1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



631 



water, and timber constantly saturated, it is well 

 knowTi, is very durable. 



Dr. Shurtleff's Seedling Pears. — Last year 

 we had the pleasure of testing three varieties of 

 some forty which this gentleman has originated on 

 his grounds in Brookline, — all of which we con- 

 sidered worthy of further cultivation, — viz : the 

 Gen. Grant, Shurtleff's Favorite and one unnamed. 



We have recently received specimens of three 

 others of his seedlings. The Gen. Shcrjnan, re- 

 sembling in appearance the Bartlett, of a lively, 

 good flavor; the Admiral Farragut, a large, good 

 looking fruit, but rather too ripe to test its quali- 

 ties as an eating pear, and the Jiev. John Cotton, of 

 good size, rich, fine flavor, melting, and somewhat 

 butteiT. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 THE •WEST, AS I SAW IT. 



BY JOHN DIMON, OF POMFRET, CONN. 



Mr. Editor: — Having just returned from 

 a six weeks'" tour through the far West, under- 

 taken with a view of gaining all jiossible infor- 

 mation in regard to that portion of our great 

 country, I have thought that some of your 

 readers might be interested in a few extracts 

 from my journal. 



July 18th Ileft Pomfret, Conn., and on my 

 return, August 31st, I find I have travelled 

 during my absence upwards of 4000 miles. I 

 went to Chicago by way of the Pennsylvania 

 Central Railroad, and passed through some 

 splendid farming country in Pennsylvania and 

 Ohio. The farmers in Pennsylvania were 

 then (July 19th) engaged in securing their 

 oats, of which they had a very heavy crop, and 

 were using four horses to a machine in cutting. 

 Their hay crop had been all .secured, and the 

 aftermath was starting up very promisingly. 

 Some parts of Pennsylvania resembles my part 

 of Connecticut very much in the lay of the 

 land, but their farms are all fenced with rails 

 instead of stone walls. Saw large quantities 

 of tobacco growing near Parksburg, Chester 

 Co., in which is some very good farming land. 

 West of Parksburg the streams become West- 

 ernized in their limy or muddy appearance, 

 and even the '■^Blue Juniata" is not at all blue 

 but muddy. Now good bye, clear, sparkling, 

 dancing streams of New England, until my re- 

 turn. You are seen neither at the West nor in 

 the sunny Soulh, though the sons and daughters 

 of New England in exile miss you more than 

 any thing else they left behind. We may 

 find more fertile fields and sunnier climes, but 

 nowhere on the face of the globe can we find 

 the crystal springs and bubbhng brooks of 

 New England. 



I saw many fine looking and well cultivated 

 farms in Ohio. Tlieir crops, herds and flocks 

 look well, but the lack of the thrift and enter- 

 prise of New England is attested by the appear- 

 ance of their farm buildings. Much of the 



western part of Ohio resembles Canada very 

 much, in its surface, timber and farm build- 

 ings. Ohio is a good sheep State, and the 

 recent rise in wool has given a new impetus to 

 the business, increasir.g the price of store sheep 

 about 50 cents per head. 



I reached Chicago July 20th, and passed on 

 to Monmouth, 111., 179 miles south-west of that 

 city, and 18 east of the Mississippi, at Burling- 

 ton, where I have friends and relatives. , This 

 is the residence of my genial friend, James 

 Bower, the acknowledged horse man of the 

 AV^est. In traveling from Chicago to this 

 place I ride through miles of growing corn, 

 averaging from nine to twelve feet in height, 

 and promising a yield of from 50 to 75 bushels 

 per acre. Wheat and oats are also good, and 

 farmers are very busy in securing the latter 

 crop, as well as in cutting and securing their 

 hay, which is very heavy. The morning after 

 my arrival at Monmouth I accepted an invita- 

 tion from Samuel Hillis, Esq., of this city, to 

 visit his farm, about five miles south. He 

 has a field of corn containg 460 acres, averag- 

 ing about 11 feet high, and I should judge bids 

 fair to yield 60 bushels per acre of good sound 

 corn. Corn is^ow worth hereSt) to 35 cents, 

 and quite dull at that, and it is thought that 

 the new crop will not sell for more than 20 

 cents. 



From Monmouth I cross the river at Bur- 

 lington, and go West over the Burlington and 

 Missouri Railroad, tlirough a splendid farming 

 country embracing the second southern tier of 

 counties in Iowa. At Villisca, Montgomery Co., 

 I cross the Nodaway River by stage, through 

 leagues of mammoth corn and grass, and up 

 its valley 15 miles to Clarinda, the shire town 

 of Page Co., where I was met by my old 

 friend and relative, C. A. Aylsworth, Esq., 

 who has a farm four miles south, on the No- 

 daway bottom, which contains 331 acres, near- 

 ly all bottom land, with a soil three feet deep 

 on an average, of the very richest quality of 

 this rich land. He has a field of 95 acres corn 

 from 12 to 15 feet high, and estimated to yield 

 from 75 to 90 bushels per acre. This land 

 will produce immense crops for at least one 

 century, without manure. This is a good 

 farming country, but is a little off from rail- 

 roads at present. 



Land here is worth from $15 to $40 per 

 acre ; corn from 28 to 30 cents, with the pros- 

 pect that new corn will be sold at 15 cents. 

 Beef cattle are worth 3 cents per lb., live 

 weight, for Omaha and Council Bluffs mar- 

 kets. Farm labor worth $20 per month, with 

 board. I saw people here from Connecticut, 

 Rhode Island, Vermont and Illinois, engaged 

 in farming. All crops are good except spring 

 wheat, which has been nearly destroyed by the 

 chintz bugs. Spring wheat is not considered 

 a certain crop here anyway. Neither do I be- 

 lieve winter wheat can be relied on. I think 

 corn and grass converted into beef and pork 

 will prove most profitable. South-western 



