I-.   T            - A Ad    ASI,
AND
Ia-dT T HE   -TO FN iD  O'iR'.
SHOWING THAI
HOMESTEADS MAY BE HAD BY THOSE DE       SIROUS OF SECURING THEM:
WITH
THE PUBLIC LAW ON THE SUBJECT OF FREE HOMES,
AND SUGGESTIONS FROM PRACTICAL FARMERS;
TOGETHER WITH
3OUS SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS, WHO, THOUGH
BEFGI G WITH MLITTLE OR NOTHING, HAVE BE
COME THE OWNERS OF AMPLE FARMS.
BY THE AUTHOR OF
"TEN ACRES ENOUGH."
PUBLISHED BY JAMES MILLER,
(BUCCESSOP. TO O.. FRANCIS & CO.)
522 BROADWAY. 
1864. 
;,, Ql
,r, r ba LJo r h: 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864,
BY JAMES MILLER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Southern District of New York.
RENNIE, SHEA & LINDSAY,
SThKROTYPERS AND ELECTROTYPERS
81, 83 & 85 Centre-street,
N.W YoRK.
ANDRpsON At RAMSAY,
vrfnters,
28 rankfort Street, X. Y. 
PREFACE.
TiEE rich man needs no such work as this. His
ample purse will enable him to purchase land whereever his fancy may lead, paying for other men's improvements, and lavishly expending his means on
new ones. Hle has his idols in common with the
poor man.  The first thought of the former is to improve and embellish; that of the latter is simply to
acquire.
The now wealthy man was at one time actuated
by a similar impulse.  Henceforth his ambition is
to spend. As the poor are always with us, there is
a constantly existing crowd whose aspirations are
identical with those which he once entertained.
Many of them are equally deserving with their
successful predecessors. Many of them have no
thought of achieving fortune by commerce, trade,
or manufactures, or the national vice of office-seeking. Their attention is directed exclusively to agriculture, and the acquisition of land. They have
either been brought up as farmers, or a passion has
been born with them to become such, or disappoint
4 - 0 
PREFACE.
ment elsewhere has turned their thoughts in the
same direction.
In all these cases, they are aiming for a common
goal-the securing of a farm. Multitudes succeed
in their object, while other multitudes fail-some
from ignorance, some from incurable incapacity,
others from misdirection. The man who digs for
gold at random will invariably become poor, while
he to whom the precise spot has been pointed out
wherein the precious deposit lies concealed, will,
with a fraction of the same industry, become rich.
To be successful in any thing, effort must be directed
by intelligence. Fortunes may be stumbled on occasionally, but stumbling will be found to be a very
precarious dependence.
So far as misdirection may be a cause of failure,
it can to some extent be avoided. My object is to
show how such result may be prevented, by suggesting practical methods for insuring success-sonme
original, some derived from the ripe experience of
others. I write with no reference to mere land
speculation, such as induces men to purchase to-day
for the sole object of selling at a higher price tomorrow, the new buyer selling a week later to a
still newer one, while neither has, in the interval,
expended a dollar in improvements. I treat almost
exclusively of gradual increase of value, and only incidentally of sudden enhancement. Incidents of
4 
PREFACE.
the latter do occur without the owner's having ever
contemplated them. While not to be disregarded
as incidentals, they are not adopted as primaries.
My effort has been to group together in the following pages some of the many remarkable openings
for agricultural enterprise which exist in our country.
Wherever we turn they are to be found. The great
West has long abounded with them, and the South
will soon be equally prolific. The Middle States,
New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, contain thousands of these openings, where cheap lands within
reach of cash markets have long been waiting for
purchasers. But they have remained comparatively
unknown to the agricultural public. The owners
have not prized them as they deserved to be, and
the speculators have overlooked them.  The great
West has carried off the honors as well as the population.
It is believed that an acceptable service will be
rendered to inquirers, by bringing together, in a
single compact view. a description of these several
classes of openings.   By thus having them in a
hand-book, they can be readily and conveniently examinled. Each inquirer can read and determine for
himself. The variety may be pronounced confusing.
No other country offers a tithe of the inducements
that are held out to all classes in this. Wherever a
man may incline to settle, there some eligible open
5 
PREFACE.
ing will be found to exist, no matter whether he contemplates engaging in agriculture or not. In endeavoring to show all how to get a farm, it was
important to inform them where it might be had.
On both points they will here find abundant information;-the action must be taken by themselves.
An effort has been made to draw attention to
the great but unappreciated value of the numerous
tracts of swamp-lands which are to be found among
the centres of population in all the older States.
The subject might have been further elaborated by
suggesting the application of organized capital to
this enterprise on a large scale. It has been thus
organized and applied in Europe; but our country
is probably too young, and land too abundant, for
an extensive undertaking of that character to be entertained.
Particular reference has been made to the vast
quantities of cheap lands for sale in the three States
of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. The information touching these lands and their productions, has been derived, in some instances, from correspondents on the spot. In others, as in Delaware
and New Jersey, my account is mainly from personal inspection. I could reach them conveniently,
and had the fullest opportunity for making a very
thorough examination. I conversed with many per
6 
PREFACE.
sons who had settled there from other States, saw
their improvements, as well as their crops, and received candid replies to all inquiries as to how they
liked their new locations, and how they were succeeding. The facts thus acquired are reported without suppression or exaggeration.
I have travelled over most of the Illinois Central
Railroad, and seen the astonishing improvements to
which that great enterprise has given birth. Europeans, in common with Americans, are familiar with
the wonderfully liberal terms on which the Company are offering their fertile lands to actual settlers.
They have made thousands of industrious families
the possessors of noble homes, and will enable other
thousands to become equally independent. I have
given a connected history of the Company's lands,
with some items of information heretofore unpublished, which will be useful both to foreign and
domestic readers.
It is known that foreigners are now seeking this
country in larger numbers than for several years
past. This coming stream of immigration promises
to expand into greater volume than ever. Multitudes of these are ignorant of our true condition,
and need correct information. The majority are in
search of land. Even our own citizens are deplorably ignorant of where to find the most eligible, and
how to secure it. The facts contained in these
7 
PREFACE.
pages have been collated with especial reference to
the wants of both these classes of inquirers.
Some pages, not mentioned as quotations from
other writers, may be recognized by the reader as
having already appeared in the columns of different
newspapers. All such were written by myself.
Where the labors of others in the same field of
inquiry have been used, the proper acknowledgment has been made.
8 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Poverty no Hindrance-Government Lands-Free Farms
The Homestead Law-Its Friends and Enemies-ettlers
in Wisconsin —Germans in the Union-Immigration-A
Southern Homestead Law-Continued Grants of Public
Land.............................................. 13
CHAPTER II.
Number of Free Farms-Population, Present and Future- 
Increase of Public Wealth-Past and Future Immigra tion-Gold Mines-Farms-Enough for All............. 32
CHAPTER III.
What makes Land valuable-Prices balancing each other How poor Men pay for high-priced Farms-A practical I1 lustration-A Farm for the Right Man.................
CHAPTER IV.
52
More Opinions and Experiences-Some Objections-Addi tional Light-Encouraging the Young-A personal His tory-Getting an Illinois Farm-One  Example-Good
Suggestions-Buying and going in Debt-Value of the
Discussion...........................................
1*
69 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
PAGE
Exhausted Farms always to be had-Thriving Tenants Owners anxious to sell-Bartering Farms-A lucky Begin ner-City Owners-Taking Advice-Where to search Saving a poor Farm-Struggling with limited Means-A
Cry from a Working Man............................. 103
CHAPTER VI.
Wanting the Bes-The Poorer Lands first Cultivated, then
the Richer OnesValue of SwampsHistory of three of
them-Cranberry Swamps of New Jersey-Power of Ex ampl-The Mississippi Swamp Interest-Wealth follow ing Reclamation-Public Loans to aid Drainage-John
Johnston, the Great American Tile Drainer............. 119
CHAPTER VII.
Getting the first Thousand Dollars-How to save-Man
wants but little here below-Actual Cost of Food-Great
Successc  A Dime a Day............................. 163
CHAPTER VIII.
The Long Island Barrens-Their Condition, Price, and
Crops.............................................. 190
CHAPTER IX.
The neglected Lands of Delaware-Repeopling the Slave
Region-Condition, Soil, and Products-Crops and Lum ber-Farms for Sale, and Prices-RailroadsMaryland
Farms............................................. 205
10
.1 
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
PAGE
Wild Lands of New Jersey-Opening of the first Railroad Rapid Improvements-New Towns —Hammonton, Egg
Harbor City, Vineland, its history, condition, and future  The neighboring Lands............................... 228
CHAPTER XLI.
The West-Illinois, and the Central Railroad Lands-Cli mate, Soil, and Productions-Vine-growing in Missouri Free Lands in the Territories.......................... 253
CHAPTER XII.
Land in the South-Effect of Civil War on Titles-Progress
and Results of Pacification-Openings in Louisiana, South
Carolina, and Virginia-Great demand for Labor-Cotton  growing-Society after the War....................... 271
CHAPTER XIII.
Many kinds of Farmers-Women managing FarmsVery
Small Ones-Eleven Acres-A Two-acre Farm-The Spade
and the Fork-A Single Acre-Heads better than Hands  Help Yourself......................................... 802
CHAPTER XIV.
Why Land so often changes Owners-Tenures and Estates
in England-Absorption there and here-Results of En glish Husbandry-The real Value of Land-Stick to the
Farm-Scarecrows —W~y Farming is Unprofitable-Go
where most wanted.................................. 318
11 
I 
HOV1 TO GET A FARM,
AND
WHERE TO FIND ONE.
...
CHAPTER I.
Poverty no Hindrance-Government Lands-Free FarmsThe
Homestead Law-Its Friends and Enemies-Settlers in Wis.
consin-Germans in the Union-Immigration-A Southern
Homestead Law-Continued Grants of Public Land.
THE buyer of a commodity seeks to purchase it
at the lowest price; the seller, to dispose of it at the
highest. This is the unvarying law of trade. The
wealthy merchant acts up to it as closely as the
poor man whose whole capital is the shilling on
which he expects to dine and sup. It may be said,
indeed, that it is the successful practice of this rule
that constitutes the difference between the rich and
the poor. It breaks down the barrier between the
two, and elevates the latter to the condition of the
former; for it is an accepted dogma of trade, that a
thing cheaply purchased is already half sold.
Apply it to the acquisition of land. The man
desirous of obtaining a farm seeks to obtain the 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
greatest number of acres for the smallest amount of
money. It is as much the governing principle of
the rich as of the poor. Common sense, sharpened
by long habit, teaches it to the former, but necessity
teaches it to the latter. But it happens that the
poor of this country cannot allege poverty as a bar
to the acquisition of as much land as one man
ought to possess. The vast public domain of the
Union has been thrown open for them to enter in
upon it as a gift. No such munificence has been
displayed by any other government, either ancient
or modern. When the Norman overran and conquered England, the land was partitioned off among
those who assisted in the subjugation; but the mere
poor man received no share because of his poverty.
In our own day, the boundless fields of Australia
and New Zealand are sold, not given away. This
government alone has enunciated the principle that
the poor man who desires to acquire land is entitled
to it without price. It seeks no money compensation, but looks for remuneration to the growth and
prosperity of the nation consequent on the settlement and cultivation of its vast unoccupied domain.
The stranger from a foreign country, though he
neither fought for it nor has been taxed for it, comes
in an equal sharer with the native-born citizen.
Such lands would therefore seem to be cheaper
than all others, and hence the most to be sought
after. Price has no bearing upon them-they are
to be given away. The causes of this unexampled
liberality, the men in whose comprehensive statesmanship it originated, the opposition they encoun
14 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
tered in its advocacy, and the conditions on which
the great boon was finally wrung from its slaveholding enemies, should be fully known and understood.
It will be seen hereafter how immense the public
domain yet is, even after the squandering of millions of acres on speculators and monopolists, which
the last few years have witnessed. What disposition
was to be made of this vast domain, was a question
which long occupied the minds of thoughtful men,
and of all who had the best interests of society at
heart. Like most other questions in this country, it
degenerated ultimately into one of party. It was
clearly seen by one body of citizens that unless some
radical change were made in the law, the public
domain would continue to be the spoil of monopolists and speculators, the inevitable end of which
would be the creation of an odious landed aristocracy. To prevent an evil so dangerous to public
liberty, they determined that the only remedy was
to set it aside for the exclusive use of actual settlers,
in small quantities, giving it to them either at a
nominal price, or as an absolute gift.
The question was all exceedingly simple one, if to
be decided on its own merits. But no sooner had
the free-land policy been enunciated, than the slavepower rose up in opposition. It was a measure in
the interest of freedom, and slavery could not tolerate it.  As the latter had for many years controlled the action of the government, so it was to
override it now. Being itself a huge landed aristocracy, it saw with instant alarm the prospect of a
multitude of small freeholds being established,
15 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
knowing that in such a community an aristocracy
could not exist. It had uniformly been hostile to
pre-emption laws, and all others which tended to
aid the settler in acquiring a small tract of land,
and hence its bitter opposition to the free-soil scheme.
Such settlers would be working men, mostly from
the Free States, who would not only till the soil with
their own hands, but would build school-houses,
establish newspapers, and diffuse education. As no
such community of intelligent toilers was permitted
in the South, so should it be forbidden in the
West.
On the 20th of January, 1859, a bill relating to
pre-emptions being before the House of Representatives, SMr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, moved a section
that no public land should thereafter be exposed to
public sale by the President, unless it had been surveyed for ten or more years before such sale. The
force and effect of this provision would be to give
pre-emptors a start of ten years ahead of the speculators, that is, settlers would have ten years in
which to choose, buy, or locate on the public lands
before they could be sold to the speculators-thus
giving the poor and industrious man abundant time
to clear up his farm and pay for it from the productions of the soil.
The slave-power wanted no such liberty extended
to the poor man. It therefore sought to defeat the
bill; but Mr. Grow's amendment was adopted by a
vote of 98 to 81.
The Republican vote was unanimous in its favor,
and the entire slave-power voted against it, nine
16 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
only excepted. 1ir. Grow's amendment thus became
part of the bill; but when the vote on the bill itself
camne to be taken, 91 Republicans voted for it, while
the whole body of slaveholders, with their Northern
allies, 95 in number, went against it. Only two
members from the Slave States voted for the bill,
Mr. Blair, of Missouri, and Mr. Winter Davis of
Maryland, who represented the free-labor interests
of Baltimore.
In February, the Homestead Bill was voted on in
the House, and was passed by 120 to 76, only three
Southern members voting for it. The bill was killed
in the Senate by smothering it, all but five of the
Southern Senators going against it. It was then
abandoned for the session.  In both Houses of Congress the Republicans had gone solid for it, while
the slaveholders and their allies had so unanimously
opposed it as to insure its defeat.
In 1860, another Hiomestead Bill was introduced
into the House by the Republicans, and was passed
by 115, all from the Free States but one, to 65 against
it, all from the Slave States but one, and he a
Pennsylvanian.   When  this bill went  into the
Senate, it was superseded by a substitute, which the
House subsequently accepted, with slight amendments, the Republicans as usual voting for free
homes, and the slaveholders and their allies opposing
them.  This took place in June.  But Buchanan,
then President, and the feeble and truculent tool of
the slaveholders, vetoed the beneficent enactment,
and once more it fell to the ground.
But undismayed by these reverses, the friends of
i'T 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
the bill persevered in their determination to provide
free homes for the poor; and overcoming all opposition, passed the present law, which Mr. Lincoln,
on the 20th of May, 1862, did not hesitate to sign.
The provisions of this act are as follow:
AN ACT to Secure Homesteads to Actual Settlers on the Public
Domain, and to Provide a Bounty for Soldiers in lieu of grants
of the Public lands.
Be it enacted by the Senate  and House of Representatives
of the United States of America in Congress assembled:
That any person who is the head of a family, or who has
arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of
the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of
intention to become such, as required by the naturalization
laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms
against the United States Government, or given aid and
comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the 1st of
January, 1863, be entitled to enter one quarter section, or
a less quantity, of unappropriated public lands, upon which
said person may have filed a pre-emption claim, or which
may, at the time the application is made, be subject to preemption at $1.25, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less
of such unappropriated lands, at $2.50 per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of
the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed: Provided, That any person owning and residing on
land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land
lying contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not,
with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the
aggregate 100 acres.
SECT'ION 2. And be it further enacted, That the person
applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application
to the Register of the Land-office in which he or she is
is 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said
Register or Receiver that he or she is the head of a family,
or is twenty-one years or more of age, or shall have performed service in the army of the United States, and that
he has never borne arms against the Government of the
United States, or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and
that such application is made for his or her exclusive use
and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of
actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or
indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with
the Register or Receiver, and on payment of $10, he or she
shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land
specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be
given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five
years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration
of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter,
the person making such entry-or if he be dead, his widow;
or, in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or, in case of
a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of
her death-shall prove by two credible witnesses that he,
she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for
the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of
filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that
no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has
borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States;
then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen
of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in
other cases provided for by law:  And  provided further,
That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, or children, under twenty-one years
of age, the right and fee shall enure to the benefit of said
infant child or children; and the executor, administrator,
or guardian may, at any time within two years after the
19 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the
laws of the State in which such children for the time being
have their domicil, sell said land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall
acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled
to a patent from the United States, on payment of the
office fees and sum of money herein specified.
SEc. 3. And be it further enacted, That the Register of
the Land-office shall note all such applications on the tract
books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such
entries, and make return thereof to the General Land-office,
together with the proof upon which they have been
founded.
SEc. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands acquired
under the provisions of this act shall in any event become
liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted
prior to the issuing of the patent therefor.
SEc. 5. And be it further enacted, That if, at any time
after the filing of the affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and before the expiration of the five years
aforesaid, it shall be proven, after due notice to the settler,
to the satisfaction of the Register of the Land-office, that
the person having filed such affidavit shall have actually
changed his or her residence, or abandoned the said land,
or shall have ceased to occupy said land for more than six
months at any time, then and in that event the land so
entered shall revert to the government.
SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That no individual
shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter
section under the provisions of this act; and that the Commissioner of the General Land-office is hereby required to
prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent
with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its
provisions into effect; and that the Registers and Receivers
20 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
of the several land-offices shall be entitled to receive the
same compensation for any lands entered under the provisions of this act that they are now entitled to receive
when the same quality of land is entered with money, onehalf to be paid by the person making the application at
the time of so doing, and the other half on the issue of the
certificate by the person to whom it may be issued; but
this shall not be construed to enlarge the maximum of compensation now prescribed by law for any Register or Receiver: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall
be so construed as to impair or interfere in anv manner
whatever with existing pre-emption rights: And provided,
further, That all persons who may have filed their applications for a pre-emption right prior to the passage of
this act shall be entitled to all privileges of this act. Provided further, That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than 14 days in the
army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunlteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an
actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the
benefits of this act on account of not having attained the
age of 21 years.
SEc. 7. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section
of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act more
effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes
against the United States, and for other purposes," approved
the 3d of March, in the year 1857, shall extend to all oaths,
affirmations, and affidavits, required or authorized by this
act.
SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this
act shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has
availed him or herself of the benefit of. the first section of
this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to
which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of
21 
HOW TO GET A FARMI
land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five
years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government,
as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of
settlement and cultivation as provided by existing laws
granting pre-emption rights.
Hiere is land for almost nothing. A quarter section is a hundred and sixty acres. The whole cost
of obtaining such a farm is the ten dollars to be
paid to the Receiver of the Land-office in which
the farm may be located. On payment of this sum
he enters into immediate possession, and after remaining five years upon it, hlie receives a patent
from the government, which is equivalent to a deed
in fee.
It may be supposed that this cheap way of getting
a farm would occasion an instantaneous rush from
East to West, to secure locations on the public domain, as well as an enormous influx of European
immigrants.   The act did not go into effect until
January 1, 1863; yet, within four months from that
date, notwithstanding the troubled state of the country, more than a million of acres were taken up
under its provisions, and, by the close of September,
this amount was increased to nearly a million and
a half. But the great bulk of enterprising and adventurous Americans have either been drawn into
the army or been too much occupied at home by
the pressure of business forced upon them by the
brisk demand for manufactures,. occasioned by the
war, to undertake the founding of a new home in
the West. Neither of these classes has been at full
22 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
liberty to embrace the provisions of this beneficent
act. Neither, until very recently, have Europeans
been well enough informed of our actual condition
during the rebellion, to feel themselves safe in venturing among us, even for the purpose of securing
the magnificent gift which Government holds out
for their acceptance.
