Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1853-08-12

signed TO show and we think do show most con-
clusiyely, the inevitable effect of rail roads to run
up the value of farming lands. But than this, no
fact stands out more fully, broadly and clearly in
the every day history of the country, and none
should less require illustration and argument
Every state in the union where railroads are con-
structcd furnish evidence Of H.; and this state on
the line of the roads actually being built, is
marked example, for lands that two years ago
were comparatively worthless, are now worth five
and ten dollars an acre. Whether road pays q
dividend to stockholders or not, is matter of lit
tie consequence far its effect on real estate is
concerned, for a road running the length of this
county under any circumstances must add 20 per
cent on average to the value of farming lands
RAIL ROADS AND FARMS.
A very interesting table has lately been
published, showing the comparative value of
n bushel Of wheat or of corn, at different dis
tances from market, when transported by rail-
road or by common highway. Of course,
the proximity of lands to market, affecting
the value of products and soil, is generally
understood. The farm within ten miles of
New You k, on the common highway, is more
Yaluagle than 20 miles off: and this ratio of
decrease in valuation continues until the pro-
ducts of remote farm are found to be val.
steIess only as support to its occupants. To
overcome this state of things, railroads, canals
and steamboats, are constructed. But rail
roads are the most feasible of artificial means
for bringing all sections within commercial
range.
According to the estimates of the table al
tuded to, transportation by the highway costs
ten times more than by railway. In other
words, bushel of wheat or corn is worth the
same 100 miles from market, when it can
reach it by railroad, rs it is 10 miles from
market, when it must be carried thither on
common road. A bushel of corn is estima-
ted of no value for commercial purposes when
100 miles from market, by a common road,
and bushe of wheat loses its value under
the same circumstances at a distance of 800
miles.
If the expense Of transportation to market
is reduced nine tenths by the construction of
railroads, their immense value to farmers is at
once obvious, and a secluded agricultural dis
trict could afford for these benefits, to pay the
whole cost for such a thorougnfare without
any subsequent remuneration in the shape of
dividends on the stock.
4 direct consequence of what is above sta
ted as the enhancement Of the value of agri-
cultural lands Farms are valuable accord
ing to the income which they will yield |
Hence lands in the vicinity of an extensive
market for their productions, uniformly COM
mand high price. Farmers are often heard
to say-"Mv land is fertile, and if | could
have laid it down within 10 miles of this or
that town, it would be a fortune to- me-" But
he partakes of the general belief, "that his
farm cannot be moved" This is great mis-
take. 1t is not settled that farm can be
moved just as easily as Il house, and indeed !
much more SO. Build a railroad to your
great market town, and if your farm is now
100 miles from it, as soon as you hear the |
whistle of the first locomotive, YOU will rub |
your eyes and awake to the fact that the dis
tanrc by some hocus-pocus, has been redu-
ccd to ten miles.
Our agricultural friends can draw their own |
conclusions rs to their true policy i'll regard
to building railroads.-Ercha1ge.
From the New York Tribune.
We have beeves in our market that start |
ed from the prairie5 within the week They
are delivered here from the northwestern prai- |
ries at an expense of $40 to $l2 per head
and yet the men who produce these cattle
are the last to see the benefits derived from !
railroads. 1t would be rare to find a hundred
head of cattle in the New York, New Jersey, /.
Massachusetts, and Vermont markets at one
time, but for the drovcs that come from the |
West.
Were it not for the railroads they could |
l., L. Il,
not drive them because of the expense and
difficulty, wearing out the cattle from fatigue
BY tho railroads they can come from Chca-
60, and be delivered from the cars in this city
in good condition, and always within the week
1t would take from 80 to 90 DAYS to bring
the cattle from the Western parts of Ohio, !
Kentucky, Illinois, or Arkansas on foot A
week ago the speaker saw a curiosity at our
cattle market 1t was drove of cattle from
the Cherokee Nation, West of Arkansas
These cattle were raised by the Indians and
marked with their hieroglyphics. They were
bought by an Illinois droyer, and pasturd up
on the grand prairies of the West, one Sum
mer; and fed through the Winter upon the
abundance Of corn that grows i'll Southern
Illinois. They were this Spring started up
on their travels Eastward, and were finally
butchered in n. Y.
1t would have been almost impossible to
have brought these cattle down here on foot,
as ten miles day is an ordinary journey,
and even had they arrived here they would
have been in such condition AS to be almost
unsaleable. 1t was his opinion, that but for
the railroads, New York wond be in a state
of starvation so far as meat is concerned.
CALIFoRNIA GRAIN FOR THE \. Y. CRYs-
TAI Pr AgE-- w bo,-o rac,,oi,al n ,oy,, ~