114 
parent beauty of the Niagara. The hills are from 300 to 600 
leet high, and generally picturesque, sometimes coming boldly 
down to the water's edge, but more generally rising from an 
alluvial bottom of a greater or less width. But let no one think 
of finding any where at the West the ever varied and match¬ 
less scenery ol the Hudson. There is a great sameness in the 
hills along the Ohio, and after gazing on ten miles of them, 
you have seen all. Many beautiful villas crown the heights 
above Cincinnati, with extensive adorned grounds, and much 
taste is displayed in cultivating flowers and green-house plants. 
You will see them at many a humble window in rich profusion, 
on board the steam-boats, and even in the rough arks and 
broad-horns (a rough scow.) It was the 24th of April that I 
left, the earlier fruit trees were shedding their blossoms, and 
the apple, the lilac, the dog wood, and red bud, ( Cercis Cana¬ 
densis.i) were in full bloom all the way up to Portsmouth. The 
winters here are milder and more broken than the same lati¬ 
tudes east of the mountains, as well as I can judge, but I doubt 
whether vegetation is much more advanced in the spring; it 
may be retained a little later in the fall, yet this can only be 
ascertained by accurate journals kept on each side of the moun¬ 
tains. I wish some gentlemen would undertake it, and in do¬ 
ing so the native trees, shrubs and flowers in the forests should 
be the guide. Exotics and garden productions are not so sure 
a test. In this the difference of a week may be made by pro¬ 
tection, rich light soil, and superior cultivation. 
From Mr. Affleck, of the Farmer and Gardener, I received 
much attention. He is a capital warm-hearted fellow, and af¬ 
ter attending agricultural lectures, under Professor Low, of 
Edinburgh, came over here, and has perambulated much of the 
Union, and especially that part of the great South and West 
stretching from New Orleans up the waters of the Mississippi, 
Missouri, and their tributaries, making himself particularly 
acquainted with the cultivation of the various products of this 
extensive region. He is also an excellent judge of stock of all 
kinds, and any one seeking information on any of these points, 
may rely upon full, free and satisfactory information from 
him. Mr. Hooper, I believe, has devoted more attention to the 
nursery and garden. Mr. Foster, the animal painter and en¬ 
graver, is rapidly acquiring skill in his art. It is but about six 
months since, that he has paid attention to this subject—what 
an improvement in the portraits of Prince Frederick and Fan¬ 
ny in the November No. of the Farmer and Gardener, and the 
same and Reading andMiskwa in that of April. Had the paper 
been as fine, they would show nearly equal to the beautiful en¬ 
gravings that adorn the London Farmer s Magazine. I heartily 
commend this spirited little work to the agricultural public. 
Visit to Chillicothe, Circleville, &c. 
Immediately upon my arrival at Chillicothe, I was met by 
my excellent friend, General Worthington, and who, though 
at present is perhaps more interested in politics than agricul¬ 
ture, took upon himself the bore of showing short horns, and 
was quite devoted to me while there. We first visited the fine 
farm of Mr. Geo. Renick, where I saw the magnificent import¬ 
ed cow Violet. She is the brag animal of the female gender in 
the Sciota Valley. _ Her size is enormous, yet she is fine;—she 
handles well, and is 2 ft. 6 in. across the hips. She is the great¬ 
est cow that I ever saw, and I much regret that they have been 
so unfortunate with her produce. Donna Maria, out of an ex¬ 
cellent imported cow of the same name, a yearling, is very 
choice and fine, medium size, and greatly to my taste,—she 
handles like the softest velvet. Commodore Perry, got by 
Comet Halley, is a good one, though a trifle coarse ; there were 
about 20 head here altogether, and the most of them deserving 
commendation. Mr. R. prides himself greatly in raising grade 
steers, of which he has a large herd. If I recollect right, he 
and his brother at Bloomfield, took all the prizes in this line at 
last October Fair. Had not the herd been so far off, and my 
time so limited, I should have been glad to have gone and taken 
a look at them; but in October I had a pretty accurate idea of 
the stock; they are a splendid improvement on the scrubs of the 
country. 
