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The buffalo is an animal little known now, in the wild state, within the borders of the white settlements. They have been driven back to the Rocky mountains, or nearly so; still, hundreds, if not thousands, are annually taken and killed for their robes, and a small portion of their meat and their tongues, which are the only parts that many hunters save when they are plenty. If they were permitted to live and increase, and no more were killed than what are wanted for food, there would be a full supply for many years to come, for the poor Indians. The buffalo resembles the ox and the cow. As to what they subsist on, their size, and common habits:

I have seen them running with the common cattle on the plains, in Wisconsin, perfectly domesticated. I have seen them mixed with other cattle, and a calf from a common cow not more than six weeks old, that appeared as tame, or nearly so, as common calves of the same age. I have seen the buffalo yoked with the ox, and they have both worked together. As I am credibly informed, they were found all over the prairie States in former days, west of the lakes; and I learn some have been seen lately in the western parts of Iowa. A few are quite large, with short, large horns, standing very straight out each side. Some people are very fond of their buffaloes.

The elk is an animal about the size of a slim, two-year old colt. Some are much taller; their horns are very large; they have been known to be five feet long, and almost as far from tip to tip. Their color is a deer or mouse-color; the body is rather slim and light for its height, and they run fast when they have a clear track; but I have seen those who said they had known of their being caught in a thicket by their horns, and could be taken without difficulty. When they run, they throw their horns on the back of their neck; their nose sticking straight out before. The moose is not so large as the elk; still they resemble each other very much. Their color and habits are much the same. They can both be tamed and domesticated, and worked like horses.

I have seen a number of each in a yard together, and seen them handled, rode, and harnessed; some of these have their horns sawed off, that they may not be as likely to hurt their owner or themselves. They are not as wild as many other animals; they can be taken and domesticated much easier. They live upon grass and shrubs, preferring small bushes, on account of their short necks and long legs. They are good for venison, and their horns are very valuable; they are hunted very frequently in winter for their horns and robes. They are both found in the West in great numbers; many in Iowa and Minnesota.

I have seen the moose in Vermont, and think that they have both been found in most parts of the United States. The old ones shed their horns in the winter, but the young ones in the spring, annually. They can both be taken easily in the time of shedding their horns, as they appear dumpish, and indisposed to roam about. Their hides make good leather; and, taken in proper season, make good robes. Their feet are slitted like the deer, and all of course are of the same species.

P. S.--I would say a few more words respecting the buffalo. He is built largest forward; his fore quarters being one-third heavier at least than his hind ones; and the hair or fur on the shoulders and neck is much longer than behind, giving him a lion-like appearance; his tail is

long and slender, without much hair, except at the lower end, which is very long and bushy.

When frightened, in large droves, they have been known to run over teams, wagons, or whatever came in their way, those following behind pressing them on.

The badger is an animal inhabiting our State. They are a little larger in size than a large coon, and resemble it very much. Their face is very handsome, and appears intelligent; their fur is very thick, coated with long hair of a reddish, brindle color, except underneath, which is white; they have long claws and sharp teeth; there are but few dogs that can kill them. They live in the ground in the day time; dig very fast, often digging a hole when morning overtakes them. They live upon such animals and birds as they can catch, and upon vegetables. I believe they burrow up in the winter. They are thought by some to be very good eating, and their skins are much sought after. They are slow in their movements, like a wood-chuck or ground-hog; but, when approached in their dens, they are a powerful enemy to conquer.

Hon. THOMAS EWBANK,

Commissioner of Patents.

H. ALLEN.

HEART PRAIRIE, WALWORTH Co., WISCONSIN,

January 26, 1851.

SIR: Your Circular was duly received. On looking over your list of inquiries, and your Report of '49 and '50, I find little or nothing said on the subject of harvesting grain in the West. I will, therefore, with your permission, say something in regard to the various modes in which it is done, and the relative cost to the prairie farmer.

