1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



249 



For the New England Fanner, 

 OUT WEST. 



Not at Home there— Tenacity of the llud — Mwle of Pronounc- 

 iriR— Raising Corn— Hog Cholera — Wild Geese — Sand Hill 

 Cranes and Prairie Chickens — Poor Farming — Cattle Raising 

 Why the West is not like New England. 



Very little can be said of a country by simply 

 seeing the little the railroad allows you to view in 

 passing over it. Sufficient, however, may be gath- 

 ered to convince a New England man that he is not 

 at home after entering New York State. The peo- 

 ple talk and act differently ; do all things different- 

 ly. The appearance of the houses and out-buildings 

 is also of a different type. As you go on west, 

 this change becomes more marked and decided. 

 As to the soil, each day's journey convinces you 

 that it is improving, until you reach the Wabash 

 Valley, which is regarded by some as the best, or 

 as good soil as any east of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Of one thing I am quite sure, viz., that it is not to 

 be beat in any favored locality east of Ohio. 



My arrival here was very opportune for seeing 

 that it made up first rate mud, of the most affec- 

 tionate character. As the winter frosts were com- 

 ing out, the roads were all but impassable, save by 

 pedestrians, and men on horseback, which is a fa- 

 vorite mode of travel here. The people are care- 

 less of personal appearance, and very untidy, ac- 

 cording to our down East notions of such things. 

 [ think this is somewhat peculiar to all new coun- 

 tries, especially where so much mud abounds as 

 liere. Peculiarities of pronounciation are very 

 amusing, and modes of expression still more so. 

 A. day or two since, in talking with a man about 

 his corn, he "thought he should have but little to 

 ipar, as he had right smart hogs to feed that would 

 take 7'iffM smaH corn to carry them through." 

 This is a very common mode of speaking, here- 

 abouts. 



The farming, if farming it can be called, is very 

 bad. Very few of the fields are kept clean from 

 weeds. They increase rapidly, and cause much 

 trouble eventually to the farmer. It is impossible 

 to have it otherwise, as matters are now managed. 

 Corn is often sold here, in Benton county, Indiana, 

 From 8 to 12^ cents per bushel. All can readily 

 see that if the same care in raising it was bestowed 

 as the Eastern farmer gives to his crop, it would 

 ruin him hopelessly. A man wita a pair of horses 

 ploughs, plants and tends 40 acres, going through 

 the hoeing with ahorse hoe, and never using hand 

 hoes. It is usual with many, as soon as the sun 

 is up, to go over it with a triangle harrow, with 

 the front teeth out, so as to run each side of the 

 row, using a span of horses for the purpose. I 

 have seen some fields very neat and clear of weeds, 

 but most of them are very foul, A large share of 

 the corn growing is done by tenant labors, on 

 shares, or at a given price per acre or bushel, as 

 the parties agree. The owner of the land in most 

 ;ases, I believe, finds a house, (or a substitute for 

 one,) and firewood. If the tenant has a team of 

 his own, (which most do,) he hauls his own wood, 

 and gets a better lay on the crop produced. I 

 think most of the corn in this county, and I think 

 in all this region, is fed to cattle, before husking 

 or shucking, as it is termed here. Most of it is 

 shocked, but a large amount is fed off the field 

 by cattle and hogs. This seems a wasteful pro- 

 cess, but many make, or have made, money by it, 

 especially previous to the cholera killing so many 

 hogs. 



Corn here, as at the East, has enemies to con- 

 tend with of the same character as with us, and, in 

 addition, some far more formidable. Wild geese, 

 sand hill cranes, prairie chickens, &c., often make 

 sad havoc with it as it first comes up. I heard a 

 man say that the geese will often destroy acres in 

 a single field in one night. They also take off 

 large quantities from the shocks and standing 

 corn. I saw a man come in this morning from 

 his field with five geese, having killed seven before 

 breakfast. Another told me he had very hard 

 work last fall to drive the geese from a wheat field 

 of 80 acres. He was mounted on a good horse, 

 and it took near an hour to clear them out. A 

 sure marksman, I think, in spring and fall, could 

 make a good business in shooting geese, ducks, 

 cranes and chickens for their feathers alone. 



But to return to the farming. It seems to be a 

 settled thing with farmers, that wheat does better 

 on sod ground than corn, and the first crop 

 also belter than succeeding ones. I am surprised 

 at the small quantity per acre produced on an av- 

 erage. Bad management is at the bottom of it, I 

 think ; not seed enough sown, and not good at 

 that. Poor seed, or that which has not been ju- 

 diciously selected and prepared, is sown, and re- 

 sults in consequent poor returns. Corn and 

 wheat are the only crops cultivated to much ex- 

 tent. Sorghum is gaining in favor, and is a re- 

 munerative crop to all who use proper care in its 

 culture and manufacture. I like the syrup of this 

 plant ; think it more palatable than New Orleans, 

 or other molasses. It is made into syrup on 

 shares, by those owning mills for grinding, and 

 evaporators for boiling. One-half of the product 

 is retained for manufacturing, which, I am told, is 

 quite a profitable business. 



This region, however, is not strictly a farm- 

 ing one, but farming is subordinate to cattle- 

 raising and grazing, or an appendage to them. 

 The settlements skirt the timber lands bordering 

 upon the prairie, which, to a large extent, is un- 

 enclosed, and affords a grand range for stock of all 

 descriptions. This peculiarity of this locality has 

 led to cattle herding to a great extent, as the prin- 

 cipal business of those who can command the 

 means to do it. It is also very profitable to the 

 judicious buyer, netting him SO per cent., and often 

 m»re on a single season's pasturage or herding. 

 I know parties who are now gathering up a herd 

 of two and three year old steers, intending to 

 herd this, and the coming summer, and have them 

 kept through the winter for four dollars a head, 

 which is all the expense they will be subject to, 

 except one man's wages as herdsman, through two 

 summers. Thus you see they get 18 to 20 months 

 growth on cattle that are in the riglit age for it, 

 for about four dollars per head. It is expected 

 they will get 820,000 for what at first cost tliem 

 $10,000. Stall feeding is often practiced here. 

 This method is not what we at the East have gen- 

 erally supposed. A man with a large lot o*" cat- 

 tle builds up a yard according to the number to be 

 fed, and puts them into it, and goes to his fields, 

 and liands out his corn which is in shocks, oi 

 standing, and throws it to them over the ground, 

 and letting it take its chance for being eaten. 

 Hogs take what they can find after the cattle. 

 Others have two lots, feeding alternate days in 

 both — the hogs coming around after the cattle. 

 One hog is dicwed for each steer to do the glean- 



