Year: 1860

was substantially p'aln. These too pasS@a'
away, and after travelling through five or six


hundred miles of the State, with feelings of


disappointment. must confess, traces of prairie


lands began to appear, at first in small sections,
then opening to wider plains. The skirts of
woodland which divided these prairie tracks
Became narrower and further apart, the soil
deepened in color, becoming a richer black of
greater depth in surface mould, till finally, the
"Grand Prairie" as it is called, burst with all
its unparalleled boundlessness upon our view.
At first, at long intervals the path of some
winding stream would still be marked by skirt
ing trees and shrubs, omittnc which, this mag.


niicent plain extends more than two hundred
miles along our track growing wider and rich


er as we approached Chicago. Now go with
me to the platform of the hindmost car, where
I stood for hours as our train sped its arrowy
fight across this sea of land. Look ont; the
air is pure {; feecy clouds veil the burning face
of the sun gentle breeze sweeps across the
waving grass that carpets the toundless view !;
far beyond tic utmost verge of distinct human
vision stretches deep blue line of light, mark
ing skirting wood Of some passing stream; a


moment more and this is gone, and nothing
left to bound the houndless. We are out upon
an ocean-our track is as strai ght as an ar


row our speed is fearful-our exhilarated
feelings almost lift lis from the earth. Thus
we pass, mile by mile; again there appears
upon the view moving mass, sometimes just
visible, sometimes distinct and near at hand
'tis cattle feeding in herds Of hundreds that
roam to and fro. / often counted more than
a hundred in a herd. Bu: why detail there
is nothing like it except the hcavipg ocean,
and that lacks the life, the varying beauty, the
evershifting panoramic views. No description
can give a proper conception either Of the prai.
rie itself or OF the effect it produces upon the,
mind. 1t 1nust be one of the largest open
prarics in the world. 1t stretches in some d.
rections between two and three hundred miles.
In one case stood upon the platform while
the. cars ran an even hundred miles and no
where did we pass break in this vast pastur-
age of grass and prairie flowers.


The rowing herds of cattle, the focks Of prai-
ric hens, rushing up here and there, interest
cd me the long unbending track of the road
lsometires sixty miles without crook the
excavatcd coal mines, interested me; teams Of
ten oren in plough breaking the prairie to
moving operations, the large potatoe fields,
the hundreds of acres of corn in one body as
thick as a cane-brcak and as level as the plain
on which it grow, all interested me; but moth
ing moro than the vast ocean-like prairie ITSELF
stretching out with its hundreds of thousands
of acres entirely unbroken BY fence, or field, or
house. Generally near the depots there would
be some cultivated tracts, and in some cases
three or four hundred acres of corn in one
body. This corn is not higher than mans
head, but it is well cared, and has three and
four and sometimes six and seven stalks in
hill. ] was told that the Whole Of Champaign
county would make fifty bushels on an aver
age, per acre. These lands are broken up with
from two to ten oxen attached to the plough.
saw as high as ten. | also saw one steam
plough in the field in Champaign county
Such lands, according to situation in the wild
State, can be purchased at from S5 to $50,
and in the cultivated state from SIS to 500.
The great difficulty as you see, is the want Of
timber The fences arc of plank and in some
places they arc using wire and live hedges
This last must be the final resort Of this coun-
and enclose these open lands, and an ordinary
farmer, in the best part of the prairie, would
have from one hundred to one hundred and
fifty acres. Down near the Cairo end of the
road ten to twenty acres are the usual size OF
farms. The people there are all new settlers
and seem to be poor, The hay making is a
free thing; whoever has industry enough goes
ont on the prairie, and wherever he finds good
grass mows and cures it tor market, though