They have been led by rebel emissaries to believe
our whole Northern and Western country to be the
scene of battle, with desolation everywhere, and
safety nowhere. The same dishonest agencies have
been employed in leading them to believe that foreigners were conscripted at the moment of their
landing among us. As men avoid rather than seek
tumult, so, from these causes, the foreigner has been
content to remain at home. But when the country
shall have become entirely at peace, and when the
provisions of the Homestead Law shall be thoroughly
known in Europe, we may look with confidence for a
revival of the vast stream of immigration which, a
few years since, was seen pouring into our country.
What this influx has already done for us may be
learned by looking at the single State of Wisconsin.
The Legislature of that State found it necessary, in
1864, to order the Governor's message to be printed
in eight different languages-English, German, Norwegian, Irish, Welsh, Holland, French, and Bohemian.   "The North American" remarks, on this
singular spectacle, that, in Wisconsin, " the old vigorous Teutonic stock is thus largely represented.
The sons of the Jarls and Vikings; the descendants
of Eric and Hengist; the riders of the sea, and for
23 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
many generations its rulers-a brave, thrifty, intelligent, and economical people-are building up the
Northwest with a rapidity which is most wonderful,
and with a strength of basis which cannot be toppled
over. They have contributed nobly to the nation
in putting down the rebellion. They will contribute
even more largely to its future welfare. They draw
to them, by the irresistible magnetism of prosperity
and happiness, hundreds of thousands who enjoy
little of either at home; they assimilate readily with
our interests and institutions.  Let them continue to
come. No long period will elapse, nor many generations pass to the great majority, before they will
be bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh-wedded
into our great unity: an element of new strength, a
means of more lasting national coherence and vigor.
They are of the pillars which support the power of
the present and give promise to the future."
It wax the cheap Government lands which drew
to us all this mixed population of Wisconsin, as well
as the overshadowing immigration from Germany.
The still cheaper lands that can now be secured, will
bring them hither in even greater numbers. The
census of 1860 shows how powerful has been the
attraction of cheap farms. The percentage of native Germans in this country at that period was as
follows:
Wisconsin...........15.97 California.......... 7.10
Indiana.............14.94 New York........... 6.61
Minnesota.......... 10.59 Maryland............ 6.39
Illinois.............. 7.65 Iowa................ 5.71
Missouri.......... 7.50 Michigan............ 5.18
Ohio................ 7.19 New Jersey.......... 5.03
24 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Pennsylvania........  4.74 Rhode Island........ 0.47
District Columbia.... 4 33 South Carolina....... 0.38
Kansas.............. 4.03 Tennessee........... 0.35
Louisiana.......... 3.48 Florida............. 0.34
Texas............... 3.40 1   Alabama............ 0.27
Kentucky........... 2 36 Arkansas............ 0.26
Oregon.........  2.06 Mississippi......... 0.25
The Territories...... 1.86 Georgia........... 0.23
Connecticut......... 1.85 New Hampshire.....0 13
Delaware........... 1.13 North Carolina.....0.08
Massachusetts....... 0.81 Vermont............ 0.07
Virginia............ 0.66 Maine.............. 0.06
The total foreign-born population of the Union
was 4,136,175, or 13.15 per cent. of the aggregate
population. The English formed 1.37 per cent., the
Irish 5.12, the Germans 4.14. The number of the
natives of Germany was 1,301,136.  The number of
Germans (including their children born in this country) was four millions.
When this volume was ready for the press, the
settlement of the public lands, under the provisions
of the Hiomestead Law, was rapidly increasing.
Some portions of Europe had already been made
acquainted with our true condition, by means of intelligent agenits sent there to circulate facts and informIationl; while the subsequent movement in Congress in aid of immigration, attracted general attention abroad. Early in 1864, England and Ireland
began to throw off their swarms of adventurers.
IJ  April, the American Consul at Liverpool wrote
to Mr. Seward, as follows:
"Emigration may be said never to have been so active
as it is now.  It is quite unprecedented.. For the past two
months all the emigrant vessels from Liverpool to the States,
both with steam and sails, have taken emigrants to their
25 
I]OW TO GET A FARM-,
utmost capacity. At the present time there are not half
enough ships to carry those who want to go. I called this
morning on two or three of the leading shipping houses to
ascertain the true state of the business, and will briefly detail what I learned.   Inman's  steamers-the Liverpool,
New York, and Philadelphia line-told me that every passage on all their steamers up to the 18th of May next, is
now engaged, and one-half of those of the steamers to sail
after this period up to the 1st of June. Guion & Co., and
C. Grimshaw & Co., two other large houses, told me that
all the passages on their respective vessels to sail between
now and the 1st day of June next, are already taken, and
that they are turning off people every day for want of accommodations; that they are so pressed that they do not
know what to do. They have not half vessels enough, and
cannot procure them to carry the passengers that want to go.
What they say will apply with equal force to all the other
shippers at this port. A large proportion of the emigrants
have had their passage paid in the States. These have a
preference.  They have raised the price of their tickets for
passage, within the last few weeks, at least a third higher than
they were. All the vessels sailing are filled with passengers,
and the only way emigration can now be increased, so far as
England and Ireland are concerned, is to increase the means
of transportation. One of the houses told me this morning
that they could send out fifty thousand emigrants in two
months if they had the ships to carry them."
Here, then, is one way to get a farm. It is, beyond all question, the cheapest, surest, and most
expeditious of any that can be suggested. It may
also be the least laborious; but whether it is the
most desirable in the end, each aspirant must deternile for himself.  It will suit many, but cannot
,)G 
AND WIIERE TO FIND ONE.
be expected to suit all.  To the strong and liardy,
such as are accustomed to rough work and humble
fare, it will probably be the easiest method.   It
must be so to thousands, or they would not so readily embrace it. How such a farm may be put ill
shape, and what it may be expected to produce,
will be indicated in a future chapter.
Of this iHomnestead Law, Mr. Julian, of Indiana,
thus speaks in his eloquent argument on the bill to
extend its provisions to the soldiers:
"Its enactment was a long delayed but magnificent
triumph  of freedom and free labor over the slave-power.
W7hile that power ruled the Government its success was impossible. By recognizing the dignity of labor and the equal
rights of the million, it threatened the very life of the oligarchy which had so long stood in its way.  The slaveholders understood this perfectly; and hence they resisted
it, reinforced by their Northern allies, with all the zeal and
desperation with which they resisted abolitionism itself. Its
final success is among the blessed compensations of the
bloody conflict in which we are plunged. This policy takes
for granted the notorious fact that our public lands have
practically ceased to be a source of revenue. It recognizes
the evils of land monopoly on the public domain, as well as
in the old States, and looks to its settlement and improvement as the true aim and highest good of the Republic. It
disowns, as iniquitous, the principle which would tax our
landless poor men a dollar and a quarter per acre for the
privilege of cultivating the earth; for the privilege of making it a subject of taxation, a source of national revenue,
and a home for themselves and their little ones. It assumes,
to use the words of General Jackson, that'the wealth and
2,1 
HlOW TO GET A FAR3M,
strength of a country are its population,' and that' the best
part of that population are the cultivators of the soil.' This
bold and heroic statesman urged this policy thirty-two years
ago; and had it then been adopted, coupled with adequate
guards against the greed of speculators, millions of landless
men, who have since gone down to their graves in the
weary conflict with poverty and hardship, would have been
cheered and blest with independent homnes on the public
domain. Wealth incalculable, quarried firom the mountains
and wrung from the forests and prairies of the West, would
have poured into the Federal coffers.   The question of
slavery in our national territories would have found a peaceful solution in the steady advance and sure empire of free
labor, whilst slavery, in its strongholds, girdled by free institutions, might have been content to die a natural death,
instead of ending its godless career in an infernal leap at the
nation's throat."
In the following extract Mr. Julian foreshadows
the establishment of another vast land monopoly in
the South, or rather the substitution of new monopolists in place of the slaveholders, unless the operation of the Homestead Law is extended to the rebel
States:
"We shall certainly win; and our triumph will inevitably
divest the title to a vast body of land in the rebel States, and
place it under our control. I think it entirely safe to conclude that it will constitute more than half, and probably
three-fourths, of all the cultivated lands in the  rebellious
districts. It will certainly, in any event, cover many millions of acres. It will include all lands against which proceedings in rem shall be instituted, under the provisions of
the act to suppress insurrections, and to punish treason and
28 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
rebellion, approved July 17th, 1862; all lands which may
be sold under the provisions of the act for the collection of
direct taxes in insurrectionary districts, approved June 7th,
1862; and all lands which may be sold under the provisions of the act to provide internal revenue to support the
Government, approved July 1st of the same year.
"What shall be done with these immense estates, brought
within our power by the acts of rebels? One or two policies, radically antagonistic, must be accepted. They must
be allowed to fall into the hands of speculators, and become
the basis of new and frightful monopolies, or they must be
placed under the jurisdiction of the Government, in trust
for the people.  The alternative is now presented, and
presses upon us for a speedy decision. Under the laws of
Congress now in force, unchecked by counter legislation,
these lands will be purchased and monopolized by men who
care far more for their own mercenary gains than for the
real progress and glory of our country. Instead of being
parcelled out into small homesteads, to be tilled by their
own independent owners, they will be bought in large
tracts, and thus not only deprive the great mass of landless
laborers of the opportunity of acquiring homes, but place
them at the mercy of the lords of the soil. The old order
of things will be swept away, but a new order, scarcely less
to be deplored, will succeed. In place of the slaveholding
landowner of the South, lording it over hundreds of slaves
and thousands of acres, we shall have the grasping monopolist of the North, whose dominion over the freedman and
poor whites will be more galling than slavery itself, which
in some degree tempers its despotism through the interest
of the tyrant in the health and welfare of his victims. The
maxim of the slaveholder that capital should own labor, will
be as frightfully exemplified under the system of wages
29 
HOjW TO GLT A FAPM,
slavery, the child of land monopoly, as under the system of
chattel slavery, which has so long scourged the Southern
States. What we should demand is, a policy that will
guarantee homes to the loyal millions who need them, and
thus guard their most precious rights and interests against
the remorseless exactions of capital and the pitiless rapacity
of avarice."
The reading of a law so comprehensive as this
will naturally induce a belief that, so far as the publie domain is concerned, it is a final settlement of
an angry question. But, unfortunately, this is not
the fact.  iMr. Julian says the overthrow of the
HIomestead Law is already threatened, both directly
and indirectly.  " Since the date of its passage," he
says, "Congress has granted nearly 7,000,000 of acres
for the benefit of agricultural colleges, and about
20,000,000 to aid in the construction of railroads.
There are now pending before Congress (March 18,
1864), bills making other grants for railroads
amounting to nearly 70,000,000 of acres. We have
a project before us which grants nearly 7,000,000
of acres for the education of the children of soldiers;
another, granting 200,000 acres ill Michigan for the
establishment of female colleges, which, of course,
would be extended to the other States; and another, granting 10,000,000 of acres for the establishing
of normal schools for young ladies.   Every day
witnesses the birth of new projects, by which our
public lands may be frittered away, and the beneficent policy of the Homestead Law mutilated and
destroyed."
30 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Here are grants, perfected and in embryo, which
embrace nearly 115,000,000 of acres of the lands
which had been consecrated to free homes. Vast
as is the quantity, the remainder is still large
enouirlgh, as will be seen hereafter, for many millions
of families.
31 
HIOW TO GET A FARM,
CHAPTER II.
Number of Free Farms-Population, Present and Future-In crease of Public Wealth-Past and Future Immigration-Gold
Mines-Farms-Enough for All.
IT is known that when land could be obtained
from Government at $1.25 per acre, the demand was
very active, both from settlers and speculators. As
the same description of lands are hereafter to be
given away, many persons will presume that they
will be rapidly absorbed by claimants.  But there
are two potent causes to prevent such result —first,
the obligation to occupy the land for five years be
fore any title whatever can be acquired, and secon)dly,
the enormous quantity to be distributed. The following remarkable statistics on this subject are given
by Mr. Samuel B. Ruggles, in his late report to the
International Statistical Congress:
"The territorial area of the United States at the peace
of 1783, then bounded west by the Mississippi river, was
820,680 square miles, about four times that of France,
which is stated to be 207,145, exclusive of Algeria. The
purchase from France of Louisiana, in 1804, added to this
area 899,680 square miles. Purchases from Spain, and from
Mexico, and the Oregon treaty with England, added the
further quantity of 1,215,907 square miles; making the
32 
AND WHERiE TO FIND ONE.
total present territory at 2,936,166 square niles, or
1,879,146,240 acres.
"Of this immense  area, possessing a great variety of
climate and culture, so large a portion is fertile that it has
been steadily absorbed by the rapidly increased population.
In May, 1863, there remained undisposed of, belonging to
the Government of the United States, 964,901,625 acres.
"To prevent any confusion of boundaries, the lands are
carefully surveyed and allotted by the Government, and are
then granted gratuitously to actual settlers, or sold for priices
not exceeding $1.25 per acre to purchasers other than
settlers. It appears by the report of the Commissioner of
the General Land-office, that the quantity surveyed and
ready for sale in September, 1862, was 135,142,999 acres.
The report also states, that the recent discoveries of rich
and extensive gold fields in some of the unsurveyed portions, are rapidly filling the interior with a population
whose necessities require the speedy survey and disposition
of large additional tracts. The immediate survey is not,
however, of vital importance, as the first occupant practically gains the pre-emptive claim to the land after the survey is completed. The'eardinal, the great continental fact,
so to speak, is this: that the whole of this vast body of
land is freely open to gratuitous occupation, without delay
or difficulty of any kind."
All these lands will necessarily rise in value as
settlements are scattered through them. Our population is increasing with a rapidity not witnessed
in any other country, and it is notorious that it is
population which gives value to land. In 1860, we
had 31,455,080 inhabitants, of whom 4,441,766 were
colored, and of these, 3,953,760 were slaves. Ihenceforth they may be counted as freemen. The increase
2*
'0'3 
HOW TO GET A FARMI
of population since the establishment of the governiment has been as follows, as given by Mr. Ruggles:
1790........... 3,929,827
1800........... 5,305,937, increase 35.02 per cent.
1810........... 7,239,814, increase 36.45 per cent.
1820........... 9,638,191, increase 33.13 per cent.
1830........... 12,866,020, increase 33.49 per cent.
1840.......... 17,069,453, increase 32.67 per cent.
1850............23,191,876, increase 35.87 per cent.
1860.......... 31,445,080, increase 35.59 per cent.
"This rate of progress, especially since 1820, is owing in
part to immiigration from foreign countries.
"There arrived, in 10 years,
From 1820 to 1830...................... 244,490
From 1830 to 1840...................... 552,000
From 1840 to 1850......................1,558,300
From 1850 to 1860......................2,707,624
Total............. 5,062,414
"Being a yearly average of 126,560 for the last 40 years,
and 270,762 for the last ten years."
The rebellion checked the tide of foreign immigration; but in 1863 it again commenced setting
towards our shores.  Mr. Ruggles says:
"The  records of the Commissioners of Emigration of
New York show that the arrivals at that port alone have
been, for
From       Frm      *U 89 —
Irelantd.
1861.................... 27,754 27,159 65,529
1862.......................32,217 27,740 76,06
1863, up to Aug.20, 73 mos...64,465 18,724 about 98,000
"The proportions of the whole number of 5,062,414 airiving from foreign countries in the forty years from 1820
to 1860, were as follows:
Froln          Total, incluling
From                all other
Gormainy.            coun~tries.
27,159               65,529
27,740               76,306
18,724 about 98,000
34 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
From Ireland............................ 967,366
From England........................... 302,665
From Scotland........................... 47,800
From Wales............................. 7,935
From Great Britain and Ireland............1,425,018From Germany...........................1,546,976
From Sweden........................ 36,129
From Denmark and Norway............... 5,540From France............................. 208,063
From Italy............................... 11,302
From Switzerland........................ 37,732
From Spain.........................  16,245
From British America.................... 117,142
From China (in California almost exclusively) 41,443
From all other countries, or unknown....... 291,558
Total...........
- 723,485
5,062,414
"It is not ascertainable how many have returned to foreign countries, but they probably do not exceed a million.
If the present partial check to immigration should continue, though it is hardly probable, the number of immigrants for the decade ending in 1870 may possibly be reduced from 2,707,624 to 1,500,000.
"The  ascertained  average  increase  of  the  whole
population in the seven decades from 1790 to 1860, which
is very nearly 33~ per cent., or one-third for each decade,
would carry the present numbers (31,445,080)
By the year 1870, to............................ 41,926,750
From which deduct for the possible diminution of   1,207,624
immigrants, as above.........................
There would remain...................... 40,719,126
"Mr. Kennedy, the experienced Superintendent of the
census, in the Compend published in 1862, at page 7, estimates the population of 1870 at 42,318,432, and of 1880,
at 56,450,241. The rate of progress of the population of
the United States has much exceeded that of any of the
European nations. The experienced statisticians in the
35 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
present Congress can readily furnish the figures precisely
showing the comparative rate.
The population of France was, in
1801....... 27,349,003   1841........ 34,230,178
1821....... 30,461,875   1851........ 35,283,170
1831....... 32,569,223   1861........ 37,472,132
"Being about 37 per cent. in the 60 years.  It does not
include Algeria, which has a European population of
192,746.
"The population of Prussia has increased since 1816, as
follows:
1816........ 10,319,993  1849........ 16,296,483
1822........ 11,664,133  1858.........17,672,609
1.834........ 13,038,970  1861........ 18,491,220
1840........ 14,928,503
"Being at the rate of 79 per cent. in 45 years.
"The population of England and Wales was, in
1801......... 9,156,171  1841.........16,035,198
1811....... 10,454,529  1851.........18,054,170
1821....... 12,172,664  1861.........20,227,746
1831....... 14,051,986
"Showing an increase of 121 per cent. in 60 years,
against an increase in the United States in 60 years, of
593 per cent.
"The natural and inevitable result of this great increase
of population, enjoying an ample supply of fertile land, is
seen in a corresponding advance in the material wealth of
the people of the United States. For the purpose of State
taxation, the values of their real and personal property are
yearly assessed by officers appointed by the States. The
assessment does not include large amounts of property held
by religious, educational, charitable, and other associations,
exempted by law from taxation, nor any public property of
36 
AND WITERE TO FIND ONE.
any description. In actual practice, the real property is
rarely assessed for more than two-thirds of its cash value,
while large amounts of personal property, being easily concealed, escape assessment altogether.
"The assessed value of that portion of property which is
thus actually taxed increased as follows: In 1791 (estimated), $750,000,000; 1816 (estimated), $1,800,000,000;
1850 (official valuation), $7,135,780,228; 1860 (official valuation), $16,159,616,068, showing an increase in the last
decade alone of $9,023,835,840.
" A question has been raised, in some quarters, as to the
correctness of these valuations of 1850 and 1860, in embracing in the valuation of 1850, $961,000,000, and in the
valuation of 1860, $1,936,000,000, as the assessed value of
slaves, insisting that black men are persons and not property, and should be regarded, like other men, only as producers and consumers. If this view of the subject should
be admitted, the valuation of 1850 would be reduced to
$6,174,780,000, and that of 1860, to $14,223,618,068, leaving the increase in the decade $8,848,825,840.
"The advance, even if reduced to $8,048,825,840, is sufficiently large to require the most attentive examination.
It is an increase of property over the valuation of 1850, of
130 per cent., while the increase of population in the same
decade was but 35.99 per cent. In seeking for the cause
of this discrepancy, we shall reach a fiundamental and allimportant fact, which will furnish the key to the past and
to the future progress of the United States.  It is the power
they possess, by means of canals and railways, to practically abolish the distance between the seaboard and the
wide-spread and fertile regions of the inteirior, thereby removing the clog on their agricultural industry, and virtually
placing them side by side with the communities on the
Atlantic. During the decade ending in 1860, the sum of
37 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
$413,541,510 was expended within the limits of the interior
central group known as the'food-exporting States,' in constructing 11,212 miles of railway to connect them with
the seaboard. The traffic receipts fiom those roads were:
In 1860, $31,335,031; in 1861, $35,305,509; in 1862,
$44,908,405.
"The saving to the communities themselves in the transportation, for which they thus paid $44,908,405, was at
least five times that amount; while the increase in the exports from that portion of the Union greatly animated not
only the commerce of the Atlantic States, carrying those
exports over their railways to the seaboard, but the manufacturing industry of the Eastern States, that exchange the
fabrics of their workshops for the food of the interior.
"By carefully analyzing the $8,048,825,840 in question,
we find that the six manufacturing States of New England
received $735,754,244 of the amount; that the middle Atlantic, or carrying and commercial States, from New York
to Maryland, inclusive, received $1,834,911,579; and that
the food-producing interior itself, embracing the eight great
States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, received $2,810,000,000. This
very large accession of wealth to this single group of States is
sufficiently important to be stated more in detail. The group,
taken as a whole, extends from the western boundaries of
New York and Pennsylvania to the Missouri river, through
14 degrees of longitude, and from the Ohio river north to
the British dominions, through 12 degrees of latitude. It
embraces an area of 441,167 square miles, or 282,134,688
acres, nearly all of which is arable and exceedingly fertile,
much of it in prairie and ready at once for the plough.
