The Portland daily press., 1890-01-11
SHALL | STAY AT HOME OR 90 WESTp"
The Public Lands are no Longer as
Free as Thew Once Were.
Hardships and Expenses Of Making
Ones Way on New Lands.
A Native of Maine who Knows the
West ives ADVICE.

West as place for the young men of today
Is an able Article written by Professor Rid
ney Welch, native of Maine and gradu-
ate of Colby University. for the January
number of the Forum magazine. Professor
Wech, now on the staff of the Chicago Her
aid, knows the Western country thoroughly,
its disadvantages as well as its advantages
What he writes is worthy of careful consid
Grafton and great weight:
EVERY year, on the recurrence of spring,
metropolitan clergy mtn, professional philaL-
thropists, persons who consider themselves
economists, and newspaper writers warm
over the advice honest Horace Greeley gave
the young man who came to New York in
quest of employment. They "all with one
accord" bid each and every wretched city
laborer, every man, oman and child who is
without employment and destitute of a
home, go West and grow up with the coun-
try.
These speakers and writers mean we'll
1t is part of their regular business to give
advice, and they go about it zealously and
earnestly. In every large city in the land,
are thousands of people to whom life Is moth
ing but weary struggle for existence. They
have not the means to enjoy the comforts
and pleasures they see about them, and they
have little to hope for while they remain
where they are. They are conscious that
they are and always will be dependent on
others for employment that will at best af-
ford them nothing but plain food, coarse
clothes. and shelter from the storm and
cold. They know that laborers, skilled and
unskiled, flock to cities. not only from all
parts of our country, but from foreign lands.
advice is proverbially cheap, and will
doubtless remain so till its 'oduction and
distribution are managed by an information
al trust. Not being perishable article. that
given by the sages of antiquity is as good
now as when it was first placed on the mar
ket. The patriarchs of Judea, the wise men
of ancient Rome, and the early kings of Eng
land, all advised people to engage in farm
ing. 1t is act strange that "Poor Richard"
our first great economist, commended agri-
culture as the most desirable employment, or
that the later Franklin" Endorsed every
thing he had said about it, Every man
OF broad culture and extensive read
ing (and nearly every prominent writer
and speaker is SUCH has learned
much about the pleasures and profits
OF farming and the delights of rural
life. They have all read what the whole line
of pastoral poets, from Theocritus and Virgil
to Wordsworth and Whittier, have sung
about the tranquil contentment of the sweet
little romance entitled 1.-THE Blessed Bees"
have carefully perused "Ten Acres Enough"
and perhaps before the FIRE in an open CRATE
and under the light of crystal chandelier
have laughed over "Five Acres Too Much"
They have not omitted Mr.. Roe's illustrated
magazine articles on the ease with which
small fruits can be raised, or Mr.. Roosevelt's
description of life on Western ranch. Be-
sides, they have seen some lovely farms in
sailing up the Hudson on pleasure boat, or
in looking from the window of palace car
while riding through eastern Pennsylvania
Ia the month of June. They have also at
tended dairy fair, horse show and ia
stock exhibition. Certainly they are compe-
tent to give instruction about husbandry
and to supplement it with advice.
Nearly every one knows that our paternal
government offers to every citizen, and to
every alien who has declared his intention
OF becoming naturalized, one hundred and
sixty acres of land, provided he will reside
on 1t for five years and make certain I'M
provements. Few, however, are aware of
the labor and expense required to subdue
this land and render it capable Of supporting
family. There is much more difficulty in
finding land open to the homesteader than is
generally supposed. Extensive as is our
national domain, there is very little free land
adapted to general cultivation without irri-
cation, outside the two Dakotas. Even there
stranger will experience trouble in fnoing
a quarter section on which he can settle
the employees of a land office do not afford
gratuitOuS information about unclaimed
tracts. 1t is the practice of persons who arr
on the ground to notify friends VIII, a new
survey is made, and claims are Immediately
entered by them. A prospective settler finds
that the cheapest way to obtain land is to
buy out some claimant who wishes TO sell
People on the frontier will not be more likely
than those in great cities, to volunteer to
give information to strangers about oppor-
tunitirs for acquiring property.
But we will assume that poor man sue
ceeds In finding quarter section of land
that he can secure as a homestead. The
expense of going TO the land Office,
registering his application, and returning to
his claim will hardly ever lie less that $50.
In the majority of cases there will not be
tree. spring, or stream on the place, and no
living" water within forty feet of the sur
face of the ground. The land produces
nothing but wild grass. To break forty
acres of this firm sod will cost 800. AS the
work must be done In the month of June, no
crop can be raised but f1axseed, the growing
season being too short to mature corn. This
may sell for enough to pay for the seed and
the cost Of breaking. The next year the
land may produce fair crop of small grain
and corn, If the ground squirrels, always
numerous in tie newly-settled portion of the
West, do not devour the seed. A full crop,
however, cannot be expected till the third
year. Then, If the season be favorable, an
average crop of food grains and vegetables
may reasonably be expected.
Properly to prepare the soil, tend the
crops, and harvest them, horses and farming
implements will be required. The cost of
these will not be less than $500. Cows, pigs,
hens, furniture, and culinary utensils, and
the materials necessary to inclose forty acres
of land for pasture, may be obtained for
$500. A sod house for the family, some sort
of protection for the horses and cattle, and
seed, may be procured for $3.50. The settler,
If he meet with no special misfortune, may
be in condition to support his family on
the products of his place the third after he
has moved upon it.
"Philanthropi>ts, before advising a city
laoorer to go West and grow up with the
country. would do we'll to ascertain If he has
tne means to support his family for two
years, to pay travelling expenses, and to
expend $1,000 in buying necessaries and max
Ing improvements. 1t will be found that
very few laboring MEN have the capital 10
engage In such an undertaking They are pu
no condition to live one year, or even ope
month, without receiving pay for their labor.
They cannot raise money to purchase team
and plow. Many could not spare the time
and money to 60 and select homestead, il
they knew where one was to be found
They have been accustomed to live from
hand to mouth" or to have credit from one
pay day TO another.
There is another grave difficulty about
THIS matter. Few persons born and bred In a
large town know any thing about the theory OF
practice of farming and stock raising. Men
VINO nave been engaged from boyhood is
a IL