The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-08

ever Ucen given uy pOunteOuS TrOttueHco 70
make a great State she has been blessed beyond
measure.
No State or country has a richer or more
productive soil. The fertility of the soil is the
surest means of permanent prosperity. The soil
of the State is for the most part OF that rich.
sandy loan that is so easily worked by the hus-
bandman, and brings such bountiful harvests as
the reward for his labor. This soil, in its un
broken state, is indicated by an immense growth
of giant trees, and by her strong and nutritious
grasses. The timber growth natural to the soil
of Indiana, as have before stated, is the black
walnut the white oak, the poplar and those
woods so much priced for manufacturing pur-
poses This is the native home of the blue
grass, the glory of our rich calcareous soils. 1t
forms permanent sward, thickening with age:
1t grows slowly under the SHOWS OF winter, and
springs into full freshness and rapid growth
with the first rays of the warming sun Of spring
time
Mention is often made of Kentucky blue grass,
but so far 40 is now known, not a spear of blue
grass ever grew in Kentucky till the seed was
carried there from Indiana by the citizen
soldiers of General Harrisons army in the fall
of 1911. History tells US that in the eventful
campaign against the Indians which terminated
with the battle of Tippecanoe the horses of the
little army almost persisted for want of subsist-
ence on the march northward, but when the
vincinity of Terre Haute, Ind. was reached,
and from that on into the country north OF 1t,
in September and October, 1871 immense tracts
of blue grass were found in their natural and
luxuriant state upon which their horses were
grazed and fatted. Thousands OF acres of this
wonderfully rich grass were found, and when
the Kentucky farmers who composed part OF
General Harrison's army, returned 20 their
homes after the battle of Tippecanoe they took
with them the first seed of blue grass that was
sown or grew in the State of Kentucky Of the
soil naturally adapted to the growth of blue
grass we have in Indiana 16 600 square miles, or
one-half the area of the State, and comprises the
finest lands either for farming or grazing that
the sun ever fell upon, and are the natural
homes of the diaries of America.
But not only as a grazing State does Indiana
excel. While near ore-half of the State is rich
in the soil that produces the celebrated blue
grass the same lands in which it grows, together
with the other cultivated lands of the State, pro-
duce most bOuntiful crops of wheat, oats, barley,
rye, indian corn and the tame grasses and clover.
Wheat ranges at from Is to 30 bushels per acre,
oats from % to 60 bushels per acre, meadows
produce from 2 TO tons of hay per acre and
corn will range from 80 to 80 bushels per acre,
while potatoes, tErnips, sorghum, buckwheat
and other crops bring rich returns for the hus-
bandman's or gardeners labor. Notwithstand-
ing the unusually low prices for farm products
in 1884 the total value Of those products of Indi
ana for that year were $685. 085 663
The wealth and natural resources Of Indiana
are not confined to her agricultural pursuits, nor
yet to the natural advantages she possesses for
stock raising Her forests, which are the rich
with giant trees of black walnut and white oak
and cherry. and poplar. and sycamore of centuries
growth waiting the axmans stroke and the whirr
OF the saw to Guild up the fortune Of him who
fears not honest labor and the virgin soil that is
opened by the clearing promises a second
fortune to him who follows the axman. Her
great coal fields embrace area of over 1000
square miles Her mines abound in the finest
block coal for use in blast furnaces that has ever
been found, and may be there used without cox
ing. This coal is rich in carbon, and remark
ably free from sulphur and phosphorus and is
especially we'll adapted to the preparation of
Bessemer steel. The coal fields of Southern
Indiana furnish the very best quality of camel
coal. The ease with which all this coal is mined
produces for the citizens of the State fuel at a
remarkably low cost.
In addition to the wealth of coal that lies hid
den under the surface of the soil, we find the
most magnificent building stone in the world.
BY far the most beautiful and valuable stone for
architectural purposes is the Indiana oolitic
limestone, and the supply is simply inexhaust-
ible The stone comes from the quarry suff
GENTLY soft to be readily worked by saw, chise
or planning machine, while on exposure it hardens
to strength OF from 900 to I.200 pounds to the
square inch a strength sufficient to sustain
the weight of the largest structure in the world.
In use it presents a handsome gray, gradually
whitening as it hardens from exposure Cut or
sawed from the quarries in any desired size, it
may. by the use of steam apparatus, be carved
or turned and nodded like clay wood, and
with more accurateness than with mallet and
chisel or it may be carved and polished into the
finest of sculptured and ornamental work. 1t is
elastic in nature, and this elasticity of the In
diana oolitic stone adapts i. peculiarly for build
ing purposes in those localities which are SUBJ
ject to great climatic changes. In this quality of
elacticity is presented to the builder and archi-
tect new and w0ndrOus element which, united
with its other sterling excelences of strength
and beauty, gives the very best building stone
for exposed work and buildings in all localities
and climates that has yet been found. 1t has been
and is now being used in many of the finest ed-
fees all over the United States. The new court
house at Indianapolis costing nearly s., 600 000
the new Indiana State house, the postoffice
at Indianapolis and public buildings and
churches all over the State; the custom house at
Louisville the city hall of Chicago, the new
State-house of Illinois, many large and costly
public buildings in New York, and Boston, and
Philadelphia, and the beautiful Cotton Exchange
of this the Crescent City, New Orleans, are all
the indisputable proofs of its value and beauty.
Our stone and coal fields for 1884 yielded So $780,
000
From out our soil and within our borders also
are brought the finest clays that can be found
for brick, terra Gotta and the ornamental en-
caustic tile, displayed in the Indiana ex-
sides this, in unlimited supply, are found beds
of the purest koaine for the manufacture of
china and fine tableware. All of these natural
sources OF wealth are not merely claimed for the
Hooser state, put are open to the eyes OF all the
world as actual realities.
The extensive railway system of the State
now brings every county Of the State into di
rect communication with the outer world, and
the farmer and merchant find easy markets and
sales, while the extensive gravel road or turn
pike system of the State puts the farmer within
easy reach of the market, so that at any season
of the year he may take the advantage of the
most favorable prices that are offered for the
products of farm, orchard or dairy. The taxable
value of railroads within our State are now $55,-
057.6S and new lines are yet being completed
and others are being projected.
AS manufacturing State Indiana offers most
wondrous advantages. Her coal fields and tim
Der lands offer to the manufacturer inducements
in the way of cheap fuel while her streams
offer water in greatest abundance There are
over one hundred establishments in the State
manufacturing agricultural implements. We
have the largest plow factory in the world and
of the largest wagon factories. FIGURING
mills. saw mills, rolling mills, nail factories, and