Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1884-08-14
JOTTINGS FROM THE WEST.

~ 1ANUS NUN i he w EIC1s
FoNTANELLE, Iowa, Aug. 6, 1884.
EDITOR CHRoNICLE-My summer term
of school being out, l have concluded,
between times. to write a short epistle
to the CHRONICLE, to let my friends
and the readers of your valuable paper
know that | am still on the land among
the living.
This has been very healthy summer
so far, out here. We had very dry
spring and fore part of the summer, but
since the tenth of July we have had
more rain than we needed up to the
present time. We had as big a rain
here on the night of July 23d, as L ever
saw in my life. 1t raised the Nodaway
creek the highest it has been, with one
exception, for twenty years, and swept
large quantity of wheat, rye and oats
away, the most of which was cut and in
shock. The creek extended out nearly
half mile on each side of the main
channel-that is, where the bills would
admit of its getting that far. 1t played
sad havoc with some of the oldest
bridges across the Nodaway and its
tributaries. If the amount of water
that passed down the Nodaway in its
sluggish and slovenly way, toward the
big Muddy river, had rushed down old
Captina, or Sun6sh, either,it would have
left marks of devastation along their
courses which would take the wear and
tear of half century to obliterate.
Some men lost all the grain they had.
At the present time the corn crop
looks more favorable than it has done
for some three years back. If we have
ne storms, or early frosts or freezes to
injure the crop,we will have the greatest
yield of corn this year that you ever saw
in your lite. When it is seasolable here
in this part of Iowa, things grow so
beautifully, that it is fairly charming to
a person to behold them. But believe
in order to counterbalance the rapid
growth of vegetation here, that the
insect world is more rapacisus and de-
structiYe than they are where things
don't grow so rapidly. 1t seems to ne
that the cabbage and tobacco worms
will do more work in one day and night
here than the same sized worm would
do in Ohio in three days and nights. 1t
may all be in my eye, you know; L may
have forgotten how much work worm
could get through with in Ohio.
We have one luxury here that can't
enjoy with the rest of the people, on ac+
count of their giving me the sore throat
every time l eat them. When they
were named, and called choke-cherries,
they undoubtedly got the proper name.
/ guess l will beat my German neigh
Dor this year on beets. l raised the
largest headed wheat and oats this year
that has ever been in this part of Iowa.
The terrapin bugs prevented the wheat
from filling, so the crop was light.
have q turnip from spring sowing, that
is nearly IL inches in diameter. Who
can beat that in old Belmont, without
any forcing the matter? Well, believe
me or not, have now growing, corn OF
the Leaning variety, that has s and
good sized shoots to stalk; but, or
course, it is too early now to tell what
the ears will prove to be. If no prevent
ing providence intervenes we will have
a good crop of potatoes in this section
of Iowa 1 believe to take it year after
year this part of the great State of Iowa,
is the best place for potatoes that have
ever come across. There have been but
few bugs on the potatoes this season.
At the time we had the big rain, 1t
blew gale over in Cass county. The
wind moved two school houses off their
foundations.
MIR. Editor, have found out by close
the reason that so many
hogs die in this western country, with
the cholera; it is caused by an improper
use of salt. If you give a hog a gorge
of salt and then keep it away from him
for, say a week, or even few days, and
then give him another gorge of it, and
let him go one day without water, and
then let him take gorge of water, and
YOU can bet he will die with something
similar to the cholera. One man here
lost about fifty head of nice hogs from
this cause; but when told him what
thought was killing his swiSe so fast,
he quit giving them so much salt, and
opened cut their water privileges, so
that they had an abundance of water,
and his hogs ceased dying.
was sorry to hear of the death of
my noble old friend, Peter Tallman; he
was one of the central lights in Eastern
Ohio, legally, politically and socially.
The only way in which l can express
my estimation of him is-he was great
man. And the other two eminent men
whohave fallen in thevigor of their man
hood, were great and good men, and it
will be hard to fill their places. But
the fiat of death has gone ferth, and We
must all die sooner or later. If we are
prepared, it will be well with US.
We are in favor of Blaine and Logan,
because we, as individuals, and as
great State, are in favor of their for
sign policy. Hurrah for Blaine OF
Maine. More anon.
BELMONTER.