There may be a small portion, adjacent to Lake Superior,
unfit for cultivation, but it is abundantly compensated by
its rich deposits of copper and of iron of the best quality.
38 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
"Into this immense natural garden, in a salubrious and
desirable portion of the temperate zone, the swelling stream
of population, from the older Atlantic States and from Europe, had steadily flowed during the last decade, increasing its previous population from 5,403,595 to 8,957,690; an
accession of 3,554,095 inhabitants, gained by the peaceful
conquest of nature, fully equal to the population of Silesia,
which cost Frederick the Great the seven years' war, and exceeding that of Scotland, the subject of struggle for centuries.
"The rapid influx of population into this group of States
increased the quantity of the'improved' land, thereby meaning farms more or less cultivated, within their limits, from
26,680,361 acres, in 1850, to 51,826,395, in 1860; but
leaving a residue, yet to be improved, of 230,308,293 acres.
The area of 25,146,054 acres, thus taken in ten years from
the prairie and the forest, is equal to seven-eighths of the
arable area of England, stated by its political economists to
be 28,000,000 of acres.
"The area embraced in the residue will permit a similar
operation to be repeated eight times successively, plainly demonstrating the capacity of this group of States to expand
their present population of 8,957,690, to at least 30,000,000,
if not 40,000,000 of inhabitants, without inconvenience.
"The effects of this influx of population in increasing the
pecuniary wealth as well as the agricultural products of the
States in question, are signally manifest in the census. The
assessed value of their real and personal property ascended
from $1,116,000,000, in 1850, to $3,926,000,000, in 1860,
showing a clear increase of $2,810,000,000. We can best
measure this rapid and enormous accession of wealth, by
comparing it with an object which all nations value-the
commercial marine.  The commercial tonnage of the United States, in 1840, was, 2,180,764 tons; in 1850, 3,535,454
tons; in 1860, 5,358,808 tons.
39 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
"At $50 per ton, which is a full estimate, the whole pecuniary value of the 5,358,808 tons, embracing all our commercial fleets on the oceans, and the lakes, and the rivers,
numbering nearly thirty thousand vessels, would be but
$267,940,000; whereas the increase in the pecuniary value
of the States under consideration, in each year of the last
decade, was $281,000,000. Five years' increase would purchase every commercial vessel in the Christian world.
"But the census discloses another very important feature,
in respect to these interior States, of far higher interest to
the statisticians, and especially to the statesmen of Europe,
than any which has yet been noticed, in their vast and rapidly increasing capacity to supply food, both vegetable and
animal, cheaply and abundantly, to the increasing millions
of the Old World. In the last decade their cereal products
increased from 309,950,295 bushels, to 558,160,323 bushels, considerably exceeding the whole cereal product of
England, and nearly if not quite equal to that of France.
In the same period the swine, who play a very important
part in consuming the large surplus of Indian corn, increased in number from 8,536,182 to 11,039,352, and the
cattle from 4,373,712, to 7,204,810. Thanks to steam and
the railway, the herds of cattle who feed on the meadows
of the Upper Mississippi are now carried in four days,
through eighteen degrees of longitude, to the slaughterhouses on the Atlantic.
"It is difficult to furnish any visible or adequate measure for a mass of cereals so enormous as 558,000,000 of
bushels. About one-fifth of the whole descends the chain
of lakes, on which 1,300 vessels are constantly employed in
the season of navigation. About one-seventh of the whole
finds its way to the ocean through -the Erie canal, which
has already been once enlarged for the purpose of passing
vessels of two hundred tons, and is now under survey by the
40 
AND WHEREi TO FIND ONE.
State of New York for a second enlargement, to pass vessels of five hundred tons.  The vessels called'canal boats,'
now navigating the canal, exceed five thousand in number,
and if placed in a line, would be more than eighty miles in
length.
"The barrels of wheat and flour alone, carried by the
canal to the Hudson river, were, in 1842, 1,146,292; in
1852, 3,937,366; in 1862, 7,516,397.
"A similar enlargement is also proposed for the canal
connecting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi river. When
both the works are completed, a barrel of flour can be carried from St. Louis to New York, nearly half across the
continent, for fifty cents; or a ton, from the Iron Mountain
of Missouri, for $5. The moderate portion of the cereals
that descends the lakes, if placed in barrels of five bushels
each, and side by side, would form a line of five thousand
miles long. The whole crop, if placed in barrels, would encircle the globe. Such is its present magnitude. We leave
it to statistical science to discern and fully estimate the future.   One result is, at all events, apparent.  A general
famine is now impossible; for America, if necessary, can
feed Europe for centuries to come. Let the statesman
and philanthropist ponder well the magnitude of the fact,
and all its far-reaching consequences-political, social, and
moral-in the increased industry, the increased happiness,
and the assured peace of the world.
"The great metalliferous region of the American Union
is found between the Missouri river and the Pacific Ocean.
This grand division of the Republic embraces little more
than half of its whole continental breadth. Portland, in
Maine, is the meridian 70~ west from Greenwich; Leavenworth, on the Missouri river, in 95~; and San Francisco, on
the Pacific, in 123~. By these continental landmarks, the
westeirn or metalliferous section is found to embrace 28~, and
41 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
the eastern division between the Missouri and the Atlantic,
at Portland, 25~ of our total territorial breadth of 53~ of
longitude.
"It has been the principal work and office of the American people, since the foundation of their government, to
carry the machinery of civilization westward from the Atlantic to the Missouri, the great confluent of the Mississippi.
So far as the means of rapid intercommunication are concerned, the work may be said to be accomplished, for a
locomotive engine can now run without interruption from
Portland to the Missouri, striking it at St. Joseph, just below the fortieth parallel of latitude. In the twenty years
preceding 1860, a network of railways 31,196 miles in
length was constructed, having the terminus of the most
western link on the Missouri river. The total cost was
$1,151,560,829, of which $850,900,681 was expended in
the decade between 1850 and 1860. The American Government and people had become aware of the great pecuniary, commercial, and political results of connecting the
ocean with the food-producing interior by adequate steam
communications. But the higher and more difficult problem
was then presented of repeating the effort on a scale still
more grand and continental; of winning victories still more
arduous over nature; of encountering and subduing the
massive mountain ranges interposed by the prolongation of
the Cordilleras of our sister continent through the centre of
North America, rising, even at their lowest points of depression, far above the highest peaks of the Atlantic States.
"The Government, feeling the vital, national importance
of closely connecting the States of the Atlantic and of the
Mississippi with the Pacific with all practicable dispatch,
has vigorously exerted its power. On the 1st of July,1862,
nearly fifteen months after the outbreak of the existing insurrection, and notwithstanding the necessity of calling into
42 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
the field more than half a million of men to enforce the national authority, Congress passed an act for incorporating
'The Union Pacific Railway Company,' and appropriated
$66,000,000 in the bonds of the United States, with large
grants of land, to aid the work, directing it to be commenced
at the 100th meridian of longitude, but with four branches
extending to the Missouri river. The necessary surveys
across the mountain ranges are now in active progress, and
the construction of the eastern division, leading westward
from the mouth of the Kansas river, or the Missouri, has
actually commenced. The whole of that division, including
that part of the line west of the 100th meridian to the foot
of the Rocky Mountains, is on a nearly level plain, and is
singularly easy of construction. Its western end will strike
the most prominent point of the auriferous regions in the
Territory of Colorado, where the annual product of gold, as
stated in the official message of the Territorial governor, is
from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000. The gold is there extracted by crushing-machines from the quartz, in which it is
found extensively distributed, needing only the railway from
Missouri to cheaply carry the necessary miners, with their
machinery and supplies. The distance to that point will be
about six hundred and fifty miles, which will be passed in
twenty-eight hours. When completed, as it easily may be,
within the next three years, it will open the way for such
an exodus of miners as the country has not seen since the
first discoveries in California, to which the American people rushed with such avidity, many of them circumnavigating Cape Horn to reach the scene of attraction.
"Meanwhile a corresponding movement has commenced
on the Pacific, in vigorously prosecuting the construction
of the railway eastward from the coast at or near San Fran
cisco, which will cross the Sierra Nevada at an elevation of
about 7,000 feet, on the eastern line of California, in the
43 
HlOW TO GET A FARM,
120th parallel of longitude, and there descend into the
territory of Nevada, at the rich silver mines of Washoe.
"It is not yet possible to estimate with any accuracy the
extent of these deposits of gold and silver, but they are already known to exist at very numerous localities in and between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, not to
mention the rich quartz-mining regions in California itself,
which continue to pour out their volumes of gold to affect,
whether for good or ill, the financial condition of the civilized world. During the last six months gold has been obtained in such quantities, from the sands of the Snake river
and other confluents of the Columbia river, as to attract
more than 20,000 persons to that remote portion of our
metalliferous interior. The products of those streams alone
for the present year are estimated at $20,000,000.
"The Commissioner of the General Land-office, in his
official report of the 29th December, 1862, states as follows:
"'The great auriferous region of the United States, in
the western portion of the Continent, stretches from the
49th degree of north latitude and Puget Sound, to the
30~ 30' parallel, and from the 102d degree of longitude
west of Greenwich, to the Pacific Ocean, embracing portions of Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, all of New Mexico,
with Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Washington Territories. It may be designated as comprising 17
degrees of latitude, or a breadth of 1,100 miles from north
to south, and of nearly equal longitudinal extension, making
an area of more than a million square miles.
" This vast region is traversed from north to south, first,
on the Pacific side, by the Sierra Nevada and Cascade
Mountains, then by the Blue and Humboldt; on the east,
by the double ranges of the Rocky Mountains, embracing
the Wahsatch and Wind River chain, and the Sierra Madre,
stretching longitudinally and in lateral spurs, crossed and
44 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
linked together by intervening ridges, connecting the whole
system by five principal ranges, dividing the country into
an equal number of basins, each being nearly surrounded
by mountains and watered by mountain streams and snows,
thereby interspersing this immense territory with bodies of
agricultural lands equal to the support not only of miners,
but of a dense population.
"' These mountains,' he continues,' are literally stocked
with minerals; gold and silver being interspersed in profusion over this immense surface, and daily brought to light
by new discoveries. In addition to the deposits of gold
and silver, various sections of the whole region are rich in
precious stones, marble, gypsum, salt, tin, quicksilver, asphaltum, coal, iron, copper, lead, mineral and medicinal,
thermal and cold springs and streams.
" The yield of the precious metals alone of this region
will not fall below one hundred millions of dollars the present year, and it will augment with the increase of population for centuries to come. Within ten years the annual
product of these mines will reach two hundred millions of
dollars in the precious metals, and in coal, iron, tin, lead,
quicksilver, and copper, half that sum.' Hie proposes to
subject these minerals to a government tax of eight per cent.,
and counts upon a revenue from this source of $25,000,000
per annum almost immediately, and upon a proportionate
increase in the future. He adds, that'with an amount of
labor relatively equal to that expended in California applied
to the gold fields already known to exist outside of that
State, the production of this year, including that of Cali fornia, would exceed four hundred millions. In a word,'
says he,'the value of these mines is absolutely incalcu lable."'
The foregoing facts and deductions set forth not
45 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
only the inexhaustible quantity of land now freely
open to all who choose to occupy it, but refer to its
variety of character as adapted to suit the diversified wishes of the many who seek to acquire farms.
The farmer can be accommodated with woodland or
prairie, the lumberman or mechanic with densely
wooded forest, the miller or manufacturer with
mill-sites, the minller with either silver, gold, or
coal.
The quantity is without limit, and the uses to
which it may be profitably applied are so numerous
that the most fastidious applicant may be supplied
with what he wishes.  Millions of families may tlIus
obtain farms before the quantity now open for selection can be appropriated. It will require centuries to fill it up.   Hence those either here or
abroad, who learn for the first time that farms may
be had on the simple condition of living on themn
for five years, may entertain no fear that a sudden
absorption will deprive them of the opportunity of
obtaining one. It is the monopolists and speculators who are repudiated, not the actual settler.
Hlow this national liberality is to affect the value
of land generally, may be inferred from what has
followed the abolition of serfdom in Russia. That
great measure threw open millions of acres to the
occupancy and ownership of a people who had heretofore only tilled them for the benefit of a master.
The privilege of obtaining land, even by paying ftir
it, revolutioned the feelings and industry of the entire mass. Emancipation was completely triumphant
in every respect.   All the forebodings of the re
46 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
actionaries  have  been  disappointed.   A  recent
traveller says:
"There has been no bloodshed, no excess, no social disorder, no decline of industry.   Twenty-three millions of
people have been raised at once from the degradation of
chattelism to the dignity of freemen, by the fiat of one
man, in the space of two years, in the face of a most formidable opposition of nearly the whole Russian nobility. The
bitterest opponents now admit that as the operation had to
be performed some time, it was well to do it at once. Intellectual and social energies which had been frozen up for
centuries, are set free; the peasantry are a promising race
of people, and they know how to appreciate the boon of
liberty. Among the first financial results is the general rise
in the price of land all through Russia, at least a million of
serfs having already purchased the land which they formerly
cultivated for a master. The Government systematically
loans money for this object, and all the money which was
formerly hidden in earthen pots is brought out and invested
in land. Every peasant feels a new incentive to industry
and economy, that he may be able to buy land. More
houses are now built in a year than used to be built in half
a dozen years. The new wants of the people give a surprising impulse to trade. The nobility, who used to spend
their incomes in Paris or in Germany, are coming to live
on their estates, and spend their lives in seeking to promote
the improvement of the people. The appraised value of
property in the kingdom is already enhanced almost beyond
computation.
'The educational and religious efforts are equally signal.
Already eight thousand schools have sprung into existence
among the peasants, by their own efforts, aided by fiiends,
the Government having no hand in it. Two years ago such
47 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
a thing as a day-school among the peasantry was hardly
known.  There is great anxiety to be able to read the laws,
as well as to read the Scriptures. To meet a pressing demand, the Church authorities have published the Russian
New Testament at the low price of sixpence a copy.
"The changes which have already been made in the municipal arrangements of the country are equally wonderful.
Within the last two years the cities of Moscow and St.
Petersburg have for the first time had mayors elected by
the citizens.  In the peasant villages, the chief is elected
by the people, and all measures are debated and settled in
village meetings-the training-schools of freedom, as every
philosophical observer considers our American town-meetings.  An honorary local magistracy has been created all
over the empire, of men of character and standing, who can
execute justice between man and man, repress crime, and
protect the weak against the strong."
The benefits to be conferred on this country by
the Homestead Law aile strikingly illustrated by the
events of the slaveholders' rebellion. It has been
seen that cheap lands have induced a vast immigration, and that by help of this irnmigration the republic has sprung, in a single lifetime, to the status
of a powerful nation. Of the whole number of arrivals, ninety-five per cent. have settled in the Free
States, and only five per cent. in the Slave States.
An anonymous essayist presents the following views
in relation to this part of the question:
"It is from the armies, raised from the former and their
descendants, that the Government has been mainly enabled
to overcome the rebellion. They gave to the nation its
magnitude, and that magnitude alone has saved us from
48 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
foreign intervention.  Hiad  the bloody ordeal fallen on
us when possessed of but one-tenth of our present population, there can be little question that the intense hostility
with which we are regarded by the ruling classes in the
nations of Western Europe, would have dictated armed intervention, the forcible opening of the blockade, and, finally,
the dismemberment of the Republic. If the magnitude of
our resources and the numbers of our armies appalled our
enemies, both at home and abroad, it must be borne in mind
that these were but results made possible by our vast population."
"Our foes shrank from a contest with a nation which,
even in the midst of an unexampled rebellion, was still able
to pour its armies into the field by the million, and to sustain the Government by an incalculable store of riches.
Our vast northern and western population has saved it from
overthrow. If, with this great preponderance of numbers,
we have found it so difficult to overcome rebellion, it will
be at once perceived, that, if our population had been no
greater than that of the South, the task of suppressing it
would have been a sheer impossibility. Instead of literally
overrunning the South, and crushing it beneath the mere
weight of numbers, we should have found ourselves engaged
in a war ruinously protracted, the end of which, in all human probability, would have been a destruction of the Republic."
Thus all that is dear to us as a united people, has
depended on a question of numbers. The consideration of this fact may not have been embraced in the
calculations of those who, many years ago, put the
public lands in market at a low price; but it became
a controlling element of the policy which enacted the
Homestead Law. As the cheap lands have once
3
49 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
saved the nation from destruction, so the still cheaper ones may be relied on to insure its preservation.
A recent anonymous writer on this subject furnishes the following appropriate suggestions:
"The lands given away will be worth far more to the
country, peopled with an industrious population, than lying
waste as they now do. They will soon yield up their treasures of grain or of cotton and tobacco to be exported, and
to buy goods that will pay a duty to the Government.
Peopled, they will furnish soldiers for the army, and taxes
to pay their expenses, should the country need them. Before this law was passed, lands were so cheap that every
man of real energy and industry could obtain a homestead
if he tried, provided he could raise the means to get on to
the land. This will be the chief difficulty now. Hundreds
and thousands of families, to whom the land would be a
priceless boon, will never be able to reach it. They have
little forecast, are poor and in debt, and pretty much discouraged. They cannot find constant employment, and do
not know how to employ themselves profitably. If associations could be formed for settling these lands in part by
such families, it would meet the difficulty. It would help
them without damaging the success of the new settlement.
It would secure to them at once homesteads and full employment, which they so much need.
" Many questions are asked concerning this new law by
those who desire to avail themselves of its advantages. A
careful reading of the law will answer many of them. The
lands are to be found in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and on the Pacific,
in large extent, and some still in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
though they are probably not of a very inviting character.
The lands lying along railroads are of double price, and, on
50 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
account of the proximity to market, are perhaps cheaper at
that rate. Only eighty acres of these can be taken by one
individual.
"The old pre-emption laws are still in force, and a man
may locate his land, holding by these laws until the 1st of
January, when he can hold by the new law. There are
land-offices in the vicinity of all these public lands, where
the applicant can make known his wants and secure his
homestead. It will be seen that the matter involves either
the expense of a personal visit, or that of a delegate, which
is a serious obstacle to the poor. The best thing that can
be done, probably, in all cases by those who wish to avail
themselves of this law, will be to form an association for the
settlement of a township, say a hundred families or more,
and send out an agent to examine and locate the lauds in a
body. The advantages of planting a whole Christian community in the wilderness at once, over private emigration,
are too apparent to need mention here.
"A farm for ten dollars is only the raw material of a
home.   Houses,  barns, fences, roads, bridges, churches,
school-houses, and other public buildings, are to be provided
after the colony is located, and these things bring heavy
taxes upon every individual for a dozen years or more. A
man getting a living at the East should think twice before
he goes into the wilderness. It is young men just married,
or about to be, men with large families and scanty means
of living, and professional men with small fields of labor,
that can take this step with the best prospects."
51 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
CHAPTER III.
What makes Land valuable -Prices balancing each other -
How poor Men pay for high-priced Farms-A practical Illus tration-A Farm for the Right Man.
WHILE it is thus seen that there are millions of
families who desire no better homestead than such
as can be secured by settlement on the public domain, it is well known that there are other millions
who prefer remaining in the neighborhood in which
they were born.  They prefer hard work there to
hard work in the West. That region is new, and
large portions of it are comparatively unsettled.
The other is old, and possesses all the conveniences
and comforts of a long-established civilization. Relations and friends  are there concentrated, and
among them they prefer remaining. It furnishes a
quick market for all productions of the earth, and
at better prices. Fruits and vegetables, which, on
a thousand prairie farms, would find no purchaser,
are here salable in every town or city. Here the
consumers are collected in great crowded marts,
while there they have not yet had time to congregate in equal masses.
Land within the seaboard region is consequently
more valuable, and, as a general rule, is unattainable
by small capitalists in proportion to its value. But
52 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
its ability to yield quick and certain returns makes
its possession extremely desirable. Its money-producing power is enormous, because of its nearness
to a dense population of consumers. As to this
fact it owes its chief value, so, from the same fact,
the small capitalist who becomes possessed of it is
enabled to pay for it by the ready and profitable
market he finds for all that it may produce.
Thus price has its compensations. If the cost of
land be high, the value which its productions command in the market is generally in exact proportion.
