Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1871-05-04
CEDAR Rapids. Iowa April Is.

that every Spring was
flowing to the Western country like the
flood Of a great torrent, threatening
soon to inundate with adventures
and fortune seekers all that vast scope
of prairie West of the Mississippi river
embracing millions of acres of the best
farming and grazing land in the world,
and speculating on the number of ener-
getic and enterprising young men that
would make the best of the opportunity
offered by the opening up of these
Western wilds and thereby reap har-
vest, yielding abundance for them and
their children, we had feeble concep-
ton of the vastness of the great battle
that must be fought by him who throws
down the gage for prairie farm
When an Eastern boy comes West IN
tending to subdue the wild prairie and
develope fertile plantation, he will
not have as much to contend against,
he Will not be in need of as much self
sacrificing devotion or heroic patriot
ism, as did his grandsires when they
began to conquer the stubborn forest
that covered the beautiful slope where
now stands the majestic villa i'm which
he was reared, but he must come ready
to forget and to forego many, very
many of the sweet comforts of life
with which Dame Nature in her bene-
ficence annually flied his fathers
garners. If he is prepared to do, and
only prepared TO do asImmy Ot..ers
have done before him, he is prepared
to Temporarily build himself a shanty
of dimensions -l2xI4 feet, or 10x12 feet,
or just simply large enough to allow
himself and family to crowd into and
be content to live there until he can do
better. This he must do in the middle
of: vast prairie without a single fruit
tree or ornamental shrub in sight, save,
perhaps, a wild plum tree that nature,
to satisfy vagary of her own, has
placed hard by. 1t will not do to sit
down and moan over his hard lot, but
he must "be up and doing with will
for any fate," labor cheerfully and
steadily, and gradually develope and
improve his farm as best he can, and,
unless he meets with unusually bad
luck he will find himself in possession
of good, comfortable home and pro-
ductive farm and enjoying all the COM
forts and luxuries that fertile soil can
produce and healthy climate can SUBJ
serve inside of ten or twelve years.
We are apt to be deceived, apt to un-
derrate what will be required of us and, i,
when we come to realize the truth,
grow discouraged and despondent, but,
if we are prepared for the worst, work
ing out a farm in the West becomes an
easy task. When summed up, ,itanounts
to about thiS-Build u temporary resi-
dence in proportion to means; fence in
your farm as cheaply and as durably as
you can; keep up your prairies, seed
to all you can, gather your crops, put
them into market, fOrego many home
comforts without growing and be hap
lpy. Continue this year after year until
you have all your prairie subdued and
in tillable condition, your. ,hefdS all
fenced, and your fruit trees and shrub
berry all started and you have West
ern improved farm. In the new fottns'
try, the traveller doesn't have the priY-
lege of admiring palatiai' residences,
magnif fieenf parks, and beautiful barns
fand gfanaffes, but instead he sees "a
small, rough looking house, an open
yard in which wild prairie and blue
grass are contending for the supremacy
and among. the cOntending hosts aie
seen the rising heads of fruit and, per-
haps, ornamental trees battling for their
place; for. stabling, the huge straw
Stack with a small superindIction Of
Luna ser is advantag giously used, and for
a granary, rails Or poles are, placed in
the t e form q pen and insfi,ere the golden
corn is thrown. Usually the small
grains are threshed as soon as practic-
able after harvest and almost mmetIi-
tataay ttaattsE. Ean into market. 1t
west s. M m fif8 Eastsfn ii upIafi q one.
man can tend eTeaserEfambef ef
acres, because the soil is looser, the
land leyel, and all is done by machin
cry; but the great trouble is that a
living must be made while, the farm
Improvements must at the same time
go on. This state of affairs crowds
every thing and pushes every body;
but, in two or three favorable years, the
great rush Is over and the farmer finds
some time to look around him. If one
goes on to wild prairie and is prepar-
ed to make some temporary improve
ments, furnish himself with all neces-
say accoutrements,p pay for his farm and
seeds, and sustain himself for one year
without involving himself in debt, he
will fin it very easy matter to keep
in easy and steadily grow
richer day by day and year by year
until he is the possesser of an I60 acre
farm that is good enough to please the
most fasiidious and that makes him
independently opulent. There are
various ways of obtaining farms; ore
may partly pay for his land and the
residium run on heavy interest, partly
pay for his teams, wagon, and machin-
cry, and entirely pay for, his house. =
Now he is in debt and that debt draw
ing heavy per centum, and his farm
must be fenced in and his stock, HIM
self and his family must be fed and all
that he can depend on for the where
with to meet these demands are his
crops. If his crops should partly fail
him, he is yet in debt and must be i'm
iebt until he can raise something to
put into market. These conditions
make hard times with him. Another
may pay for all bu; the machinery and
for this he goes in debt. A drought
or succession of drougnts will as sure
ly pinch him. And again another may
pay for his quarter section, machinery
and all, and thereby be able to remain
out of debt; but he becomes cupid and
has his eye on another 80 acres or quar-
ter section and he buys that, but goes
in debt for it. This makes him i'm debt
and dependent on his crops to be able
to meet the demands of his creditor;
his notes are due, every rbo " is COM
planning of close times and no one is
buying, hence, he can't sell his super
tiuOus land. He has plenty of land,
but no money and no produce to sell
i with which to obtain any. One can