Wheat being a staple crop in the northwestern States, it is a matter of interest to us farmers to be well posted up on that subject, as it constitutes the major part of the expense in growing wheat, oats, and barley. It will not be necessary to say anything about reaping with the handsickle, as that has been laid aside many years.

The common modes of harvesting are with the cradle, reaping machine, and harvesting or heading machine. We will begin with the cradle, which is still used to a greater or less extent in all the wheat-growing States of the Northwest.

Cost of harvesting 16 acres of wheat, that will average 20 bushels per acre. An average day's work, cradling, is about 2 acres. Average wages, including board, $1 38.

To cut 16 acres would require 8 days, at $1 38 per day..
Raking and binding, the same as cradling.

...

....

$11 00

11 00

To shock, 1 day...

2 06

Stacking, 2 hands and 1 team, 3 days.

9 00

Average cost of threshing, per bushel, 10 cents, or $2 per acre,

16 acres

32 00

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65 06

Cost

per acre...

4 07

2d. Cost of harvesting 16 acres by the use of the reaper. It is claimed by good farmers, who own them, that they will cut, with the requisite force, 16 acres per day, and by some, under favorable circumstances, much more. We will, however, call it 16 acres, which is probably high enough. For a general average, to work a reaper requires 2 men and 4 horses.

2 men, at the same price as with the cradle....

2 pairs of horses, at $1 per pair...,...

6 hands to bind, the same as with the cradle, at $1 38....

hand, 1 day, to shock....

Stacking, the same as with the cradle....
Threshing the same...

Interest, wear, and tear of reaper.

Total cost of 16 acres..

Cost per acre...

$2.75 2. 00

8 25

2.06

9.00

32 00

3.00

59 06

3 69

This shows a saving in favor of the reaper over the cradle of 38 cents per acre. I claimed by some that five hands are sufficient to bind; which would make a still greater difference in favor of the reaper; and it is further claimed for the reaper that it does its work better than is usually done by the cradle. The principal advantage, however, derived from the use of the reaper, is, that the farmer has greater command over his harvest, and is, therefore, enabled to secure it with much less force, as it saves half the hands up to the time the grain is bound. According to the estimates, with the cradle it takes 16 hands to cut and bind 16 acres a day, while the reaper requires only eight; making a saving thus far of 50 per cent of manual labor; which, at a time when labor is in great demand, and wages high, is quite an item to the farmer.

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3d. Cost of harvesting 16 acres by the use of the harvester or heading machine. It is claimed by good practical farmers, who own these machines, that they will cut more acres per day than the common reaper, as they cut a much wider swath. We will, however, call a day's work the same as the reaper.

To manage the machine, requires one man and four horses; which, at the same price per day as the above estimates, would be.

To take care of the grain as it is cut, requires four men and two
teams-one hand to each team, one hand to load for both
teams, and one to stack....

Heading can be threshed one-third cheaper than bound grain,
which leaves the cost of threshing..
Interest, wear, and tear of machine..

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$3 38

750

21 34

3.00

35 22

2 20

Showing a saving by the use of the heading machine of $1 87 per acre. Notwithstanding this decided advantage, they have not met with as general favor as the reaping machine. They, however, have many

friends, and also many enemies-for which, there are many reasons: first, many of the machines were not well made, and, consequently, liable to get out of repair; and some fell into the hands of men not sufficiently acquainted with machinery to run them, as the machines first made were somewhat complicated. The machine, however, (as before constructed,) is not well calculated for this region of the country, for the following reasons, viz: the growing of winter wheat in the northern portions of Illinois, and in the States of Wisconsin and Iowa, has, to a graat extent, been abandoned, and spring wheat substituted, which is very apt to lodge or crinkle down before being harvested. Even if it stands up when harvest commences, it is probable that it will be down before it is secured; so that it will be difficult to harvest it with a heading machine. In sections of country where winter wheat is principally raised, they are decidedly the best machine in use, as winter wheat usually stands up sufficiently well to be harvested by them; which is done at a very great saving of expense-even more than the above estimate.

