The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-01-15
acknowledgement
OIIK KANSAS CORRESPOND.
ENCE.
SECOND Letter from n Brooke
County Rmigrant.

In my last letter I e~ndeavored to give
your readers some idea Of Kansas and her
people generally. In this l shall write
more particularly concerning the adj:
yan,sges she presents to the farmer Of
small means. Unimproved land some
distance from town and the railroads can
be bought at from FIVE 10 ten dollars per
acre. A man (unless he ia we'll supplied
with the needful) does not require more
than eighty acre., for he can get all the
land he can possibly need for pasturage,
and for cutting hay, without owning il, a
great deal Of the land in all parts Of the
State being owned by parties in the East
who never saw it but bought it on spec.
u~lation.
WHAT THE SOIL PRODUCES.
Corn, wheat, oats, flax, castor beans,
potatoes, and all kinds Of vegetables, do
exceedingly we'll. With proper care, and
good cultivation, corn will make from
eighty to one hundred bushels 10 the
acre; wheat twenty to thirty.iye; oats
from forty TO fifty; potatoes from two to
three hundred, and castor beans from
fifteen to twenty. The last named sold
this fall at Sl,l5 per bushel. Potatoes
are worth from so 10 20 cents per bushel.
There is nothing made by raising corn
and oats for market, except as ir is fed
to stock. Fruit OF every description does
we'll, excepting the ounce. One great
blessing that this country enjoys is that
the potato bug has never found his way
into this part Of Kansas.
In the item OF timber, the State has an
abundance for all reasonable purposes.
Usage Orange is largely cultivated Tor
fencing, and will turn stock the third
year after it il planted. The river and
creek bottoms are covered with oak,
hickory, walnut, cottonwood and maple.
Locust will not grow here, there is a
worm that attacks the root, and the tree
dies.
FUEI-BuIDrNG MATERIAL, &c.
Coal is plenty,'but is just coming into
use. The nearest mine is six miles from
Ottawa, but it is shipped from Williams
burg eighteen miles distant) on the cara
to this place, and sells at ii cents per
bushel. Wood sells very readily at from
three to four dollars per cord. Hickory
when dried commands the outside figure,
aud is pretty generally used for fuel; but
the day is not far distant when coal will
be used exclusively.
This section ia underlaid with a very
thick vein Of limestone, and is used for
all purposes for which stone is needed.
Il anpears 10 have been placed in LAYERS
or courses, and comes out ready for build
log, with very little dressing. It is quite
soft when first taken out and hardens
BY exposure. II makes quite q fine show
when used for grange work" The build.
ing. in this part OF the country are prin-
cipalIy wood and stone; very few brick
ones are seen, for the reason that the
soil or earth is not suitable for making
brick. There appears TO be plenty OF
water for man and beast. We have a
river running by the town, with two
creeks e%mptying into il just east, and two
more running into II just west OF the
town. There are some springs, but not
many. The people depend on wells and
cisterns. Water can be obtained at a
depth Of from 80 to 100 feet, according 10
the location. Cistern water tastes very
we'll when one becomes accustomed to it,
and we think it preferable TO any other.
COST OF LIVING AND MATERIAL.
Lumber for building purposes is q
little cheaper here than in the Panhandle,
aud | think Is Of a much better quality in
general. Carpenters are willing to put
up houses complete, aud hand over the
keys, at Il think q much lower price
than the SAINT style Of houses could be
built in your section. A person can live
a little cheaper here than in West Vir-
Ginia. The ehoieet brand Of flour Is
worth So 10 per barrel, and good beef
IRON S to 10 cents per pound.
Mrs. Joseph Hurp, OF your city, Ia
stopping with us at present, seeking q
location Tor herself and family, | see
by the late papersthat the up. W. KY"
has almost reached your city. II the citi-
Isns Of Wheeling get up n "Hoo doc" in
proportion TO that gotten up by the
Welsburg people when the locomotive
catered the town, some Of the more nerv:
Gus ones will wish that the road had
been a failure, for in nearly all the let
terra We yet from old Brooke they begin
and end about tho railroad, and what the
citizens did on that eyentful occasion
THE completion to Wellsburg). Think
that q, u. C., Of WelIsburg, Is entitled to
apaying position on the line for work.
lng itup 30 we'll. X.