Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-01-01
Another Kansas Letter from b

Walker. Ellis County. Kansas Dec. %. 1879
To the Grant County HERALD: II
has been some time since | have
written any news from Kansas for
your valuable paper. see 10 a lats.
number that my name was called bs
das, saying | had the floor, which
oompals me TO reply. He says one OF
the Kansas correspondents says the
people OF Kansas are IN starving
condition This ] utterly deny A.
to those who live IN Z lis county and
all who 1--we east, southeast, northeas.
and north, they are as well pro.
yided tor as any who live in Wiscon
sin. We all have plenty and some
to spare notwithstanding we did not
have full crop to the acre. We had
SO many acres 10 that we can have a
half crop and then have plenty of all
cereals in abundance. Farther west
where the tide of immigration rushed
last spring for cheap homes, given
by the Government for actual settle
ment, the great majority OF the peo-
pie being poor, and settling in SO
thickly settled country and having
but little ready money to live upon,
for one or two years they necessarily
spend all their money and are left
pennyless. All being poor together
they cannot get work from their
neighbors and for sustenance they
have to root pig or die. You may
bet they root, and l hear of no body
starving BY one year more they will
have plenty for themselves and 9th.
ers and have from 100 10 $50 acres OF
choice lands for home for them
selves and families There have
been many of the western settlers
gone to the east part OF the State to
get work to do for their supply for
another year until they can raie .
coming crops, They return to their
homesteads early in the spring.
There never was known any new
country to settle mp SO fast as Kansas
and Nebraska have settled in the
past two years. There have been
some few who have returned aud left
for good with shudder and disgust
for the country. As a general rule
the people of Kansas are wellpieased
with the country and would not re.
turn on any reasonable condition. -
In my immediate settlement com
posed OF settlers from Wisconsin and
Illinois, don't know of any return
ing to where they came from. am
certain there have been many more
bushels of grain lost by the excessive
rains in Wisconsin and Illinois than
ever was lost bv the drouth and
grasshoppers in Kansas. We had a
long dry spell last tall which delayed
the farmers from getting their wheat
crops in and did not get as many
acres III as they expected to notwith
standing they got in large acreage
and the wheat crop at present looks
promising for good crop. We hal
rains about the 18th of November
which gave wheat good growth -
The winters do not set in as early as
in Wisconsin We have short winters
in Kansas. | will give you an ac
count of the last crop had in Wis
cons n, in th year 1873, as there was
very early spring | sowed about
100 acres in fax which had the ap
pearance of yield of ten bushels per
acre. | began harvest at the usual
time and it began raining and rained
and continued to rain week after
week for six weeks and spoiled my
fax so only received three bushels
per acre, of dam aged seed. I had
about sixty tons of hay that was en-
tirely spoiled with rain-entirely
rotted on the ground. | had twenty
seven acres of spring. wheat that was
worth nothing-did not harvest it at
all. ! had in ten acres Of fall wheat
and it was a good average-22 bush
els per acre, which was apaying crop,
| had seventeen acres OF rye, which
WAS a good yield. but hauled it to
Boscobel and sold it at thirty cents
per brshel. My fall wheat and rye
were the only crop that paid ex.
penses That was Wisconsin farm
ing in 1878 On the 18th day of April
1878, loaded cars for Kansas with
eight good plug horses, with my
plows, blacksmith tools and some
household goods, and the mud stood
two feet deep in Wisconsin and rain
ing. With two OF my boys Is and
IL years of age we started from Dn
bnque, Iowa, for Kansas We ar
rived in Kansas on the pal of April !;
pnt shanty on the wild prairies OF
Kansas and began breaking prairie.
The boys with the assistance of about
one months work OF one hired hand
put in forty acres of sod corn and
ABOUT one hundred and eighty acres
OF fall wheat. The corn made con
siderable feed /; the wheat yielded
fifteen bushels per acre last harvest
We broke last spring eighty acres OF
prairie more aud planted in sod corn
., and sorghum. Planted % acres OF
last years breaking in corn, which
was fair crop,good and sound corn
Had sixteen acres oats on the sod
which yielded twenty bushels per
acre; ten acres barley yielding ten
bushels per acre. To give the full
number OF bushels in all-2, 400 bush
els fall wheat, 500 bushels corn, 800
bushels oats, 100 bushels barley, so
gallons sorghum molasses, a few
bushels OF sweet potatoes and few
Irish potatoes aud some vegetables
And my neighbors had as good crops
as / did. So we have plenty and ~
has every body in Ellis county. No
person starving in this part of Kan
sas You may think / am doing a
smashing business for the first year,
but | had to spend all could spare
for farming tools, putting up build
,ngs actually necessary to have for
for farming and storing crops, a
dwelling house, and fencing pas.
ture.
| will give those who wish to come
to Kansas or any new country the
advice, first if they 1--we in a good
healthy country and have a good
iarm with good buildings and no
mortgage upon the land and are con
tented to let well enough alone, to
stay where they are. If they have
children that want to GO TO new
country let them 90 and rough it