92 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Mabch, 
How to Get a Farm, and Where to Find 
One. 
The following interesting article on '* Illinois, its Cli- 
mate, Soil, and Productions", which we take from a 
work just published by J. Miller, and for sale by D. 
Appleton & Co.. enlilled. "How to Get a Farm, and 
Where to Get One," by the Author of " Ten Acres is 
Enough," is worthy of the careful perusal of those who 
are desirous of securing for themselves and families a 
home which they can call their own. 
Tke West— Illinois Central Railroad Lands— Climate, 
Soil, and Productions,— The vast region popularly known 
as "The West," has been so often travelled by thousands 
from the older States, and so repeatedly described In 
print, that all must have a general knowledge of its char- 
acter and capabilities. Little, therefore, remains for me 
on these subjects, than a nompilation of details appro- 
priate to the matter in h.ind— where to find a farm. 
In the very heart of the great valley, midway between 
the Arctic and the Tropic, the Atlantic and the Rocky 
Mountains, lies the State of Illinois, the young Hercules 
of the West, touching Lake Michigan on the north, and 
the lower Ohio on the sovUh, with the majestic Mississippi 
washing her entire western border, and the Wabash skirt- 
ing her for more than half its length on the east. Her 
growth, during the last decade, has been really more 
rapid and considerable than that of any other State, 
though some of the newest have increased in population 
by a larger percentage than hers. Her population has 
all but doubled during the last decade, having risen from 
some 900,000 to about 1.700,000. ***** 
In 1850 Congress granted to the Illinois Central Rail- 
road Company 2,595,000 acres of land to aid in building a 
railroad, which would soon open up for sale and settle- 
ment a much greater adjoining: area belonging to Govern- 
ment ;the quality of the land being undoubted, it being 
prairie and rolling land of well ascertained fertility. * * 
Three years after the Central Railroad Company began 
their operations, their sales of land amounted to 1,319.373 
acres, realizing a total sum of $16,663,823. The terms of 
sale are probably more liberal than are elsewhere to be 
found. Had they been otherwise, it would have been 
impossible to attract to a new and wholly unsettled 
country the largest body of settlers ever voluntarily col- 
lected on one spot within so short a period. The buyer 
has his choice among a million of acres, still unsold, and 
may take land at from $7 to S12 and upward per acre, 
according to location. He may pay for it in cash, if able 
to do so, and thus obtain a discount of twenty per cent. ; 
or he may take land and be allowed four, five, six. and 
seven years in which to pay for it, but paying the interest 
yearly in advance. He may buy as small a tract as forty 
acres, or one as much larger as his means will justify. 
The land grant to this Company was the first public 
gratuity in aid of railroads. When first made, the central 
portion of Illinois was an unoccupied prairie, as fertile 
as any soil in the world, but wholly unavailable. It now 
swarms with population, that along the railroad having 
trebled within ten years. Great towns have sprung up 
along its track, and the annual growth of population and 
wealth is enormous. Here the enterprising man will be 
sure to find a farm, and the Railroad Company will show 
him how to get it. Their road is 704 miles in length, and 
extends from Cairo, in the extreme southern part of the 
State, to Dnnleilh, in the northwest, with a branch from 
Centralia, in the centre, to Chicago, on the shore of Lake 
Michigan. For all the purposes of agriculture, these 
lands are equal to any in the world, producing wheat, 
barley and oats in the north ; corn and wheat in the cen- 
tre ; and wheat, tobacco, and cotton in the south. In 
all parts of the State vast numbers of live stock are pro- 
duced. A healthy climate, a rich soil, and railroads to 
convey to market the fulness of the earth— all combine 
to place in the hands of the working man the means of 
independence. Nowhere can the farmer, the mechanic, 
the manufacturer, and the laboring man, find surer 
rewards of industry. With 12.noO common schools. 21 
colleges, 48 academies, and a liberal fund for the support 
of learning. Illinois oiTers the means of education such 
as few States can boast. All the conditions favorable to 
prosperity are to be found here. 
The climate of Illinois is healthy, and the mortality is 
less than in almost any other part of the countiTr. The 
immigrant seeking a location regards the healthfulness 
of the district as a matter of primary consideration, and 
Illinois, so far as its sanitary condition is concerned, 
ranks with the most favored States of the Union. The 
vital statistics collected in 1860 show that in this Slate 
the deaths per cent, to the population were in that year 
only l.U, while the average of the whole counti-y was 
1.27. Extending 380 miles from north to soulh. Illinois 
has all the varieties of climate to be found between 
Boston, in Massachusetts, and Norfolk, in Virginia; in 
the southern part, the genial climate of Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Tennessee, and in the northern section more 
nearly resembling that of Pennsylvania, Southern New 
York, New Jersey and Connecticut. 
