FARMING AND CROPS AT THE WEST. 
24 '/ 
evidence of its quality being manifest in the thriving 
condition of the animals. Of the cultivated grass 
•ve saw little that were good, owing perhaps partially 
10 frost and drought, of which they have had their 
share this season; and, probably, in part to indifferent 
cultivation. The precise excellence and duration of 
artificial meadows, has probably not yet been fully 
tested in the prairie region; but the appearance of much 
of the soil, on a cursory examination, would not seem 
to be so well adapted to their perfection and perma¬ 
nence, as in the forest land of north-eastern Wisconsin. 
The farmers complain much of the stunted growth 
of their orchards. Many of them say, their trees 
flourish well at first, but after three or four years of 
tolerable growth, they appear to be almost stationary, 
and yield indifferent returns for the attention bestowed 
upon them. I hope at some future time to see this 
opinion contradicted by occular demonstration. 
Corn, spring wheat and oats, are the principal crops 
in the region through which we passed. Of these, 
the returns average about 30 bushels of corn, 15 of 
wheat, and 30 of oats, per acre, taking the seasons 
together. The raising of winter wheat is almost 
abandoned in some districts, owing to winter-killing 
and rust, though farther in the interior large quanti¬ 
ties of it are raised, in connection, to a greater or less 
extent, with spring wheat. The last is usually sent 
to market mixed with the winter grain, and so almost 
universal is the practice, that Chicago wheat sells 
from 2 to 5 cents per bushel lower than Wisconsin 
wheat raised within 50 miles of it The Wisconsin 
wheat, indeed, stands on the highest ground now, as 
to quality and price, being fully on a par with the 
Milan, and the choicest specimens of Ohio grain. 
This is said to be owing to the greater proportion of 
winter wheat, for which their soil is eminently adapt¬ 
ed ; to the superior kinds which are cultivated; and 
to the greater care and attention bestowed by the 
farmers of that Territory. 
Sheep husbandry is rapidly gaining favor among 
the farmers of Illinois, and Wisconsin, and increasing 
thousands of these useful animals are annually get¬ 
ting a foothold in the prairies, to swell the future 
gains of their enterprising owners. Much loss has 
been hitherto sustained in their first introduction on 
the prairies ; and so far as I can learn, the most of 
it has occurred from excessive mismanagement and 
neglect. The sheep are usually purchased in Western 
New York, Pennsylvania, and the interior of Ohio, 
and entirely unaccustomed to it as they.have been, 
are driven in dense masses from 400 to 500 miles 
during the heat and dust of summer, and the storms 
and mud of autumn, to a dreary home; not in one 
instance out of ten, properly provided with food and 
shelter or accommodations. Disease and mortality 
rapidly ensue, the poor sheep paying with his life, 
and the owner with his purse, the penalty of his 
gross improvidence and neglect. Sheep ought to 
be driven in small flocks, over good roads, before 
July or after August; and if a sufficient quantity 
of grass is not to be found on the way side, they 
should be supplied with it, to the full extent of 
their wants, in the fields on this route. A covered 
wagon should accompany each flock, to pick up the 
disabled sheep, and afford them sufficient resttiil they 
have recruited their strength ; and every care and at¬ 
tention which humanity or interest can suggest for their 
health and comfort, should be bestowed upon them. 
on their exhausting journey. When they arrive at 
their destination, good shelters, good food, and good 
shepherds, should be abundantly supplied to them. 
This would be necessary if indigenous to the country; 
how much more so, when they have just undergone 
a campaign, to which neither they nor their race have 
been accustomed ! 
Sheep cannot be kept on the prairies without much 
care, artificial food, and proper attention ; and, in a 
false system of economy hitherto attempted by many, 
losses have occurred from disease and mortality in the 
flocks, sufficient to have made ample provision for the 
comfort and security of ten times the number raved. 
More especially do they require proper food and at¬ 
tention, after the first severe frosts set in, which 
wither and kill the natural grasses. By nibbling at 
the fog (the frost bitten, dead, grass), they are inevi¬ 
tably subject to constipation, which a bountiful sup¬ 
ply of roots, sulphur, &c., are alone sufficient to re¬ 
move. Boots, grain, and good hay, straw, or ccrn 
stalks, pea or bean vines, are absolutely essential to 
the preservation of their health and thrift during the 
winter, any where north of 40° or 41°. In summer, 
the natural herbage is sufficient to sustain them in 
fine condition till they shall have acquired a denser 
population of animals, when I think it will be found 
necessary to stock their meadows with the best vari¬ 
eties of artificial grasses. 
The prairies seem adapted to the usual varieties of 
sheep introduced into the United States; and of sudh 
are the flocks made up, according to the taste or judg¬ 
ment of the owners. Shepherd dogs are invaluable 
to the owners of flocks, both as preventives agains 
the small prairie wolf, which prowls around the flock 
but which are rapidly thinning off by the settlers 
and also as assistants to the shepherds in driving anc 
herding their flocks on the open ground. 
We were told on our return to Chicago, that we had 
not seen the best portion of their state, which we 
could readily enough credit; the choicest specimens 
lying still farther south and west. Ever west, to the 
migratory hordes of the east, lies the El Dorado of 
their hopes; and we have lately seen, that from the 
remotest western verge of Missouri, thousands are 
seeking it on the shores of the Pacific; and the Ce¬ 
lestial Empire may soon be destined to become the 
theatre of Yankee enterprise and ambition, in their 
resistless course towards the setting sun. 
Our next coarse was by steamboat to Sheboygan, 
where we chartered horses for an inland trip through 
the woods on horseback to Manitouwoc, Green Bay, 
and Lake Winnebflgo; a part of which route only had 
we time to accomplish. This portion of Wisconsin 
is a wooded country, the forest extending from Lake 
Michigan to Green Bay, the lower Fox River, and 
the northern half of the eastern shore of Winnebago, 
where the beautiful undulating prairie sets in, and 
graduall) 7 approximating to the western shore of Mich¬ 
igan, extends with its countless groves and variegated 
woodland, to the Mississippi and beyond. Mani¬ 
touwoc is beautifully situated at the mouth of a river 
of the same name, which rises within three miles of 
Winnebago, and flowing through a rich limestone 
country of gently rolling surface, and after furnishing 
some of the best mill sites in Wisconsin, many of 
which are improved for mills of various kinds, in¬ 
cluding some tanneries, it flows into Lake Michigan, 
j for which its ample volume and direct course into the 
