214 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



cultivate it. Once in Minnesota, the cost of opening a 

 farm was estimated as follows : x 



The price of their land $200 . 00 



The price of team and wagon 150 . 00 



The price of two cows 40 . 00 



For rebuilding house 100 . 00 



Breaking twenty acres 60 . 00 



One steel plow, for crossing 14.00 



One harrow 6 . 00 



Axes, shovels, spade, forks, scythes, etc 25.00 



House furniture, and provisions for family, which must be 



bought till they can raise them 200 . 00 



$795.00 



That amount now seems a small price to pay for a 

 farm, but it was more than many men could get together 

 at that time. In order to secure the money necessary to 

 purchase land or to develop their property some men 

 had to work for a time as hired men or spend the winter 

 in the pineries working for the lumber companies. 



During the first few years of settlement, the chief in- 

 terest and business of the settler was to plow a part of 

 his farm, though it was not possible or desirable for a 

 man to plow all of it. In general, no more was plowed 

 than a man could cultivate himself, which was about 40 

 acres. 2 As the sod on the prairie was compact and deep, 

 it was not easy to break. Such strenuous work required 

 a big 16-inch breaking plow and from four to six oxen or 

 horses. As few of the settlers had more than one team, 

 they commonly put their teams together and plowed each 

 man's land in turn. 3 In the wooded areas, plowing was 

 possible only after the trees had been cleared off, and 

 even then the roots of the trees made plowing difficult. 

 For a number of years it was necessary for a farmer to 

 raise most of the food for his family. Corn, potatoes, 

 rutabagas, and turnips did well in newly turned sod, in 

 spite of the fact that in most instances farmers were too 

 busy to give them much attention. 4 



During the rush of settlers in 1855-1856, when food- 

 stuffs had to be imported into Minnesota, a farmer who 

 had a surplus of these crops or of pork or other meat 



1 1st Annual Report of Commissioner of Statistics for Minnesota (Hart- 

 ford. ISfiO), pp. 30, 87. 



2 Ibid., p. 87. 



3 Mills, J. C. in History of Fillmore County (Chicago, 1912), p. 503. 

 * Ibid., p. 505. 



