Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1879-08-06
Michigan V. Kansas.


stantly coming in contact with the
most positive evidence, that al
though Kansas is highly praised by
some oily-tongued agent, who is
interested in the sale of Kansas
lands, yet Michigan is the best of
all the United States for farming
purposes. We will here furnish
the reader with an extract from an
article in the Speareville, Ford
county, Kansas, News, of recent
date, which speaks volumes against
Kansas:
"a large number Of the people
who came here a year ago were of
limited means. and very many put
all their available funds into put
ting out n wheat crop last fall. and
the almost total failure of the
wheat crop, in this and several ad-
joining counties, has put some Of
the settlers in very tight place,
and some will be compelled to sell
out"
Surely this is not very encour-
aging for a man contemplating
farming in Kansas. "Compelled to
sell out" because their crops have
failed. Do we hear of farmers in
Alpena county being obliged to
sell out on account of poor crops
No, because the crops here are al
ways good, and a farmer does not
run the risk of planting crops and
getting nothing. 1t is really a bad
state of affairs for a farming COM
munity TO have their crops sal
most failure" yet it seems that
such is Of common occurrence in
Kansas. In that State in 1873. the
wheat crop in many localities prov
ed entirely worthless, while in
some instances it barely paid for
harvesting and now that the crops
are failures again this year, we do
not wonder that the settlers are in
distress and calling for aid, as
another extract from the same pa
per appears to indicate:
"The interests of the settlers are
being looked after by competent
and earnest workers, and we have
no doubt but that some measure
will he developed within the next
few weeks by which those who are
unable to help themselves will at
least he partially assisted ont of
the dilemma. Our advice to all is
stick to your claims if You possibly
can, put in a crop of wheat, if it
takes the last cent you have, and
10 not suffer for want Of something
to eat, but apply to the township
trustee for aid, and your case will
be regarded as a worthy one"
The state of affairs is indeed Sc
rious, as it is evidently a fact that
10 the counties of Kansas above re-
ierred to, the prospects are most
favorable for untold amounts of
among the farming dis
tricts, unless the settlers are pro-
vided with. the necessaries of life
from some other source than their
own farms. And this, too, in that
land where agents pretend that
everything is plentiful.
What a difference between Kan
sas and Michigan. To-day Kan
sas is in distress while the farmers
Of Michigan are happy and cheer
ful over an abundance Of their pro-
duets, which is not an exception
but the rule-good crops every
year, and fair, living prices.
The difference between the con-
1ition of the farmer in Kansas and
Alpena county is beyond compar-
ison. The Kansas farmer goes on
to farm with some means, and
then in a year or two he is "com-
PEELED to sell out" because of the
failure of crops. The Alpena farm
err will go on to a piece of land
with no means at all-noth;ng but
an axe-and in the course of a
couple or three years he has clean
ed a few acres, built log house,
and has things about him to make
his family comfortable at least,
while those who have little means
to commence with are enabled to
go right to work and make farm
ing a paying pursuit from the com
During the past month we have
seen a large amount Of farming
territory in Illinois, Indiana, and
southern Michigan, and no where
have we seen the prospects for good
crops as good as they are in this