From this we called upon Doct. Watts, a mile or so only be¬ 
low the town, on a farm of 1200 acres of the rich Sciota bot¬ 
toms, every rood of which is arable and under a high state of 
cultivation, and in the large fields of which they were already 
planting corn. Here I saw Marshall, that took the first pre¬ 
mium of bulls at the last fair. He was then 3 years and one 
month old, and weighed 188S lbs. His barrel is long and good, 
handles well, and is of the quietest and best of dispositions, a 
matter to which they are paying great attention at present 
here,—a vicious bull, however perfect otherwise, is usually 
sacrificed. I was also gratified by a sight of Comet Halley, who 
maugre a little coarseness in the head, is as near right as can 
be. Prince Albert, a half brother to Marshall, is still nearer 
than the latter, and their dam Arabella is a good cow in her¬ 
self, but a still better breeder. The Doctor, or rather his ac¬ 
complished lady, has gone pretty deeply into Berkshires, and 
she exhibited, at the dinner table the silver cups she had won in 
their exhibitions, with commendable pride. It is thus that the 
agricultural interest stands foremost in the West, and a little 
ttention to choice stock rather adds to, than detracts from 
the elegant refinements of the fair sex in this country. If I am 
ever so fortunate as to get a wife, I hope it will be one whose 
taste runs in this line, as well as the other accomplishments of 
life. Queen Victoria stands at the head of an agricultural so¬ 
ciety in Great Britain, and why should not our own fair daugh¬ 
ters grace their exhibitions. 
From thence we took a ride to the grand old place of the late 
Governor Worthington, which is more in English style than 
any thing I have yet seen at the West. It is quite a castle of 
a house, of thick massive stone, standing on a hill about a mile 
from tbe road, and over-looking the town, the winding Sciota 
and its rich fertile bottoms to a great extent, the hills beyond 
to the wild boundaries of the Hocking, and the elevated plain 
that stretches away off to the Lakes. A thick hedge of the na¬ 
tive thorn surrounds the lawn leading to the house, and on the 
east side is an extensive terraced garden, abounding in fruits, 
and shrubs, and flowers. Had I room in my sheet I should like 
to give you a plan of the place, which would convey a much 
better idea of it than mere words. The General returned to his 
family in town, while I was hospitably entertained by Mrs. 
Worthington, the lady of the late Governor, for whose atten¬ 
tions on a stormy night, and in rather ill-health, I felt very 
grateful. 
The next morning I called on Mr. Anderson, occupying the 
seat of the late Gen. McArthur, another noble old 3tone house 
on a hill, commanding a fine view of the adjacent country.— 
Here again I had the pleasure of examining some beautiful 
short horns. Hearts-Ease, out of the Dutchess of Liverpool, 
got by the Duke of York, is a fine choice cow, and of,good size. 
A yearling heifer of hers, got by Marshall, is very promising, 
of much length, a great quarter and fine head. Another heifer, 
Gem, out of the same dam, struck me as being most appropri¬ 
ately named. She was got by Walter out of Teeswater,—these 
two last were sold at the company’s sale here for $2,250. Mr. 
Anderson also showed me some fine horse stock, among which 
were two half sisters to Col. Johnson’s celebrated Ironette. 
The grey Alley, Anna Medoc, was got by Medoc, sire of Grey M. 
that lately made such a tremendous run, winning a 4 mile race 
in the quick time of 7m. 35s. Anna is a powerful stout built 
horse to my eye, and I should like to see her crossed with Bell- 
founder. Her shoulder is more upright than blood horses 
usually are, and I have no doubt, thus bred, would produce 
superb roadsters. I hope Mr. Anderson will send her to Lex¬ 
ington, Ky., where Bellfounder is now standing. I saw some 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
very fine specimens of the old Patton stock here, which were 
different from any that have before fallen in my way. Those 
that I saw at the North were tall and of a deep red, with dark 
noses, making me judge them to be a cross of the Hereford and 
North Devon; these here show a strong cross of Hereford, 
with what I should think the old Long Horn, or perhaps the 
Durham, but in an opinion upon this subject I would refer to 
the more able pen of Doct. Martin, of Ky. Those I saw here 
were excellent animals, and take on flesh rapidly. I should 
think them good stock for the butcher: they are great favorites 
with Gen. Worthington, he cultivating them almost exclu¬ 
sively on his prairie farm He says they do not mature so soon 
as the Durhams, but thinks they drive better over the moun¬ 
tains to the distant Eastern markets. * 
Mr. Felix Renick resides on a fine bottom farm with some 
hill lands, about 4 miles below Chillicothe; his stock of full 
breds is not large, but mostly very fine. Josephine, an import¬ 
ed cow, has taken the first premium at the cattle fair for 3 
years. Out of her he has three excellent calves ; one of which, 
Nonpanel, 2 years old, has already taken two premiums. His 
bull Rover was bred by Wm. F. Paley, Esq., and imported in 
36. He is large, with a well set arched neck, full over the 
shoulders, long in the barrel, and the very best handler for a 
male that I ever touched. 
