NEAK BLOOMINGTON. 53 



The long-continued rains in spring had given them no season 

 for oats, and Indian corn had for the same cause been planted 

 out of season, with the land in an unfavourable state, and the 

 breadth very limited. This crop, which should be in the ground 

 early in May, could not this year be planted till towards the 

 end of June. Fortunately they had not had early frosts, so 

 that there would be a fair yield. There had been no such un- 

 favourable season for seventeen years in Illinois, and he knew 

 that the farmers who had recently settled in the country, and 

 who had had only last year's experience, were much disheart- 

 ened. But personally he felt no apprehension, as he had the 

 utmost confidence in the natural fertility of the soil, which he 

 did not believe could be exhausted. He had seen similar land 

 in this State from which twenty-four crops of Indian corn had 

 been taken in succession, without manure, and the last was a 

 splendid crop. 



The next settler was a young man, a graduate of Yale 

 College, who had purchased a section of land (640 acres) three 

 years ago at nearly 31. an acre. He had built a house, en- 

 closed his land, and broken up the half of it ; but the wheat 

 crop of last year, to which he trusted for future funds, had 

 proved an entire failure. He spoke despondingly of his future 

 prospects, as he had, like many others, been tempted by the 

 facilities afforded by the credit system of purchase in these 

 Western States, to buy a much greater extent of land than his 

 available means were adequate for. He said that they all counted 

 on their wheat crop to " bring them out ;" but, that having 

 failed them, the whole country was straitened. He wished to 

 sell out at 4:1. 10s. an acre, that he might have the means of 

 paying off his debts, and repurchasing a smaller farm in the 

 same locality, where his obligations and risks would be less. 



All the other settlers I met in this quarter had the same 

 tale of a wretched wheat crop. One had had 120 acres of wheat, 