The soil in the different parts of the State presents vcr>' 
marked characteristics. From the latitude of Chicago as 
far south as the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad, the 
country for the most part is open prairies, with here and 
tliere groves of timber, and timbered on the banks of the 
various streams. The soil In this region consists of a 
rich, black loam, and is remarkably adapted to the pro- 
duction of com, sorghum and tame grasses. For stock- 
raising no better land can be found. South of this line 
the soil is lighter, and of a grayish tinge— the country is 
also more broken, and the timber more plentiful. The 
small prairies in this region produce the best of winter 
wheat, tobacco, flax, and hemp. From Centralia to Cairo, 
in tlie south, the country is heavily timbered. In this 
district fruit, tobacco, cotton, and the different produc- 
tions of the Border States, are largely cultivated and 
highly remunerative, A large number of sawmills are 
erected near the line of the railroad, the lumber from 
which commands at all times a ready sale. 
Indian corn is, perhaps, the most important crop in the 
country. It is applied to so great a variety of pui-poses, 
and is so indispensable an article for foreign consump- 
tion, that however abundantly it may be produced, the 
constantly increasing demand will press heavily upon 
the supply. Jn 1859 the United States yielded 827,694,528 
bushels, of which Illinois contributed 115,296,779, about 
fifty millions of bushels more than any other State. Illi- 
nois stands pre-eminently first in the list of corn-pro- 
ducing States. 
For the culture of wheat, the lands of the Illinois Cen- 
tral Railroad are in all respects equal to any in the State. 
One great advantage which these lands have, is tlieir 
nearness to the railroad, by which the purchaser has the 
means of putting his crop In the market at the earliest 
or most favorable time, and at a cheap rate of transpor- 
tation. During the year 1862, the stations on this road 
sent forward to market 4,688,755 bushels of wheat, besides 
567,627 barrels of flour. In Southern Illinois, winter 
wheat is almost certain to yield a good return to the 
grower. The reaping, threshing, and cleaning machines, 
now so generally in use, have made wheat-growing a 
source of great profit to the farmer. 
It seems well established that cotton is to become a* 
remunerative crop in the southern part of Illinois. It 
was cultivated in 1862 in almost every town south of Cen- 
tralia, and, if we regard the planting as an experiment, 
the result Is completely satisfactory. It would be a low 
estimate to assume that in that year 5,000 bales of ginned 
cotton were grown. There was a large demand made 
upon the neighboring States (particularly Tennessee) for 
cotton seed, and more than one hundred tons had been 
sent forward from Cairo and distributed. 
The rapidly-increasing cultivation of sorghum in this 
country deserves particular notice. In another year Illi- 
nois will send to the eastern market thousands of barrels 
of sorghum molasses, besides retaining sufllcient for 
home consumption. In 1859 this Stale produced 797,096 
gallons, and at that time attention had only just been 
directed to sorghum. Since then its cultivation has been 
increased tenfold. A prominent sugar refiner estimates 
the annual consumption of molasses in the United Stales ' 
at 80.000,000 gallons, and of this vast quantity of sweets, 
it is safe to say the free States consume 60,000,000 gallons. 
He goes on to say : "This enormous and increasing con- 
sumption of molasses and syrups In our Northern States 
should encourage the western cane growers in their 
efforts to produce crops of western cane syrups, with the 
certainty that they will find a ready sale for all that will 
be produced of merchantable quality and In good 
packages." 
Hemp and flax can be produced In Illinois of as good a 
quality as any grown in Europe. Water rotted hemp 
from as far north as Sangamon County, when submitted 
to Government tests, compared favorably with Russian 
hemp, and exceeded in strength the standard fixed by 
the Government, in some instances as high as twenty per 
cent. Good corn lands are good hemn and flax lands, 
and. therefore, we may safely conclude that Illinois 
can produce these important articles much cheaper than 
they can be imported. If the fabrication oflinengoods 
has made but little progress in this country, it is be- 
cause the raw material has been grown in but limited 
quantities. In many parts of the West, farmers have 
raised flax simply for the seed, and thrown away the 
fibre as valueless, under the mistaken Idea that flax 
■which produced seed could not be worked Into fine linen. 
In the Chicago market, hemp and flaxseed are now sold 
at from three to five dollars per bushel. The Lockport 
(N. Y.) Flax Cotton Company have contracted with as 
many farmers of Niagara County as desired to do so, 
for their crops of flax straw at $10 per ton. In Illinois, 
with heavy seeding, twenty bushels of seed and three 
tons of flax straw have been gathered from an acre. This 
was an extraordinary yield. The average crop in Nia- 
gara County, New-York, in 1862, -was one ton of straw 
I and fourteen bushels of seed to the acre. 
