The Kansas herald of freedom. [volume] (Wakarusa, Kan. Territory) 1854-1860, 1855-04-28
Kansas Matiefs.
The Settlement of Kansas.

JcCt VI pidIic laiHIiHS 10 up fOT UiSCuS
sion, and that on its decision depends tn
settlement of Kansas. by free or slave Ia
Dor.
| Mr.. Stringfellow thinks that none bu
| fore-handed men, such as Shareholders
can settiein the prairie. Mr.. Stringfellov
is a lawyer, andis probably writing for
consideration.
am farmer-haye lived In the Yves
twenty years-haye made one farm ii
the timber-have since moved on to th,
prairie and made another farm. I cal
tell how the thing is done now, aud
can tell how it used to be done. If m,
experience viii be of any value to emf
grants seeking a home in the West,
shall be well paid for writing. For feal
you won't print the whole story, I vii
begin at the best part and tell that first
Two boys with three horses so rigced t.
plow as to work abreast, can break dr
and put in corn forty acres-of prairie
This will yield 40 bshels to the acre..
600, did it last year, expect to do i
again this year. and SO did my neighbors
One boy win drive team and hold the
plow; the other will drop the corn, and
either cover it with spade or putsit SC
the plow will cover it. They can also
put in two acres of potatoes, pumpkins,
&c. They can also break twenty acres
and put it in wheat. They can cut up
their corn in season to put that ground
in wheat; SO that next year they may have
sixty-two acres in wheat. They can al
SO, if they choose, put in an acre of tur-
nips. This is what free State poor folks
can do. Slave State poor folks are an
other stock. They cannot read, nor write,
nor invent-they have no ambition, nor
enterprise, nor industry. These are the
ones that Mr.. StringfeIlow speaks about,
and he speaks as though he was acquain-
ted with them. I have seen specimens
of them. But two free State boys aged
/ a and Is, with team of three horses.
will do what have said above;i. e. will
break sixty acres of prairie ground in one
season; raise 1000 bushels corn; 500
bushels potatoes; 500 bushels turnips:
and about 600 bushels of wheat This
will feed fifty families, not including
stock.
The old folks in the mean time can do
the harvesting, building, improving, &c.
AS much depends on the plow, I wilde
scribe it. 1t must be cast steel plow
that will cut furrow slice from one foot
to fifteen inches wide, with rolling cutter
This saves the draft of one horse or more,
as the sod, roots of the grass, &c, are all
cut by the weight of the plow, instead of
the draft of the team; as is the case with
an upright cutter. The plow must be
sharpened every day with file, and kept
with as keen an edge as possible. There
must be guage fastened to the end of
the beam, so that the plow cannot run
more than three or four inches deep
This will save the boy all trouble and la
Dor of keeping his plow from running too
deep. The corn must be planted so that
the roots will strike the ground below the
sod. If the spade is used, the planter
follows the pillow and puts in row on ev-
cry third furrow. The spade must be
thrust clear through the turf, then pried
forward, and the corn thrown in. The
spade is then Withdrawn, and the opera
tor in moving forward steps on the gap
made by the spade, closes it up, and
leaves it. This is all there is to be done
to sod corn till harvest time. 1t good
days work for the above force to put iu
two acres day. Many people use no
spade, but drop the corn in the furrow so
near the edge that it will come up be-
tween the furrow slices. Next year this
sod will all be rotten and plow up like an
old manure heap.
1t is better for man to get ten miles
into the prairie and make him a farm,
than to make one in the timber. He must
ofcourse have timber to go to, so that he
may have fuel. But as to fences, he won't
need any till his hedges can grow.
There are many crops raised in this old
settled State without any fence. A boy
with horse is considered sufficiently
live fence to protect many hundred acres
of corn; and that, too, in country where
herds of cattle may be seen every day.
In Kansas there would be probably
very few herds out on the prairie during
the corn season. They would go out to
feed in the morning and evening, and
retire to water and shade during the heat
of the day. The cattle owned by the set
tiers would be followed bya herdsman
when they went out, and when they came
in. ! have practical experience in all
that have written, and would be willing
to contract with emigrants to perform as
is stated, or to show them how-except-
ing, of course, such variations in. the
amountof crops as is oecasioued By bad
seasons.
Getting the food is the last part of the
trouble of settling in new country, after
the first season.
have spoken only of horses in break
ing prairie. Two yoke of oxen will draw
the plow with the same ease, but viii
plow only an acre in day. The plow
must then be rugged to a pair of wheels
SO that it will run itself, and require but
one hand to drive. the team and tend the
plow also. The clets which hold the
plow-beam are fastened to the axletree. a
little slsnting, so as to allow the off wheel
to go in the furrow, and yet keep the
plow firm and level. Large plows re-
quire more team IN proportion to their
size.
come now to the more difficult part
of my subject, viz: The building, fene-
ing, and dividing of lands and produce.
Suppose sixteen families wish to settle
together, and make farming neighbor-
hood. They would go out into the prairie
and claim four sections. That would
make 2, $50 acres, or a quarter of q Sec
ton to q family Let them lay out two
roads through this, crossing AT right an
giles in the center. Here, they should all
build together. This is necessary for
mutual safety, convenience. and general
economy. They can build large or small.