Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1869-04-27
Communication.

what an Eastern man says of the West,
learned from observation" which seems to
me little on the jug handle style-aHo-
gether one sided-and perhaps as likely to
give an erroneous impression of the West
as the pamphlets" published by the Pa
cific Railroad Co., whose representations,
says the correspondent" induced him to
take trip to Omaha and the Platte river
valley, in Nebraska. In speaking of the
soil and resources of the West, he
says he is disappointed, and after a six
months trip, comes back to tell the people
of New England that from personal obser-
tlon," he has ascertained that the high
rolling prairie of Nebraska, though good
soil, is destitute of running water, that
much of Platte valley is of inferior soil and
that lumber is worth from $50 to $3.50 per
thousand. He also says that hardly sec
ton of land can be found in Iowa that is
not more or less sloughy. That land in
that state within ten miles of railroad is
So per acre, that to live West is to be de-
prived.of all the privileges and enjoyments
of good society, that the inhabitants are
mostly swindlers and sharpers, and "such
a thing as integrity is unknown" that the
Western farmer "can only make poor
living, and that making money is out of
the question:" and whoever thinks the
West all a garden, is woefully mistaken"
Now after a residence of eight years in a
western state, (Minnesota) it seems to me
that most of the above conclusions are err
roneous, and although | have not the time
to notice each proposition in detail, L will
endeavor to answer some of them, as | am
fully of the opinion that they are incorrect
and tend to give a wrong impression ofthe
West. l think the correspondent who
wrote the article, must have written it I'M
der a mental alteration, caused by an at
tack of nightmare while taking lodgings
at some overland route hotel, on the west
ern frontier, where he was temporarily de-
prived of his accustomed feather bed re-
pose, or else his eye sight must have been
in some way perverted by the use of some
peculiar goggles that exceedingly magnify
the value and Importance Of a hill of beans
among the cliffs and mountains of New
Hampshire, and proportionally depreciates
and detracts from the wheat and cornfields
of the fertile west. When this western tOu-
rist tells people, as he virtually does, that
he has learned from observation that the
west has no attractions for the young men
of the east who want good land for home
steads, and that "all the government land
worth having is gobbled up by specula-
tors" he needs to be told that such testi-
mony is in direct contradiction to that of
the majority of their friends who are there,
and that government is Withholding guam
titles of good land from market, to keep it
from the grasp of spectators, giving on
ly actual settlers a chance to buy it, by
taking out preemptiOn claim of 100 acres
each, mo more) which they may purchase
at S1.25 per acre, after occupying it a GER
tain time, or may occupy it five years and
then get the title free, under the home
stead act. In estimating the expense OF
putting 100 acres under cultivation, he
makes it cost S4320, but you will observe
that he allowed $4,000 for a house, 1886
for team, and tools, and that his plan con
templates buying the lumber and hiring
every rod of the fencing and breaking W
! done with cash. How much would il
cost to make a farm of that size in the east
clearing in that way the timber, stumps
roots all off from it? Still he mentions
the expense Of living from II to 2 years
and what, pray tell us, is our farmer to b.
about all this time? If he has a stout pail
of hands, and is disposed to labor, what i.
to hinder him from breaking up this lane
with his own team? A pair of horses i
the very best kind of a breaking up team
one man can hold and drive, and averag,
two acres or more per day, saving the lit
tie bill Of 500 expense; then if he can Gu
and haul his posts, he can make his fenc
for so cents per rod, instead of paying 81
with lumber at $50, common price 70
pine fence boards in a great portion of tn
west, since 1860, using only 26 inch board
or l6} feet per rod. This will answer tn
purpose against the stock running at large
as hogs and sheep are usually kept inpas
lures by common consent, in the North
west, to save the expense of fencing agains
them And here it will be seen, that
saving of 1920 is made in the item of fen
cling. Then if our pioneer is disposed t
practice the same economy that is usual
and indeed indispensable, among new set
tiers, in the east, he can dispense for
time the convenience of the Horse Plant
err" "horse sower," and sulkey pillow" al
of which are very desirable and facilitat
business to a degree impossible to attai
in the east. This will make another abate
ment from the expense, amounting to S31
and if he chooses he may live while in
temporary house, don't the pioneer sci
tier at the east have to doso?) costing S10(
instead of $4,000, diminishing the outla
again by $1,000.
There are two items overlooked by on
correspondent, viz, a reaper, say 500
which is much needed where as many 6
100 acres are under the pillow and seed graf
/, say 800 bushels of wheat Then he is yer
careful not to make any estimate of tn
worth of the. crop. Let us figure littl
on that; 100 acres of wheat, at, say Is busl
els per acre, would foot up after deductin
) seed grain at 2180 bushels, worth say
per bushel. The estimate of yield per acl
is moderate, and it would be likely to e1
coed than fall short of that amount in til
state of Minnesota as the statistics wi
; show, and admitting this, | think it ma
, be seen that farming in the west pays
, But suppose a young man starts with fort
acres, costing 1920, buys a team in tt
spring, and breaks it up before Angus
when he turns out his team to fatten,
sells it for what it cost him, and by tt
next spring he can earn enough to pay fl
his fencing lumber. How long will it tai
him to make good farm, not back farm
but one within ten miles of a railroad, an
$ pay for it, provided he is disposed oworl
|, Let the reader make his own estimate
d The most unfavorable one you can NAL