seen bunches of it left where the other wild grasses have been eaten bare; the seed like clover seed, but chiefly of a pale yellow. There are a few other sorts of wild grasses, but I do not know their names; I believe they are of no great value.

Red or white clover I have not seen, but I have heard there are some small patches of the latter in the prairies. Both sorts are said to be extremely pernicious to horses, cattle and pigs. I have not seen trefoil, rye grass, saintfoin and cock'sfoot, or any English grass, with the exception of a little lucern, just come up, which I think likely to succeed. Saintfoin and cock's-foot are, in my opinion, most likely to answer, and bear the heat of the climate, of any English grasses.

The grass that is most commonly cultivated here is timothy grass. It belongs to the English meadow grass, but grows here to a larger size; it does not appear to be a good pasture grass.

Blue grass is highly prized, but, as a pasture grass, is, I believe, unknown in England. It resembles young rye grass more than any other English grass; the seed is much like fiorin seed. Cattle are fond of it; it comes early in the spring, and dies early in the fall.

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This year, perhaps two hundred acres of wheat have been harvested in the different prairies. That which was sown in good time, and with good seed, produced a productive crop, and of good quality; but as good seed wheat was difficult to be obtained last season, many were forced to put up with such as they could procure, and some from Vincennes and Indiana tnrned out very bad. Those who sowed it had but little come up, and the wheat at spring being very thin on the ground, it branched out in a very extraordinary manner. I heard from several persons, to whom I think credit might be given, that in cutting a piece of wheat, they found a root that had sixty-six ears of corn on it, and that forty and upward were very common. I went over the field after the wheat was cut, and saw many of the stems of an immense size; but I did not count any of them. The wheat was, however, much too thin; it was blighted with the black and red blight, and of little value. I have been much surprised with the smallness of the quantity of wheat and oats sown per acre, and yet found the corn, (or, as it is here called, grain,) thick enough on the ground. One bushel of wheat, or two of oats, is the quantity usually sown, and I have seen wheat thus sown too thick. I suppose the dryness of the seed, newness of the land, and its kindness in working, are the causes of so much less seed being required than I have been accustomed to.

Most of the wheat sown in 1819 by the Americans was after Indian corn. It was sown before the corn was gathered, and plowed in between the rows of corn. It was sowed in September, or early in October. They sowed some after oats or flax, and for some they made fallows. That they sowed after the three last was generally better than that after Indian corn, when sown in good time. Most of the backward wheat was touched with the blight, more or less-chiefly according to its thickness on the ground. I have not heard of any being threshed for sale near us; but seventy-five cents per bushel is expected to be the price for good wheat. Most of that sown by the English was after fallows-they having, in general, no other land to sow it on. The price given this year was about 11s 3d an acre, where paid in money; but some was cut to receive three bushels of wheat per acre, and some was cut by the day. The Americans usually help each other to cut their wheat, as they are fond of company when at work. This they return at some future time in the

same way.

But few oats sown, as seed was not to be procured for money for many miles; but I think sufficient to raise seed for another year. I did not try much to get any seed, as I wished to see how they succeeded, particularly on new prairie land. I have bespoke some seed for next year. The oats I have seen this year were but indifferent. They were much hurt by the dry weather, and the quality of them was bad. I think they will never be much cultivated in this country, except it be on new prairie land; and that for the sake of mellowing it, to prepare it for a crop of wheat or Indian corn another year.

The Americans reap and bind their oats the same as wheat, and stack them in very small stacks, without any covering. I have heard no price for oats lately, but thirty-seven and a half cents was the price per bushel some time ago. Wheat was begun cutting this year about the 20th of June, and oats the 26th of July. I believe no barley has yet been cultivated near us, nor have I seen any growing any where in America; but I saw some winter barley in a barn at Harmony, in Indiana, and I understood some was cultivated by the Harmony Society for the purpose of making malt. I have seen no rye or peas near us, except garden peas, which do not grow so strong as in England, but yield well. I saw some fit to gather on the 10th of May; how early they were planted I do not know. Vegetation is much quicker here than in England. Some peas I planted on the 1st of April were quite ripe for seed by the middle of June; and French beans were also fit for seed in June. There was some snow and a smart frost, with scarce anything green on the 1st of April, yet on the 6th of May there were ripe strawberries in Birk's Prairie.

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Flax is cultivated, on a small scale, by most of the Americans near us, for home use. It is sown in April; and after the flax is pulled, the land is often plowed and sowed with turnips, about the end of July or the beginning of August. This year the land was too dry to plow it at that time.

I have seen no buckwheat at the Prairies, with the exception of about twenty rods of my own.

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Cotton is planted in rows near four feet apart, about the end of April or the beginning of May. It soon comes up, and at first looks much like buckwheat, except that the leaves are larger, and it continues to grow much like it, only it has a larger blossom. * Here it seldom exceeds two feet in height. Some few Americans near us raise tobacco in small quantities for home consumption.