Hiigh price for land, and low price for products,
would be ruinous to the farmer. But let the latter
maintain a just relation to the former, and if the
land be skilfully worked with distinct reference to
the most profitable crops it can be made to yield,
the lapse of a few years will enable the industrious
owner to make full payment. Wheat may be grown
with profit on a prairie farm which the owner obtained as a gift, because for that grain there is a
cash market at the nearest railroad station. But
asparagus and cabbages would perish on the grower's hands. Wheat can be shipped to Europe, and
hence its universal salability; but the vegetables
must find purchasers within short distances of the
spot where they were grown. So, on the other
hand, the manl who cultivates high-priced land
within the suburbs of a great city, will lose money
by raising wheat, while by cultivating asparagus
and cabbages he will be certain to grow rich. The
West can undersell him in wheat, but cannot compete with him in vegetables. Hence the proper
53 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
adaptation of crop to location is absolutely indispensable to success.
It has been shown how the poor man can gratuitously obtain a farm where he may not happen to
be desirous of locating. It remains to be shown
how he can get one where he does desire to settle.
To promote this laudable ambition of those whose
whole capital is industry and labor, much has been
already written by ingenious and generous  men.
Their views and plans have been different, as well
as numberless. It is remarkable, however, that
while some of them propose methods which would
require a lifetime to make successful, none of them
present difficulties too great to be in some way overcome. I refer now, as well as throughout these
pages, to the man who is sober, industrious, ambitious of success, saving, and possessed of ordinary
intelligence. The poverty of such may be an inconvenience, but it is no insuperable bar to progress.
The men whose characters are the reverse, I do not
write for. It is they who, instead of acquiring
farms, invariably lose them. It will also be seen
that feeble health need be no fatal discouragement,
and that some men have succeeded even when comparatively disabled by incurable bodily infirmity.
A practical farmer, writing in the Albany Country Gentleman, in 1862, gives the following as his
method of getting a farm with no cash capital to
begin with. His article is in reply to a writer in
the same paper, who wishes to know how to get a
farm without money or capital at the outset, and
who says that there are no dmiht. mranv men in our
54 
AND WHIIERE TO FIND ONE.
country who commenced life under similar circutiistances, who have risen to be successful and in(Iependent farmers. The reply bears the signature of
" F.," and is as follows:
" Having commenced life under circumstances substantially the same as those described by your correspondent,
and having thought much on this subject, and no answer
having appeared as yet, I have concluded to try and see
what I can do towards helping him, and others in similar
circumstances, in their laudable efforts to get a farm.
"Well do I remember the intense thought and study
with which I first turned my attention to farming as a
means of getting a living. Having failed in other business,
for want of the capital without which I had always supposed I could not succeed in farming, I was casting about
and considering what to try next, when for the first time I
came across some agricultural publications, which were
read with all the interest of an exciting romance, and
which at once led to a determination to make farming the
business of my life. But here I was met by the same
difficulty as your correspondent. I had no land, nor nothing
to buy with. I was in a strange country, with no friends
to assist me in beginning, except such as by industry,
economy, and fair dealing, I was able to make. Yet I
have succeeded so far, beyond my most sanguine expectations; while my farming prospects are not only improving
every year, but they are better now than ever before.
" But in answering your correspondent, I do not propose
to go into the details of my own experience, but rather, as
briefly as may be, try to point out the best course for young
men to pursue, in order to succeed in getting farms. I am
led to take this course, not only by the reluctance felt by
most men of laying their private business affairs before the
5 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
public, but because, in giving the combined results of reading, observation, and experience, I believe I shall be able
to more effectually assist G. B. S. and others in similar
circumstances.
"One of the greatest difficulties encountered by young
men, in trying to get a farm, is to get a start, or in other
words to get the first $500. Almost any young man that
will go to work, and earn and lay up that amount of
money, may, with good habits, and industry, and economy,
be sure of sooner or later owning a good farm. It cannot
be too strongly impressed on the minds of all young men,
that the great starting point in their fortune, is to earn and
lay up the first $500 or $1000. Not only for the help that
amount will be in gaining more money, but in firmly fixing
in their minds the principles of industry, economy, and
self-denial, which are to be the foundation of their future
success.
"The  most usual course taken by farmers' sons to get
this start, is by workling out by the month for farmers; and
perhaps it is the best course open to thousands of young
men in our country. But a large portion of these young
men are only able to get work for seven or eight months of
the busy season, leaving them idle during the winter and a
part of the spring and fall. The wages they will earn in
this way, will not enable them to lay up money very fast.
Hence the enterprising young man that is determined to
succeed, will either be sure to hire out by the year, or teach
school through the winter, or find some kind of job-work,
by which he will be able to make good wages all of the
time. He will also keep in mind, that by continual faithfulness, care, and attention, to the business of his employer,
he will not only be earning and getting much higher
wages than others, but he will be forming habits of care
and attention, that will be highly useful as long as he lives.
56 
AND WiIERE TO FIND ONE.
By taking this course, a young man ought to lay up $100
a year, and many will lay up more. We will suppose he
commences when he is 21, and when he is 25 has saved $500.
"Now, what is the best course for a young man that has
earned, or by some other means come in possession of $500,
who wishes to get a good farm? He desires, and ought to
have one worth $4,000 or $5,000, or more, and with him
the very important question is, what is the best course for
him to take to get it? Now, without taking into consideration the question of going into a new country, in pursuit
of cheap land, I conceive he must choose one of the following courses: He will either continue to work out, or he
will take or rent a farm, or he will buy and commence
farming on a small farm. It being necessary, in order for
any one to pursue either one of the two last courses, to
have some capital, it is not considered that there is the
same necessity for working out after a man has $500 that
there was before. Consequently, he may now be considered
as fairly in a condition to take his choice between the
three courses here pointed out. And, as undoubtedly there
are many, in different parts of the country, that may find
it desirable to follow each of these different ways, and
many more desiring all the information they can get, in regard to the best course to pursue, perhaps it will be best
to bestow some attention on each of these ways to get a
farm.
"First, in regard to working out.  This is a very simple,
plain, straight-forward way to get a farm. It is only a continuation of the course already pointed out for those who
have to start with nothing for an indefinite period of time,
which will be longer or shorter in proportion to the amount
desired to commence with. The advantages of this course
are presented in a very favorable light by Hon. J. W. Colburn. He says:
3*
57 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
"'Now let us for a moment look at the matter, and see
what the real obstacles are which are to be overcome by
the resolute young man of 21 years of age, who says,'I
will own a good farm.' His father has had the benefit of
his labor up to this time, and is unable or unwilling to give
him any thing to start in life. His whole capital consists in
muscular strength, good health, good will, self-reliance, and
correct principles. He takes the best wages he can get of
a responsible farmer in the neighborhood-say $15 per
month for the year, board and washing included. He pursues this course for seven years; his economy has taught
him that $60 per year is sufficient for clothing and other
expenses, leaving $120 at the end of each year to put at
interest. At the age of 28 years he has earned and put at
interest $840. What the several annual interests have been
I will not stop to enumerate. It is sufficient to say that he
has a sum sufficient to start him handsomely in a new
country, with a half section, 320 acres, paid for, and means
enough left for an outfit to commence successful operations
upon his new farm.  In 22 years more, with ordinary good
luck, how will he be likely to stand 2 He is now 50 years
old, and a man of wealth, and probably of character and
influence.
"'Or take another view of it.  Suppose at the age of 28
he should say, I don't think much of this emigrating, there
is some risk in the change of climate; I like my old associations; my friends are here, my home scenes are dear to
me; the girl of my choice is unwilling to go to the far
west, or into a new country; I will settle in my own neighborhood. He buys an improved farm with fences and comfortable buildings, say 100 acres, at $20 per acre-pays onehalf down, balance in ten years, infiterest annually. What
will now be his condition at 50 years of age? Perhaps not
as wealthy as in the first case, with equally good luck in
58 
AND WHET EI TO FIiND ONE.
both, for the advance of his land in value above cost in the
former case would have been a little fortune; but he has
made a sure thing of it as it is, has lived healthily, and saved
a competency for all future wants.'
"Mr. Colburn further states that' this is not an overdrawn
picture. It is what has transpired within the observation of
the writer, and at a time too when farm wages were lower
than the prices here named, and much lower than at the
present time.'
"Now it will be admitted on all sides that these extracts
place this part of the subject in the most favorable light;
that in fact it would seem that there can scarcely be any
need of, even if there is any room for, saying any thing
more on this side of the question; therefore it only remains
to briefly allude to some of the objections that young men
may find to pursuing the course so favorably presented.
"The first objection will be in regard to wages.  It will
be said, and with a great deal of truth, that such wages are
a good deal higher than young men that work on a farm
are generally able to realize. And to this it will be added
that in most of the older settled sections of the country
$800 or $1,000 goes but a little way towards paying for a
good farm. Consequently, it will be said a young man will
have to work out a great deal more than seven years, in
most cases from twice to three times that length of time,
before he can even pay half down for a good farm, to say
nothing of the money that will be needed to begin farming
with.
"Perhaps there is nothing that a spirited, enterprising
young man would view with greater reluctance than the
proposition for him to make up his mind to work out for
from ten to twenty years of the best of his life in order to
get the requisite capital to commence the business of farming with.  He will probably say that he has not so mnuch
59 
I-lOW TO GET'r A FARIM,
objection to working out a few years in order to get a few
hundred dollars to start with.  But as to working out that
length of time, it is useless to talk about it; he is not going
to do it. Point him to some one that has succeeded in this
way; he will admit it, but say this is an exception, not the
general rule, and will point to many men that have failed
of ever getting farms by working out, and will say that no
man with a growing family on his hands can lay up any
thing, to say nothing of saving enough to buy a farm; while
there are few young men that have not formed ties and
made arrangements, that are not to be put off for a very indefinite period.  Hence, put the case in as strong a light as
we may, or argue it ever so strongly, it will be of little use.
Consequently, those that would persuade young men to stick
to farming, and undertake to point out a way whereby they
may get a farm, will, in most cases, have to show them some
other way besides working out. Yet it cannot be denied
that young men do not always sufficiently appreciate this
way of getting a start in the world; that in many cases it
is the best thing a single man can do as long as he remains
single, and that many that have left it for other business
would have done better if they had not made the change.
"But we must pass on to consider the second course for
a young man to take, in order to get a farm. Renting a
farm, or taking one on shares, is, next to owning one, what
seems to suit young men the best. G. B. S. seems to have
had this course in his mind; but says that' renting a farm,
the way it is done in this part of the country, is not very
desirable.  It generally goes on the "skinning process," making it profitless to both parties.'   Now here is the main difficutlty, not only as to those taking farms, in finding this a
good'way to get a farm,' but with those having farms to
let.  It is a fact well understood on all hands, that, as poor
business as taking or renting land may be, there are many,
60 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
in all parts of the older sections of the country, that would
be glad to get farms to work if they could. In this
section, whenever there is a good farm to be let, there are
sure to be from eight to ten, and sometimes a score or more
applications for it. While at the same time there are many
that would like to let their farms, were it not for this ove
difficulty-they are sure to be worked on the skinning system; which, while it gives them but little present profit, is
injuring, if not ruining their land. Hence, I would impress
on the minds of all, young or old, in the strongest language,
and in the most earnest manner, the great mistake they
make in thinking that, because they are working another
man's farm, they cannot afford to farm well; that they are
taking a course that not only gives them but little present
profit, but one that, more than perhaps any thing else, tends
to deprive them of the chance of getting what little they
do have; and that not only will they realize a much greater
present profit, by as good farming as the circumstances will
allow, but should it be the case that at first they are not
able to get a good farm, but have to take up with rather
inferior, or badly worn land, they may be sure'that, if they
are doing their best, it will be known and observed, and
they will have no trouble in setting better land when they
wish to make a change.
"The advantages of this course may be made still plainer
by taking a case, many of which may be found in all of the
older sections of the country. The owner of a 100-acre
farm, that has not only made the principal part of his property out of his farm, but has brought up, educated, and
given his children more or less of a start in life, and who
has found, by experience, that one-half of the produce of
his land will support him satisfactorily, wishes to let his
farm, if he can get a tenant that will farm well. Though
he well knows that he could make more by hiring his work
61 
HOW TO GET A'FARMI
done, yet he wishes to relieve himself and family from the
trouble of taking care of the farm, and hired help. Now
why can't a tenant, if a young man with a small family,
take that farm and go on and make money, and, at the
same time, keep the land in good condition?  The owner
made money, and kept the land improving; why may not
the tenant make money, and at least keep the land in its
present condition? I see no reason why he can't, nor do I
believe there is any-except poor management.
"Again, let those that think they can't afford to farm well
on another man's land look to England. Much of the best
farming in that, or perhaps any other country, is tenant farming. Not only does the tenant have to pay enough, in rent
and taxes, to buy land in many sections of this country, but
he spends thousands in manuring, and other improvements.
Indeed, it is said that his rent, taxes, and other farm expenses are so large, that he is obliged to cultivate his land
in the best manner; that he could not get along without
doing so. Yet he lives well and makes money; and it is
said that many tenant farmers do so well, and are so well
satisfied, that they prefer remaining tenant farmers, even
after having made money enough to buy and have land of
their own. 
"Now allow mae to ask, why may not something like this
be the case here? Why may not an American be a good
tenant farmer as well as an Englishman? Have not our
young -men as much enterprise, intelligence, and ability, as
the same class anywhere, and are they not as anxious to
make money and go ahead? Then why not make the business of taking or renting land, one of the best courses a
young man can take to get a start in the world; instead, as
is too often the case, making it a losing business for all concerned?
"But it will be said, taking for granted that tenant farm
62 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
ing may be made to pay well, how are all that may wish to,
going to get land to work? It has already been intimated
that the demand for farms was much greater than the
supply; hence it must be admitted that, though it may be
a very good way to get a farm, for those lucky enough to
get a good farm to work, yet many will fail, because there
are not farms enough to be let to supply the demand. This
being the case, we will pass on to consider the third and
last course proposed for a young man to pursue in order to
get a farm.
"This course, as well as taking land, is more particularly
calculated for a married man. Though the single man that
is able to get good wages and steady employment, may do
very well, yet when he gets married he wants a home, and
generally the sooner he gets one of his own, the better.
Time and space forbid giving even a tithe of the reasons
why every man should have a home of his own. All are
more or less familiar with these reasons; and as undoubtedly one of the principal reasons why G. B. S. wishes to get
a farm, is to have a home, I need only state that I have
found, both by experience and observation, that a small
piece of good land, even though there may be but a few
acres, is a great help to a laboring man that wishes to get
along in the world. Here, again, time will not admit of referring to the many instances of large amounts of produce
grown on a few acres of land, that I have come across in
reading and observation. But I must pass on, only stating
that few young men are aware of how small a place may be
made to give them more net profit for their labor than they
can realize by working out.
"Another advantage in having a small place is, that it
will enable the owner to do something at both farming on
his own land and working out. Whenever I have seen this
step in advance (which it surely is) taken by a man of
63 
HOW TO GET A FARMI
industry and economy, I have always observed that he went
ahead much faster than he did when depending on his labor
alone. So, too, a small farmer will often find chances to
take land by the piece, of farmers having more than they
can or wish to cultivate, thus enabling him to add to his
farming operations sufficiently to give him all the business
he can attend to, and giving him quite respectable profits.
"But leaving working out, or taking land, out of the
question, few that have not tried it, or investigated the subject, are aware of how few acres will keep a man profitably
employed during the busy season. In a former article on
farming on a small farm, I have given estimates of what can
be raised on ten acres, and also on twenty acres. These
estimates, though much less than is often realized, will give
a good idea of what may be raised on a small place, it being
kept in mind that by changing works for team-work, the
owner may do nearly all of the work himself, making his
expenses out scarcely any thing to speak of, and enabling
him to realize the full benefit of all he raises.
"Another great advantage in getting a piece of land as
soon as possible is, it forms a beginning-a something to add
to. Young men when working out, or working land, and
having no particular present need or use for their money,
are apt to spend it, or allow it to slip away for something
that, in their circumstances, they might better do without.
But if they have land that they wish to finish paying for,
or to make improvements on, or, finding their little place
insufficient for their wants, and aided by the stimulating
effects of actual ownership, they are anxious for more land,
they will be sure to save all they can to buy more with.
When this course is once fairly entered on, they will be
pretty sure to follow it up until they are each one the owner
of a good farm.
"Before concluding, I wish to present one or two consid
64 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
erations that are very important for young men of limited
means that wish to get farms. The first is, that in taking
any course that will be open to them, they may not be able
to make money as fast at the beginning as may be deemed
desirable. It is very natural for young men to make large
calculations at the start. They have a very laudable ambition to go ahead and make something, and be somebody;
hence they are apt to think that any course they may be able
to take is too slow to ever accomplish any thing. But this
is a mistaken idea. Let any one that doubts this sit down
and reckon up what a man that earns $100 over a living
every year from the time he is 21 until he is 50, and puts
it at interest at 7 per cent., adding the interest to the principal each year, will have when he is 50 years old-or say
in 30 years. I say, let him do this and he will be surprised
to learn that he may be a comparatively rich man, by taking this course, when he is 50 years of age. As a further
illustration of this fact, I will mention a few instances that
have come under my own observation, one of a man that
died worth over $10,000 in cash, that made it, all but a
small legacy, by working out and the interest on his money.
Another, that is now some 35 or 36 years old, that has between $3,000 and $4,000, all made by working out, and the
accruing interest on his wages. And yet another that saved
$900 in six years. All this shows most conclusively that,
though either of the courses I have pointed out may seem
rather a slow way on the start, yet, if persevered in, and all
of the money, as fast as realized, invested in some manner
whereby the interest is sure to be realized, they are sure to
lead to the desired success,-while hundreds, perhaps thousands, have done a great deal better than this by investing
their labor and money in farming in such a manner as to
realize much larger profits.
"The other consideration, with which I shall conclude, is
65 
HEOW TO GET A FARMI
that every young man that wishes to succeed should make
himself familiar with the agricultural literature of the day.
He should not only read and keep for future reference some of
the best agricultural journals of the day (of which I wish to
say that the Country Gentleman stands at the head), but he
should be familiar with some of the best practical works on
farming in the country. He will find this a great advantage,
if he works out, in enabling him not only to work to much
greater profit and advantage to his employer, and thus getting the extra wages that will be his due for highly intelligent labor, but in showing himi how the knowledge gained
by his present experience may be turned to his future
benefit when farming for himself. Or, if taking or renting
a farm, in learning how to manage it to the best advantage,
both as regards present and future profits. Or, if farming
on a small place, not only in learning what may be and
has been done on a little farm like his own, in different sections of the country, but in learning how he may
manage his few acres to the best possible advantage.   But
above all else, he will find it of the greatest advantage
in enkindling in his mind an ardor for, and an enthusiasm
in the business of farming, that, enabling him to triumph
over every obstacle, will be sure, sooner or later, to bring
him to the desired haven of success."
These original suggestions drew forth a second
reply in the same paper, under the signature of
" R. S. F.," as follows:
"A correspondent inquires, Howv he can get a farm without money or capital to buy it with or to conduct the business
offarming? I can answer his question in two words. Take
mine; with this proviso, however, that he understands practically and thoroughly the profitable management of a farm,
and has a character in all respects equal to his practice and
0
C) 6 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
his knowledge. He is looking for a farm; I am looking
for a farmer who can take hold of the soil in a way to improve it and his own condition at the same time. My farm
lies vacant and unimproved, because no one appears that
can satisfy me of his capacity to do this. I can find plenty
of men who would be glad to buy the farm upon a credit, but
who would never pay for it, and who would tease, depreciate, and worry it to no purpose. I can find others who are
ready to rent it for a stipulated sum, or upon shares; but
no one has ever appeared that possessed sufficient qualifications to manage the business, to keep the farm improving,
and to do this. If he prospered, it would be tolerably certain that his success was at the expense and not by aid of
the land.
"This farm is accessible to good markets, and contains
six hundred acres of land of every variety, clay and light;
plenty of meadow, salt and fresh; abundantly supplied with
wood; with never-failing sources of water, and surrounded
with schools, churches, etc. Now I am willing to sell this
farm upon a reasonable credit; or, I am willing to let it.to
a responsible, improving tenant, at a low price, whenever I
can find a man of the right sort to take it, with a condition attached to the lease, that the tenant shall have
the right to purchase it at an agreed price within a given
period.
"A tenant usually grows rich on a farm, for the reason
that he usually goes upon it with a view of laying up enough
money to pay for a farm of his own elsewhere. HIe carries
from the hired farm in his breeches pocket all the scrapeable
value he can; it has been made poor to make him richin other words, he has transferred the fertility of the one to
the fields of the other by a sort of electrotyping process,
whose transmutation in soils, are in such hands as sure as
they are by the labors of chemistry in metals.
67 
HOW TO GET A FARMY
"Now, Messrs. Editors, when you have followed me thus far,
should I stop, you would editorially ask, Why not advertise
your wants in the Country Gentleman? I answer, because
if I did, I should have no end of applications from this very
class of people that I wish to save my land from. I am
diligently seeking for an experienced, money-making, landimproving farmer; but, in the mean time, my house, now
old and shabby, is rotting away, and my barns will soon follow in one general decaying, destructive sweep. Shall we
ever have schools of agriculture, from whose portals, as they
graduate, one can find a competent agent, tenant, or the
purchaser of a farm, who has learned the art of making it
pay for itself?"
