Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1859-03-03
The Wide. Wide West.
MuscariNE, Iowa, % Mo. s, l8j

MUSCaTiSE, Iowa, ii Mo. ., lo0J.
| FRIEND BoYcE 1T is now more than ionl
months since Loft my coy home among thu
Green Mountains to pay a visit to some of ny
children west Of the Mississippi River, and
have not been informed whether the Freemds
has been continued to my address at MonktoT
or not. IF is has, am in debt to the publish
er in contribution o. soms other way. If moi
in debt, have an other excuse FOR writing
AIN inclined to say Il word about
THE WIDE, WIDE WEST,
II residence of few months i'll one Of thC
States embraced IN that broad rang. will war.
rant me in giving an orili,n concerning them.
Bat | hesitate in si,iag AN opinion On another
account. Wise nrn have said that - li;J j:
made up Of malt Il ;cpf il ti5 asdeI is, just
as ages are nlalo up Of moments, and as the
OCEAN is md up # drops Of water, and am
inclined to believe that the rule will apply with
equal rroplicty In this Western world as in al y
other but have to make judicious selections
from the "mulhtude Of little incidents"
which may not, ut all timcf, he as easy as one
could desire.
1t was saying Of DR.. Franklin, that many
emigrants from England, in Lis time, came to
America with the expectation Of finding ducks
lying about ready roasted, with knife and
fork under their wings, crying g come, cat me, y
and anrl, otlvor trr,ro nc ,.ono d;so -. oo,toJ b..
finding that tie ducks required catching before
they could be eaten, would be very apt to re-
turn to the Mother country with a doleful ac-
count of America. They might have been of
the family Of Peter Simple or Joseph Surface,
and it is apprehended that some of their pos
terlty have found their way to the West, vainly
hoping for an opportunity In harvest, to reap
where they had not energy to plow and SOW in
seed-time. There is probably q sprinkling Of
that class everywhere; accordingly We should
not be surprised to find them in the fertile val
ley of the Mississippi.
Previous to leaving Vermont, was apprized
of the deficient crops in the West, and the hum
dreds Of acres of unharyested wheat that may
be seen in this neighborhool, bear ample proof
OF the serious losses that have been sustained,
and the shrunk and dingy appearance Of much
OF the wheat that was gathered, seems to say
that the farmers must have had some faith, or
they would hardly have taken the trouble to
collect it. And yet, meager as the grain looks
before it goes to mill, the -four that is brought
back is really tolerable, and the all-important
bread made from it is palatable, wholesome and
nutritious, and not darker in color than rue
bread in general.
| Varions reasons are assigned for the failure,
the most plausible Of which is the 50 rust fol-
lowing some extremely warm weather after
much rain. Perhaps that WAS the case in
most instances, although there were other
causes that operated in other cases !: Such has
been the fertility of the soil in previous years
that very shallow blowing has been practiced
in many cases, and in Others, where wheat has
followed Indian corn, latter collecting and
burning the stalks left by the cattle,) the land
has been only narrowed without plowing) be.
fore and after sowing. Ihaye been assured by
one farmer (and he not one of the slack ones J
that he had occasionally succeeded better in this
way than his neighbors who have plowed after
corn, but the experience of last year seems to
say that it is 0nlg occasionally that such slight
work is renuneratve.
The poor crop of cereals last year has induced
some farmers to place more dependence upon
corn, which in ordinary seasons can be grown
at a cost not exceeding twelve-and-a-h cents
per bushel, and converted into pork at four or
five dollars per cwt.
The packing season is nearly closed it will
probably foot up (4O,00O) forty thousand hogs
slowed away in this city alone; other centers of
the pork business in the State, are said to have
done an extensive business also. If the many
wagon loads of pork and grain that have seen
coming into this city, this winter, and the loads
of lumber, groceries, &C., that have gone into
the interior, may be taken as fair exponent of
the commercial condition of the State land why
should it not be 80 regarded one is led to in
fer that the reports of the restitution prevalent
in Iowa have been exaggerated and by carry
ing the comparison back step further to pc
RODS of prosperity is led to form some
idea of the golden visions that fitted before the
throng of adventures to be found here four or
five years since, when rich prairie land could be
bought at the Government price of $l,25 per
acre, within view of fields waving with golden
grain, the crop promising to pay for the land
and cost of cultivation, more than once, the
first year.
The adventures of 1850 to 81 did not seem
to anticipate Il reaction in tho minds of those
that must follow them to make their own ad
venture prosperous one ; but the change hal
ome--the arrangement in the monetary affair,
of the East drying up the resources of some
and the diminished crops impairing the re
sources of others, have brought about tina
change. Let us profit by the past, say some,-
in experience, If we cannot in cash and guarC
to the best Of our ability, against repetition
of such roverses.
To such resolution many, both in the Eas
aud West, are prepared to subscribe, and tn
value of some principle other than that of gai'
is understood. As has been lately repeated b,
H. w Beecher, " the oorld stands IN need of
Christian heart" and it is believed that not {
few IN the West are under that conviction, anC
ready to cooperate according to their on
talent, with those that may possess the " fiv'
talents at their disposal. In this connection
the " Organized Christian Emigration pro
posed by Eli Thayer, (sce n Y, Independent
Jan 10, seems well deserving the attention 0