The Kansas herald of freedom., 1856-12-13
New Settlers.

coming to US every day, from people
living in the old. States, concerning
agriculture, building, schools, meet
tings, &c, we make the following re-
ply
LIST, In regard to agriculture. You
can get as good claims in Kansas now,
as any that have been taken. Timber
and prairie are abundant, but. of
course, outside of the present settle
nents.
Prairie claims are numerous all
around us.
You can hire the prairie broken,
from May TIL September, for from 81
to s5 per acre. Two yoke of oxen,
with twelve-inch plow and rolling
cutter, will break any of the upland
prairie. The bottom lands are harder
to break, on account of the Increased
size and thickness of the grass roots.
The prairie grass grows, on the bot
toms, six and eight feet high, and so
thick that it is difficult for man to
ride through it. The team to plow
this must be proportionally stronger.
Three good farm horses, working
abreast, will break the upland prairie.
A very popular mode OF breaking,
among our Western farmers, is to get
team of five or six yoke of oxen, with
twenty-inch, or two-feet plow,
regulated by wheels, so that the driver,
with his team, can do all the work,
without holder. Any of the above
teams will break from one to two acres
per day.
The question then recurs: If we hire
this work done, will it pay? We know
a man who last spring hired one hun
dred acres broken, at five dollars
per acre. This he planted in corn
The yield was rather light, being only
twenty bushels per acre. This is now
worth fifty cents per bushel; being
ten dollars per acre-a sum sufficient
to pay for both fencing and breaking.
Corn can be planted safely till the
middle of June; potatoes, till the first
of june; beans, pumpkins, DC, till
the same time; and turnips and buck
wheat may oe put in for month and a
half later. Wheat may be sown till
the last of September. The yield of
wheat, this year, was from twenty to
thirty bushels per acre, and is now
worth one dollar and fifty cents per
bushel.
By referring to our prices current, it
will be seen that farming is the best
business carried ON in Kansas. 1t is
not only the best business, but it is
also the easiest and safest.
In addition to tilling the soil, cat
tie raising is the next most profitable.
The summer pasture costs nothing but
the herding. In winter, it is neces-
sary to feed young cattle from one to
three months. Some do not feed at
all. The price of cows and oxen is
sufficient to satisfy any farmer. And
we should think the prices of butter
and cheese would tempt many dairy
man to come here. We are now eat
ing butter bought in St. Louis, and
made in Illinois.
Suppose we take prairie claim
how can we get house, and at what
cost?"
The architecture of Kansas is varied,
and the cost as varied as the style
The pioneers of Kansas, two years
ago, erected turf dwellings, and lived
in them the first winter. These cost
the labor of putting them up. Two
or three of them may be seen, still
standing, in Lawrence. Those who
lived near timber, put up log cabins.
The material for a rough log cabin
viii cost now twenty dollars. Any
farmer can put it up. But to hire it
all, the cost viii be nearly fifty dollars.
Stone is SO common on claims, that
many farmers put up small stone
house, about the size of log cabin.
This they can lay up themselves, and
by plastering it inside, make COM
Portable home for several years. The
cost of floor and roof will be the same,
whether the walls of house are good
or bad. It will therefore be good
economy to make the walls as good
as possible, to begin with.
The above remarks are In reply to
men of limited means, who are obliged
I to economic their means, in order to
make ends meet. Those who have
money, can employ workmen, and
build good houses at first. The ma
terials for building are not difficult to
obtain. Stone, lime, timber and
lumber can be had in almost any set
tied part Of the Territory.
The usual mode, for emigrants who
come in the spring, is. to live in wag-
ons and tents. till the crops come in,
and then spend the summer and fall
in building.
Sd. As there are no local laws in
Kansas, recognized by the great ma
ljority OF the settlers, there can be no