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Show 210. EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. The southeastern extremity of Indiana, between vVhite auu Ohio rivers, is very broken. A ridge o~ bills com.mer~ces a?ov.. .e t~e ju?cti. on of the Wabash and Ohio, wh1ch exten ~ : lllg m a N. E . u1re, twn through lndiana, Ohio, PennsY:Ivania, is tiualiy lost iu tlle sta t~ lif J:iew-York. This riJge in rnd1ana separates the \Vat~rs of Wn!J:i~h from those of Ohio river· and in Ohio, Pennsylvama, and NewYork forms tbe Jemarkadon between tbe streams which flow into tbe. Canadian Jakes from tho e which discharge their waters int1> the Obio. No part of this ridge is very elevat~d ;· its co112po~ent parts are li_me-stone and schistose sandstone. It IS barren ol mmerals except uon and coal. . . Towns-Villarres-Schools.-Corydon, on the roatl from LoUJsvllic to Vincennes, is no~ the ·eat of government. This t.own ~::; recent, but J:apidly improving. The number of its houses or mh~bltauts w~ are ·unable to state, and it would not, if now accurately gtven, remam so t>ne year. . Vincennes, upon the left bank of the Waba.sb, IS the oldest and the largest town in the state ; having been burlt by th~ French fr~m f:anada; most of the inhabitants are of French extraction. The s.Jte cf the town is level, and when in its natural state, was an extensJ.ve prairie. The lands ar.e. ferti~e i? a high. degree. In a commercial point of view, the pos1t10n of. th1s town 1~. v~ry advantag~ous.' an.d must advance rapidly. Standmg upon the hm1t of two terntonal divisions, Vincennes cannot ever again become the s~at ?f governn:ent, a loss more than compensated by a favourable sJtu~twn for agnc~l' ture, and the transport of produce to New-Orlia.ns, P~~ts_burg, and m· deed to the entire western and southern parts ot the Umteu States. Blackford, Harmony, Madison, Lawrenceburg, and Brookville, are aJl towns of this state. Being of recent formation, they are mostly small, and have nothing Yery worthy of notice to distinguish them ftorn each other. No good topographical or statistical account having be~n yet published upon this state, the data are not abunJant rtispectmg 1ts towns or other artificial improvements. . The political in titutions of this new state are honourable ~n a high degree to tbe framers; the constitution of the state pro~Jdes every restraint against the encroachments of power, and the hcen· iousness of freedom, that human wisdom can perhaps foresee. ~Ia~ very is banished from the state, or rather it never was receive~ "'1th· in its bordP.rs. The inhabitants at thi. moment njoy all that l1berty, industry, anti impartial administration of ju. lice can be~ tow. . . Colleges and schools ·can scarce Le considered to exi~t as public m, ~titutions; private schools are numerous, and increasing with the population. . Pr()ductiom-Stoples.-FJour m·ay he considered the lrincipal artificial production and staple. Much of the land is well calculated to produce wheat. Mill streams abouud. Rye is also extensively cultivated, and used as bread grain, to feed burses, and to supp~y the ~istillers. Maize is, next to wheat, thP most valuable crop cult1v a te~ in Indiana. Tbe fertile alluvion upon tbe ri ver- a1w many parts 0 the prairies are admirably adaptf'd o the pr·ouuctiou ot thi~ ·ccr-llent vegetable. The quaQtaty made fr<;>rn an acre of land cannot l>e Je .. EMIGRANT'S GUtDE 211 termined with any precision ; but the production is generally almndant. In all the new settlements in the Ohio and Mic.si .'ippi valley, maize is the crop fi rst resorted to for providing sub 1stmll:e, and we .beli eve it to be the only grain that in many places woultl havf' rendered se ttlement poss ible. The rapidity of its growth and the easy ap pl ication of its farina to use, will always secure to mflize. a rank amongst the most precious veg t:1bles yet cultivatetl by mnnkmtl. Oats, (,nrley, au <..I buckwheat, are also reared; the former in great abundance as food for horses. Potatoes (r ri:;b pot~toes) arc cultivated in plenty, as is a grcat variety of pulse. Pumpion ~ , squac:;hes, melons, and cucumbers are cultivated am! may be produced in any assignable quantity. In no cmmtry could artificial mc::adow br made to more ;:~d vantage. This useful part of <~griculture is almost always neglecteu in ou r ll (:' \V settlement", and only becomes an object of attention wlJpn thP n::l tu ral range is exhausted. The ~reat body of the emigrants corning from places where arti fi cial meadows are in usc, their immense benefits are not to be learned by all. For domestic consumption and exportation, are made large quan· tities of beef, pol'l{, butter, lard, bacon, leather, whiskey' and rw ach brandy . lVi th but little exception, NC~tcbez and New Orle<HlS are the outlets of the wrplus produce of I udiana. A few articles are occasionally sen t to Pittsburab, but 1hat commerce, ne.ver extf'n ~ ive. is on the clecl ir e. The atte~tion of tbe inh abitants is drawn towards the uatural cbannt:d, through which th eir wealth must circul ate. Su· gar, coffee, \'F in es, ami foreign ardent spirits, are brought from New Orleans, but of t11e f(Jrmcr necessary, considerable quantity is made in the count ry from the sap of the sugar maple tree. Dry goods, hardware, ironmongery, paper, and books. are mm;fly imported by the route of Pittsburg Some of aiJ those artirles, the two latter perhaps excepted, are al so imported fro.m New (_)rleans. Saddles, bridles, hats, boots, and shoes, are manufactured, m great part, in the S!Qte. This indeed is a trait that marks the whole west· ern states, that the latter indi spensable articles of domestic consumption are generally to be found at every new settlement, for prices not greatly advanced above that of the same objects in large commercial cities on the Atlantic coast. The same observatious may be made respecting cabinet, anu all other kinds of household furniture. Tables, chairs, and bedsteadi, a.re made in alJ the large towns in the valleys of Ohio and MissisSippi, with all the requisite qualities of elegance and strength. Except in Lexington, Kentucky, and PittslJurg, book printing is not yet done to auy considerable extent west of the Aleghany. In these two lc-1tter places ;md in Cincinnati, Nashville, and some other places, book stores have been established to considerable extent, but a Well a~sortcd librnry could not be formed in any, or perl1ap_s all _those towns. ProCessional rnen, aud indeed all men who are em1gratmg to ~he west, ouuht to carry with them such books as they may need. It lS not without more ditficulty than is commonly believed to exist. that a good selection of U0(1ks can be made even in New-York or Phila~ delphia, much less in towns tlpon the Ohio Ol' Mississippi waters. 28 / |