Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1867-06-28
Vacant Lands in low a.

sGant ilaifIS IN IOWA.
"Twclyo million acres yet untouched Wy
spade or rlow, within the limits of the State
Of Town" is q paragraph going the rounds o
The eastern papers, and the people read ii ana
comment upon il, but very few Of them have
clear idea Of The extent OF twelve million
acres
they could DC persuaded 10 visit a prairie
tiy, where they could sec the extent o
tho surface of the country for great distance
it would tend to develop the idea Of size, anl
give their Thoughts a wider range, so that they
might grasp with sense of its vasinoss tht
magnitude of uncutivatea domain.
A sight of the prairies would also tend ,c
quicken a love of the grand and beautiful in
nature. For who can look over the prairie
in its virgin lovelincss without feeling there
is nothing equal TO it, the almost unbounaed
extent, the gcntlc unlulations covered with
grass and flowers the hcrhagc stirred by the
breeze making it look like the roll of a mighty
ocean, AMI the sense Of smell is RECALLED with
the scent OF flowers borne along on the wings
of wind, swecter than the spicy gales Of Ara-
bia.
And the scenery is not tame and tiresom
for it is ever changing. AS you advance from
one roll to another you get new view, and
The streams that glide along swiftly, clear as
eNs.,l, arc fringcd with timber, making the
whole country look like an immense park,
fA4Ay csatiyatcl but at present untennnicd
exccp. by yourself, and might very properly
be compared to life sized panorama of the
grand and beautiful in nature
Twelve million acres formed into q square
is over one hundred and thirty-sK miles on q
side, containing just eighteen thousand seven
hundred and forty square miles,
Twelve million acres dcvidcd into farms of
one hundred and sixty acres each, would make
seven.y-tive thousand; these farms, placed
side by side in continuous line would lie
thirty-sevcn thousand five hundred miles long
and would reach onec and a half round the
globe. Each farm fenced with wire three
strands high would take six miles of wire,
thousand miles of wire-enougA to girllo the
earth eighteen times, two posts to the rod
would be one thousand two hundred and
eigl~y for each farm, or ninetyefye thousand
for the whole number; these posts ut twelve
and one half cents each would cost twelve
thousand dollars if these farms were all oc-
cupied, and with five persons to each family,
there would be farming population Of three
hundred and seyenty-fyc thousand allowing
each family to cultivate forty acres Of wheat.
and estimating il At the low rate of fifteen
bushels to the acre, would produce TO each
family six hundred bushels; allowing each
family one hundred bushels for seed and sub,
sistencc; would leave five hundred bushels to
sell-in the aggregate three million acres of
wheat and ffty,five million bushels, with
thirty seven and n half million for market.
AS corn is our great staple, allow each
family forty acres, at twenty FIVE bushels per
acre this will give one thousand bushels to
each family four hundred bushels will be
sufficient for each family, leaving six hundred
Tor sale, making Nh aggregate Of. three mill
lions and sevcnty-fye thousand bushels four
hundred bushels to each family gives thirty
million, leaving forty-fve million to sell.
we VIII not pursue the subject further, but
any one can see from these two crops, with
the other half of the land for use what a pop.
ulatlon this State can support; and when
towns and manufactures grow up to consume
cur extra farm produce, there will be but few
States to take the lead of Iowa.