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Hemp is cultivated in this country, but I have not seen any in this neighborhood, with the exception of a few rods of my own.

I now come to the most important article of this country's growth. I mean Indian corn, which, with the Americans, is cultivated on a far more extensive scale than anything else. # * * I have heard of one hundred and thirty-two bushels per acre, but from sixty to eighty is considered a good crop. The husks that cover the corn-ears, and the flags or leaves, are all good for fodder. Horses, cattle and sheep all seem as fond of it as of the best hay. Horses and cattle will eat part of the stalk after the corn is ripe; but in a green state, they and pigs will eat it all up. Horses and pigs will eat the corn, and leave the cob or inside of the ear; but cattle will eat inside and all. The time of planting is from April to the middle of June; the middle of May is considered the most proper season. It is planted in rows of about four feet in each direction; and after it is up they plow between the rows, first one way, and in a week or two in the other direction; a third plowing is sometimes given to it. An extremely light plow, drawn by one horse, is used. Between

the corn they hoe up the weeds left near the corners that escape the plow; so that the land is made very clean. Generally, two or three plants are left at each angle. Pompions are often planted at the angles with the corn, but only in every fifth or sixth row, and at some distance apart in the rows. They also plant a small kind of French bean with part of their corn, the stalks serving instead of sticks for the beans to run on.

There are several sorts of Indian corn, and of different colors, namely: white, red, yellow, mixed, etc. A small sort of yellow corn is ripe much sooner than most of the other sorts, but yields a smaller produce. White and yellow are the most common sorts, but there are several kinds of these. A good ear of corn contains from fourteen to twenty rows, and from forty to fifty grains of corn in each row. A hundred middling ears of corn will yield a bushel of clear corn.

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The green ears are eaten boiled or roasted-the latter mostly by the Americans, who call all green ears roasting ears. The price of corn last fall was mostly fifty cents a bushel, delivered, and now fifty cents on the place; but near us there is very little to be procured at any price. On the Wabash, where the country has been longer settled, it is lower and plentiful. It is gathered in October and November, when they only take off the ears; but as the ears are covered with a large husk, they carry them as they are to the corn-crib, and then all the neighbors collect together to help to husk it, and put it into the corn-crib. This is a high day with the Americans, and is called a "husking frolic.” Plenty of whisky is generally to be found at one of these frolics. Pompions, or pumpkins, is another highly prized production of this country. They often grow to an immense size, and weigh from forty to sixty pounds. I have heard of a single vine that, in 1818, grew a load of pumpkins. It grew in the Big Prairie, about thirty miles to the south of us, on some rotten chaff, where some wheat had been trodden out the year before. I find they do best where the ground is moved or very mellow to run on, as they strike root at every joint as they run. Cattle of all descriptions, pigs and poultry, are fond of them; but all prefer the inside and seeds to the outside. They make good sauce and excellent pies, and are much eaten here. They are sliced and dried for winter use, for pies and sauce. They will keep till the frosts come, but will soon rot when frozen. At Major Phillips', I once tasted some molasses made from them, and liked it very much-not being so sweet as the real molasses, but very pleasantly flavored.

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Swede turnips are but little known here. A person who resides at Birk's Prairie sowed an acre in May, on a piece of land that had been in cultivation for two or three years; they are thin on the ground, but seem likely to be of a good size, notwithstanding the dryness of the season. They have been twice hoed, but were sown on one plowing only.

Common turnips are sometimes sown after a crop of flax-the time of sowing the beginning of August; but many of the Americans are very particular as to the age of the moon, in this and many other things; and if they should be put by in doing it, they will not do it that year, as many of them are very superstitious, having great faith with regard to the moon's age, etc. Hoeing turnips is not practiced by them.

Broom-corn: the seed is much like the seed of crop-weed. It is planted in rows on the sides of corn-fields, and is frequently plowed between. It resembles Indian corn, but it is slighter. I have seen it upward of ten feet high.

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We have some uncommonly fine hops in the woods, and in some of the prairies. We found them very convenient for making yeast.

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I have seen sun-flowers near twelve feet high, and I have heard in Ohio they plant them for the seed, from which they extract oil; and there are some in the prairies, from which turpentine distills, in the same manner as from fir trees, [rosin weed.] I have also seen growing, in some gardens near us, a plant from which an oil may be extracted like castor oil.