68 
AND WHERE TO FND ONE.
CHAPTER IV.
More Opinions and Experiences- Some Objections-Additional
Light-Encouraging the Young-A personal History-Getting
an Tllinois Farm-One Example-Good Suggestions-Buying
and going in Debt-Value of the Discussion.
THE discussion thus opened drew out, as may be
supposed, the views of other practical men to elucidate the important question as to the best way of
getting a farm. The following is the commentary
of another intelligent observer, M1r. J. W. Colburn,
of Springfield, Vermnont. Referring to the suggestions made by "F.," as quoted in the preceding
chapter, he says:
"His advice cannot but be regarded, by those to whom it
was intended to benefit, as very sensible, and in the main
correct.  He points out three ways to be pursued to accomplish the object sought for, viz.: Working out for wages,
taking farms upon shares, and beginning with a few acres
at first, enlarging as means are saved to invest, seeming
rather to give the preference to this last method over the
two first. Circumstances, with regard to land and labor,
may be such in his locality as to make his views correct;
but with all due deference to his opinion, to suit the locality
in which I reside, I should ask him to reverse his opinion,
and put the working out for wages to get a start in life at
the head of his three ways to get a farm, as decidedly preferable to either of the other two.
"If the first thing that a young man thinks of and must
69 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
do, after arriving to the years of his majority, and destitute
of means, is to get married, as is often the ease, then he
must do the next best way that he can-take a farm on
shares, or purchase a few acres; but it will be but a few
acres, in four cases out of five, that he will ever be likely to
pay for and own. I know it is a divine command to' multiply and replenish the earth,' and that it is good for a man
to provide himself with a' help-meet,' but we are told also
that there are times and seasons for all things, which may
be interpreted to mean a proper time and season, leaving
every man to be his own judge and monitor as to what is
best and proper to suit his own case and circumstances.
"But how few there are that can look back and review
the past events of their lives, the most prominent ones, such
as have influenced their career for good or evil, and say
they have acted wisely or judged correctly! Man is the
creature of impulse, more or less improvident and reckless,
acting from influences that surround him, without stopping
to take the'sober second thought,' and often makes shipwreck of his future well-being in life, when by a more prudent, discreet, and judicious course, all might have been
smooth, bright, and prosperous.  It is desirable and pleasant
for a young man to seek a home-to make a home of his
own. The associations attached to that word, home, sink
deep in the human heart.  But no young man should be in
such haste to realize this inestimable blessing, as to turn it
into a curse. A home that is surrounded with poverty and
want is no home; and more particularly is it so when not
brought about by any unavoidable misfortune, but the result
of miscalculation, acting from other motives than those of
a prudent and discreet foresight. I never can advise any
young man to incumber himself with a young family to
support until he has the means, and can see his way clear
to do it creditably and comfortably.
70 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
71
"F. gives us an instance of a man that died'worth
$10,000 in cash, that made it all but a small legacy by
working out and the interest on his money.'' Another that
is 36 years old, that has between $3,000 and $4,000, all
made by working and the accruing interest on his wages.'
'And yet another that saved $900 in six years.' These
cases show most conclusively that working out on a farm
by a young man starting without means, who is determined
to own a farm, is the shortest and surest way to accomplish
that praiseworthy and desirable object. Had either, or all
of these cases, detested working out, as many young men
do, and got married at the start, and relied upon taking
farms upon shares, or upon running in debt for a few acres,
think you at the same period in after-life they could have
shown these results? I tell you they could not, but probably would have seen an old age of destitution and want.
I know at the present day there is an antipathy among our
young men to working out on a farm. As F. says, it is useless
to talk to them about working out ten or fifteen years in
order to enable themselves to become owners of %good farms.
The process is too slow; some more rapid way must be
contrived; but the effort rarely proves successful, and the
farm is very seldom owned. In olden times, farms, and
good ones too, were often obtained by this patient and persistent industry, coupled with strict and rigid economy.
True, they cost less then than now, but farm-wages comparatively were as much lower then than now as the farms
were lower, while every article of clothing was 50 per cent.
higher than they were previous to our present war prices.
"I have known many independent farmers that commenced life by working out for wages, but a precious few
that commenced by taking land upon shares, or by purchasing a few acres, that ever were the owners of productive
farms. This working land upon shares, or the product of a 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
few acres, must necessarily be absorbed by the support of a
family, while the young farm-laborer should, and generally
does, remain without a family until he is able to purchase
a farm and see his way clear to pay for it. While working
out, it is not convenient to have a family, but almost indispensable when working a farm upon shares. F. says that
when a farm is to be let on shares in his section, six or eight
applicants appear, to improve the opportunity; and why is
it so? The reason is obvious. Having commenced in this
way, they do not rise above it.  They can support their
families, and that is all they can do, while the single man,
at work for wages, is placing his hundreds at interest.
"It is not in good taste for a man to say much about
himself, but if your readers will pardon the egotism, I will
relate, briefly as possible, a sketch of personal experience.
The writer remembers well, when a young lad, of listening
to the stories of several farmers, most of whom he was in
the habit of drawing out by questioning and inquiries, as
to how they commenced life, and how they obtained so
much property, etc.  A  rebuff from no one of them for
being an impertinent boy was ever experienced, believing
now that they deemed his object to be something more and
better than aft idle curiosity. The information obtained in
this way served as an exciting purpose with the young inquirer to stimulate his ambition to do likewise, and become,
like them, a man among men of independent means. He
pursued the same course that he now recommends to others.
Working out upon the farm was the beginning; the most
untiring application and persistent industry for thirty years,
has brought results beyond his most sanguine expectations,
and he has no cause to regret his early determined resolution.
"Why is this farm-work for hire so much to be dreaded?
It is frequently the case that the hired man, though in one
72 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
sense a farm-servant, works no harder than his employer;
he does not have the care and perplexity on his mind that
the owner does; fares equally with the family, and at the
expiration of the year has more surplus cash to put at interest than the man who has employed him.  What has
been done by some men can be done over again by others.
If our fathers commenced in this small and patient way,
and became men of wealth, of character, and of influence
and standing in society, so can our young men of the present
day, and in many less years than it took them to gain their
position.
"The reader of modern history will recollect that when
the first Napoleon appeared at the head of the French army
in Italy, then but 27 years old, that he astonished the old
veteran generals of Europe by his new  military tactics.
His rapid movements, his furious onsets, they were not prepared to expect, and muchless to resist. Where did this
prodigy learn this new art of war? When in captivity on
the desolate rock of St. Helena he let out the secret.  He
had studied closely the history of Alexander the Great. It
is said that he always carried about with him the life of
this great Grecian conqueror. He knew that the world as
it was in that ancient day, never could have been conquered
only by the rapid and determined means brought to bear on
the enemies of Greece; and he reasoned with himself; and
correctly, too, that what man had done, man could do again;
and firmly relying on this principle, he put the same means
in force, varying as the means of warfare had varied, but
keeping steadily in view the rapid blows and the determined
energy and zeal that gave the Grecian universal empire. To
a very great extent he did over again the work of Alexander,
and caused every throne in Europe to tremble, though all
combined, finally overthrew him.
"This is a far-fetched analogy, but it is none the less true.
4
73 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
What man has done, man can do again. It only requires
the determined will, the energetic hand, the unremtted perseverance, and the patient, long-enduring application, and
almost any object, legitimate and honorable in its end, can
be reached. I say then to young men, beginning life without means, having a taste for the business and desirous of
owning farms,'you can do it if you will.'  You cannot be
any more destitute at the start than was he who now addresses you. The times and circumstances now are vastly
in your favor, over those of forty years ago, and I bid you
God-speed."
This expression of opinion was followed by a rejoinder from "F.," to this effect:
"MESSRS. EDITORS'-In former volumes of the Country
Gentleman there have been several articles on buying farms,
which were mainly calculated to benefit those with plenty
of money to buy with; while there has been very little, if
any thing, given, calculated to show those with limited
means how they can buy to the best advantage. So, too,
those writing on this subject have generally seemed to consider or take it for granted, that it will not do to run in debt
for land, although it is a very common practice in most, if
not all parts of the country, to do so.
"Now, without stopping to consider whether it will do to
run in debt for a farm or not, or the amount of capital a
man should have to commence with on a given number of
acres, I shall take it for granted that as a great many have
run in debt more or less for farms, which they have not
only succeeded in paying for from the produce of the land,
but have also, by the same means, attained to forehanded
and often independent circumstances; and as the example
set by such men is constantly before those anxious to attain
74 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
to the same station in life, a great many will still continue to
run in debt for ]and, any thing I might be able to say to the
contrary notwithstanding.
"True, many fail, and not a few farms are badly run down
and injured by men in debt; yet this need not necessarily
be the case, but may rather be considered the result of bad
management in buying, cultivation, etc. But, however this
may be, it will not prevent others from running in debt.
So, that instead of a fruitless endeavor to persuade men to
not run in debt, I believe it is better to try to assist those
that may find it best to do so.
"Of course no specific rules, but only general directions,
can be given as to when a man's pecuniary means will ad  rit of his buying a farm.  There is so much difference in
the price ofland in different sections, as well as in its pro ductiveness, that while in some new sections where land is
cheap and a long time given to pay in, a man with a few
hundred dollars may buy one hundred acres or more, in
many of the older sections he would need as many thousands
to buy the same amount of land. But leaving new lands
out of the question, when should a man  buy in those sec tions where land ranges from $20 to $100 or more an acre?
As a general rule, I believe he may buy when he is able to
pay half down for a farm, and stock it with a moderate allowance of farm-stock suitable to the system of farming he
intends to pursue, together with suitable teams, tools, etc.,
to begin with. And as a man that intends to pay a heavy
land debt should not allow small debts to accumulate on
his hands, so he should never begin by making a heavy
debt on his land, and another large one for teams,
stock, etc.
"Again, the amount it will do to run in debt must depend, in a great measure, on the time and chance to pay,
the buyer may be able to get.  As when $2,000 or $3,000
75 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
are wanted in three or four years on 100 acres, it would
be well to hesitate, while it might be safe to agree to pay
that amount in ten years; so, too, it will be found more
difficult to pay a given amount in large payments of from
$500 to $1,000 each, than it will to pay the same amount
in $100 or $200 payments. The best way, where a large
debt has to be made, is to take a deed and give a mortgage,
payable annually in such sums as the buyer is sure he can
pay besides interest, with the privilege of making the payments faster, should he wish to do so. Then, by managing
to keep one or two payments ahead, he will never be distressed to make his payments in bad seasons, nor be obliged
to sell when produce is ruinously low. This is substantially
the course taken in buying my present farm, and I have
found the advantages named, as well as others that might
be given, a great help in making my payments.
"Another point that should be well considered, is what
kind of a farm is it best to buy? It is generally said, that
it is best to buy a good farm, in a good state of cultivation,
with good buildings, etc. This is undoubtedly true as regards those with plenty of money to buy with; and such
farms are sometimes the cheapest for those with limited
means. There are many farms where the land-naturally
good-is in a fair to good state of cultivation, with moderate but good comfortable buildings, that can be bought for
reasonable prices. Such farms, though they may not be
cried up as the best, it is always safe to buy. While those
farms that have the reputation of being the very best in the
country, and are cried up to the highest rate, it may be well
to pause before purchasing. It may be well to consider
how much of this credit of being an extra good farm may
be due to an extra good farmer, and also whether the high
price such a farm is sure to be held at, is wholly due to the
superior condition of the soil, buildings, etc., or whether a
76 
AND WHIIERE TO FIND ONE.
part of it may not be ascribed to the high reputation in
which the farm is held.
"But there is another class of farms that I wish to more
particularly recommend to those wishing to make their
money go as far as possible in buying land-which is those
farms that, though naturally good, have been run down
more or less. There are many of this class of farms in all
parts of the country. They have been and are usually occupied by poor farmers, that-whether owners or tenantsgenerally do the work to halves, and only raise half crops, and
as they seed down but little, if any, their farms soon have a
very poor, barren appearance, causing their reputation to go
down very fast, and often causing them to be sold for much
less than their real value. That is, while the high reputation of extra farms causes them to sell for all or perhaps
more than they are really worth, the bad name and poor
appearance of badly run farms, often leads to their being
sold for much less than their actual value. True, the farmer that commences on a badly run farm, will have to adopt
some course of improvement by which the soil may be again
made productive, or it would not do to run in debt for the
farm. But it will not be very difficult to do this if the land
is naturally good, and has only been run down by poor cultivation and neglect. I hold it an undoubted fact, that naturally good land cannot be thoroughly run down and worn
out without a more thorough working and course of cultivation than such farms usually receive; and also, that much
of the credit that is often ascribed to this or that course of
improvement, is due to the latent goodness of the soil, developed by more thorough cultivation.  Of course, before
buying, we should be sure that the land is naturally good,
and that its present bad appearance is due to poor cultivation and neglect, instead of a more thorough course of
cropping on the skinning system, by which the soil is actu
77 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
ally worn out. Yet such cases as the last are rare, as really thorough cultivation is generally found in connection
with some system or course of management by which the
soil is improved instead of being run down.
"There are other reasons for buying this class of farms
by men of limited means. One is, that such farms not
being generally as salable as those in good condition, a
much longer and better chance to pay may usually be obtained. Another is, that by good management and cultivation, such farm may soon be made to bear an altogether
different appearance, which, with the good crops that will
be raised, will be sure to greatly enhance the character
and reputation of the farm, and make it sell for a handsome advance on the cost; while its enhanced value and
productiveness would be no less real and satisfactory
should the owner not wish to sell. But some one will
say, if badly run farms can be improved and made to produce good crops, by men more or less in debt, what
thousands will wish to know is, how it can be done? This
I shall endeavor to show in another communication."
This communication drew the following from a
hitherto silent observer of the discussion, Mr.
Jonathan Talcott, of Rome, N. Y. After stating
that he has carefully read the articles of Mr. Colburn and of "F.," he says:
"I beg leave to dissent from their views as expressed in
their communications, and take the middle ground, as
spoken of in the articles referred to, and shall advocate it,
and advise such young men as Mr. Colburn speaks of to
adopt that plan in getting a farm.
"Let us briefly look at the qualifications mentioned. He
is to be ambitious and energetic. Now, we suppose Mr.
78 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Colburn means a laudable ambition, such as is becoming
any young man to possess, and energy also to persevere
under difficulty (if need be); and, in his closing sentence,
he adds,' What man has done, man may do again.' Also,
'that it requires the determined will, the energetic hand,
the unremitted perseverance, and the patient, long-enduring
application, and almost any object legitimate and honorable
in its end can be reached.'
"Such, then, are the qualifications, if I rightly understand Mr. Colburn, that the young man wishing a farm
must possess, and such Mr. Colburn advises-in order to
become the owner of a farm in the shortest possible timeto work out by the month on the farm for a period of from
ten to fifteen years, as circumstances may require; and to
substantiate his position, he quotes the following sentence
from F.'s conmmunication in the Country Gentleman:'F.
gives us an instance of a man that died worth $10,000 in
cash, who made it all but a small legacy by working out,
and the interest on his money. Another that is 36 years
old, that has between $3,000 and $4,000, all made by
working, and the accruing interest on his wages. And yet
another that saved $900 in six years.' Mr. Colburn then
says:'These cases show most conclusively, that working
out on a farm by a young man starting without means, who
is determined to. own a farm, is the shortest and surest way
to accomplish that praiseworthy and desirable object.'
Also, he adds:'I Had either or all of these cases detested
working out as many young men do, and got married at
the start, and relied upon taking farms upon shares, or upon
running in debt for a few acres, think you at the same
period in after life they could have shown these results?'
Mr. Colburn then answers the question decidedly in the
negative, saying-' I tell you they could not, but probably
would have seen an old age of destitution and want.' The
79 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
language used by Mr. Colburn is very strong and decided,
and perhaps it may be considered presumption in me to
gainsay it. Viewing it in the light of my own experience
and observation, I consider his views, as expressed in the
answer quoted, as containing errors, and calculated to mislead those whom he desires to benefit by the advice given
in his letter from which I have taken the extracts already
quoted; and relying on Mr. Colburn's forbearance towards
one who may differ from him in opinion, will briefly give
my views on the subject.
"F. does not say that the men mentioned made the sums
credited to them by working out on a farm as farm hands,
although Mr. Colburn assumes as much, and the price
mentioned by F. in his first letter, when he quotes from
Mr. Colburn's previous writing, at $15 per month for the
year, is higher than the average in this county for the past
twenty years. I think $150 per year is full an average for
the best hands for the time mentioned; some of the time
above, and some below that price, some not getting that
price; but we are talking of the ambitious and energetic
young man who is determined to become the owner of a
farm in the shortest possible time, who has it to earn by his
own labor.
"We see, from what has been written by F., and also by
Mr. Colburn, that from $100 to $150 per year can be saved
by such men under the most favorable circumstances; probably $120 would be more than an average in the cases that
have fallen under their observation, and in this vicinity it
would be under that estimate.
" Now we will look at the other side of the picture,
keeping in view in the mean time the qualifications that the
young man must possess.  We will suppose him to be 21
years of age, with good health and all the requisites mentioned by Mr. Colburn, and that he has formed associations
so
0 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
with some young lady of his acquaintance, who also possesses the same qualifications, but she also is without means
to purchase a farm, although that is the object of their
ambition, to attain which they are ready and willing to
unite their interests in the realities of wedded life, and
commence in earnest to acquire the desired object. In the
light that Mr. Colburn views it, they will probably fail;
but viewing it in the position that I take, they will succeed,
and much sooner than they would if both worked for
wages, having the same end in view, viz., a good farm.
"Such a couple can easily secure a good farm on shares
from a good landlord in this State, and probably in most of
the States of the Union, and instead of saving $100 to
$150 per year, can, with the blessing of Providence, lay
by from $300 to $500 per year, with more advantage on
their side than to remain single. For instance, if they
remain single, and are sick, all income is stopped, while if
either is sick when married, and on a farm, crops and animals are still growing, and there is one (if only one is sick)
to look to the interests of both. Besides, how much more
congenial to human nature to have a companion to share
with each other our joys and sorrows, either in prosperity
or adversity! Also, what young lady of the qualifications
mentioned would not prefer to join her destiny with a
young man of like qualifications at once, and begin the
great battle of life in earnest, and having conquered, as
they surely will, all obstacles at the age of thirty or forty
years, look back with pleasure upon their commencement
and struggle for a farm, and feel that, with their united
efforts, with the blessing of a kind and heavenly Father
resting upon them, they have succeeded beyond their
most sanguine expectations. Perhaps, too, at that age sons
and daughters may have grown up around their fireside to
gladden their hearts, who will soon go forth in the wide
4*
81 
MROW TO GET A FARM,
world to conquer the obstacles, either real or imaginary,
that may arise in their path. Think you there would have
been as much enjoyment and genuine home-feeling had
they remained single in the mean time? I think not. I
have in my memory at this time numerous instances, such
as I have mentioned, when, at less than fifty years of age,
persons that were married in early life, and have worked
farms upon shares, have made their thousands, and purchased farms of their own, and are still in the prime of
life; also some that have told the writer of this that they
did not want to own a farm, as they could make more
money in working land belonging to others than to be
the owners themselves.
"Such have been my observations while engaged in working out the problem for myself; for, at eighteen years of
age my prospects, in regard to property, were dark enough
(my father having died ten years previous without property; consequently, myself and mother were left to rely upon
our own exertions for a livelihood). For three years I
worked out on a farm for wages; that is, from the time I
was eighteen years old till I was twenty-one. I will not say
that I had the qualifications mentioned by Mr. Colburn;
but I may say that I saved what,I earned, and tried to do
my best for my employer. At the age of twenty-one years
I made arrangements to take a farm with a view of purchasing. Soon after, I married a young lady that knew my
circumstances, and that the farm had to be earned if we
ever wanted one. We commenced in earnest. Before we
were thirty years of age the desired object was attained,
and we were better off, in dollars and cents, than the cases
cited by F., which Mr. Colburn quotes; besides, we had
been at home all the time while we were engaged in paying
for it.
"As for the expenses absorbing all the income in working
82 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
a farm upon shares, as mentioned by Mr. Colburn, that has
not been the ease with those of my acquaintance. The expenses in such cases with such a couple will be light, and
they will save from $3 to $5 in such a situation, where but
$1 would have been saved by the working-out system.
"Now, I do not deny that many young persons will fail
to accomplish the results I have stated; but such would fail
if single, not having the required qualifications. I could
mention cases where, when single, not a dollar was saved,
when as soon as the same young men were married their
earnings were saved, and a competence was the result in a
short time.
