THE CULTIVATOR 
37 
TO WESTERN EMIGRANTS. 
Messrs. Eds. of the Cultivator —Everything 
connected with the subject of emigration to the west, 
has become interesting to a vast number of your eastern 
readers. Enquiries have become so numerous that I 
propose to answer publicly, the following questions, 
which, with a great many others have been made to me, 
and which I now select from a file of letters, a good deal 
bigger than “ a piece of chalk.” 
I select promiscuously as they come up: 
1st. “What is the price of land; can any be bought 
at government price?” The price of government land 
is $1,25, payable in specie or treasury notes, at the Land 
Office in the District where the land lies—a District is 
from 50 to 80 miles square. The purchaser receives a 
certificate of purchase, and afterwards obtains a patent 
from the President. In this section of the state, there is 
much prairie land now subject to entry, and some tim¬ 
ber land, though the best timber is generally taken up, 
and is held from $2 to $10 an acre. 
Many tracts of improved land can now be bought for 
less money than the cost of making the improvements; 
because men are in debt and cannot pay without selling 
their farms. 
“ Please give me some of the prices of stock?” 
Cash prices are low; Horses, $40 to $90; six yr. old 
Oxen, $35 to $50; four yr. old, $25 to $35 a yoke; 
three yr. old Steers, $6 to $10, each; two yr. old, $5 to 
$7; one yr. old, $3 to $5; Calves, $1,25 to $2; Cows, 
$6 to $10; Sheep, common, $1,25 to $1,75; Hogs, Land- 
pike variety, are so cheap that stealing them is no lon¬ 
ger petit larceny; Hogs, Berkshire, and other improved 
breeds, “ just as you can light of chaps,” at prices to 
correspond with the present price of pork, which is 
from $1 to $1,75 pr. cwt.; Turkeys, 20c. each; Hens 
cannot be sold by the single one, for we are a centless 
people, and have no silver coin small enough to express 
the value. 
“What is the price of a variety of farming imple¬ 
ments?” 
Never heard of anybody in this new world having a 
variety, unless he borrowed them. Can’t answer that 
question. I guess they are about 50 pr. ct. dearer than 
at Albany—except Plows. Some excellent ones are 
made at Chicago and Michigan City, and other places in 
this region, nearly as cheap as at the east. 
Would it be advisable to bring household goods and 
kitchen utensils along with us?” 
Yes, those that are actually necessary—that is if your 
route is mostly by water. But you had better bring a 
wagon, plow, harrow, cultivator, drill or wheel barrow, 
than a side-board, bureau, bedstead or chairs; but above 
all things, don’t bring the piano; swap it off for a spin¬ 
ning-wheel. We are fond of music, but we want the 
right kind in the right place. In the winter, a string of 
sleigh bells, and in the summer, a dinner horn; and I 
have noticed that a piano in a farmer’s house, always 
effects his daughter’s lungs, so that she cannot call her 
father to dinner with that good old fashioned musical 
instrument. 
Beds and bedding, and abundance of woolen clothing, 
iron-ware, a small lot of crockery, well packed, tin¬ 
ware, particularly the milk pans, as this is “ a powerful” 
country for milk, and table furniture, and all the “small 
fixings” about a house, may be brought by the emigrant 
to advantage. Don’t bring lumber, nor pay freight up¬ 
on articles that you will not immediately want in your 
new house. 
“ Would it be desirable to bring grains for seed, and 
what kind?” 
Yes. It is always desirable by way of change and 
for experiment in a new place. Bring a small lot of 
every thing that grows for the good of man; and if you 
don’t want them yourself, give to your new neighbors; 
it will show a good trait of character, and they will re¬ 
pay you for your liberality, ten fold. 
“ Is it generally healthy?” 
This is the most important of all questions. I answer 
that I do sincerely think the prairie country, generally, 
is a very healthy one; yet all new countries are subject 
to fever and ague, and portions of the west, particular¬ 
ly near large streams, have been severely afflicted. 
Where I live myself, it is high rolling prairie, and 
groves, clayey soil, and pure well water, and is deci¬ 
dedly healthy. I believe that all similar situations are 
equally so. 
“Can the dairy be made profitable?” 
_ I will give the data for each one to answer this ques¬ 
tion according to his own notion of “ cyphering.” 
The price of Cows, I have given. Cost of summer 
feed nothing but salt. The winter feed will be fully 
paid by the calf. The price of keeping being only 
$1,50. The prairie grass produces the best of milk, for 
butter and cheese. The average price of the former, I 
think, is about 7c. and The latter 4c. Upon this data, 
can the dairy business be made profitable, I think, is ea¬ 
sily answered in the affirmative. 
“ What would be the expense of transportation of a 
horse team on the lakes, or traveling expense by land?” 
The passage of a horse from Buffalo to Chicago, is 
the same as a cabin passenger. Last season, $18. The 
expense by land for a pair of horses with a moderate 
load, I think, will average three cents a mile. 
“Is the land stony, if so, what kind of stone?” 
No, not generally. There are scattered boulders of 
granite all over the prairies, and some parts of Illinois, 
for instance at Juliet, 40 miles west of this, the land is 
underlaid with limestone. 
