The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1867-05-24
WHOLE No. 489.
HINTS TO FARMERs---No. 2.
Commencing in New Country.

cation thought l would venture 10 ad
, dress you few words on a subject o
deep interes;--especialY you who hav,
yet to commence making home on the
+ yerdant and vide spreading prairies o
Kansas, Like many of you l was borr
in one of the more Eastern States, anc
though L have lived almost a score oil
years 10 the west, l yet remember my
old home in the Middle States, and kno "
the trials and Disadvantages that Trainer
had to pass through and experience, ere
he was ready to reap good harvest as a
reward for his iaboFs. There the grand
old forest, still in its majestic grandeu r
and beauty, as the great Architect had
made 1t, stretched for leagues unbrokeD;
and for days the traveller, as be journey
ed through its solitHdes, saw no other OF
his fellow man, save few native men of
the Indian race who seemed fitted for
such scenes and surroundings as these.
If person wished to start out in the
world and to make home for himself and
family he struck out boldly into these
woods, with no companion but his gun
and dog, and with these and his pillow and
axe, he was to protect his family from the
attacs of the wild animals and wilder men,
aud from hunger or want. Even at this
day, our great grand parents thrill our
young hearts with delight and awe. as
they tell US of the trials aud cares which
passed through, but which zoe never may,
for We have no forests to conquer.
- The first care of the new settler was TO
build a shelter, which was made of logs;
and with logs split into small or thin
pieces called punchen for flooring; and
for door and roof clapboards were made.
A window was al article to them I'M
known; the door answering for both light
and passage The first year was thought
well spent if man cleared up and put in
cultivation a lot large enough for truck
patch, and it took years of toll to make
clearing sufficient to raise all that was de-
sired for the consumption of the family,
Trees were 10 be cut down and burned :;
grubs 10 be taken out and rubbish cleaned
off ere the ground was ready to till, and il
aften happened that a man, though he had
spent days and years of unceasing toll
ere he had reached that goal which he
had 50 much desired, passed away; leav-
ing it to his children to finish the work.
There were no roads, and if the farmer
wished to have any delicaoy which he
could not raise on his farm, it had to be
packed for hundreds of miles on the back
of mules or horses, ere it reached his
dwelling.
Judge then of the feelings of the per-
son thus situated or whose view has been
hemmed In TO a narrow circuit by forest,
when he first sees our prairies. Here are
vast tracts Of land covered with Verdure
and almost vieiDg with the garden of
Ellen in beauty, and free from the forests.
grubs and stones. which caused SO much
toll in the older States to remove. Here
are fields ready for the pillow, and to yield
fabulous TO the fathers of these men.
Here home may be made and land put
in cultivation in two years that would |
have taken life time of our forefathers |
to equal.
Is it any wonder that our first settlers
desired to possess a large tract Of !
this land? Many of them, when they |
came to the prairie country, invested their |
all in land, while others ventured to Dor
row money, believing that there would be
a heavy immigration into the Territory
Cor State J. and that they could sell their
land to the new conner at a good profit
So wide spread was this land insanity in
Kansas that men seemed to feel it a col
emn duty to get all the land they could
grasp, believing that they could reap gold
en- harvests.
10 1860 We had our drouth aud the
famine the next year, and the expected i'm
migrants feared to come here. As could
be expected many men were disappointed,
and many fortunes were lost. Men had
borrowed money at 60 per cent, and
finding no sale for land and not having
means 10 meet their engagements, were
compelled t. mortgage their land, one BY
one their tracts we're sold by the Sheriff,
or at great sacrifice at private sale, to
meet their debts, till all was gone. l have
seen men who came here with ample
means TO make acomfortable home and
10 bs161adepe7tdeRt through life, owing to
this cause alone, be reduced 10 beggaIy |
Another great temptation to a new set |
tleT, IS tie easy a00y Of opening a Tt,,ns |
If he has team of his own he can break I
80 or 100 acres of ground in one season,
which the next viii yield heavy crop Of
wheat which wilt more than pay the ex
pense of breaking. a
But now commences the tug of war.
Unless the farmer has plenty of help he
losses more than be gains by having a
large farm. l knew of one man who had
but two boys TO help him; but one soon
fell into along spell of sickness, which
lasted for years ere be returned 10 rest.
Only the father and one son were left
The first step of that father was TO open
a farm Of 90 acres. which be and his son
titled tin his son Joined the armies of his
country. Having so much ground IN
der cultivation It was impossible to do
justies to it all. Here is a tract of one or
two acres that is buffalo beat'' so hard
that you can not pillow il nor any yegeta
ton grow on il, This ground should be
dug up and we'll manured.. Another
place We see the ground has been
planted tbinly, or squirrels or birds have
taken up the corn, and rich ground is idle I
or covered with worthless weeds Ow-t
ing to there being so little help it is i'm
possible TO keep down all the weeds, and i
the crop is so choked by them that when
it isga.hered and put IN the gransFy The
farmer gets from bis 80 acre farm what
might aud has bsen taken off of 40 acres,
so that all The extra labor on the other 40
is spent in vain, and helps to bring him