64 BULLETIN 1295, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
and its first killing frost on September 14 on the average. A cir- 
cular issued by a company selling land in this county contained the 
following statement: 
This county will grow large crops of all grains such as wheat, oats, rye, 
barley, and corn every year. * * * Jt should, of course, be understood 
that we do not try to raise the big ears that are produced in Illinois, but 
with our soil conditions we can raise several smaller ears on the same ground: 
where one big ear is raised farther south. 
A company selling land where the growing season is 25 days 
longer is sufficiently conservative to omit corn from its list of crops. 
_ Another company claimed for its territory the climate of southern 
Illinois because it happens that a small part of its tract, situated on 
the shore of Lake Michigan, has the same growing season as northern 
Illinois. There is a vast difference, moreover, between a lake-shore 
growing season 45 degrees north and a Corn Belt growing season 
42 degrees north. 
Many interesting statements are made as to the soil and value of 
the land. ‘“ The official reports,” says the circular of one company, 
“ show that the entire State of Wisconsin receives a greater net return 
per acre for its crops than any other State in the Union.” In another 
circular the average value of an acre of potatoes is given at $47.50, 
of which one-half is deducted as expenses and the balance assumed 
to be the correct net return, amounting to 24 per cent on a $100 val- 
uation. Another company naively quoted certain supposedly official 
figures showing that Wisconsin’s corn yield is 40 bushels per acre, 
and that of Illinois 29 bushels. 
Most of the companies make much pretense of carefully selecting 
their settlers, and yet a very large number of doubtful settlers are 
found on their holdings. This is especially the case where land is 
being sold on easy terms under a liberal loan policy. Apparently, 
the desire to sell and in some cases the need to sell, in order to make 
any profit out of the business, has forced the companies to sell rather - 
recklessly; and the condition has been made still worse by the tend- 
ency for prospects themselves to misrepresent their own financial 
condition. 
The first step in selecting settlers is to determine upon the policy 
to be followed. The prospects attracted by easy terms and special 
credit facilities will not all be people of small means but a large - 
majority will be. The second step is to place the advertising where it 
will reach the kind of people desired. Those seeking farmers advertise 
in farm journals or country weeklies. Those seeking “ back-to-the- 
landers” advertise in city dailies. Those seeking foreigners adver- 
tise in foreign-language dailies and weeklies. What the company 
features in its advertising will also help to determine the kind of 
prospects who will respond. Location of agents is determined by 
similar considerations. It was common to find small groups of set- 
tlers in one colony all from one city or village in Illinois, Iowa, Indi- 
ana, etc. This means that an agent of the colony was stationed there 
for a time. Most of the agents are stationed in the larger cities, such 
as Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and St. Paul. 
The next step in selecting settlers is to examine the prospect. 
Several companies had elaborate schedules or “ registration blanks ” 
which they required the prospect to fill out, or the agent to fill out 
for him. This is the point at which an undesirable prospect should 