The machine, however, in my opinion, to take the preference of all others now in use is one that will work well as a header, reaper, and mower. All these machines are needed by the grain-growing farmer. If his grain is in a condition to cut with a header, he will never think of using a reaper after having used a header, (if a good one;) but if his grain is down, so that it is not advisable to use a header, he then wants a reaper; and he also wants a mowing-machine to cut his grass. I have seen all these machines combined in a very simple, compact, and durable form: it performed its work decidedly better, as a header, than any machine that I have heretofore seen; it is by far the best reaper, so far as I can judge from its operations, with which I am acquainted; and it works equally well as a mower. It requires only about fifteen minutes to change or alter it from a header to a reaper, and about ten minutes to change it from a reaper to a mower. The machines cost less than the large heading-machines.

Yours truly, and in haste,

Hon. THOMAS EWBANK,

Commissioner of Patents.

GEORGE ESTERLY.

PRAIRIE LA CROSSE,
December 8, 1851.

SIR: Owing to my absence, the most of the last three months, from home, it was not till within a very short time that I received the Circular of interrogatories from your useful Agricultural Department.

La Crosse county, you are probably aware, is a new, and quite lately an uncivilized, region of country. Its beautiful and fertile valleys were but recently the camping and hunting-ground of the Winnebagoes, who will, in families, steal back from the Northwest, at this season of the year, almost daily, to visit this (to them) most charming spot, rendered sacred as their birth-place and the homes and the graves of their forefathers. Its resources, as yet, are but partially known, and much less cultivated. The northern part of this country, and along the banks of Black river, (which river empties into the Mississippi at the village of

La Crosse,) is a dense pinery. Some twenty-four saw-mills are now in successful operation on and near this stream, which is capable, at all stages, to float its own lumber to the Mississippi; upon which latter river lumber is always in good demand at high prices. Vast quantities of lumber are rafted in this pinery every season, and floated down to St. Louis, and sold at from $15 to $20 per thousand. This, of course, is an important item in the resources of the county; while the large number engaged in lumbering create a ready market for the home consumption of the productions of the farmers. From four to eight years these lumbermen have been engaged on Black river; and, about the same length of time, a few farmers have been located in different sections of the county, some of whom have tilled the soil extensively and successfully. Winter-Wheat, I am informed, has never yet failed since its cultivation was commenced in this region, averaging from 35 to 40 bushels per acre of more than standard weight.

Our soil is a black loam, intermixed with more or less limestone, and is believed, by experienced farmers, to be well adapted to the growth of wheat, especially with the right kind of fertilizing material; experiments in which will most likely be tried the approaching season, when more accurate information can be given as to what kind of fertilizers will be required.

The other staples of the country are produced here in abundance with as little labor as in any portion of the West. In fact there can be but little doubt that the soil north and west of the Wisconsin river, in the State of Wisconsin, is better adapted to the raising of grain than the southern portion of this State and northern Illinois. The result of the last three years has clearly satisfied me of the truth of this remark.

Minerals. It is believed by some that this county abounds in lead mines, as well as the southwestern counties of the State; which belief is induced from its similarity in geological appearance; but, as yet, no substantial indications have been discovered, except small particles of ore on the surface.

Quite an extensive iron-mine has been discovered in the northern part of this county, and preparations are now being perfected to work it.

You will not, of course, expect from a county just settling very much real practical agricultural information; therefore I will cut short this desultory reply to your Circular, and ask you to wait until we can acquire another year's experience upon our lands, when we shall be more capable of judging of its capabilities and necessities.

Wool-growing will, no doubt, enter largely into the business of the farmers in this section.

Very respectfully, yours,

Hon. THOMAS EWBANK,

Commissioner of Patents.

A. D. LABUE.

OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN, December 15, 1851.

SIR: The average product of wheat in the vicinity of this place is 20 bushels per acre. The best time for sowing is the last week in August and the first week in September. Wheat, in any of the northern or

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