“ What kind of wood is most prevalent?” 
Oak of various kinds; next hickory. In some places 
beech, poplar, ash, walnut, sugar maple, &c. &c. abound. 
“ What is the price of a good farm wagon?” $60 to 
$ 100 . 
“Of harness?” Common double harness, without 
breeching, $16 to $20. The coimtry is so generally le¬ 
vel, breeching is but little used. 
“ Can good prairie lots be got, and wood handy?” 
* Yes. There is as good prairie as any man need ask 
for, now lying in sight of my window as I write, sub¬ 
ject to entry at $1,25, and good oak timber within two 
miles, for $5 an acre. 
“Are good common school teachers, in good demand, 
and at what price?” 
Now, if the word “ good” governs teachers, I can’t 
tell. The article is seldom found in this market. If 
the word “common” governs teachers, I would answer 
that they are tolerably plenty, and common enough in 
all conscience. The price, $10 to $20 a month. 
I think that the west is in need of an importation of 
good teachers of com^pon schools. If they did not meet 
with good encouragement, it would show an uncommon 
degree of inattention to the best and only means of im¬ 
proving our condition as a civilized, moral people. 
“ Can 1 better my condition by removing to the west? 
I am blood and bone a farmer. Myself and wife are 43 
years of age. W^e have two boys, 18 and 20; two girls, 
14 and 16; two boys, 9 and 11, and two girls, 2 and 6; 
and we wish to settle where we can keep the family near 
together. I have a good horse team; good farming 
tools and dairy utensils, and some good stock, and but 
very little money?” 
Yes; you are particularly well calculated to make a 
first rate “blood and bone” western emigrant. No 
matter if you have no money, you can rent land very 
low, and will soon be in a condition to let land instead 
of hiring it. I say come on, you and all that are under 
just such circumstances, particularly if those boys and 
girls are “ blood and bone” farmer’s sons and daughters. 
“Where is “ Lake C. H.?” as I cannot find it on any 
map.” 
It is to be found on Colton’s map of Indiana. It is 
the county seat of Lake county, Indiana, the North 
Western county of the State, and embraces the head of 
Lake Michigan. 
“ I suppose the prairies are generally level and the 
land inclined to wet. Of course the streams are slug¬ 
gish?” 
I suppose no such thing, and of course you are great¬ 
ly mistaken in each and all of your suppositions. The 
land is generally gently undulating; sometimes hilly and 
not inclined to wet, and the streams afford an abundance 
of excellent mill sites. 
“Have you any stone coal?” 
Not in this part of the State. The nearest is on the 
Illinois river, 50 or 60 miles west. 
“What kind of people, that is where from, is your 
section of country settled with?” 
Mostly from the eastern states; some Canadians; a 
good many of the best class of Germans, and a few Eng¬ 
lish and Irish. 
“ What is the condition of the country as to morals 
and religion?” 
Well, now that’s a poser. You forget that it is contra¬ 
ry to the generally received opinion at the east, that ei¬ 
ther exist at the west. I will allow that some of us are 
no better than we should be, for we have taken the be¬ 
nefit of the Bankrupt act, and cheated our eastern credi¬ 
tors a little, but we shall pay up, (when Clay is elected 
President) and we do sometimes send you a little spring 
wheat mixed with winter wheat; but we imagine that 
you don’t know the difference, and ought to be thankful 
that we don’t mix buckwheat. But we always pay our 
debts, (public ones excepted,) when we can’t help it, 
and we don’t get trusted, where we’ve no credit. Upon 
the whole, we are a moral people, and if we are not a 
religious one, it is not because we don’t pretend to be. 
“ Does your country abound in fish and game?” 
I am sorry to say it does; because where it is abundant 
there is always a class of inhabitants that are too lazy to 
work, who perform twice as much labor in treeing a 
coon in a hollow stump, or following a tad pole through 
a swamp, under the idea of catching a fish, as they 
would in earning a good living off the land, instead of 
letting their families suffer for food, while they are 
eternally “out hunting.” 
In all my hunting and fishing, the greatest game I 
ever caught was the fever and ague, which if I had kept 
on dry ground, would never made game of me. 
If you ask the question, with an idea of coming here 
to follow it as a business, I beg you will stay away. 
For occasional recreation, I have no objection, and 
the opportunity for that is good here. Deer, geese, 
ducks, prairie hens (grouse) and some other kinds are 
abundant; fish of tne best quality, and some very large 
size, abound in lakes and streams. 
Now, here comes a questioner that I am tempted to in¬ 
troduce in his own language. He writes from Delaware; 
cc *********** j therefore want to know something of 
your section of country, and the west generally. I wish 
to move to the west if I could be satisfied that I could 
make a living for myself and family, easier than I can 
here, or with a better prospect for tlie future. Herea¬ 
bouts, the “skinning system” has been going on so long, 
that our farms are pretty much in the same situation you 
say in your traveling memorandum, that the land is near 
Washington City—to improve it, would cost more than 
it would come to, and although we manage by skinning 
the land, to keep our own skins full, it is not so with 
our stock, for in the spring they often bear a close re¬ 
semblance to some of Kit Cornhill’s wooly breed of 
horses. Now, can a poor man, in the prime of life, 
with a healthy wife and children, all inured to labor, 
make a living in your country, and where would be the 
best place for him to settle?” 
