yrfe\'^r^ '^T'''^'^^-7*eT-"V!!f is^'=^::sc:sssSi^jii>sx^iso^^ 



^l)c jTavmer's iHcintiilu bisitor. 



93 



Tor Uie farmer's Monthly Visitor. 



Thf! West, and far West. Hints to tiiose who 

 are lookiiig that w.iy. 



J ;i;n nut a very old iiiiiii, iuiil Vft in mj' liin- 

 lidod, tli;; vvct.t ;is now was the liiiul of |)niiiii:<p 

 mid lit' iioi).!. Since tliat time I Imve liad some 

 pxpei-ience. I liiive seen some {lo to ilie west, 

 jiiid never come liiicU: otiiers li;ive. reim-nt'd eitli- 

 ( r alier a visit or a sliort stay; and aljont ten 

 yeais alio 1 tooi< llie we>lei-n iever Iken ragiii-r, 

 imd went tnysell' ;o lieliold tliis lai.d flouing 

 with niilU and lioney. 



Before 1 say any tiling fintlior, T will makelliis 

 KUgircstion : if for tlie west i-ati-y witli youyoiilli, 

 health, some expei-ience in liiiiiiiti^', and some 

 little sum of oioney. If yon Iiave not the kvliole 

 of these, sometimes, ulii;ie there is •energy and 

 cincrprisc, tlie money it.ay he left out, I)nt all the 

 rest are inilisiieneahle for siicees.s in die west. 



Before 1 went to the w-st I had a conversation 

 with an c.ged man who iiad resided for some 

 years in the Siste of Ohio, and he ohsei ved that 

 if jjcojile would on this side oi' the monnlains 

 deny themselves those every day comforts and 

 convenience v hioli could not be iiad in the new 

 settlements — if money, or gain was their desire, 

 they conlil thrive faster at iiome. I have often 

 thought rf tiiis since, ami it came to my niiiid 

 when there with tiie samples of western living 

 and independence under my e>es. Ohio when 

 i was a hoy w<is theuvrf; to il the cu'reiit then 

 flowed. Every fascination was then liirov,! out 

 to ind.ica einijiralioii : p'ose, pt otry, iind jjupi',l„r 

 sonss prevaile<l, and ol' course many went, fre- 

 quently ill companies from towii~, and they sat 

 down, ami established tiieir setlleirients together. 

 They had as all must have, in new setilemeiits 

 many hardslispsand privations, and their child- 

 ren, or new purchasers now reap in llieir old 

 seltlements the fruits of their labors. While 

 thf ;k is fertile and iinoccniiied land this side of 

 the Rocky mountains, this will continue to he the 

 case. The etnigration from Ohio and Indip.na is 

 now perhaps as greater greater in proportion to 

 their numbers, than from States this Atlantic 

 side; and yet those States are not one third till- 

 ed. 

 * While speculators have lands So sell, glowing 

 ilescriplions wiil find their way into the |uiblic 

 journals, and there can Im no doubt th:it \outh, 

 industry and strength will tilmiiph^aud svliere 

 will ;liey not I-' A young man vvlio can Ibrego 

 society such as he had been here accustomed to, 

 wbo car build for himself a log house, toil hard, 

 and live the greater part of the year iipon " hog 

 and haniiig" niay own his land and in some 

 twenty or thirty years, should he live so long, be 

 what is termed independent; that is, he may 

 own 160 acres, have a better house than at lirst, 

 and see liis boys, if be has any, full of the idea of 

 going west to seek their fin'tunes. 



But llii'se are perhaps too gcnend remarks. 

 Let us leave our homes, tiimiliar faces, and com- 

 forts: give scope to the desire for change ; read 

 ihi^ glowing account of the west, what i'ortniies 

 have been made in cstimnted value, uiiil turn our 

 tiices westward in the grand march of empires. 

 1 was already away (i'oiii my home in Rb;ssa- 

 clmsctts, and having got my anchor up was read- 

 ily sucked into the current. Reaching Baltimore, 

 I took the road through Frederickiovvn in Mary- 

 land, for Cumberland. After passing Fre.lurick- 

 town I went throiigli Roonsborougli and Hagers- 

 town, and sav/ there land as good and cultiva- 

 tion also as I ever saw in the east or west. Ha- 

 ■* gerstown is one of the most beautiful inland 

 towns to be met ivitli in our country, .■ind is situ- 

 ated in the limestone valley that extends along 

 from north to .soiiiii between the Alb ghanics and 

 the blue ridge from Ne\y York to Georgia. 



Passing through Cumberland 1 entered on the 

 National road comnienced dni'ing the adminis- 

 tration of Tvlr. .reD'erson, which was at the lime] 

 travelled very rough, jt had been made by lay- 

 ing a bed of large stones and then covei ing with 

 dirt or sand. Very little of the road being level, 

 the rains had washed all the dirt away and left 

 the stone loose and rough as in the bed of a 

 stream. 