At Circleville, I had not time to call upon any one but Mr. 
Thos. Huston. Here I found the celebrated bull Ackmon, that 
brought at the company’s sale $2,500. He is a most superb 
animal, with extraordinary loin, and his reputation for getting 
beef stock is probably superior to that of any other in the Val¬ 
ley. The imported cow Lively is very large, and great in 
flesh. Mr. H. has a numerous herd of grades, and many of 
them quite line; he also keeps a few good Berkshires, and is 
crossing up his stock as rapidly as possible. 
It was my intention to have called upon Mr. Wm. Renick, at 
Bloomfield, 9 miles above Circleville, but the weather was so 
stormy that it prevented me. I made a visit there last fall, but 
aid not at that time take any memorandum of the stock, expect¬ 
ing to see it again. It is numerous and generally good. His cow 
Victoria that took the first premium at the last October Fair, is 
one of the choicest animals I know. He has some famous great 
steers also. There are many other excellent short horns in this 
vicinity, which I would have gladly taken a look at, had time per¬ 
mitted ; but one might devote a month to this business in the 
Sciotia Valley alone, and yet not see all. My remarks upon the 
West for the present are at an end. 
Columbus, Ohio, April, 1841. A. B. A. 
Preparation of Hams in Kentucky. 
Messrs. Ga-slord & Tucker— -There have been published 
many modes of curing bacon; and in the cases in which these 
have been the result of experience, they may all be successful, 
and entitled to the confidence of the public. Some, perhaps, 
are more simple, less laborious, and more uniformly safe than 
others. The following mode has stood the test of thirty-five 
years’ experience without a single failure—of twenty-seven 
years m Spottsvlvania county, Virginia, and of eight in Ken¬ 
tucky, where I at present reside. I can, therefore, recommend 
it as a safe and certain mode of making sound, sweet bacon. 
The salt used in Virginia was Liverpool blown salt; in Ken¬ 
tucky the Kanhawa and Goose creek. The ashes from hickory 
or the sugar maple. 
I will now begin at the beginning, and describe the whole 
process minutely, premising, however, that, to have good ba¬ 
con, we must have good pork, neatly dressed or cleaned. It is 
important that the hogs should be killed in proper weather, by 
which I mean that the weather should be such that the hogs, 
hung up after they are cleaned, should be not only cold to the 
touch, but feel stiff, not frozen, after hanging up till the animal 
heat is out. I always kill on one day, and cut out and salt up 
the next. If the weather is quite cold after they are stiff, I put 
the hogs in the cellar that they may not freeze; if the weather 
is moderately cool, I let them hang up in the air all night. The 
cutting out is the next operation. This need not be described 
further than to say that the back-bone or chine should be taken 
out, as also the spare-ribs from the shoulders, and the mouse 
pieces and short-ribs orgriskins from the middlings. No acute 
angles should be left to shoulders or hams. In salting up in 
Virginia, I put all the meat, except the heads, jowls, chines 
and smaller pieces, into powdering tubs, (watertight half hogs¬ 
heads.) In Kentucky I have used large troughs, ten feet long 
and three or four feet wide at the top, made of the Liriodendron 
tulipfera or poplar tree. These are much the most convenient 
for packing the meat in, and are easily caulked if they should 
crack so as to leak. The salting tray or box in which the meat 
is to he salted, piece by piece, and from which each piece, as it 
is salted, is to be transferred to the powdering tub or trough, 
must be placed just so near the trough that the man standing 
between can transfer the pieces from one to the other easily, 
and without wasting the salt as they are lifted from the salting 
box into the trough. The salter stands on the off side of the 
salting box. Salt the hams first, the shoulders next, and the 
middlings last, which may be piled up two feet above the top 
of the trough or tub. The joints will thus in a short time be 
immersed in brine. 
