10 ILLINOIS OS 



I have collected for publication, in the form of a series of let- 

 ters, the notes made by me at the time. There may be other 

 countries which present equally good prospects to the agricul- 

 tural emigrant. I venture to speak only of that which I have 

 seen. UBS seems to me to offer the very field which we want 

 at present, a virgin soil of easy culture, with no forests to 

 clear, of extraordinary natural fertility,* in a country traversed 

 by a most perfect system of railways, where no settler need 

 be more than ten miles from, a station, whose shore is washed 

 by one of those great lakes through which an outlet is found 

 to the Atlantic, and which possesses in the Mississippi itself 

 a vast artery of commerce, navigable by steamers for thousands 

 of miles, A great part of tire country is underlaid with coal, 

 iron, and lime, thus affording a present supply of such minerals, 

 and the prospect of a great increase of value should the people 

 ever turn their attention to manufactures, TTiere is a complete 

 organisation of markets throughout the country ; and, setting 

 aside the export to IfagJ"*^ there is a very large and increas- 

 ing local demand for every article of agricultural produce. 

 The price of labour is economised by the most ertensive and 

 profitable use of agricultural machinery, and by the compara- 

 tively small cost of maintaining horses and working cattle. 

 The grazing of cattle and sheep is very profitable, and the 

 production of merino wool, already large, admits of vast in- 



The fee simple of this land can be purchased at from 40s. 

 to 50*. and 60*. an acre. 



As a mere investment, this land would pay well to pur- 

 chase and hold for a few jean, and the increasing supply of 

 gold, of which America herself yields an annual crop of ten 

 millions sterling, will every year contribute to the higher rel- 



* See " Chemical Analysis of Sols" by Professor Toekker, Appendix L 



