January 3, 1833
In the morning, following a long, dark, very warm night, dreary overcast sky, and at seven thirty, a temperature of 12 1/2°R [60.1°F, 15.6°C]. This weather has a marked effect on one’s health. Dreidoppel, who until now during the night had always had severe lumbago before daybreak, which forced him to get up early, felt nothing of the kind last night. He suddenly had abdominal pains this morning and also immediately experienced severe diarrhea. Yet he went out before daybreak to pursue prairie hens he had seen yesterday. I took the measurements of a truly enormous, very old opossum, which had been brought to us yesterday; it weighed 11 pounds. In the mail today, two letters from New York, [dated] the beginning of October, arrived, for which [I] had to pay 56 cents. Dreidoppel returned at noon; he had shot a prairie hen. A boy brought a hare. At twelve o’clock today, with a pleasant spring wind, we had a temperature of 16°R [68°F, 20°C]. We could not tolerate fire in our rooms.
During the afternoon I took a walk with Mr. Say. We perspired and felt exhausted; it was truly warm, spring-like weather. Afterward I visited Mr. Owen, one-half mile from Harmony, and returned home toward evening. Here I received word that Mr. Bodmer had not left Mount Vernon until today. In the evening I was at the home of Mr. Say. We read a letter from New York, in which my bankers report that they deducted about forty dollars too much in commission, etc.
Later the conversation turned to the cultivation of the land and of this region in regard to garden vegetables and fruits. A large number of them are grown here: many kinds of cabbage; beans; peas; turnips; tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicon), which are cooked and enjoyed as a vegetable; asparagus, which is simply sown in the fields in the prairies near Albion, like clover and other seeds. Then they grow very well. Their asparagus is not thick but is said to have a good flavor. Varieties of beans include Carolina, lima, snap beans, and dwarf beans; cabbage; turnips; great quantities of potatoes; black radishes; radishes; asparagus; spinach; carrots; beets; parsnips. Indian corn (is) the primary product of the region. Not so much wheat; rye; and not so much barley for brewers. Substantial amounts of oats for the horses. Some buckwheat; pumpkins for horses and livestock; several varieties of peas; several kinds of lettuce; squashes (a kind of cucurbit); watermelons and muskmelons; cantaloupes; several varieties of gourds for making bottles; onions and chives.
Apples are the most common kind of fruit; not many pears, which do not thrive. Peaches bear abundantly; large numbers of them fall from the trees, and the pigs eat them. Not very many plums or very many cherries; they do not all grow well here. Amarelle cherries (very sour) [grow] better. Grapes are no longer grown here. In the forests (are) persimmon, Annona. Wild grapes, pecan, and other walnuts. Preserves are made from the crab apple (Pyrus coronaria); they are likely too sour (to be eaten otherwise).