AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
371 
all invested in this commodity. I have never yet 
seen an analysis of this universal passion attempt¬ 
ed, and as I have not forgotten all my habits 
as a philosopher, I will give my readers a brief 
study upon this topic. 
The passion is no doubt in part hereditary, 
growing somewhat stronger with every genera¬ 
tion, as the soil becomes peopled, and made more 
valuable by the labors of the race. As a tribe 
first emerges from barbarism, and the ownership 
of the soil is delegated by the chief to individuals, 
it becomes a badge of personal independence, and 
power. The subject, who from time immemo¬ 
rial has been a vassal, and serf—an attache of the 
soil—becomes now the owner and disposer of the 
soil. The fields that have so long yielded their 
reluctant fruits and grains, mainly for anothers 
comfort and luxury, while the toil and Sweat 
have been his, are now to yield their willing har¬ 
vests for him, and to be a possession to himself, 
and his lieits, forever. The love of the soil be¬ 
comes intensified by one of the strongest instincts 
of human nature. Ownership therein is the badge 
of personal freedom and power. It is but a step 
from this sentiment to the idea that the soil is the 
measure of that freedom, and of course the more 
land a man owns, the greater and richer he is. 
Then, in this country at least, land is more 
readily procured by the poor, than almost any other 
species of property. It can be had to almost any 
extent, on credit. If a house is sold thus, it may 
burn down the day after sale, and the seller lose 
the capital invested in it, by the inability of the 
purchaser to meet his notes. If money is lent, 
the death of the borrower may deprive the lend¬ 
er of his security. But where land is sold, a 
mortgage secures the capitalist. He has the fair 
prospect of an increase in the value of his secur¬ 
ity, from year to year, by the labors of the pur¬ 
chaser, who has the strong motive of ownership 
to make him do his best for the soil. 
The motive of vanity, also has something to do 
with this passion for land. A man may own bank 
stock, or invest in notes of hand, and make very 
little show of his wealth. But land has breadth 
of surface. It lies open to the sunlight, and sus¬ 
tains lofty trees, and other natural objects, court¬ 
ing observation. It may be greatly adorned, 
and attract the gaze of all passers by. It is a 
means ot measuring personal importance by the 
acre, eagerly grasped by multitudes who have 
no other claim to the consideration of their fel¬ 
lows. This motive is particularly strong in the 
Anglo Saxon race,who are much more ready to pay 
taxes on double the amount of their personal and 
real estate, than to lie under the imputation of 
being worth a dollar less than their real value. 
John Bull and Jonathan both luxuriate in the 
reputation of riches, love to hear the ring of the 
metal in their breeches pocket, and point to the 
broad acres, that herald their achievements. 
They are more or less “ punkins ” themselves, 
in their own esteem, as they can point to their 
fields where pumpkins grow. 
The ownership of the soil, always furnishes re¬ 
munerative employment. The laborer is no long¬ 
er dependent upon others for the means of sub¬ 
sistence. The industrious mechanic, or laborer, 
may not always find work, and may be reduced 
to great straits because the market is over stock¬ 
ed with the only commodity he has to sell—his 
labor. But he who owns an acre of land, has the 
sure prospect of bread for his labor before him. 
His destiny and temporal comfort are put in his 
own hands, and he may call no man master. This 
makes the industrious poor especially eager in 
their desire to possess the soil. 
Then there is a passion inborn with us all, to 
have a permanent home, which is temporarily 
gratified by ownership in the soil. The man who 
purchases a farm, even though it be mainly on 
credit, may look forward with confidence, to un¬ 
disturbed possession for some years. The seller 
will, ordinarily, be quiet so long as the interest 
money is paid, and this is generally done without 
extraordinary exertions. Here life will flow on 
as smoothly and securely, as if he owned, free 
from incumberance, the soil that he tills. 
The fancied security of this kind of property, 
also, makes it a favorite form of investment. The 
business man in the city, worth his hundreds of 
thousands, loves to have his solid bit of 
soil, worth but a few thousands perhaps, 
put beyond the contingencies of trade. If 
business fails, the land will not, and bread, 
at least, may be conjured from its bosom, 
when all other resources dry up. “ The land will 
not run away,” is a proverb of rural life, reflect¬ 
ing somewhat severely upon other kinds of in¬ 
vestment. Literally this may be true, but in 
many cases, the land depreciates in value, in a 
few years, from twenty-five to fifty per cent, so 
that the proverb must be taken with several 
grains of allowance. 
All these causes are operating more or less 
powerfully to lead men to the purchase of land. 
Some buy for show, some for fear of future want, 
some for present security, while only a few pur¬ 
chase to subdue and cultivate. “Only so much land 
as we can till and make better,” is the true mot¬ 
to for every farmer. All beyond this is a nui¬ 
sance, that calls for abatement. 
-———— - 
Michigan—Advantages for New Settlers. 
