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^i   FMZL7 JOURNAL   OF   THE  FARM,   HOME,  AND   GARDEN...
Vol. VIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPTEMBER 13, 1873.
- No. 2, New Series.
INDIANA FARMER,
j (Formerly North-Western Farmer.)
ONLY AORICULTUSALPAPES IN INDIANA.
Devotes a Department to the interest-} of the ;
Order of the Patrons of Husbandry.
Organ of Indiana State-Board of Agriculture.
Endorsed by Indiana Horticultural Society,*lhdiana
' Short-Horn Breeders' Convention, and many
County and District Societies. . ■;
J. G. KINGSBTJBY <fc BRO., ^Publishers.
OFPIC"E,]Vo.4,JournalBuildin_s,
INDIANAPOLIS. IND.
Subscription Tebms.—*2.0O; to clubs of four or
more, $1.75 each.   ■    ^
Advertising Tkrms: Ordinary pages 15 cents per
line,nonpareil measure, first Insertion; extra charge
for special location; special notices, 20 cents.
For the Indiana Farmer.
Notes by the Way.
'Tazeweli., TennY, Aug. 22, 1873.
Since I wrote .before, I have visited Cumberland Gap and the country for about 20
miles south of this place. As many of your
readers are aware, three States, Kentucky,'
Virginia and Tennessee corner at the
gap. This gap, though a deep notch
in the meuntain, is considerably elevated,
as it requires one and a fourth miles of severe climbing to reach the Gap.   Iascend-
, ed to the pinnacle hear the gap, which is
2680 feet high.    From this point ft is said
Y seven states can seen. These points were
altheavily timbered, but the -armies were
stationed here during almost the entire war,
and while here destroyed all the timber in
the vicinity. It has grown up again, and
all the heights are covered with a young
growth of timber, 10 to 15 or 20,feet high.
All the ridges around here seem to be'underlaid with rich deposits of iron. A furnace is in-operation, here, and others are
building, and,in contemplation near here.
A large spring that breaks out' some 600
feet up the mountain side, gives a fine water
power. A _white sulphur spring; of fine
medicinal qualities,'rises in the valley just
belfiw the gap. Some fine chalybeate
springs exist near this place.   A cave of
-considerable interest enters the mountain
just above the village, which is situated on
theea3t aide of the gap.   We met here at
- the gap, an.exploring pairty froii Covington,
Ky, prospecting a route for a railroad to
this point.   The probabilities are that this
country will be favored with a road in a
fewyears, and then it will become a place
of importance' as a manufacturing point.
Tazewell is the county seat of Claiborne Co.,
Tenn., and is situated 13 miles south-east of
Cumberland Gap. For a hundred miles we
come over and among the hills and mountains. The country seems to be' all rolled
up ready for moving. It is difficult to-cultivate these lands, and generally the return
.is quite meager. To me, there seems a
great lack of industry and energy among
'the farmers.' Too frequently the farmers
are to be seen sitting idly at home smoking
their pipes or lonnging around the village,
while, their fences are going to rack and
their fields are growing up in briers. The
part of Tennessee that I have seen, though
about as rough, is generally liore productive than the mountain part of Kentucky.
In my humble judgment, the people of this
county have mistaken their own interests.
Nature surely designed these hills as the
sheep walks of the country, and if these
lands, too rough for cultivation, were.covered with good improved sheep, under intelligent management, this would certainly become a great source of wealth. The peach
and grape are also at home here, and might
with a railroad make the people rich. What
this country needs is Yankee enterprise
mixed with, northern energy. Its time will
come, and then the people here and elsewhere will be astonished at the resources of
this county, and East Tennessee will become another Yankee land for thrift and*
enterprise.
The different growths of timber in different sections of the country are rather remarkable Jo one who. is inclined to observe
such things carefully. In the southern part
of Ohio I first observed the black locust appearing as a forest tree, increasing in quantity as I advanced south through Kentucky,
till near the Cumberland Mountain, when it
gradually decreased as far. as I have been.
In the low lands at the foot of the hills, the
cucnml-ier. tree (Magnolia aceuminata)
with its large leaves and crimson fruit is often seen. The sweet gum (Liquid amber)
is also found in great abundance.. Many
of the hills and mountains also abound in
red cedar, pitch, pine, and hemlock, these
vary in size from the shrub of a foot or less
to the stately tree that towers far above the
cliffs on the mountain brows. The valleys
in some places are full of the blick birch.
Among the Free-stone Mountains of Kentucky, the rhododendron grows in  great
profusion making it a wilderness of beauty
when they are in bloom. The mountain
laurel, another evergreen, is found bn near;
ly all these hills in great abundance. The
althea or rose of Sharon, is certainly the
most popular flowering shrub of this conn-
try, nearly every yard having some of them
in bloom. .-■•-'-. L. J.* Templik.
Business   Transactions   of   the   Iowa
Granges.; •,      •'•;■;■      ,
The agent receives orders from the gran-,
gers for implements, groceries, dry goods,
boots, shoes, pianos—in short, for anything
and everything they 'need—and buys in
bulk, the principle being that the more he
buys the less he pays. Manufacturers write
to Mr. Duane Wilson, the State agent, that
their agencies cost them from $25,000 to
$60,000 annually, and they are willing to
reduce the price of machines in proportion
as they could reduce their agencies by selling direct to granges. This $25,000 to
$60,000, if capitalized, would put up a first-
class flour mill. The agents of the order are
in Chicago, looking after its interests, and
watching the markets., They have agents-
at the stock yards, and by the way, observed Mr. Wilson, 'The rates charged at these
same stock yards are exorbitant'and oppressive on the producer; It is a close corporation—a monopoly/      '   ,    ■■'•■■■'..
Much, they conceive, has yet to begone
to bring the system of co-operation to perfection. It will be a matter of patience,'
but so far the results are encouraging.
Mr/ Wilson estimates the amount saved
to the farmers of Iowa through the instru-.
mentality of the granges, since January, at
from $1,500,000 to $2,000,000. Mr,Whitman regards-this estimate as too high, but
has not statistics from which to make an
exact statement. If it is one-half of that
amount, the saving has been enormous.
Perhaps $1,000,000 is a fair estimate.
-      * *>—.  .  -'
A Pennsylvania preacher, while holding
services recently, gave thanks in a fervent *
prayer for the prosperous condition of their
crops,    'excepting,*   O .Lord,   the    corn,
which is backward, and the oats, which are .
mighty thin in spofs.'. •'■■'..
** 'Why do you set your cup of coffee on the
chair, Mr. JoneB?'.   said a worthy landlady
one morning at breakfast.    -It's so very,
weak, ma'am, I thought I would let itrept.'