I think I have already answered the first part of this 
question, but I repeat that he can more than “ make a liv ¬ 
ing.” There is an Irishman in my neighborhood, who 
last year an abundance of vegetables,and much more raised 
wheat than he needed for his family, almost entirely with 
the spade. The “ best place to settle” for a poor man, 
is in any good healthy neighborhood of prairie farms— 
plenty of such locations in North Indiana and Illinois. 
“ How many bushels of corn, wheat, oats, &c., can 
two hands and two horses make in a season, doing other 
necessary work on the farm?” 
That’s more than I can tell—don’t think the experi¬ 
ment was ever tried in this or any other country where 
the means of subsistence are so easily procured; particu¬ 
larly when the natural indolence of mankind predomi¬ 
nates over the artificial habit of industry. Let every 
man answer for himself, how much he can raise in a 
rich, loose, mellow soil. Let no man say how much he 
will do. 
“What is the average price of grain?” 
That question is more feasible. I think in the Chi¬ 
cago market, for the last two or three years, the follow¬ 
ing is a fair average:—Wheat 60c., Corn 21c., Oats 19c., 
Timothy seed 1.50., Flaxseed 87^0., White beans 56c., 
Peas 62ic., Barley 37^0., Potatoes l2ic.. Onions 37|c. 
“ Is your land clay, sand, or black loam?” 
Each and all in different places, sometimes on the same 
farm. The latter is the most prevalent. 
“ I wish you to state the advantages and disadvantages 
of your country?” 
I have already stated many of the advantages and per¬ 
haps shall some more, as other questions arise. One of 
the disadvantages you may see in a late communication 
of mine, of a settler who froze to death while crossing a 
large prairie on a trip to mill. You will also find many 
other disadvantages that emigrants have to encounter in 
settling a new country, detailed in my former articles of 
advice to emigrants. 
But the greatest disadvantage of all, is the extreme 
fertility of the soil. And if you have energy of charac¬ 
ter enough to overcome this, you will overcome all oth¬ 
ers, and find more advantages than disadvantages. But 
don’t forget, that in all countries, the ease of procuring 
subsistence is apt to beget indolence. This is the great 
and almost only danger in the west. 
“ What is the wages of farm laborers and carpenters?” 
Average $10 a month; 50c. a day. Carpenters $1 a 
day. 
“ Is it necessary to clear up your wood land of under 
growth for pasture?” 
In some groves when the country is first settled, there 
is little or no under growth; but by keeping out the fires, 
it soon springs up very thick, so that it would be neces¬ 
sary to grub out the under growth. Generally speaking, 
however, the growth of timber should be constantly and 
carefully promoted, and then in fifty years there would 
be more timber in the prairie region than now. 
“ Is your county well watered?” “ Can you get wells 
easy?” 
Yes, to both questions. Where I live, wells are from 
15 to 60 feet. The first 5 easily spaded, then a very hard 
compact bed of clay to within 10 or 12 feet of the bot¬ 
tom, then fine beach sand. Stock water is obtained in 
creeks, ponds and springs; but as the country becomes 
thickly settled, a great many farms will have to form 
basips in the clay after the manner much practiced in 
Kentucky, or obtain stock water from wells. The wa¬ 
ter in wells is pure, that is, clear, and very durable. It 
is generally what is termed hard. 
Throughout neaidy all the prairie region, good water 
is easily obtained by digging; 90 feet is the greatest 
depth I know of. 
“Which is the best time of year to emigrate?” 
If your route lies by way of the lakes, start from the 
eastern states in May, June, July, August or September, 
not later. You should arrive at your destination before 
November, at all events. May and June, are undoubt¬ 
edly the best months for traveling. In moving, emi¬ 
grants often suffer great exposure, which they notice but 
little at the time, but which sows the seeds of fever and 
ague, which comes upon them in their new home, and 
makes them discontented with the country, and some¬ 
times drives them back whence they came, when a little 
more care, prudence and foresight, would have saved a 
world of misery. 
At whatever period you move, be careful of the health 
of your family. Above all things keep your temper, and 
you will be likely to keep your health. Don’t be in too 
much of a hurry, and be sure to get ready before you 
start. That is “ the best time to emigrate.” 
“ If I should purehase an entire new tract, what would 
be the probable expense of a comfortable dwelling and 
barn, and other preparations for cultivating.” 
The first breaking up of the prairie is generally count¬ 
ed in the cost of preparation; that is $1.50 an acre; 
rails, one cent each; count 16 or 18 to every rod, and 
calculate the expense of any sized lot you wish. A com¬ 
fortable log cabin with two rooms, can be built for $50. 
A frame house IJ stories high, 20 by 30 feet, from $250 
to $300. A log barn, 18 by 40, $40. Of course there 
are several other items of expense that I cannot give 
exactly here, such as a well, cellar, garden fence, yards, 
sheds, &c. &c. that cost labor and not money. 
And just so with this article. It will only cost you the 