"The expenses of a family are never so light as at the
commencement, and any young woman with the qualifications to match the young man, as given by Mr. Colburn,
will, instead of adding to his burdens, lighten them in very
many ways, which I need not mention at this time; besides,
he will doubtless have the blessings bestowed on him, designed by his Creator, when he said,'it is not good for man
to be alone,' who also created' an help-meet for him.' There
is no doubt but the same injunction is now resting on the
human family as in the earliest stages of the world, and we
shall do no wrong by heeding the injunction.
"In conclusion, I would advise all such young men as
mentioned by Mr. Colburn, and all others that think they
have the qualifications mentioned, that the sooner they get
married after they arrive at the age of twenty-one years,
and a suitable situation offers to take a desirable farm, the
sooner they will become the owners of such a farm for themselves; and that, instead of a young woman being an incumbrance, as Mr. Colburn intimates, she will be a real help,
and they will save from their united earnings in the ratio I
have mentioned; besides, she will be a sharer in his joys,
and grief, if he has any, which he doubtless will, as trials
83 
HOW TO G]LT A FARMV
are the common lot of humanity. She will also cheer him
on in all his successes, looking at the object to be attained
on its brightest side, thus proving most conclusively her
ability to perform her part in the task they have allotted
themselves-which, with God's blessing, they will surely accomplish."
A writer, under the signature of "A Farmer's
Son," now threw into the common stock of information the following brief summary of a very interesting personal history:
"Having read in the Country Gentleman several ways
for a young man, desirous of obtaining a livelihood by farming, to do, I thought perhaps a few ideas I might suggest
would not be out of the way. Although young and inexperienced myself, in the ways of working and by the means
of which a farm is obtained, I have often heard my father
speak of his experience, some of which I will briefly relate.
At fifteen years his mind was fully made up to be a farmer.
To that he devoted his energies, and boy though he was,
was fully assured that he would have no other vocation.
At eighteen he bid adieu to father and mother, and started
with nothing but an axe, which was all the kind parent
could give, but his blessing, and a piece of bread and
cheese from the thoughtful mother. He left the parental
homestead, travelled thirty miles, there found employment,
and from that day to this never has known want. For the
next five years he labored partly by the month, and also by
working farms on shares. In those days, when working a
farm on shares, you boarded with the family, including
washing, and had one-third of the profit. In the next five
years he laid up $500-was then married, bought a small
farm for $750, paid $250 down, with five years to pay the
balance. He worked it eight years, then sold, and was
84 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
worth at that time $2,100. Worked a farm on shares for
two years-was then worth $3,100. Then bought a farm for
$4,500, having it so arranged that the payments would be
made from the grain and meat raised on the farm. When
that was paid for, he sold again and bought another for $8,200.
By improving in fencing and building, the farm is now
worth $13,000. Many young men, who commenced with
nothing, have now good homes, surrounded with all the
comforts of life. Working a farm on sl)ares, he thinks is
quite as profitable for a young man as working by the month."
The importance of avoiding an unfavorable location, will be seen by attending to the description of
farm-lands in the neighborhood of Jamestown, New
York, as given by Mr. W. H. Benson, in the following article:
"Again, in regard to the best way for a poor young man
to get a farm: I think the discussion on this subject has
not yet touched bottom, and that much more might be
said that would be of advantage, at least to some lone one.
Working out by the month, and earning enough to buy a
farm, would, in my humble opinion, bring a young man so
far past that title, that, in nine cases out of ten, he would
go down to the grave'gray and sorrowing,' with the object of his lifetime still far in the distance.  As to taking
farms or working land on shares, I think that would be the
best and only way: but even then it must be sought under
favorable circumstances. In this locality it would be uphill business, and the reason why is this: In the first place,
the price of farming land is about double its real value for
farming purposes.   Secondly, the landowner asks double
the rent that the tenant can afford to pay, and if the tenant
takes a farm on shares, the bargain will be something like
85 
H{OW TO GET A FARM -
this: The farm will be poor, for no good ones are to be
let. The young man must do all the work, pay all the
taxes, repair miles of old tumble-down fences, and make a
certain amount of new-repair and fix up the old house
and barns, build his own sheds, hog-pens, &c.; cut, in the
aggregate, about ten acres of brush around stumps, in fence
corners, &c., then put in all his spare time to picking up
stone and rubbish, and drawing them from the meadows.
"Then he must find his own team, tools, and stock (if
he has any), keep it on his own half of the hay and grain,
and pasture for the owner of the farm an equal amount of
stock. He must then give one-half of all the produce of
the farm, and will be allowed to stay but one year; and
why? because the farm is now in shape, and the owner can
afford to work it himself, or rent it to some one that will
agree to pay twice the rent he will ever be able to.  Would
it not be a good way for a young man to rent a good farm, of
a good man, in a good locality (where he can make it an
object for himself and landlord also), with the privilege of
buying, and the rent, in case of purchase, to apply on the
purchase-money. At least that is the opinion of one who
intends to try it when a favorable opportunity occurs."
So far the West had taken no part in this discussion, though evidently watching its progress, but
now she claims a hearing, as will appear from the
following remarks of Mr. J. B. Porterfield, of Champaign, Ill. His representations are in striking contrast with the discouragements suggested by Mr.
Benson:
"We  have been some amused at the correspondence
which has been published in your paper since the inquiry
was made as to the best way for a poor man to get a farm.
86 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Mr. Benson, of Jamestown, N.Y., gives a gloomy account
indeed of those who intend to try to buy a farm. The idea
of giving one-half of all raised, besides hauling rocks, cutting
so many broad acres of brush, building pig-pens, making
sheds, &c., all for the privilege of living on a poor farm(Mr. B. assures us that none but poor ones are offered foi
rent)-looks more like a jole than a reality to a Western
man.
"I am not accustomed to writing letters for publication,
nor am I in the habit of giving advice, but after reading
such gloomy accounts as those given since the inquiry was
first made, I determined to try my hand at it. And now
I would say to all those who have the pluck to try to get
a farm under such disadvantageous circumstances as Mr.
Benson speaks of, to pull up stakes and come to Illinois,
where we will bid him a hearty welcome, where there are
no stones to pick, nor brush to cut around stumps and in
fence corners, and where, if you persist in renting, your
landlord will ask one-third of the grain raised, pay all
taxes himself, and furnish you with house, fuel, &c. But
still a better way would be to buy a farm for yourself,
should it be only 40 acres. Mind, our lands are not encumbered with rock, brush, &c. But your whole 40 acres
is a perfect garden spot, and all the stock you may have
can roam on the prairies at large, which are covered with
a luxuriant growth of grass of the best kind for either
pasture or hay.
"Now, you will probably be ready to inquire what such
land can be bought for? It will cost from $3 to $10 per
acre, unimproved, and from $5 to $20 improved, and this
on almost any time the purchaser may desire. The Illinois
Central Railroad Company have, as you are aware, obtained
from the general Government a large grant of land to aid
them in the construction of their road, which has been
.87 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
built, and hence the title is perfect. The company are
selling their lands now, and thousands of just such men as
your correspondent seems to be are availing themselves of
the liberal terms to secure to themselves homes, and thus
avoid renting lands, or in other words, becoming landlords
instead of being tenants. Their terms are as follows:
"Say Mr. B. buys a farm of 40 acres, at $5 per acre $200. If paid in cash down, a reduction of 20 per cent.
will be made-$160, which will be the entire cost. If the
purchaser choose to avail himself of the time given, it
would be thus: $200 at 6 per cent. for four years, $12 per
year; at the end of said time one quarter of the principal
comes due-$50, which amount comes due annually until
the principal is paid;-thus enabling Mr. B. to make the
price of his new home from the land itself. According to
an act of our State Legislature, all their lands are exempt
from taxation until paid in full, which is of itself considerable inducement at a time like the present, when high
taxes stare every man in the face.
"I have thus endeavored to give the outline, hoping it
may lead those who are laboring so hard to become lords
of the soil, to examine into the matter, at least. I would
say further: This is a healthy place; good pure water is
abundant; society is good.  Now, gentlemen, let me  advise you to quit renting lands in New York, or any other
place where you have such hard taskmasters, and where
the lords of the soil ask double what the lands are worth.
Should you happen to ever be able to buy yourselves homes,
come West; we invite you to no mean country, but to the
garden of the world. This is admitted on all hands.
Illinois is but an infant in years; still she is the fourth
State in population, and in the amount of grain raised, and
the amount of cattle and hogs, the first in the family of
States. We will welcome you with open arms to our
88 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
broad prairies and fertile soil, and where the inhabitants
are loyal to the best form of government the sun ever
shone upon, where the people respond to their chief executive whenever he calls; and I will here say, and I must
confess with feelings of pride, which the past proves, our
people are ready and willing to leave friends and pleasant
homes, and rally at our country's call. It matters little
whether our quota be 30,000, 40,000, 50,000, or 100,000
men, we are ready, and will respond. Our cattle are all
fat, our hogs also; our granaries are full of small grain,
which now command a good price. Our corn is all
worked, and nothing now remains but to take it off. Our
mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters say, let all the men
go if necessary; we will gather the corn. Thus you see
we are ready."
A cheering example of success, with continued
comfort during an entire life, is contributed to the
discussion by Mr. N. Reed, of Amenia, New York:
"Those examples of successful farming where young men
have been able, in a few years, to pay for and improve their
farms, seem, to many, extreme cases of success, and exceptions to the general rule. The more usual conditions of
attaining the possession of a good farm, are many years of
industry and careful management. The profits of farming
are moderate, and the acquisition of a good estate by this
calling requires more patience than by any other. And
this is the reason why many young men turn from this to
some more promising profession. They are in haste to possess the means of setting up a comfortable establishment,
and cannot think of waiting for years for an independence,
and turn therefore to some business which promises a fortune in what they are pleased to call a reasonable time.
They mean to have a farm and gratify their rural tastes,
89 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
when they shall have made money enough by some profita ble business to be able to do so.
"It is not my purpose now to show how often these
young men are disappointed, and how they are deceived in
their views of the enjoyment of rural life. My object is to
give a word of encouragement to those who may be tempted
to shun the slow way of getting an estate, and my lesson
shall be drawn from the experience and observation of more
than twenty-five years. The experience of a large number
within my observation, during this time, may be considered
embodied in one case, which is probably a fair sample of a
very large number all over the land.
"A young man began his career by working for his father
at stipulated wages, which he continued a few years, until
his ability was fully tested, when he took the management of a farm on shares. The time at length came when
he would have a farm of his own, which he purchased with
much solicitude and many fears of ultimate success in paying for it. His former.accumulations, together with a small
patrimony from his father's estate, was not sufficient to pay
for half the cost of the farm and stock, and he often wished
himself on a smaller place, and out of debt. The farm he
purchased, like many others of that day, had been pretty
hardly run with crops of grain, and was much out of repair.
There was an enterprise requiring good courage and perseverance. Our farmer had three principal things to do: he
had his family to support, which was not small, his debt to
pay, and his~farm to improve. It is sufficient to say that he
carried these on together every year. There was no year
but at the end of it he had, besides paying the interest and
improving his farm, paid something upon the principal, generally however a little less than he had anticipated.  lHe
bad not only these things to do, but he must sustain the social position which his family and his education entitled him
90 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
to. Hlis civil, social, and religious relations must be maintained. Not one of these was neglected; he stood in his
place as an American citizen, and took upon himself all the
duties and responsibilities of his station. In this respect he
avoided an error which most young men in debt fall into,
who in their impatience are ready to forego almost the comforts of life, ignore most important social relations, and leave
all improvements till they are out of debt. They are willing to deny themselves and their families all the elegancies
of life, and make themselves mere drudges to obtain first
a competence; and, when this is accomplished, they find
themselves unfitted by their habits and associations for a
true enjoyment of what they possess, have become sordid,
and are only satisfied with increase of gain. But our farmer
improved his place with many tasteful though simple embellishments, and his mind by reading and good society,
and this without any great expense of time and money. He
rejected the principle that a man ought to make as much
money as he can.
"He accomplished what he undertook, in paying for his
farm. Not quite as soon as he expected (the gray hairs be gin to crown his head), for he had his share of the reverses
of business, and it might seem a long time; but when he
had paid his debt, he had a complete farm, a good estate, a
competence. For, as I said, he improved his farm yearly,
so that the productive capacity of it is more than doubled,
and the net profits are in still greater proportion;  the
fences are good, and the buildings greatly enlarged and im proved, and the stock of the farm increased in number and
value. So that what cost him ten thousand dollars is now
worth more than twenty thousand dollars.
"Now, the very thing which our fast young men picture
to themselves as the desired end of all their anxious toil
and hazardous speculation, a quiet enjoyment of rural life,
91 
.HOW TO GET A FARM)
he has possessed from the beginning of his career.  He has
not denied himself one of the real blessings of life. All the
healthful and satisfying delights of labor he has enjoyed
without many of its anxieties. What a zest it gives to his
labor that he is improving and embellishing what is to him,
and what will be to his children, a beloved home."
As appropriate to the subject in hand, a writer,
under the signature of " B," contributed the following sensible remarks:
"A farm should be the home, and its management the
business of the owner. It is true, one may be hired or
worked on shares, but very seldom do we see land, cultivated
under such circumstances, managed in a way worthy of the
name of farming. Ownership seems necessary to a proper
appreciation of the characteristics and powers of the soil.
We again see a movement in the real estate market-sales
and purchases of farms, and it suggests some thoughts on
what one should look to and seek for in buying a farm.
"Considered as the homestead and abiding place of the
owner, a farm should be pleasantly and conveniently situated. The health, comfort, and happiness of those who occupy it, are of the first importance; so every social and
physical influence which bear upon them should have due
weight in determining a choice. A healthy locality should
be considered far above a fertile soil. The thousand things
which promote home-comfort will compensate for many pecuniary disadvantages. Happiness, the enjoyment of social
privileges and blessings, go far to make a sterile soil of
greater value than the most productive, where a moral
miasma prevails. A situation of easy access to the great
routes of business and mails, with educational and religious
privileges of a high class, would be considered of the highest importance by the intelligent and cultivated man, who
92 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
would enjoy the best privileges of American life and society.
"Another thought.  The new location should be suited
to the tastes and character of the purchaser. Men of mature age are usually of fixed habits and dispositions, such as
do not change with a removal to another home.   They
should find then, in the new, the best pleasures and conveniences of the old, and as many improvements as may be.
But if circumstances require any considerable change, it
should be remembered that to make it will require some
exertion and energy-they must expect this, or meet disappointment. Their childreni may find a happier and better
life in the new locality-the sacrifice of old habits can be
made for their sakes.
"As a business, the requisites of successful farming depend to a considerable extent on the choice of the farm.
It should be one which the owner has the means and the
understanding to manage. One cannot put all his capital
in land, and expect to farm profitably on credit and makeshifts-often so cramped that all improvements are out of
his reach. As well might the merchant put his whole capital into a fine store, reserving nothing to purchase the goods
wherewith to fill the shelves and attract customers. It requires as much capital to stock and carry on a farm generally, as to pay for the land itself. The farmer needs capital
to keep his credit good-to take advantage of the markets
in buying and selling, and in making seasonable improvements.  A farmer loses money who is compelled by want"
of money to sell his crop at the lowest stage of the market,
or who cannot command extra labor in any emergency of
the season, or who is obliged to wait for years to get a few
hundred dollars to drain a swamp that would pay him the
interest on a thousand dollars as soon as the work was
done.
93 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
"The farm should be suited to the products which it is
desired to devote it to. The taste and experience of the
owner will incite him to undertake certain branches of farm ing, but some soils are best calculated for grain-growing,
others will produce extra fruit, others have grass and water
for the dairy, or stock generally, while occasional locations
are to be found where all these may be combined to a greater
or less extent. These things should be taken into account
in buying a farm.
"Then market facilities are to be considered.  In the
management of a farm much depends on this, and it is a
matter of moment whether it will cost five cents or fifty to
bring a dollar's worth of produce to the consumer. In the
vicinity of large towns the production of garden crops is
often very profitable, while at a distance from market no
dependence can be put on such products. The one can
grow a large variety to dispose of-something every week
bringing in the cash-while the other must necessarily
devote himself to a few leading articles, his harvest occurring but two or three times a year.   But the recent
great increase in the means of transportation has done much
to equalize the value of farming lands throughout the coun
try, especially when devoted to the more valuable and least
bulky articles of produce.
"Again, a farm should possess in itself good capacity of
production, so that it may be readily and profitably managed, in such a way as to retain and increase the fertility
of the soil.  A farm easily worn out-a course of management rapidly exhausting the fertility of the soil, would soon
bankrupt the farmer; his business would no longer be remunerative; his home and his comforts would soon pass
away. Hence it is not all to buy a farm; one must also have
the skill to manage it rightly.  To do business profitably,
one must understand business principles and carry them
94 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
out, and nowhere is this more important than upon the
farm. The question is often debated whether farming is
really profitable or not; but, could we only see the fortunes
lost by the careless habits of those who pursue it, the decision would soon be arrived at."
These remarks drew "F." once more into the
arena, in the following communication:
"B. has some very good remarks on buying a farm,
with the most of which I fully agree.  But the general tenor
of the fourth paragraph is not of that general practical
character that is best calculated to benefit the great mass
of American farmers. True, it looks and sounds well on
paper, and could we have farmers made or got up to order,
giving to each one the amount of land or capital he is or
may be capable of farming or using to the best advantage,
it would be all correct. But this is not the case. Instead
of having sufficient capital to buy stock and carry on their
farms to the best advantage, the great mass of farmers have
had to make and get together the principal part of this very
capital by farming. Consequently it is of little use to tell
them what sized farm can be carried on to the best advantage, or the amount of capital it is necessary to have to
commence farming with, or to carry on the farm after it is
purchased; for, as a general thing they have to buy, calcu late, and manage, according to the circumstances in which
they are placed.
"Inseparably connected with this question, is the one of
going in debt for land, or of paying part down, and the
balance in a term of years, the money to be made out of
the use of the farm. Although there is much in the ac counts of individual experience published in agricultural
papers, that goes to show that men have done well, and
have been very successful, when in debt, yet it is the general
95 
HOW TO GET A FAREM,
custom of editors, and more or less of other writers, when
treating these questions in a general way to strongly oppose
as is done in the paragraph above mentioned-any run ning in debt for land. The idea appears to be-and in the
abstract it is well enough-that a debt on a farm is a clog,
a hindrance, a something that stands in the way of or pre vents the practice of the most successful course of farming
-an idea that seems to view the farm, and the capital ne cessary to carry it on, as an end already attained, and only
as a means to make a living, and accumulate more capital.
Yet, with the great majority of American farmers, farming
has been the principal or only means to get the farm, as
well  as  the stock and capital to carry it on.  Hence,
on commencing, they are not called to decide on how
large a farm, or how much capital they have to farm to the
best advantage; or whether they can do as well when in
debt for their farms as they could if out of debt, with plenty
of money to use; but, on the contrary, the great practical
question is how to get the farm. Comparatively few have
the farm, or the money to buy it furnished, to begin with;
and, though there are some that, having sold a farm, have
money to buy another with, though, as a general thing,
such men have sold with a view of improving their circumstances, aiming or intending to buy a larger or better farm,
which will cost more than the one sold, and in most instances put them in debt; still, as a general thing, it was the
same with them as with others at the first commencement.
"Hence, I repeat, the question is how to get the farm.
And involved in this question are many others, such as, is
it best to try to get a farm by buying and running in debt
for the whole of it? or is it best to wait until money enough
is made in some other way to pay all down? or is it best to
pay part down, and run in debt for the rest? Or, to put
the question in a different and more practical shape, if a
96 
AND WHERE  TO FIND ONE.
man has only money enough to buy and pay down for twentyfive acres, had he better buy fifty acres, running in debt for
twenty-five acres; or, if he had only money enough to buy
and stock fifty acres, had he better buy that amount, or buv
one hundred acres, running in debt for fifty, and arranging
and managing his stock so as to raise enough in a few years
to fully stock his farm? Or had he better take the advice
often given in the papers, that is, only buy when he is able
to pay for land enough to farm to the best advantage, and
to have an amount of capital equal to the cost of the farm,
as advised by B.?