E.\cellent grazing land and rich bottoms and 

 vallies are fouiifl interspersed through tliB whole 

 ra.iige of these mountains. Onr people need not 

 go to iialy fin- skies, to Scotland or Switzerland 

 for mouutai:s, for they can find all here in as 

 great sublindty and beauty ; and find them too in 



a land where our own language is spoken, where 

 no danger awaits the traveller, and wbeie, if 

 beatlli he the object, the air is bracing and elas- 

 tic and the tiu'e at the |inlilic bouses good. 



1 had talked with people of the west and been 

 told ol' I he giant grov. th of timber and vegetation, 

 that when 1 jiassed ihe summit level of the moun- 

 tains and saw the slreanis t^ow iiig towards the 

 setting instead of the rising sun, 1 should begin 

 to realize the realities of my dreams. 



1 did reach the summit level of the inountaiiis, 

 where J liiund the trees with the buds scarcely 

 swollen in the middle of May, and this road at 

 that time, one of the great thoroughfares of the 

 west, was alive with the vehiclesof the emigrants. 

 I now Jiassed the great liarrier where so many 

 had passed and were slill pressing ibrsvard, 

 liUoyaiit with courage ;md hope, doomed to rec- 

 ollect in their far away solitudes their early 

 homes, kimlred and tiiends. But all was not 

 westward, and onward. 



Some i met ;md not a few returning back to 

 the places they had left. With these the ro- 

 mance was over ; sickness and disappointment 

 liad beljdlen them and in poverty they were now 

 returning to dream no more of wealth, health, 

 coinibrt and ease, but to enjoy these blessings in 

 the rational manner which w ill tor a long lime 

 yet be lound in our own New England and At- 

 laulic bortlers. 



Reacliing at length the ballard slreaiii of "the 

 pli;asaiii batiks of the Oliio," at Wheeling, J 

 cros.sed it with the living current, and most of 

 tliat current like tl^ one flowing past to retmn 

 no more. 'I'bere wjis hut one boat at this lerry ; 

 ami the number of wagons at sunrise was so 

 great that the day was insufBcieiit to take them 

 all over. 



Passing tlirougli Ohio I saw as I thought va- 

 cant lands, or rather uncultivated lands enough 

 to supply the emigrants for a long lime. Indiana 

 limited my western visit, then coni|>aratively 

 new, now a sort of froiiiier State. During my 

 stay 1 savv muidi of the west, the people frank, 

 hospitable and kind, all telling how very fine the 

 country was, each considering their location the 

 very best, and most of them desirous of selling. 

 i\'!y impressions then were what I havecontiu- 

 ned to believe, that there is no land however (i-r- 

 tile that is not soon exhausted by cropping, with- 

 out manure is used. The west has its share of 

 good and poor lands, ami the good are worn out 

 except river bottoms, by tillage. It is only where 

 the floods upon their bottoms bring with Ilieni 

 and deposit fertility, tlml coniinues to produce. 

 These botioins are most of them unhealthy, and 

 taking the lands in general,and the cost of sending 

 the iiroduce to market, they were as high iind 

 are now as higli in the west as in t!ie Atlantic 

 Slates. 



Onr yonll: were pressing forward, siiil are, and 

 will continue to do so, to ilw> west, and it appear- 

 ed to niK that the youth only were there. J saw 

 few aged, i,i:(i no old men. It wc.s not then the 

 land of such aliontiance as we are often told; 

 their cattle were low in flesh, and money was 

 rathiM' dear than pro<ince abundant. How has it 

 been since? Distance in countries as in vision 

 enlarges every thing, but if accounts be true al- 

 iboujib last jetir was a very proibielive one, great 

 numbers ol' cuttle have starved for want of tijoil 

 in iMic.higan. It occurred to me while there that 

 many of the people were soniething like the fox 

 ill the fable, that cut ofi' his tail. 'J'hey acted 

 wisely in making necessity a virtue: they had 

 sold out at home, gone to the vyest and invested 

 all they had, and were desirous, as man is aso- 

 cial animal, of as much company as possible. 

 That captivating picture of great advance in tlie 

 value of their lands is realized by but a I'ew ; it 

 is a prize more rare than prizes in the lotteries, 

 costs more, and is rpiitetis (iir famed. 



Let us look a little closer into the matter which 

 has been draiiiitig New Kngland of licr yoiiili, 

 and w ho carry with iln-m the blessings and fruits 

 of onr favored institutions, or schools, academies, 

 colleges, and the morality upon which all good 

 society is based, 'i'lie great objects of existence!, 

 the improvement of our moral condition, how 

 are these secured, and w'bat promise is held nut 

 in western emigration ? One of the complaints 

 1 found there was that s>dioo!s were few and iiir 

 apart ; and this cannot but b'! the case where the 

 residences are few and fitr ai'Kit. It i.s and was 

 different in the little towns and villages, but here 



even less favored than in New Engltind ; tind the 

 lands no biUter, and murkels (iir distant (or the 

 produce. 'I'lie solicitude for ihe instruction of 

 children is even great ; and this cannot but he 

 paiiiliilly lelt by those who are deprived of it. 

