PRAIRIE FARMING IN AMERICA. 



INTKODUCTION. 



Present Position of Agriculturists in England. Continued Rise of Rent. In- 

 creased Rate of Wages not equally certain. Competition in the Hire of Land. 

 "Whence it arises. Foreign Produce. That of Lands of superior Fertility 

 chiefly affects us. Increasing Value of Live Stock. Home Competition the 

 true Source of diminished Profits. Extent to which the Business of Farming 

 is giving place to other Occupations. Area of ordinary Farming thus cur- 

 tailed. Necessity for Farmers to thin the ranks of Home Competition. 

 Daily Consumption of Foreign Grain. Offers a Good Prospect to the Emi- 

 grant. The Prairies of Illinois a suitable Field for him. Their Advantages. 

 Price. Ague. Stock Farming and Indian Corn. Cost of Voyage and Jour- 

 ney. The present a very favourable Time. 



THE present position of the agricultural body in the United 

 Kingdom is interesting and peculiar. The landowner and the 

 agricultural laborer are both profiting by the same cause, a 

 limited supply of the commodity in which they deal. So long 

 as this country continues to prosper, the value of land must 

 increase, for there can be no increase of the land itself. But 

 the demand for labour varies, and the supply is subject to causes 

 which render it uncertain. While, so long as the present sys- 

 tem of taxation continues, there must be a continued rise in 

 the value of land, there appears to me no equal certainty of a 

 progressive advance in the rate of wages. 



But the hirer of land, the farmer, must inevitably suffer 



