128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



was offered to me a few months later at $35 an 

 acre, including a fairly good house and a small 

 barn but I did not buy it. Six years afterward 

 I offered $100 an acre for this same land but 

 could not secure it at that price. Taking into con- 

 sideration the price of farm products at the two 

 periods, the latter price was cheaper than the 

 former. To illustrate the paralysis of business 

 and the poverty of the farmers of the Middle 

 West from 1860 to 1864, some of the prices of 

 farm products may be cited. Soon after my ar- 

 rival in 1862, a farmer sold me good butter at 

 four pounds for twenty-five cents; seed oats cost 

 me twelve and one-half cents per bushel which 

 was two and one-half cents above the market 

 price ; I purchased two two-year-old heifers nearly 

 ready to freshen for $8 a piece, one of which I sold 

 a few years later for $35. Although I was paid 

 in greenbacks, which were variable in value, I was 

 satisfied, since we had gained the use of a good 

 cow for several years. 



And this reminds me of one of the little inci- 

 dents of our emigrant journey. On a Saturday 

 night we stopped at a quiet farmhouse and stayed 

 until Monday morning ; on asking for my bill my 

 host replied: "Since you have respected the 



