The Kansas herald of freedom., 1855-03-31
The ENigfaqt.
From tie Parenokgieal Joannal
A Letter to Working People who Pro-
pose Going West


pose Going West.
READER:-Having acquired consider
able experience in western life, during a
residence of nearly twenty years in Hi
nois, Missouri, and Iowa, and observing
that emigration for these and other west
ern States and Territories is receiving a
new impulse. have thought best to ad-
dress this epistle to my fellow working
men. in the hope of rendering some slight
service to such of them as are about set
tling in these vast agricultural regions.
You need not expect geographical or
geological description of the great West,
as am not competent to such an under
taking, and | presume you do not wish
for it, and would not be as well pleased as
you will with what | shall write.
am often asked for the best place to
go to, or settle in, in the West. There
is no best places SO you might as well
make up your mind where you will stop
before you start, if your object is to set
tie down at once, and there commence
the foundation of your future home.
said there is no best place; simply
because, taking townships, counties,
States, and. for aught I know, Terrific
ries, and there is but little to choose be-
tween them. The whole West is, as it
were, a vast garden, with scarcely any
waste land, with so little variety in seen
cry, soil. and productions, as to render it
rather tame and monotonous. This, l
think, is the general rule, though there
are exceptions. There are places, too,
which should prefer above some others /;
but what would be my choice might not
be the choice of the majority; still, We
should doubtless think alike upon some
points: for instance, none of US would
choose or prefer situation where mos
quitoes and ague prevailed. And if one
builds in the high open prairie, with no
fields, low trees, or much shrubbery close
to their dwelling, so as to impede the free
circulation of air, the prospect for health
and freedom from mosquitoes is better
than many places in the older States.
But to say that You are not rather more
liable to bilious attacks on that rich allu-
vial soil, than you would be in noun
famous, sterile country, is contrary to my
experience. But with the precaution that
l have and fhay'suggest, your prospect
for health, on the whole, taking all dis
eases. is just about as good as in the more
eastern States, with this exception, per-
haps-I think a majority of persons
would enjoy better health by remaining
near their native place. The climate,
soil, and productions of ones native
country are more in harmony with their
organizations than foreign and dissimi-
lar one can be. This is natural. If one
is more liable to bilious complaints West,
l think they are compensated somewhat
by being less liable to cataarh and pull
monary affections. Colds are not as
common, and are not prolonged as in the
eastern States; but they are equally as
severe while they last, and not unfre-
quently terminate fatally, in fever or
pneumonia.
Long, drizzling rain-storms are not
common, as, usually, when it rains it
comes in showers, and they are generally
accompanied with thunder and lightning,
not unfrequently of the most terrific kind;
especially in the rainy season. which usu-
ally commences in May and ends in June,
and in which more rain usually falls than
in the rest of the year. So the farmer
should have his corn planted the first of
May, SO that it may get up and have one
plowing before the rainy season sets
in, which is generally near the middle of
the month. Though this is by no means
a uniform description of the weather.
still, have observed it to be very safe
rule for planting.
l might as well make some further re-
marks here, not only on corn-raising but
all or various productions. In raising
corn, plant it as close as you can; if cul-
tivated with horse and plow, do not have
the hills more than three and half feet
apart-less, if possible; put plenty of
seed in the hill, but thinout so as to leave
but two or three stalks to the hill, and
see that every hill has its complement,
because you win have to plow all alike,
even If one half of your hills or stalks
are missing; and where you do not raise
crop OF grain, nature will raise crop
of weeds. She seems to be opposed to
nakedness, and determined to clothe the
earth with something. Therefore, what
ever you plant, be it corn, vines. or any
thing else, plant close. so that when up
the earth win soon be shaded; then ma
ture seems satisfied, weeds viii not grow,
and if your plants are too thick, you can
easily thin them out, which, if you ex-
pect a crop, must be done judieiously
and thoroughly, as they grow. Begin
We think the suthor is not well advised, and
that Kansas "a the best placer for the pioneer.
Our reasons for such conclusions ara found In
previous narrbers Of the HERALD OF FREEpo1.