Measure into your salting tray, four measures of salt, (a 
peck measure I have found most convenient,) and one measure 
of clean dry sifted ashes ; mix and incorporate them well. The 
salter takes a ham into the tray, rubs the skin side with this 
composition and the raw hock end, turns it over and packs the 
composition of salt and ashes on the fleshy side till it is at least 
three-quarters of an inch deep all over it, and as much on the 
interior lower part of the ham, which is covered with the skin, 
as will lay on it. The man who stands ready to transfer the 
pieces as they are salted, takes up the piece and deposits it 
carefully without displacing the composition, with the skin side 
down, in the bottom of the trough. Each succeeding ham is 
thus deposited side by side, so as to leave the least possible 
space unoccupied. When the bottom is all covered, see that 
every visible part of this layer of meat is covered with the 
composition of salt and ashes. Then begin another layer, eve¬ 
ry piece being covered on the upper or fleshy side three-quar¬ 
ters of an inch thick with the composition. When your trough 
is filled even full in this way with the joints, salt the middlings 
with salt only without the ashes, and pile them up on the joints 
so that the liquified salt may pass from them into the trough. 
Heads, jowls, back-bones, &c. receive salt only, and should not 
be put in the trough with the large pieces. Much slighter salt¬ 
ing will preserve them if they are salted upon loose boards, so 
that the bloody brine from them can pass off. The joints and 
middlings are to remain in and above the trough without being 
rehandled, resalted or disturbed in any wav till they are to be 
hung up to be smoked. If the hogs weighed not more than 150 
pounds, the joints need not remain longer than five weeks in 
the pickle; if they weighed 200, or upwards, six or seven weeks 
is not too long. It is better that they should stay in too long 
rather than too short a time. In three weeks, jowls, &c. may be 
hung up. Taking out of pickle and preparation for hanging up 
to smoke is thus performed : Scrape off the undissolved salt, 
(and if you had put on as much as directed, there will he a con¬ 
siderable quantity on all the pieces not immersed in the brine. 
This salt and the brine is all saved; the brine boiled down and 
the dry composition given to stock, especially to hogs.) Wash 
every piece in lukewarm water, and with a rough towel clean 
off salt and ashes. Put the strings in to hang up. In Virginia 
I used for strings white oak splits, in Kentucky hempen strings. 
Set the pieces up edgewise that they may drain and dry. Eve¬ 
ry piece is then to be dipped into the meat paint, and hung up to 
smoke. The meat paint is made of warm, not hot, water and 
very fine ashes, stirred together till they are of the consistence 
of thick paint. When the pieces are dipped in this, they re¬ 
ceive a coating which protects them from the fly, prevents drip¬ 
ping, and tends to lessen all external injurious influences. 
Hang up while the pieces are yet moist with the paint, and 
smoke them well. In this way I have cured from six to eight 
thousand pounds of bacon every year, for twenty-seven years in 
Virginia, and eight in Kentucky. 
I use at least three bushels of salt to 1,200 pounds of meat. 
This may be thought extravagant, but it insures success, and 
nope of it is lost. For what is lelt is all fed to the stock, and 
being mixed with ashes, I believe has a tendency to promote 
their health more than salt alone. 
Should you desire it, I will, at some future time, give you 
our mode of trying up lard,* which is not exactly that in com¬ 
mon use. 
Very truly, your obedient ser’t, JOHN LEWIS. 
Llangollen, Iiy., March 15, 1841. 
Odds and Suds. 
. Refined vs. Common Sugar.—I t is worthy of inquiry, whether 
it wouhi not be more economical to use more refinedsugar in 
our families. Common brown sugar is generally about two- 
thirds the price of refined. For many domestic purposes, I am 
satisfied that refined sugar is the cheapest. Will some one bet¬ 
ter acquainted with the subject, give us their opinions ? 
Maple vs. Cane Sugar. —What is the relative strength in 
saccharine, between common brown sugar and common maple 
sugar ? It is the prevailing opinion that the cane sugar con¬ 
tains some 25 per cent the most saccharine matter. Is it so ? 
Vv ill some one who has the means of trying the experiment, do 
so, and report facts 1 
Sugar vs. Pork. II sugar and pork are the same price, which 
is the cheapest food for a family ? Many persons who buy their 
meat, are excessively penurious in their purchases of sugar, 
under the impression that they cannot afford it. I am confident 
that_ they are mistaking their own interest. Besides, sugar, 
particularly for children, is a much more healthy diet. That 
is, when not used to excess. 
Change of Diet.— This is a subject upon which by far too lit- 
tie attention, is paid. Human aliment is often productive of 
health or sickness, and consequently of human happiness or 
misery. Children in particular, require a constant change; but 
the change should be a judicious one. I wish that many of the 
able medical men who read your paper, would make communi¬ 
cations to it upon the subject of human diet. 
