Poor-houses. — Randolph. 39 



for in addition to the other fruits, the plum and the cherry flourish 

 and bear fruit in the greatest perfection ; especially green and yel- 

 low gages, and the different varieties of heart and bigarou cherries ; 

 while with us, the little curculio, that blaster of the gardener's hopes, 

 will not allow us a single plum. The farms in this quarter, gener- 

 ally contain only one hundred or one hundred and sixty acres ; some, 

 however, are larger ; and they are almost invariably furnished with a 

 well built comfortable frame house, and suitable barn and out-houses. 



Poor-houses. — As a mark of the general thrifty and comfortable 

 condition of the inhabitants, it may be stated as a fact, that few, if 

 any, of the counties, have need of a poor-house. I was told, that 

 more than half of the townships do not assess any poor tax, and in 

 those which do, the sum is very small. The true cause of this ex- 

 emption from poor rates, the bane of many a fertile portion of the 

 earth, may be found in the industrious, frugal habits of the people, 

 who have generally come from that "land of steady habits," which 

 has furnished more inhabitants, and more able and enterprizing pi- 

 oneers to the West, than any other state in the Union. I consider 

 "the Reserve" as the most valuable portion of Ohio, and look for- 

 ward to the day as not very distant, when this whole region will be 

 cultivated like a garden, teeming with a million of inhabitants, and 

 studded with towns and villages. 



After leaving the township of Atwater, we entered Randolph, five 

 miles west. Like the centre of all the other townships, this also has 

 a small village of neatly built, white frame houses, with the Congre- 

 gational church in the midst, forming the most conspicuous feature, 

 and this is characteristic of the towns on " the Reserve." The little 

 red school houses, so common in Connecticut have found their way 

 here, and are seen, at short intervals, along the road, where the popu- 

 lation is dense. These, with the temperance societies and Sunday 

 schools, will doubtless preserve the rising and future generations, in 

 the sober, industrious habits of their forefathers. At Randolph we 

 tu'rned off to the north, passing through a tract of country, rather 

 more undulating than that which we traversed yesterday, but every 

 acre of it is fit for tillage. There are a few " Tamarack swamps," 

 but these by draining make the finest of meadows. 



Botany. — The Tamarack, Larix Americana, or Larch, is a de- 

 ciduous tree, although its present, and summer aspect, is altogether 

 that of an evergreen, and it is generally considered so, being, like the 

 pine, a cone-bearing tree. These swamps contain many plants and 