"Now, it would be useless to give any farmer such advice here in this section of the State. Good farms sell here
at from sixty to eighty dollars an acre, and the best size fo:
a farm, to work to the best advantage, is probably from one
hundred and fifty to three hundred acres. Such farms as well
situated for, and as well adapted to farming to the best advantage, as seems to be demanded by the general tenor
of B.'s remarks, would cost fiom $10,000 to $20,000, to
say nothing of adding as much more to stock and carry on
the farm. So that in almost all cases to advise a man not
to commence farming until he has such a farm, with such
an amount of capital to work it with, would be equivalent
to advising him to not buy at all. It will do little good to
show him that farming can be made the most productive
and profitable where the farms are large enough to use all
the most approved tools, implements, and machines to the
best advantage, and where there is all of the capital that
can be made available or used profitably; or to tell him
that the greatest prosperity of the community and country
requires, and the character and standing of the farming
class may be promoted by this kind of Ifarming. He will,
perhaps, assent to all you say, but tell you that this is not
the main question with him. That the main object being
97
5 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
to get a farm, and having money enough to pay from onefourth to one-half down for such a farm as he wants or
would be glad to get, with sufficient means to get the necessary teams, tools, etc., to work it to good advantage, and
to provide for supplying or raising all necessary stock,
the question is, is it best to buy? Can he pay for the farm,
and is there any better course for him to take than to buy
and go to work and pay for a farm?
"Then again: You may tell him that some of those that
run in debt for farms fail, and lose all they have; while
others have a long, hard, up-hill business in paying for their
farms. Bui he may answer that it need not necessarily be
so; that more or less fail in all kinds of business, situations,
and circumstances; but that, as a general rule, those that
run in debt more or less for their farms succeed in paying for
them, and often attain to very comfortable and independent
circumstances, without suffering any very great hardships
or privations. And did he live in this section he might
say, that as a general thing all of the best and ablest farmers are men that, having begun with but little, if any, capital, have made the principal part of their property while in
debt; that there are very few farmers that are considered
forehanded, or well off, but that have at some time been
in debt for farms; that some of the ablest men, worth from
$20,000 to $25,000, have not only commenced farming with
very little if any capital, but doing business on the general
principle of buying and running in debt in most part for
land, and then going to work and paying for it; when one
piece is paid for, soon buying another, and so keeping on,
seldom out of debt long at a time, but generally making
money, and satisfied and contented, they have eventually
attained to circumstances that would be considered very
satisfactory to most men.
"True, their course or system of farming, though gener
98 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
ally not bad, is not up to the highest standard of modern
agriculture. But this is owing more to following old practices and prejudices, and the kind of, or want of education,
than the want of means. And I may also say that their
general course of farming is being gradually but surely and
largely advanced and improved by the younger class of
farmers that are coming on; some of them having, in proportion to their chances and opportunities, been more successful than any of the older class.
"A few words in regard to running into debt for land.  A
land debt, when entered into with proper precautions, and
well guarded,-the farm being worth considerable more
than the debt, and in a fertile condition, giving reasonable
assurance of producing more than enough to pay the interest and a portion of the principal each year, and payments
arranged so as to give ample time to meet them,-is not a
thing to be so much dreaded. In fact, it often seems to
be an advantage. It seems to furnish an object, an end to
strive for, to be attained to. It gives the farmer a home, a
something that he wants and means to keep, that he would
be sorry and ashamed to lose, and altogether something
that will induce him to work harder and manage better
than he has ever done before, rather than fail in. This
seems to be so well understood among farmers that the
remark is often heard,'that the best way to make money
by farming is to buy and run in debt for land, and then go
to work and pay for it.'
"Perhaps I cannot better close this part of the subject
and this article, than by giving a little of the experience of
a farmer in the north part of this county, as related by himself to a friend of the writer. He said, that having got his
farm paid for, and a little money ahead, his family thought
they must have something a little better than common, so
they persuaded him to buy a $300 carriage. When they
99 
EHOW TO GET A FARM,
got this home they discovered that they had no harness to
match, so he had to buy a costly harness. Then they said
the old farm-horses were not fit to go before the new carriage, so he had to pay $300 for a better pair. And then
it was fine clothes and costly furniture, etc., etc., until, as
he said, he could stand it no longer. And he continued:' I
have now drawn to market my last load of wheat, and have
a thousand dollars in money. I can buy a neighbor's farm
that is handy and convenient to mine, for $5,000. I think
it is worth it, and I am going to buy it to-day. I find fhat,
as things are going, about all we can earn will go to support extravagance; while I know if I go in debt for a desirable piece of property, like this farm, my family will go
to work and help me pay for it. We will then have something really valuable to show for our labor, and that some
day will do my children some good."'
With the following brief rejoinder by "B." the
discussion was closed:
"The question of running in debt for a farm, under certain circumstances, is argued very fairly by F., of Orleans
county, N.Y., in the Country Gentleman of March 26; but
we see very little in the paragraph of B.'s article to which
he refers, to call out his remarks. The advice is given not
to put all one's capital in land, retaining nothing to stock and
carry it on; and something must always be reserved for
this purpose. No business can be carried on without capi- 
tal of some kind-because something can never result from
nothing- valuable crops always require seed and culture.
"In buying a farm the mistake generally made is in not
providing sufficient means to carry it on. There is no difficulty in getting extended credit for a part of the purchasemontley on a good farm, and we believe the most direct
means of becoming in fact the owner of one, is to go in debt,
?.I..: ~
I::.  I'   -* a..
100 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
if necessary, to a sufficient amount to provide ample means
for its stocking, cultivation, and improvement. To make
money rapidly, by farming, requires ample capital; those
who cannot command it, lose, to say the least, one-half the
profit they would otherwise secure. It may be true that
those farmers who can see no better investment for their
gains than the purchase of finery, need the pressure of debt
to forward their advancement in property. In many cases,
however, it would be more profitable than any other course,
to spend their surplus capital in improvements on the old
farm for several years, before adding a single acre to its extent in surface.
"We have seen and known of so many losses in farming,
for the want of capital, that it makes us the more particular to urge this matter on the attention of farmers. We
hope F., with his wide extent of practical experience, may
have seen something corroborative of this view of the matter, and that he will present it and illustrate it with his usual
force and ability, in your columns."
The remarkable discussion thus quoted will not
fail to give the reader many new and practical ideas
on the subject of getting a farm. It ranges over
many branches of the question, and contains a imass
of robust good sense which an ambitious young man
cannot too closely study.  The suggestions made are
not those of enthusiastic theorists, but the fruits of
long and grave experience, such as, having been in
most cases successful, are entitled to the highest respect. It is to be noted, moreover, that the question
of how to get a farm being once started by one who
saw the difficulty of obtaining it without capital,
the subject was immediately recognized to be one of
101 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
great and general importance, and that a large
number of intelligent and experienced men hastened
to engage in publicly discussing it. As in a mnultitude of counsellors there is sometimes wisdom, so in
this friendly collision of opinion the seeker after
knowledge on the subject will obtain new light,
strong encouragement, and every reasonable incentive to induce a beginning. This country must contain thousands of men who, in the various ways
thus indicated, are now living on homesteads which
their fathers or themselves have thus acquired.
It was the reading of this discussion in the columns of the Country Gentleman that led me to prepare this volume. It struck me that all that ought
to be said on the subject had not been discussed.
Indeed, the columns of a weekly journal do not
afford space for a consideration of the numerous
aspects in which it might be presented. It was evident, firom the number of writers who volunteered
to throw light on the question, that it was one in
which a general interest must be felt. Hience my
effort to increase the usefulness of the discussion by
grouping together all that has been already said,
with more that has been omitted.
102 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
CHAPTER V.
Exhausted Farms always to be had-Thriving Tenants-Owners
anxious to sell-Bartering Farms-A  lucky Beginner-City
Owners-Taking Advice —Where to Search-Saving a poor
Farm-Struggling with limited Means-A Cry from a Working
Man.
THE discussions quoted in the preceding chapters,
though very clear and full, are far from exhausting
the subject. There are multitudes of farms in all
the Atlantic States whose owners have never conteinplated working them.  Some purchased as an
investment, thinking farm land the safest property
to hold. They rented them for a succession of years
to tenants who skinned them with merciless assiduity, making them a heavier burthen to their owners
the longer they held them. Year by year they thus
became poorer and less productive. If rented on
shares, as is generally the case, the tenants appropriated most of the product, the owners getting
little or nothing. The latter lived away off in some
distant city; they rarely visited their country property; they had neither taste nor opportunity for
seeing whether it was handled wisely or honestly;
the tenants were thus left to exhaust the land as
rapidly as they could, and were depended on to
make report, at the years end, of what was
103 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
generally a bad season, of poor crops, poorer
prices, and a still poorer return to the expectant
owners.
If the plundering tenant were discharged, he was
generally succeeded by another whose genius for
stealing was superior to that of his predecessor, as
upon an exhausted farm he must skin more severely
and steal more largely, to obtain a living. If the
first thief took nearly all, the second was sure to
take what was left. The owner being thus annually
robbed, becomes tired of what he once considered
the safest investment, and is anxious to sell.
But a farm thus long, the victim of spoliation,
finds few cash buyers.  It will require time, labor,
and money, to restore it.  Depreciation is a rapid
process, but restoration a slow one. Cash buyers
prefer land in good condition, considering it cheaper
to enter on a farm in prime order, at a high price,
than on a poor one at a low figure. It is fortunate
for the country that all who are looking for farms
do not entertain the same opinion. If they did, the
numerous tracts which have been thus skinned to
death would be reoccupied by the forest, as none
would be found courageous enough to undertake
the slow and costly process of resuscitating them.
The disheartened owner thus finds neither a buyer
nor an acceptable tenant, nor is he so situated as to
give his farm the least attention himself. Hie does
not need the purchase-money-all he desires is to
find some reliable man to relieve hrim of the care
of an intolerable burden, by taking the farm on
some terms.  It must be occupied by somebody, as
104 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
absolute desertion of house and grounds is as
ruinous to a farm as idleness to the machinery of a
cotton-mill. Should a young and competent man
now offer himself as purchaser, fortified by good
character and a knowledge of his calling, the
chances are that he can secure the farm on such
terms as to price and payment, as will make it the
great and successful operation of his life. Such a
man, having constantly looked forward to beginning
for himself, will have saved a few hundred dollars;
and these will be found sufficient for a start. Others
have begun in like circumstances, with no capital
but their hands, and have succeeded.
I have seen more than one farm thus owned, thus
plundered and exhausted, thus an encumbrance on
the owner's hands, and thus passing into the possession of men with little or no capital, who in a
few years had paid, from its own products, every
dollar of the purchase money. From the day they
entered into possession they enjoyed the comforts of
a home. It might at first be scanty, rough, and inconvenient, but still it was horne. Every tree they
planted became an investment for their own exclusive benefit. In every furrow they turned, some
golden particles were discoverable at the bottom.
Every spoonful of manure they bought or manufactured, was equivalent to a fund invested at more
than compound interest.
There are hundreds of poor farms now held by
their owners because no buyers can be found. Men
in search of land should seek them out, bargain for
them at low prices and at long terms of payment,
5*
105 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
and enter into possession. Let no want of capital
operate as a discouragement, but go resolutely to
work. Sutch beginners should avoid great farms.
Far better to begin with thirty or fifty acres, pay
for that, and then, if more land be indispensable to
comfort, enlarge the boundary.
There are two other classes of owners on whose
hands farm property hangs either lightly or with
oppressive weight. In all the large cities there is
maintained an active trading business, in which
houses, lots, land, merchandise, and patent-rights,
are passed rapidly from hand to hand. Money is
sometimes mentioned, but rarely paid-the whole
transaction is one of barter. One who will take the
pains to look over the registers kept by these city
dealers, in which are entered the properties they
have for sale or barter, will be astonished at the extent and variety of the collection. There is almost
every thing that anybody can desire-houses, lots,
farms, mills, factories, water powers, wild land, some
of which is within an hour's ride of a great cash
market, and others two thousand miles away. Many
of the farms have been taken in barter by city
owners, whose sole business it is to get rid of them
as quickly as they bought them. In some cases
money is wanted, in others it is not, the barter being
repeated by exchanging the farm for something considered more salable. Thus the barter is kept moving until some commodity turns up which can be
converted into money.
I saw at one of these agencies; in Philadelphia, a
tolerably good farm sold in exchange for a half in
106 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
terest in a patent pump, which was subsequently
found to be a failure. On another occasion, a young
man of six-and-twenty, dressed in a farmner's everyday suit, came in to look after a place of seventy
acres which he had seen advertised. The advertisement did not state exactly where it lay, but the low
price of $700 attracted his attention. The seller
opened his thick book and read out a minute description, on hearing which the inquirer immediately
recognized the farm as one of which he had long had
some knowledge. After a very short parley he
bought it. This farm was improved with buildings
which had cost $1,200, though now old and out of
repair.  The fencing could not have been placed
there for less than $300, while there were other appliances about the house sufficient to make a moderate family comfortable. There was wood enough
on it for fuel, and it was within two hours' ride of
Philadelphia by railroad.
But why should it have been sold so low?  The
former owner was a lazy, thriftless fellow, and, like
the weeds on his land, had fairly gone to seed.
Poor, of course, the longer he remained there the
poorer he became, and thinking he could better
himself in the West, where land was cheap, bar tered off his farm for a half section, 320 acres, of
Missouri land. This half section had cost the buyer
$500-at least he had taken it at that figure in a
previous trade. HIe had never seen it, neither had
he ever been to examine the farm for which he ex changed it.  His business was to buy and sell, not
te examine property or to keep it. Thus $700 was
101 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
to him a capital price, the more so if it should be
paid in cash.
The lucky young man who bought it had been
for six years a careful saver of his earnings, and
had $800 in hand.  He had concluded to marry and
get a farm. His intended wife, also brought up in
the country, had saved $200.  The union of these
two little capitals thus gave him  the very start- in
life he was seeking.  But his excellent character
was good for another thousand, whenever he clhose
to borrow.  Buying such a property at such a price,
and occupying and working it himself, must have
laid for him the foundation of a certain independence. This incident forcibly illustrates the value of
even small savings-how they sometimes enable a
deserving man to seize-upon the golden opportunity
the moment it presents itself.
There is another class of city owners, not professional traders in property, who, having something
which they were anxious to part with, have exchanged it for a farm, thinking thus to better themselves. But these soon discover that a farm so far
off that one can rarely see it, is a great plague, and
speedily become anxious to sell, even at a loss. If
a sale for money be found impossible, then one on
credit is gladly made.  The  main object is not so
much to get money as to shake off a perpetual care.
They discover that an idle farm goes to ruin as rapidly as an idle steamboat.
Hlere are different classes of persons, all owners
of farins, and all governed by the same feeling, that
of anxiety to get rid of them. These reside in cities.
108 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
It is apparent, then, that one likely way to get a
farm is, in the first place to seek out such properties
as are known to belong to distant owners, and which
are at the same tinmetbeing skinned by worthless or
dishonest tenants; to obtain all the information possible in reference to the. property; and then to find
the owner and negotiate with him on the basis of a
purchase, with amnple time for payment. He' will
listen more respectfully to the man who proposes to
buy than to one who merely proposes to rent. An
offer to buy implies ability to pay —at least some
time-and holds out a prospect of the owner being
relieved of a great annoyance.  Renting is synonymous with continuance of an old and hateful grievance.  Small means will be no hindrance against
the application of a worthy man in these circumstances. Character will be the preponderating ingredient towards success, and, as in most others, will
determine the question in his favor.
I could recite three instances where this advice
was given, and, being acted on, success attended
each application. In two of them, the good conduct
of the applicants was so conspicuous as to secure the
confidence and friendship of the men from whom
they had purchased, to such an extent, that, whatever facilities were subsequently needed, were voluntarily supplied. Character and conduct secured
them friends, and were absolute equivalents to capital. Kind words, moreover, were constantly spoken.
Though cheap, yet;.they were valuable because inspiriting. Some men are naturally'given to them;
feeling that such utterance is like lighting another
109
Ak 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
man's candle with your own, which loses none of its
brilliancy by what the other gains.
So, too, the shrewd man with few or no dollars in
his pocket, should watch the advertising columns of
every newspaper he can lay hands on. Wise men
resort to them to let the world know what they have
to sell, and other wise ones-the buyers-drink daily
at the same fountains of intelligence. It is notorious that vast fortunes have been made by those who
have freely advertised their wares. Is it not reasonable to presume that those who read and purchased have had their share of profit? There are
more bargains to be found in the newspapers than
at the auctions.
He should also consult the thick registry books,
kept by the numerous dealers in real estate, in all
the large cities. These books contain descriptions
of thousands of properties on sale. Many of the
latter will be found to be desirable bargains.  lHe
must be hard indeed to please, if unable to find
among them some one to exactly suit his wants.
Hiaving thus pleased himself, the chances are that
he will find little difficulty in being able to please
the owner.   It may be urged that farmers, especially young  and inexperienced ones, are not
business men enough to undertake a pilgrimage of
this kind to strange places, among strange men.
But bargains do not come to you ready made.  The
gold of California did not come to those who remained at home, but to those who went after it.
They must break away from the old routine of their
lives, remembering that our customs and habits are
110 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
like ruts in the roads. The wheels of life settle into
them, and we jog along through the mire, because
it is too much trouble to get out of them.
I could point to one farm thus taken from an
owner so disheartened that at one time it was seriously contemplated to abandon it.  The soil seemed
hopelessly sterile, was chiefly yellow dirt with gravel,
and had apparently as little capacity for retaining
manure as a sieve for holding water. But deep
ploughing and heavy manuring with fertilizers, manufactured on the premises by hogs and cattle, have
brought it up to yielding thirty bushels of wheat per
acre. Patience and perseverance, with very moderate capital to begin with, overcame every thing.
As may be supposed, it was purchased for a small
sum, but in ten years could have been sold for a
large one. Instances of recuperation are too numerous to be recited.
The design and object of this volume cannot be
better promoted than by quoting from the Country
Gentleman the following inquiry, made by one of
the large class of persons who are constantly looking
for a country home, with the editor's answer. HIis
ripe experience of agricultural subjects gives the
highest value to his remarks. The inquirer describes himself as a young lawyer
"Making about $400 per year by my profession, and with
almnost no hope of increase, as the market is overstocked;
and I am sensible that I am neither a Kent, an Emmet, nor
a Story. Having a wife and child to support, I am anxious
to try some other business, that will better enable me to do
so than at present. Would farming be better?
ill 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
"I possess a thorough theoretical knowledge of agriculture, having at college made chemistry and botany my par,
ticular studies, and have, for years, been a constant reader
of the best agricultural books and periodicals, the Cultivator included.   I have  had  considerable  experience  in
gardening, and have been very successfuil. There my qualifications end. I have never worked a whole day in the
field, and am too feeble in body to do much labor of any
kind.
"About five minutes walk from my house and from the
town of B, there is a piece of land containing sixteen
acres of good clayey loam, sloping toward the south about
one hundred feet down to the seashore, where marine weeds
are abundant for manure. It is well fenced, but the buildings are worth nothing. It has been badly cultivated, without any kind of manuring. It rents for $50 a year, and
may be bought for $1,000, on easy terms, say $100 cash,
and the rest in eight years.  My whole available funds are
about $200. Would it be prudent, then, to buy it? I can
hire a good man for $80 a year and board. Produce brings
fair prices, and is readily bought up: barley, at $1 per
bushel; oats, 60 cents; potatoes, 60 cents; Swede turnips,
about 40 cents; and hay $15 a ton, this year, and about
$9, in other years. Indian corn we rarely grow, being liable to early frosts. Will you give me your advice-! It
would not be necessary to relinquish the law altogether; I
could probably make $200 by it, and still work the land."
The  case is stated  with  lawyer-like precision,
whereupon the editor replies in the following language:
"In giving advice, in such a case as this, it should be
borne in mind that more depends on THE MAN than on the
nature of the business, provided the latter is such as to
112 
AND WVHERE TO FIND ONE.
give an opportunity for the exercise of the energies. We
have known of more than one instance where two men,
with similar opportunities and means, have succeeded very
differently at the same business-one failing, and the other
accumulating wealth. Hence we cannot advise, in a general
way, the purchase of a farm, by running almost wholly in
debt for it. A few would easily work out; but to most,
the debt would be likely to prove a long-continued and oppressive load. It must depend upon the management, tact,
and econromy in ever?y sense of the word, possessed by the
purchaser in question.
"If we were to give one rule in business for beginners,
which we should place at the head of all others, it would
be-FEEL YOUR WAY.   Do not undertake any thing untried,
on a Iarge scale, no matter how promising the results may
appear.  The most uniformly successful men in business
have nearly always pursued this course; and we could, on
the other hand, name many instances where large and bad
failures have resulted from a different practice.
"Our correspondent should not give up his practice of
law immediately.  He must depend on that mainly for two
or three years at least, until he gets under way in farming.
If he could rent the land for two years, with the privilege
of purchasing, it would undoubtedly be best. But this,
probably, cannot be accomplished. He must therefore
take into consideration the probable cost, in addition to the
land, of aaimals to stock it (for even the smallest farm
should have some animals), the expense of a horse or of a
yoke of oxen, of the various necessary implemants to work
it to the best advantage, and of proper buildings. A man
must be also hired to do most of the labor in the present
instance. All these will be found to consume more than
the proceeds of the land for the first year or two. If, after
all these calculations, he can be sure of meeting his inter
113 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
est and other payments, allowing for disasters and contingencies, a purchase may be made.
