Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1858-08-20
INvEsTMExTs ~ uLEAs COUNTY

Mr. EDlToR Permit me. through the 81
unlns If your most valuable journal, TO present
yoa With few facts touching the crops, the
fnaEeiaI embarrassment OF tie farming com
munity 10 Central Illinois, the depreciation Of
real estate since the financial pressure and the
failure of crops, and the great inducements for
monied men 10 invest for speculation.
First, the crops. The wheat crop N Cen
tral Illinois. and especiaiiy IN M'Lean aud ad-
iacsnt countless IS almost an entire failure, with
the exception Of those crops which are grogD
on The new broken lsaa, which may gITe, per-
haps, half crop. The cats crop will compare
nearly with the wheat crop not quite so good
if aBy difference. The prospect for eeea i
very poor; many fields entirely too bs-kEard
to make any corn al al even with sAe most IA
vorable season. Here and there sou will md
scattered promiscucusly over She counties
few fields that will make fox eor2 With good
season. but those field are few and far be-
tween. The season still coutiaBes Wei, ioo
much 50 indeed eszn for the potato crop
The next tf,:sg ] desire. to notice briefly, Is
the iasnci.l embarrassment Of the mass Of our
f1rnsn- community, he causes, &c. ! spa&k
Tor especially Of that class in Central Illinois.
X rnay safely be said that with few exeep-
tionsj the entire farming community il Central
illinois are badly in debt for land. Until
within the last tEo years, farmers have BEEN
blessed With n series Of years Of unprecedent-
Cd prosperity. TheY have been in the habit Of
buTing unimproTed land, breaking il Up, and
payiag for the land from the proceeds of The
first crop, and then selling the land quite an
advance; consequently not onig the kid glove
farmer but tho industrious aud hard working
faruzr went deeply in debt for lard They
added farm to farm, giving their promises TO
pay, maturing generally ABOUT harvest. Last
year being partial failure IN tbs crops, many
we're unable to meet their obligations, and
found themselves badly crippled il their fnau-
ciEI matters; hut most Of them succeeded IN
keeping their heads above the wave by getting
an extension Of tine until they could raise
another crop. But the present crop fpas
them in a ten fold more disastrous condition
than last yezr, and the result is, men aIe COM
PEELED TO sell their lands at such figures as they
can get, many Of them az ruinous sagrifees.-
The depreciation Of lands 10 Central Illinois,
especially M'Leaa and adjacent counties,
which have suffered perhaps worse than almost
aDy other counties IN the State, IS a very mark
ed one, indeed. Many farms In the county Of
M'Lean, and even IN the vicinity Of Blooming
snD. that we're held one year ago at forty and
fry dollars, can noE be bought at twenty-five
dollars. Some Of the very best Improved
farms in the county can be bought for thirty
dollars per acre; other lands in about the same
proportion--owing to their relative distance
lr0m railway stations.
/ desire COW 10 gre some of the nduee-
2eIts that present themselves for speculation
10 ih2 State Of Illinois. When we speak Of
llliDois as State, she is 70 be recoguized as
the great State Of this great Union. She may
now be called the great Agricultural A enpori-
Vn sf the Western World. Illinois stretches
irom little North of the north line Of Penn
s5igania, down nearly 10 the southern boundary
q Virginia and Kentucky, aud hence embraces
greater variety Of climate and wider range
q productions than aay other State in the
Caion, its greatest length being 3Ts miles,
aud is average width 150 miles. To compare
hsr Eiih other States. Illinois is nearly az llrge
ss 81 the SIX New EBglaad States Put toeefil-
r, sa1 wssa her resources wc! dereioped