 The moral instruction so necessary to all — habits 

 confirmed and Ibrmed undei- precept and exain- 

 iTles — how are they? That which applies to 

 schools !br the children applies here to their pa- 

 rents: places for ineelitigfbr public worship are 

 either remote and inaccessible from badness of 

 roads, or not within reach at all. Hence those 

 occasional assemblages once a year called camp 

 meetings so (Hiumion in the west, which like 

 Druidical worship in the shades of the forest are 

 imposing and solemn. 



In connection with these is socioly. social in- 

 tercourse between relatives and neiglibors, and 

 the lone of li'eliiig which is being constantly 

 impressing and growing here in our established 

 communities. We need not advert to Ibis in 

 new and sTjarsely settled countries, which mav 

 be scarcely said to exist at all. 



And lastly, i'or our-hoines, our fire sides, ihe 

 closest of all human ties, where the greeting is 

 more than welcome, where ''either we must 

 live or have no life," In no sitnatioii perhaps in 

 our whole country is the condilion of woman so 

 trying, so laborious, and so wearing to mind and 

 .body. Like heroes they do meet and struggle 

 with their condition, but grace is for>£otteii -md 

 polish worn ofj where inducement (iiils to oper- 

 ate: and settled ami stoical melancholy", vvllli 

 premature age, are the products of a kw short 

 years. This has been and must be Ihe fate and 

 fortune of many of those who penetrate the wes- 

 tern forests with the bloom, itrace, and accotrifi- 

 lishmeuls that adorn New Enghmd; and if onr 

 young men will go, and lay the 1,'aais of liilnre 

 society ill after generations, in mercy, and as 

 they love the fair daughters of onr land leave 

 the-n: to a better State, and wed witii those al- 

 ready inured to hardships, and who will not re- 

 ])iiie at the recollections of former days. 



What then must be the conclusion ol' all lhi:5? 

 why, thai the lauds yet mioccu(iied at home are 

 still siifBcient ; that the same industry and less 

 privation will secure as much of nioiiA- Irere as 

 there, and what is far mors important, moral and 

 inteb'i'Ctnal improvement and social h;.ppiiiesii. 

 Lei onr lot be Cast W'bere we may; roam wliere 

 we will, and whatever fortune may alleiid us, 

 we shall fiiii! no where, a better resting place, or 

 more congenial atmosphere, than is ibund in our 

 father land, onr own ever blessed New Ens- 

 land. V. 



From the N.ilional Intelligencer. 

 The liocust. 



As this insect has niade its a|)pearance the 

 jiresoiit year in several sectioi^s of our countrv, 

 it.s histery .and character may be inleresiiiig to 

 many of our readers. These in.=ects do not ap- 

 pear ill ail paitsof iIk' country ;il ihe same time 

 of the same year. I have ihe location of sixteen 

 distinct districts, in which lliey .a|j|iear, either in 

 difTerent year.s or with large spaces of territory 

 intervening. The following tidile will give an 

 idea ol'the districts. 



I'.cippenr in 

 In LiMiisiaiKi Ihpy nppear i:! )£;:« 1853 



At G;ill;i|Kilis .Ohio, l8:-a IS.55 



Or, the Muskiiiiium Kiver. Ohio, li^^i) IS'\G 



In Penii. west ofiliB moiuitniiir., l!;32 ja^S 



Eastern Georjtia and Morlh Carolin::, 18.31 ]85i 



Prince Georjre's Co., Va., IStd 1846 



Southeast New '^'nrlt, Western Coniiccti- 



cnt and Massachusetts, , ]8!5 1S43 



Middlese-i Co.. Mew Jersey. iiiifi 1843 



Faquier Co. Virginia, and as far south as 

 . M.llon.N. C, lG2o 1343 



iNorlhern M.irvlanil and Southern Penn. 



Delaware and Northern 'Virginia, IE34 1851 



Mississippi, N. E. Port Gibson, 18:U IVol 



iiouih part of Massachusetts, 18a:l lUaj 



Kei.tucltjj and adjarent p;:rts ofOhio, 1!:.?S 1855 



R'iid.Ile (,'ouiiliesofGeor'.;ia. UMi IB5a 



Norlh Carolina, central Counties, and 



.South part oC Virginia, 1842 183 



Illinois, tmc;ut .\lion, 1842 18i9 



It may be that the two di.-tricts, i>,iuskingnni 

 River, Ohio and Kirilucky, may be one' and tiie 

 same, although the Mnskiiigum river is a long 

 distance above Kentucky. So also may ihu 

 Middlesex Co., N. J. district be n part of the 

 Southeastern New York, Western Mass.ichnsetts 

 and Western Connccticiit ilislricls. AH the oth- 

 ers are perfectly disconnected ; and the only point 

 at whicli we are at tiny less in the boumiin ies of 