Much attention is directed to Soutnern Illinois, on ac- 
count of its peculiar adaptation to fruit raising. It has 
the advantage of early season, as well as a soil espe- 
cially suited to the growing of fruits and vegetables, to- 
gether with unequalled railroad facilities, by means of 
which the product is brought to the very door of all the 
great markets of the Northwest. Fruit placed upon the 
cars in the evening will reach Chicago the next morning. 
St. Louis is still nearer than Chicago; and strawberries, 
tomatoes, &c., are supplied to Cincinnati nearly a fort- 
night in advance ofthe ripening of these luxuries in the 
immediate neighborhood of that city. II is the early mar- 
ket that gives the greatest profit to the fruit grower. 
Strawberries from Cobden and Makauda are placed in 
Chicago as early as the 14th of May. The Railroad Com- 
pany supply every convenience for transporting fruit to 
market. Cars are run with especial reference to this 
branch of traffic, and the time of running the trains is so 
adjusted as best to suit the requirements of shippers. 
Southern Illinois has become the best fruit-growing re- 
gion of America. While every part of Illinois Is to some 
extent adapted to fruit culture, it is only in the south- 
ern part of the State that all conditions are found in the 
highest perfection. Pears, apples, peaches, grapes and 
strawberries, are produced in all abundance. During the 
last year, upwards of 200,000 fruit trees were planted in 
orchards south of Centralia, within six miles of the rail- 
road track ; but no matter to what extent they may be 
multiplied, the demand for fruit will always be in ad- 
vance of the capacity to furnish what is wanted. 
Pork packing has become an immense business in this 
State, the number of hogs packed in 1862 amounting to 
1,484,834 head, half a million in excess of Ohio, which 
until the last year or two has stood first among the pork- 
producing States. The following table, giving the num- 
ber of hogs packed in seven States in 1862, shows a won- 
derful result : 
niinois 1,484,834 
Ohio 981.683 
Indiana 587,528 
Iowa 403,899 
Kentucky 130,920 
Wisconsin 196,745 
Missouri 284,011 
Total 4,069,6i!0 
Illinois is the great stock-raising State ofthe country — 
sending two thousand head of beef cattle a week to the 
New-York market. In the census return ofl850 the live 
stock in Illinois had a valuation of $24,209,258, and in 
1860 it had increased to $73,434,621— only two States 
(New- York and Pennsylvania) exceeding that amount of 
value. The raising o( stock for market has been the 
source of many fortunes In Illinois. The Company have 
large tracts of land well adapted by nature to the rais- 
ing of catlle, sheep, horses and mules— better adapted, 
indeed, than are the lands of almost any other State of 
the Union. Duritig the year 1962. the Illinois Central 
Railroad brought to Chicago, from various stations along 
the line, upwards of 30,000 head of beef cattle, and about 
10,000 sheep. Wool-growing is a branch of industry that 
cannot be overdone and will Inevitably be largely in- 
creased. 
The immense coal deposits of Illinois are worked at 
difl'erent points near the railroad, and thus the settlers 
are enabled to obtain fuel at the very cheapest rate. 
Du Quoin and St. John, in Southern Illinois, and La Salle, 
are the principal places from which coal is distribvtted. 
The statistics of coal produced in the United States 
for the year ending June 30, 1860, place Illinois third in 
the list of coal States— Pennsylvania being first, and Ohio 
second. In the period named, the coal rained in this 
State amounted to 14,906,643 bushels, valued at more than 
a million of dollars. The production at the present time 
is largely in excess of this amount. 
To whatever extent the resources of this State are de- 
veloped, there can never be any very great accumulation 
of breadstuffs in this country. It Is impossible for Eu- 
rope to yield enough wheat for its three hundred mil- 
lions of people, and the soundest writers upon the sub- 
ject assert that even with the most favorable harvests 
three-fourths of the population are inadequately fed. 
With cheap means of transportation to the shores of the 
Old World, it is believed that five hundred million 
bushels of breadstuffs would be annually purchased 
from the United States. But it is not alone to wheat and 
corn that the export trade Is confined. In Illinois 
almost everything that contributes to food for man is 
produced in excess of the wants of the population, and 
finds a profitable market in the Eastern States and in 
Europe. 
The Central Railroad Company have given no en- 
couragement to speculators, few of whom are either per- 
manent or Improving owners. Their effort has been 
to secure the actual settler by offering him extraordi- 
nary inducements, for it Is he whose labors enhance 
the value ofthe neighboring lands, and contribute to the 
traffic of the road. The good effects of this policy have 
long been apparent. More than a hundred cities and 
villages now line the railroad, with populations vary- 
ing from 200 to 10,000 or more, having factories, mills, 
stores, post-offices, schools, churches, and newspapers. 
■ They rapidly Increase in numbers and wealth, dis- 
tributing the comforts and luxuries of civilized life to 
the settlers, while they open up unlimited opportunities 
for profitable employment to the business man, the trader, 
and mechanic. — Appletori's Railway Guide. 
I 
