.14 ADVANTAGES OF KENTUCKY. 



largely amongst our farm products, and takes the place of many of the 

 minor crops of the older country. 



The knowledge and experience of the intelligent English farmer in 

 the management of the soil to maintain or increase its productiveness 

 would be of great value in this region, where our native farmers have 

 much to learn in this relation ; and his skill in the raising and manage- 

 ment of live stock could be of great service to him here. If he has 

 capital enough to purchase a stock farm in the rich "Blue-Grass" 

 region, and to stock it with animals of improved breed, he would, with 

 skillful management, find a ready and profitable market for many years 

 to come. The Blue-Grass soil, quite rich in phosphates, produces finer 

 horses and better cattle and hogs than almost any other part of our 

 territory, and requires less expenditure for fertilizers. Hence, naturally, 

 •It is held at a higher price than the lands on the other geological forma- 

 tions generally, and is all occupied and cultivated. The immigrant 

 with limited capital would necessarily look for cheaper and newer land, 

 yet in the forest, in the less closely settled portions of the State, of 

 which there is an abundance at very low prices ; and there, as already 

 stated, the native timber on the land may, by judicious management, be 

 made a source of considerable profit to him, more especially if it is 

 near a railroad or other means of cheap transportation. 



The lands even of the hilly regions of the coal-formation of the 

 State are well adapted to sheep husbandry. Indian corn and the small 

 grains, and various grasses, flax, potatoes, and other products, may be 

 profitably cultivated in the valleys and on the table-lands, and some of 

 the slopes of the hills, which last mentioned situations are also well 

 adapted to apples, peaches, pears, grapes, and all the fruits and garden 

 products of the temperate zone. 



The new country, however, requires adaptation on the part of the 

 cultivator to the new conditions, as already mentioned, and the pioneer 

 farmer must expect to turn his hand to many things which do not need 

 his attention in his old home country, as well as to lay aside some of 

 the old habits and customs in which he has been trained from his youth 

 upward. But the grand compensation to him will be, if he is a good 

 manager and of industrious habits, that he may become a fee-simple 

 freeholder of landed and other property, which will annually become 

 more valuable, in a free country of equal rights and very moderate tax- 

 ation; and if he is near a market, his farming and gardening may not 

 only give ample support to his family, but yield a good and increasing 

 Income. 



