324 
SKETCHES OF THE WEST.—NO. II. 
iiis crops, for the labor employed in thus saving 
and applying his manure. Over-head in the barn 
are lofts for hay and straw; a straw-cutter to pre¬ 
pare them for feeding; cribs and bins for grain; 
and a large square box with heavy wooden pound¬ 
ers, for the hands to pound up com and cob into 
meal on rainy days, when they can do nothing 
else. This cob-meal is usually mixed up with 
water, and allowed to stand till it ferments, and is 
then fed to the stock. 
The Dairy.— This is a sufficiently roomy build¬ 
ing, of one story, situated in a little dell a short 
distance from the mansion. One of the gable ends 
abuts against a nearly perpendicular cliff, out of 
which bursts a clear gurgling spring, that takes its 
course through the centre of the rocky floor of the 
dairy, and then finds its way into the valley be¬ 
low. Here is every convenience for making but¬ 
ter and cheese, in which Mr. Grey excels. We 
have dwelt thus minutely on the plantation, stock, 
and buildings of Mr. Grey, because we consider 
them an excellent example to follow in Kentucky; 
and also for the purpose of giving our northern 
readers a general idea of the husbandry at the 
west, of which the great majority entertain the 
most indefinite notions imaginable. 
Mr. Hart’s Plantation. —After taking an early 
dinner, Mr. Grey ordered up his buggy, and we 
started for Mr. Nathaniel Hart’s. This was some 
few miles off, yet in order to get there we paid no 
attention to the public roads, but took our way 
over gentle hill and dale, through woodland-pas¬ 
tures, and among fields containing a hundred acres 
or more in each, under a single fence. For the 
purpose of opening and shutting the field-gates as 
we passed, we were accompanied by an ebony ur¬ 
chin, as out-rider, mounted on the bare back of a 
high-spirited gray nag, which he rode with no lit¬ 
tle address. This seemed quite a gala business 
for him; and bare-headed, with his thick woolly 
locks fluttering in the wind, and his shirt-collar 
wide open, he went grinning along, now advancing 
at a hard gallop, and anon closing up at a fast trot, 
swinging open and shutting to the gates, shak¬ 
ing his pate, and hallooing to every animal that he 
thought did not move with sufficient alacrity from 
our destined path. 
“ Yo! ho! So you no move, Misser Cow—then 
Pompey make you,” and at her he charged, bran¬ 
dishing a long stick, like a Cossack of the Don 
with his spear, the gray nag at the same time lay¬ 
ing back his ears, and opening his mouth, and 
showing his teeth, as if grinning in fiery sympathy 
with his redoubtable rider, and ready to devour the 
animal that so sluggishly obstructed the path. 
But one look from the cow, or whatever beast it 
might be, at the horse and boy, seemed quite 
enough; and without waiting further hints, they 
would shake their tails, then give them a slight 
curl, and set off at a round scamper, the triumph¬ 
ant Pompey following up their career a short dis¬ 
tance, singing with high satisfaction:— 
I tell you so, now Misser Cow; 
Yo, ho, you go, bow wow, bow wow. 
Mr. Hart’s plantation is a very fine one, and he 
is one of the largest hemp-growers in Kentucky. 
He has done much to introduce a system of water- 
rotting hemp in ponds, which we think is the best 
and most simple of the kind yet tried. He has 
promised us a description of this, with his late im¬ 
provements, and we trust that we shall be favored 
with it soon, for the benefit of those desirous of 
preparing their hemp for market by the pond-water- 
rotting process. There is so much in common 
with Kentucky plantations, that it is unnecessary 
to dwell further upon particulars. Mr. Hart’s 
stock of cattle is principally derived from the first 
importation of the Short-Horns into Kentucky, in 
1817. He keeps a flock of about 800 Merino sheep, 
which, low as wool is, he thinks make him as 
good, if not a better return, than anything else 
which his plantation produces. Sheep-husbandry 
is attracting much attention at present in Ken¬ 
tucky. It is a very superior region indeed, for 
sheep, and if the planters would go judiciously into 
the fine-woolled breeds, wool would soon become 
an article of large export with them, and a source 
of considerable profit. Let it be remembered, that 
the cheaper and better wool can be produced, the 
more there will be consumed of it; and the cheap¬ 
er and better, woollen cloths will be furnished in 
return. We need not fear overstocking the coun - 
try in our generation. 
Mr. Hart keeps quite a herd of deer in his 
park, and several head of elk. These last, with 
their large branching horns, and lofty, erect heads, 
have a noble appearance. He formerly had a few 
buffaloes, but they became so troublesome in break-* 
ing down fences, and sallying out whenever they 
pleased, to the great terror of the country round, 
that he was at last obliged to kill them. Buffalo 
bulls get somewhat ferocious as they grow old, 
and are rather dangerous animals on the planta¬ 
tion. While in Kentucky, we picked up some 
comic anecdotes of their doings as they turned out; 
but a feather’s weight in the other scale might 
have made them equally tragical; and upon the 
whole, unless enclosed within a fence that they 