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I have seen no sweet potatoes, but Irish or common potatoes grow tolerably in a wet season, but in a dry summer come to little. The early ones are planted in April, but those intended for winter use not till June. * * * They are not so good here as in England. Their present price is fifty-five cents a bushel, and not many to be procured for that. Last fall they were from thirty-three to fifty cents. * * Small beans of the kidney kind are cultivated by the Americans. They are generally planted to climb on the corn, and are of many sorts and different colors. There are some dwarf ones, called bunch beans, and they all appear to do better than in England. * * Beans and vegetables require to be planted thinner here than in England, that the earth may be moved between them, as they then receive much more benefit from the heavy dews of this country than when the ground is hard. Here are a few Indian peas, in growth, leaf and blossom much like a kidney bean. The pods are very long, and contain from nine to sixteen peas in each; but they resemble but little either peas or beans. Cabbages grow well; the Americans plant a large backward sort, and make but one sowing and planting out in a year. In the fall they dig them up and bury them in the ground, or rather, they plant them underneath it, as they dig a deep trench, and set a row of cabbages with their roots in it; then, bending the outward leaves over the top of the cabbage, cover them with earth, and thus preserve them in the most severe frosts of this country. Onions are two years coming to perfection. The first year they are sown very thick, and the next they are transplanted, at about eight inches apart, when they grow to a middling size. Prairie onions are common in moist situations, and are very good early in the spring, but soon get hard. The root is very small. As they come up early in the spring, before other vegetables, cows eat them with great avidity, and it gives their milk and butter a disagreeable flavor; this lasts for two or three weeks.

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Shallots grow to great perfection, and are planted by the Americans in preference to onions.

I have a few asparagus plants that look well. I have heard they succeed admirably more to the eastward. Here the plants are all young.

Squashes are a sort of gourd, frequently boiled for sauce, and much relished by many. There are a variety of gourds, but I believe of little use, except one sort, which has a hard rind or shell, which serves for many uses, as bottles, pans, ladles and funnels.

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Cucumbers grow well, and, I believe, are more wholesome than in England, and far more productive.

Parsley and radishes thrive, and, I believe, lettuce; but I have seen but few of them. Horse-radish is very scarce.

The woods round the prairies are not so thick, nor the timber so large, as on the river bottoms; but they contain a great variety of trees, viz: Oak of many sorts, as black, white, red, post, swamp, laurel, pin, Spanish, and black-jack, and some

others; three kinds of hickory; two of ash; two of elm; two of maple; black walnut, cherry, sycamore, persimmon, gum, hackberry, cotton-wood, mulberry, service-berry, honey locust, sassafras, dog-wood, crab, etc. On the creek bottoms, coffee-berry, poplar, pecan, white walnut, etc., etc. The under-growth in the woods is hazel, spice-wood, red-bud, haws, sumach, plum and brambles. Willows grow on the water-courses. The grape-vines run over the tallest trees in a very extraordinary manner-sometimes reaching from the ground to the boughs of trees forty or fifty feet high, without touching the bodies of the trees.

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There are several sorts of grapes, but not in general very good. Soon after our arrival we found some, nearly dried to raisins, good eating, and we used some for tarts and sweet-sauce. I suppose they would make wine, with sugar; but I do not know that any one has tried the experiment. Pomegranates grow on a vine much like a cucumber, the size of an orange, or rather larger; a beautiful fruit of a yellow or orange color, of a most fragrant smell, but I have never tasted one. They are said to be most delicious when preserved. There are many sorts of sweet melons, and much difference of size in the various kinds. I have only noticed musk, of a large size, and nutmeg, a smaller one; and a small, pale-colored melon of a rich taste; but there are other sorts with which I am unacquainted. Water-melons are also in great plenty, of vast size; some, I suppose weigh twenty pounds. They are more like pumpkins in outward appearance than melons. They are round or oblong; generally green, or a green and whitish color on the outside, and white or pale on the inside, with many black seeds in them; very juicy; in flavor like a rich water; not sweet and mawkish, but cool and pleasant. After people are accustomed to them, they generally prefer them to sweet melons. They are considered extremely wholesome in warm climates, as they quench thirst and are not feverish. * * * Persimmon is a fruit many people are fond of; it is something like a medlar. Papaws, or pawpaws, grow in clusters of three or four on a shrub twenty feet high. The fruit is three inches long and about an inch thick; in shape something like a a cucumber; of a yellow color; in flavor something like a pine, but not so rich. Strawberries nearly the same as scarlets, excellent, and in some places in great abundance. We one day gathered more than a peck of beautiful strawberries in my orchard, and we got a great many at other times. They make excellent pies. Raspberries are small and dry. Cherries grow in bunches, the same as currants; very small and bitter. May-apple is a yearly plant, of only two leaves; the stalk one foot high; the fruit the size of a small apple, of a straw color, with some small seeds; very pleasant tasted. Plums are mostly small and sour, but there are some whose flavor resembles that of a gooseberry. I have before remarked on the excellence of the blackberries. The elderberries are fine, but generally eaten by the birds as soon as colored. Pecan is a sort of walnut, said to be the finest nut in this country. White walnut or butternut, and black walnut, are not so good as the English walnut. Hazel-nuts are in vast quantities; the shells hard, but the kernels good. I have some earth-nuts growing in my garden; the green of them something like clover, or rather lucern. They blow with a small yellow blossom. I planted them in rows, and earthed them up like potatoes. They have two kernels inclosed in a husk about one inch long, and as large round. Fruit and all other trees are of much more rapid growth here than in England. There are not any orchards yet planted, and none of them come to bear much, as the oldest settlement round the prairies has not been made more than four years.

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