, and last year a quarter of a million, and 

 this is but one of a large number of similar 

 establishments. 



We met Mr. Hedges, of the firm of 

 Hedges, Free & Co., well known manufac- 

 turers of agricultural machincry~which has 

 been largely sold in our State, more especi- 

 ally "Little Giant corn mills," sorgum 

 crushers and pans. They have a new 

 patern of crushers, which we think must 

 prove of use ; one of the rollers is sixteen 

 inches in diameter, {.nd the other two eight 

 inches each, thus giving a grinding motion 

 that should wring out the last drop of juice 

 from the cane. This firm is just now largely 

 engaged in the Casting of *' Amalgam 

 Bells" from different qualities of cast iron, 

 carbonized so as to have the hardness of 

 steel, yet at about the cost of cast iron. So 

 far as we could judge, they are a most per- 

 fect success, thus giving us a cheap bell 



with qualities little, of any below that of 

 steel, and the common alloy bells that cost 

 nearly three times the same amount per 

 hundred pounds. Of course a furtber trial 

 must be had to doteimine their relative 

 value, but judging from the demand that has 

 sprung up in so short a time, they are giving 

 the most unbounded satisfaction, and what 

 is a little singular, a large proportion of 

 the orders are from the eastern States. We 

 saw one cast this af'ernoon at thc'^Niles 

 Works,'' for Messrs. H., F. & Co., for which 

 was melted four tons of metal. It measures 

 six feet across the month, is four and a half 

 feet high and three feet at the crown. The 

 largest bell ever before cast in this city was 

 five and a half feet by four, and five and a 

 half inches thick, This bell cost some two 

 thousand dollars, while this amalgum bell, 

 of larger size, will cost less than seven 

 hundred dollars. This bell is to fill an order 

 from the city of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 

 and another one of two thousand pounds is 

 being molded for New Brunswick. The 

 casting af this large bell was done at the 

 Niles Works, on account of its capacity for 

 melting so large a lot of metal in one 

 cupulo Should this new discovery in bell 

 making prove as valuable as it now promises, 

 we shall have a revolution in the trade, and 

 every village church that now has a bell of 

 from three to five hundred pounds, will 

 have a new one of as many thousands, and 

 the sound of the " church going bell," that 

 is circumscribed to the village limits, will 

 send its deep tones away into the country, 

 and call the rural population to the worship 

 of Him who sends the gentle rains and 

 cloaths the fields with verdure. This firm 

 are also making bells of fifty pounds and 

 upwards for farm and plantation use, costing 

 from six to twenty dollars. This we look 

 upon as a desideratum long needed. We 

 want some cheap and cflScient signal by 

 which to call in the farm laborers, or any 

 particular person. By these bells every 

 farmer will have this at his coi.imand : for 

 instance, three taps of the bell will call in 

 the farmer, four taps another person, and by 

 having a given number of tapa for each 

 person, they can be called with certainty 

 and ease. We make the suggestion, and 

 hope our farmers will take the bint before 

 we apply for a patent on farm signals ; just 

 think of it, a good bell at twelve dollars per 

 hundred pounds. Buy one by which the lady 

 of the house can with a little effort at the 

 cord send the welcome announcment of 

 dinner to the most distant field, or call in 

 husband to meet a friend, etc. 



CisciSKATi, June 6th, I860. 



Last evening the city was visited with 

 a much needed rain. This morning ia 

 cool and pleasant. 

 j Our first work waste visit the shop 