Washing Butter.—I venture to assert without fear of contra¬ 
diction, that no family eat sweeter butter than mine, either 
new or old, and my wife always washes her butter thoroughly 
in cold water. The object of washing butter is to divest it of 
all the particles of buttermilk. If the cream or milk has made 
bonny-clabber, there will inevitably be small particles of it dis¬ 
tributed throughout the whole mass of butter, and unless they 
are entirely removed in some way, that butter will most cer¬ 
tainly become rancid. Working the butter in cold water will 
dissolve all these particles of congealed milk, and the water is 
easily worked out, or should a few drops remain, it will unite 
with the salt and form pure brine. If there is any other man¬ 
ner by which the butter can be freed from the milk more easily 
I should like to know it. ’ 
My butter, although “spoil’d by washing it,” when packed 
m a pot or keg, with a clean cloth pressed on the top, and a lit¬ 
tle brine on the top of that, say half an inch deep, will keep a 
year, as sweet as ever unwashed butter was, is, or can be kept 
in any manner whatever. These are facts. Now let us have 
the facts in opposition to the cold water system. 
I do not wonder that so many object to washing butter, for it 
is a lamentable fact, that there is a great antipathy existing 
against the use of cold water, either as a beverage, or for ablu¬ 
tion. 
of these articles, as diet ? W ill somebody tell me whether the 
use of tea and coffee adds to our health or happiness, or length 
whether we enjoy our meals any better than we 
should do if we had always been accustomed to drink water i 
Chess.— [See Dictionary signification.]—“ A difficult and ab¬ 
struse game.” “ Abstruse—hidden, obscure, difficult.” 
Now, if we did not know that the lexicographer intended to 
explain the meaning of the game of chess, the readers of the agri¬ 
cultural papers for a year or two past would suppose that he 
had intended it to allude to the abstruse game of disputation* 
that has been carried on about chess, and upon which, I pre¬ 
sume, that a majority of the readers have come to the conclu¬ 
sion, that the subject is a very abstruse one. 
Curing and Pressing Cheese.—A neighbor of mine has been 
in the habit for several years of stacking his cheese in a hay 
stack. He takes them as soon as they become firm, and malt¬ 
ing the stack some three or four feet from the ground, as 
smooth and level as it can be, puts on a course of cheeses, be- 
mg careful that they do not touch each other, or come too near 
the edge, and then builds on the hay two or three feet, and then 
another course of cheeses. In this situation they finish curing 
and are preserved from frost until spring. The plan is new to 
me, but perhaps not so to your readers. At all events, it is 
worth trying. I would recommend any person, however, to try 
it only on a small lot at first, until he satisfied himself person¬ 
ally that the plan is a good one. 
Shearing Lambs. I have satisfied myself by experience, that 
it is not profitable to shear lambs. 
Oyster Plant, or Salsify.— It is surprising that so few per- 
sons cultivate this delicious vegetable. They are planted and 
cultivated similar to carrots or parsneps, and like the latter 
may be suffered to remain in the ground through the winter 
and dug in the spring as soon as the frost is out of the ground. 
They are cooked in different ways. One is to boil them in clean 
water, and mash them and mix with flour into batter and fry 
them. Another, to cut them up in small mouthfuls, and after 
boiling soft, make a gravy of flour, butter, &c. and add to them 
and really they are a rich substitute for oysters. 
School Books.— There is a criminal fault existing in com¬ 
munity, not only in the quality of the matter of school books, 
but in the manner that they are printed, I have of late observ¬ 
ed several school books, printed with a very small type, upon 
poor blue looking paper, and in every particular bore a near re- 
lationship to (t Pindar 7 s Razors. 77 No good man would be 
guilty of publishing such books for the use of children. It is a 
down right robbing of their honest rights. It is sufficiently 
painful for a child to learn to read out of good round fair print 
To illustrate, I beg you to put this article in such type as 
should only be used for children’s reading books. It is of no 
consequence that it takes more paper. That article is cheap, 
and for school books, should always he of the best quality 
And I hope every man who reads this article, will hereafter re¬ 
flect when about to purchase, that in buying one of these made- 
to-sell cheats, he is about to do a positive wrong to his child. 
Buy none but the best. See that the type, paper, and binding 
are good. And finally, be assured that this good advice is 
given by one ardently devoted to the cause of education and 
human improvement, and your old Indiana friend, 
r , „ T , r , SOLON ROBINSON. 
Lake C. H., Ia., March 28, 1841. 
[* It will be very acceptable.— Eds.] 