We give below a communication from the 
Michigan State Commissioner of Emigration, in 
regard to the special advantages offered by that 
State to those from the East, or from Europe, 
who contemplate locating at the West. It will of 
course be understood that these statements can 
not be wholly unprejudiced. Mr. Diebenbeck, is 
specially appointed to look after the interests of 
the State, and he would fail to perform his duty 
if he did not make every honorable effort to pro¬ 
mote those interests. We hesitated at first to 
publish his communication, deeming it more 
appropriate to the advertising columns, for Mich¬ 
igan is the recipient of lands from the general 
Government, which she is desirous of selling; 
and, like a private owner, the State should ad¬ 
vertise them. Still, it may interest our readers 
to learn something of what is now doing in a 
State to which, at the time many of us were boys, 
all eyes were turned as the most inviting farming 
region in all the west. A large section of the 
northern part of Michigan is as yet an unbroken 
wilderness, and doubtless there are many as good 
localities there, as can be found in a similar lati¬ 
tude a thousand miles further west, whither one 
branch of the tide of emigration has flowed with¬ 
in the last few years. But no person intending 
to locate himself and family in any new home 
should fix his permanent residence until he has 
gone over the ground, and for himself examined 
its advantages and disadvantages. But let us 
hear what is claimed for Michigan. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist : 
The surveys preliminary to the construction of 
several great State Roads up through the northern 
parts of Michigan, have added much to what was 
before known of the natural features and resources 
of this State. Previous to these surveys, large 
portions of the northern section of the State had 
never been explored. The reports given by the 
several Commissioners under whose supervision 
the work has been done, are calculated to increase 
the favorable opinions heretofore entertained con¬ 
cerning both Peninsulas. That part of the Lower 
Peninsula through which these roads run, is fully 
equal to any other section of the State in natural 
beauty and fertility of soil, and the Upper Penin¬ 
sula is in no way inferior. The establishment of 
Public Roads in these sections, under the super¬ 
vision of the Executive of the State, will do much 
to induce the immediate settlement of the con¬ 
tiguous country, and thus the present wilderness 
will be converted into flourishing farms. 
Those in the East, who purpose to change their 
homes, should not overlook the natural advan¬ 
tages of Michigan, nor the liberal offer made to 
settlers upon these new lands by the recent acts 
of the State Legislature. In addition to the build¬ 
ing of the Roads above referred to, an offer is 
made to every actual settler of a donation of 40 
acres of land and a “ pre-emption right ” to anoth¬ 
er section, which is a more liberal inducement 
than is held out by any other State in the Union. 
It can hardly be doubted by an unprejudiced per¬ 
son who is acquainted with the several north¬ 
western States, that none of them possess natur¬ 
al advantages equal to those of Michigan. Their 
immense prairies may be more easily cultivated 
than her forest lands, but she is superior in other 
respects. Crops are more certain there than on 
the prairies, being much less liable to be destroy¬ 
ed by Spring rains. The want of water and tim¬ 
ber is severely felt in large portions of the Prai¬ 
rie States ; the cost of fencing a prairie farm is 
almost as much as that of clearing a Michigan 
farm, and taking into account the increased cost 
of fuel and building materials, the forest lands are 
deeidedly superior. These forests also shelter 
the farms from the sweeping blasts to which an 
open country is exposed. Again, Michigan is 
traversed in every direction by streams, and dot¬ 
ted all over with never failing springs, so that no 
farm of over forty acres can be found that is not 
well watered[1] The lakes and rivers abound in 
fish, of fine varieties, and there are hundreds of 
thousands of acres lying within a few miles of the 
water, yet open to settlers. There are most val¬ 
uable mineral deposits in both Peninsulas. At 
East Saginaw, a new salt company is now in 
operation, and careful geological survey leaves 
little doubt that the Saginaw Valley is the center 
of a great salt basin extending ten or fifteen miles 
each way. Salt is also manufactured at Grand 
Rapids, Kent County. 
The coal fields cover at least one third of the 
Lower Peninsula. The mines near Jackson, on 
the Michigan Central Railroad, already in opera¬ 
tion, are very productive and of excellent quality. 
On the Shiawassee River, a shaft sunk twenty- 
eight feet, passed through one vein eighteen inch¬ 
es, and terminated in a vein six feet in thickness. 
The quality is said to be equal to the best “ Briar 
Hill.” Coal has also been found on the Cass and 
Flint Rivers. Professor Challis, an experienced 
geologist, found on the Cass River, large deposits 
of excellent quality of Cannel coal. He also dis¬ 
covered a fine vein of iron ore on Flint River, 
which will well pay for working. Some of the 
specimens contained 70 per cent of pure iron. 
Good specimens were also obtained by him on 
Cass River, and from the shore of Ottaway Bay. 
On this bay he found large deposits of Plaster, 
very fine and white. There is also on the shore 
of the Bay, lead ore of great purity. 
The above shows some of the inducements 
for emigration to Michigan, and is perhaps 
of interest sufficient to secure it space in your 
columns, R. Diebenbeck, 
Commissioner of Emigration for Michigan. 
