326 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



cattle on the right side, (or, rather, on the wrong side,) 

 if that portion of community who are on the wrong side 

 of this question will only keep in confinement their small 

 stock. 



But enough of this now. I earnestly entreat the 

 farmers of Northern Illinois to attend the Fair at Aurora, 

 on the 19th and 20th of October, and then, among other 

 things, we will have a 'big talk' upon this question. 



I remain, a strong advocate of the system of cultivat- 

 ing the prairie without fence, and your friend, 



Solon Robinson. 



Lake C. H., la., August, 1842. 



"Sheep on the Western Prairies." 



[New York American Agriculturist, 1:237-38; Nov., 1842] 



[September, 1842] 

 Gent. — The article in your September No. under the 

 above title, 1 was the first one read by me, and it is of so 

 much importance not only to the West but to the East 

 also, that I wish to corroborate the statements of Mr. 

 Murray, and add some of my own. 



Sheep can now be purchased for even less than the 

 price he names. 2 The distance to drive, which is of some 

 importance to a person who would like to look into the 

 business, would be from 100 to 200 miles, and the best 

 time to drive, directly after shearing, or about the middle 

 of September. 



There are hundreds of situations where a man might 

 keep a thousand or two head of sheep for many years, 

 without buying more than 40 acres of land, costing $50 ; 

 and this merely for a home for the flock, as "Uncle Sam," 

 the greatest landholder in the world, has no objection to 

 our pasturing his big prairies. There are sundry such 



1 The article summarized a communication from James Murray, 

 of Buffalo, on the subject of his sheep farm in La Salle County, 

 Illinois. American Agriculturist, 1:176-78. 



2 Murray had purchased 1700 head of sheep in Ohio and Indiana 

 at 75 cents to $1.00 a head. 