"Great judgment and skill should be exercised in selecting first, those improvements which promise the greatest
returns with the least outlay. On this branch of the subject a large book might be written. We can only say
here, make a list of proposed improvements-examine from
all the practical knowledge that can be collected, and to
some extent from limited experiment on the spot, the probable cost on the one hand, and the probable advantages on
the other, and then select first, those showing the largest
percentage of profits. These may be some kinds of manuring, or some cheap and efficient underdraining, or deep
plowing of the tillage land, or heavy seeding of the grass
land, or the cultivation of certain crops, or the introduction of certain animals, remembering the rule in all cases,
FEEL YOUR WAY.
"Sixteen acres constitute but a small farm, but such a
farm, skilfully managed, may after a while be made to produce a considerable amount. Ordinary field crops alone
will not be likely to produce even one-half of the $400 now
made by law practice; but these, with fruit raising, rearing
fine animals, producing marketable garden crops, and perhaps the more salable fruit trees, may, with skilful hands,
be made to increase the product to an almost indefinite
extent.
"We  have heard wealthy farmers assert, that not over
two per cent. on the cost of their farms and the capital to
stock them, could be fairly relied on as an average for all
seasons. But this estimate is made for ordinary superficial
farming. We have found, by experience, that a better
mode of practice, economically pursued, would, without
any special trouble, double the products, and triple or
quadruple the net profits. For instance, where a ton and
114 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.        1
a half of grass are commonly cut, four tons have been
produced simply by heavy seeding and plastering; where
thirty bushels of corn have been the common crop, seventy
bushels have resulted from well applied manure, selected
seed, and good cultivation; and where only two hundred
bushels of carrots or rutabagas were ordinarily yielded,
six to eight hundred have been obtained by performing
every part of the operation promptly, in the best manner,
and on a deep and rich soil. We have known a gain of
more than one hundred dollars a year on a single farm from
a selection of the most efficient tools, and proper laborsaving machines.  We could also name some farmers, who,
instead of reaping an average net profit of only two per
cent., make at least twenty per cent.; and some of the
best farmers of Western New York (and doubtless elsewhere) clear from $700 to $900 from every hundred acresand in one case about $6000 have been made in a single season from a five-hundred-acre farm. The owners and managers
of these farms were active, intelligent, and energetic men,
of long experience, always in the midst of every important
operation, and we need scarcely add, constant readers of
the best agricultural publications of the day."
Such are the opinions of one who has long been
regarded as an agricultural authority. They are
cautiously expressed, but are not discouraging.
They strengthen the position taken throughout these
pages, that it is not the mere land which makes the
cultivator independent, but the skill and industry
with which he handles it.  They may be said to lie
at the foundation of all intelligent, well-directed
labor. An animal will grow if generously fed; if
not, he must remain nearly stationary. If not fed
at all, he will assuredly die of starvation. It is pre
115
v 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
cisely so with agriculture. Crops must be fed, or
they cannot be produced. In this case, the feeding
consists of thorough tillage and manure. Both are
costly items, but they are indispensable to success.
The great question is how to command them in the
largest abundance at the smallest cost.
It is granted, on all hands, that the soil should be
saturated with manure. Mere hard work will not
procure it in the necessary quantity. Brains must
be made to come in as the leading helper. Hfence
intelligence is necessary-the mere land will be
found powerless to do all that too many expect it to
accomplish.   Women,  sick  men,  even  absolute
cripples, unable to perform an hour's work, have
been highly successful farmers. But if deprived of
hands to work, they had heads to superintend.
Just before the crash of 1857 came with such
desolating severity upon the country, a working
man, a resident of the city of New York, who had
somehow scraped together $4000, found himself
precluded from increasing it by high rents, dear
food, and the inevitable increase of expenses on
every side. In this dilemma, he addressed himself to
the Tribune, in these words:
"I want to know what chance a man would stand in the
country to take up farming-not out in Kansas —but say in
Jersey, or the western part of this State, or out West near
some improving location, so as to get away from high rents
and dirt, and breathe a mouthful of fresh air-say a little
place of fifty or sixty acres, with house' and barn, one horse,
three or four cows, a few sheep, some poultry, all paid for
and clear of debt, so as to have $1,000 or $1,500 at interest,
116
0 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
just to have a little loose change coming in. Could a man
live better, feel better, and be less a drudge, than to stay
here in New York, and drudge, drudge, from day to day,
and month to month!"
What a revelation is here given of the workings
of one mind among the large class for whose information  this volume  has  been  written!   To  this
string of questions the editor made the following
pointed reply:
"Farming is a vocation, requiring knowledge, experience,
and skill, like any other. No man born and reared in the
city can remove to a farm, at thirty or forty years of age,
and become immediately an efficient, thrifty, successful
farmer. HIe will have much to learn and something to unlearn; and if he should get through his first year of farming without using up $500 of his capital, hlie many consider
that he has done well. Yet if he will keep his eyes open,
take counsel from his neighbors, take two or three good
agricultural papers, and read them carefully, we believe he
can render himself a fair average farmer the second year,
and something better than this thereafter. But, Is such a
change as this desirable?
"We answer, Yes. If, with average capacities, and a
capital of $4,000, you can, by steady industry, make nothing beyond a bare living in the city, we hold that you can
do better in the country. If you buy your land for its fair
valuation (and a great deal in this quarter is held twenty to
fifty per cent. above that mark), and use it well, it must be
steadily increasing in value. Your buildings also will necessarily be enlarged and improved-this year a corn-crib
will be added, next year an ice-house, and so on-and
though your surplus funds will rather diminish than increase,
and you will hardly see a dollar where you now see ten,
11T 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
you will be insensibly crawling toward a competence. Your
children will every year become more and more helpful to
you; your young fruit-trees will come into bearing; and
you will have at least twice the produce to turn off six or
seven years hence, that you can spare the first year.
"As to drudgery,-a man who aspires to earn a good
living and rear and educate a family by honest, straightforward work, must be diligent as well as frugal,-there is no
help for it. Still, a farmer with $4,000 capital well invested,
or even half that sum, need not labor excessively. From
April to November, he must work steadily and energetically
at least ten hours per day; but in winter he may moderate
his exertions and give himself a week or more to visit relatives or friends, when he sees fit. Farmers do not work so
many hours, on the average, as do the mechanics of this
city.
"As to location; we think a man with $4,000 may buy
a fair farm, in New Jersey, or one of our river counties,
stock it fairly, and have $500 over for lee-way; but he can,
of course, buy a much larger farm and stock it much better
from such a capital in a newer region, or even in western
New York. Every section has its advantages and disadvantages; we should more strenuously insist on a healthy
locality, than on fertile soil.  With a cash capital of $4,000,
,you will be a rich man in almost any new settlement; but
frontier life has its inconveniences, even for men; still more
for women and children. Investigate and decide for yourself."
118 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
CHAPTER VI.
Wanting the Best-The Poorer Lands first Cultivated, then the
Richer Ones-Value of Swamps-History of three of them Cranberry Swamps of New Jersey-Power of Example-The
Mississippi Swamp Interest-Wealth following Reclamation Public Loans to aid Drainage —John Johnston, the Great Amer;
ican Tile Drainer.
IT is a feature of American thought and habit to
be rigid and exacting. We are too apt to reject the
moderately valuable, and to insist on having only
the best. The habit has infected even the children,
beggars though some of them may be.  A ragged
little urchin came one morning to a gentleman's
door, asking for old clothes. Hle brought him a
vest and a pair of pants, which promised to make a
comfortable fit.  Youing America took the garments
in his hand, and examining them as closely as if he
had been buying them, then, with a disconsolate
look, exclaimed, " There ain't no watch-pocket!"
Now, the truly great are humble; just as those ears
of corn, and those boughs of trees which are the
most heavily laden, are seen to bend the lowest.
The urchin's impudence represents the national propensity-we must have the best.
But what we may conceive to be'the best for us,
frequently turns out otherwise. It is thus in seek
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HOW TO GET A FARMa
ing to obtain a farm. He who is looking exclusively for upland and meadow, all ready for the
plough or scythe, will be startled should he be told
that he can do better by buying a swamp. The
reader himself will probably be staggered by the
proposition. It is a new one, truly, but will justify
examination and analysis.
More than fifty years ago, Mr. Ricardo communicated to the world his discovery of how men came
to pay rent, and others to exact it. His work was
accepted by political economists as a text-book;
his views were assented to without dispute; and
for forty years no one ventured to doubt their
correctness. Hiis theory was a very simple one.
IHe laid it down as law, that in the commencement
of cultivation, when population is small and land
abundant, the best soils, such as yield the largest
returns,  are the  only ones  cultivated;  that  asr
population increases, land becomes less abundant,
creating a necessity for cultivating a less productive quality, when, as population again increases, resort is had to still more inferior land,
then to a third, and afterward to a fourth class of
soils.
These propositions, with the theories established
on them, were for many years accepted throughout
Europe, as well as in this country, as undeniable.
But our distinguished political economist, Mr. Henry
C. Carey, in his "Past, Present, and Future," published in 1848, has demonstrated their entire falsity.
The foundation thus knocked away, the fabric of
theory which Ricardo had reared upon it fell to the
120 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
ground. Mr. Carey proved that the facts were exactly the reverse-that the land which man cultivates in the beginning is of the poorer qualities, and
that that which he last brings under tillage is invariably the best.
Take our own country as an illustration, because
all can judge from facts that are occurring everywhere around them. Here, the settler invariably
begins by occupying the high and thin lands, which
require little clearing and no drainage.  Such yield
him but moderate returns for his labor.  But in
time, as population and wealth increase, he travels
down the hills, clearing up as he goes, until the
bottom has been reached. There the hill terminates,
and there the meadow or the swamp begins. It
contains the rich deposits which for centuries have
been washing from the hilltop and the hillside, the
loss of which had thinned the poorer soil into which
he first struck his spade.
Every reader knows that no settler begins his
clearing either in swamp or meadow, yet every one
is aware that in such spots the richest land is to be
found.  Ie knows, moreover, that lowlands are the
last to be reclaimed. To bring them into tillage requires money, skill, and time,-courage, also, may
be mentioned as an indispensable auxiliary,-the
courage to undertake a task which a succession of
owners had carefully avoided.  Ditching is familiar
to most of us, and can be cheaply done; but thorough underdraininlg was comparatively unknown
among us until within a few years; and it is only
by resorting to it that the lowland can be effectu
121
6 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
ally reclaimed. In a primitive condition of society,
therefore, with money scarce and land abundant, the
richer soils are neglected for the poorer.
The early settlers, throughout New England, established themselves on the higher lands along the
river courses, leaving to their more wealthy successors the task of clearing up and draining the swamps.
New  York and New  Jersey were settled on the
same plan; the higher grounds were first occupied,
while vast meadows of extreme richness were neglected, because they required drainage. New Jersey contains multitudes of abandoned clearings,
made by the first settlers on the poorer soils, but
long since deserted for the richer ones. Maryland
abounds with evidences of the poverty of the soils
first occupied, and of the richness of the meadowfarms subsequently brought uinder tillage. In Pennsylvania, the oldest habitations were always the
most distant from the rivers.  The rule prevails
throughout the South and West. The higher and
drier lands, in Mississippi, were peopled first; the
rich bottom lands of her great river were subsequently reclaimed by ditches, and the vast embankment which now keeps out the annual overflow.
Throughout South America the same extraordinary
uniformity of practice has prevailed. In England,
over the European continent, and wherever man
has found a foothold, no departure from it can be discovered. The law laid down by Mr. Carey may thus
be regarded as incontrovertible-the poorer lands of
a country are settled first, the richer ones are settled
last.
122 
AND WIERE TO FIND ONE.
It remains for me to apply it to the subject in
hand. I have intimated that a man desirous of obtaining upland and meadow, ready for the plough
and the scythe, would be incredulous if told that he
could do better by purchasing a swamp. Unless he
comprehended the foregoing law, or had seen it
illustrated, or had had it clearly explained to him,
it is natural that he should be confounded at the
proposition.  It would seem to him like asking for
bread and receiving a stone. But his object is not
only to get a farm, but to get the best one, and at
the lowest price.
Now, we know that the best land is always to be
found in the swamp. There grows the heaviest
timber, there vegetation shoots up with the rankest
luxuriance, there the dark mould, which we call soil,
is uniformly the deepest. It has been accumulating
there for ages. Rains have washed down upon it
the rich soil of the surrounding hills, for centuries
before the white man had trodden them. The forests that covered them have showered upon it their
annual wealth of leaves; and winds have blown to
it, from other woods, additional stores of foliage.
Decay of the living and the dead has been going on
without interruption.  The original depression has
become filled, many feet in depth, with a deposit so
rich that the owner sometimes spreads it over his
grounds, half suspecting it to be manure. It is, in
fact, a mass of fertilizing matter of uncounted value.
No intelligent man can doubt it.
But the owner is ignorant or neglectful. He considers it only as a swamp. In his family it has had
123 
HOW TO GET A FARM.
no other name.  His boys hunt in it for skunks or
rabbits, or for birds or honeycombs. It is known
through the neighborhood as the swamp. It is good
only for an occasional load of rails, perhaps a load
of wood. Though assessed as waste land, yet it does
not yield the annual taxes. Such it is considered
by all who know it; and such, while in this condition, it really is. In vain has the owner endeavored
to dispose of it at a low price; it is too well known,
and too little valued by those who do not understand the capabilities of ground thus situated, to
tempt them to buy.
Yet this swamp may contain ten acres or a hundred, and be so located that a single ditch cut
through the centre will render it comparatively dry.
Cross drains on both sides of and emptying into the
central ditch, composed of wood or tile, if sunk at
intervals of thirty feet apart, will render it firm
enough for the plough. By covering them they become underdrains. The main ditch itself may in
some cases be covered also, leaving the ground,
when cleared, without break or obstruction. It
needs no manure, for nature has there concentrated
an untold wealth of her choicest fertilizers. Who
can doubt that fifty acres of a swamp like this,
bought at a nominal price, and thus treated, will
yield to the beginner a speedier and richer return
than thrice the quantity of upland whose salable
value consists in the single fact of its being upland
instead of swamp?
From my own personal experience, I can speak
of the value of these swamp lands which are so
124 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
thickly scattered over our country, unimproved and
unappreciated, as much to the shame of their owners as to the discredit of that shrewdness which
ought to be manifested by the many who are seeking ways and means to get a farm. Five years ago,
I was applied to by a young man who was anxious
to begin his effort to secure a home of his own. iHe
was a capital farm-hand, possessed great energy, and
had saved $200 of his earnings. After learning his
views, I suggested to him the propriety of purchasing a piece of swamp land, containing twenty-six
acres, which was very nearly the counterpart of that
above described. It produced nothing whateverwas too wet for a cow pasture, and was in fact a
neighborhood nuisance. I had long noticed it, and
had studied its capabilities. I had even pointed
them out to the owner, but he was one of those
farmers who have little faith in any one's knowledge
but their own, and he refused to believe-his only
desire was to sell.
I took the young aspirant for a home all round
the swamp, and into it as far as we could penetrate
in a very wet season. It was grown up with alders,
young dogwood bushes, and maples, with here and
there a clump of tolerably large trees of other varieties. In some places where there was a slight
rise in the land, it was firm and solid. I drew his
attention to this circumstance, as proving that if the
water could be as effeetnally drained away from the
whole swamp as it was from these elevated spots, it
must become equally dry. He recognized the reasonableness of the inference; and, after a thorough
125 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
examination of the matter, assented to the feasibility
of completely reclaiming the land.
But the whole condition and aspect of the swamp
was so forbidding, that, although his judgment was
convinced, yet he hesitated about undertaking the
task. He had never drained a swamp, nor seen a
similar job done by others. He spoke of the numerous waste places in the neighborhood resembling
this, and of the fact that not one owner had ever
undertaken the business of reclaiming a single acre,
thoough so much wealthier than himself.  He was
satisfied that the redeemed land would be of the
highest value, gut he doubted if his means would
hold out. The difficulty was to get him to beginhe had a commendable degree of courage, but not
quite enough.
Finally, his hesitation was overcome by a third
party offering to.furnish the money with which to
pay for the swamp, to wait any time for him to refund it, and, in case of his little capital and his own
labor proving insufficient, to assist him with whatever more might be needed.
With this agreement to rely on the swamp was
purchased at twenty dollars an acre. Taking it as
it stood, this was a high price; but looking at it
with reference to what could be made of it, the
price was low enough. It lay within twelve miles,
by rail, of a city of many thousand inhabitants,
and there was a station within gunshot, from which
vast quantities of milk, vegetables, and other farm
products, were daily carried to the city. The railroad company was one of the few that assiduously
126 
AND WHIERE TO FND ONE.
cultivate the way traffic of the country through
which they pass. The directors were as studious of
the interest of the man whose whole freight was
contained in a single mlilk-can, as of his who brought
a load of wheat. Thus, let the farmer grow whatever crop he considered best, he could rely upon
the railroad to convey it punctually and cheaply to
the adjacent market.  It is the combination of such
facilities that gives value to land. Without such
combination in the present case, the swamp referred
to would have been dear at any price.
Hence, in the purchase and reclamation of a
swamp, reference must not only be had to how
cheaply it may be brought into tillage, but how near
may be the market for its products, because the
nearer it may be to market, the higher will be the
prices to be obtained for them. The first charge
on agricultural productions is that of frieight-the
cost of moving them to market from the spot whereon they were grown.
The swamp was a parallelogram, with a watercourse running professedly from end to end, but by
courses surprisingly tortuous. There was a good
natural fall, but the stream had become dull and
lazy from a thousand obstructions, such as fallen
trees, clumps of alders, old roots, and sandbars. At
its lower end an ample outlet could be created,
through which any volume of water from above
would flow off rapidly whenever the outlet should
be opened. These important facts had been noted
before the purchase was made.  When the fences
had been shifted by the lines of the tract, an acre
12,7 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
of upland was found to be included, on which build ings could be placed.
-Ny protege' began by Opening an outlet at the
lower end of the swamp, from which he cut a wide
ditch through the whole, from one end to the other,
felling trees, taking out roots, and grubbing up the
dogwood and alders. Thirty days' labor of himself and one hired'nan, accustomed to such work,
completed the ditch. The effect was immediate and
very decided. Instead of the old sluggish stream,
a lively current now flowed rapidly down the new
water-course, into which trickled a hundred little
streams from both sides of the swamp.  Heretofore
they had stagnated for want of an outlet-now they
put on a wholesome activity. Numerous ponds
and puddles quickly disappeared, while sundry
powerful springs became so well defined that their
sources at the foot of the upland could be distinctly
identified.
While the changed condition of the land was
thus enabling it to throw off a large portion of the
surplus water which had made it worthless, the
young owner went to work on the trees and underbrush. So great had been the change effected by
the single ditch already made, that he felt greatly
encouraged to persevere. As often happens, in such
cases, the trees produced more cords of wood than
either of us had anticipated. The brush was
trimmed and bundled into faggots, which sold
readily for kindling. The dogwood bushes were
grubbed up bodily, so as to preserve the crook or
curve at the root, and were then sold to a mranufac
128 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
turer in the neighboring city, who converted them
into canes and umbrella handles, paying such a price
as more than refunded the cost of grubbing. The
wood was of course salable enough.
Five months, from April to September, were occupied in these various labors; but though a hot
sun had been playing on the now exposed surface of
the swamp, causing an uninterrupted evaporation of
its moisture, yet in some places it was still too wet
to admit of hauling off all the wood, and that portion was left until a hard freeze the following winter.
Meantime the grubbing went on wherever a root
was found small enough to be extracted. Many
larger ones were of course left, the operation of
taking them out being too expensive for a beginner.
But vast piles of the smaller ones were collected
and used in filling up the old tortuous water-course,
while the dirt from the new ditch was wheeled over
planks to cover them, leaving the roots so far under
ground as to be below the reach of ordinary ploughing. This operation secured two important advantages-it cleared the new ditch of the embankments
thrown up on its margin in digging it, and it brought
up the old one to the surrounding level. By the
first, all the surface water was allowed to flow off,
as there could be no ponding or backing where no
bank existed. By the last, a huge, crooked gully
was converted into fast land.
But the work was not yet done. Cross drains
were to be dug from the main ditch, on both its
sides, extending to the adjoining upland. So far
there had been no proper time to do this, as all such
129 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
drains would have been choked or destroyed by the
falling trees, or the bperation of grubbing. But in
September this work was begun on one side of the
main ditch, and was pushed rapidly to completion.
Narrow drains or ditches were sunk wherever they
were supposed to be necessary, in the bottom of which
small bushes were deposited and then covered. Care
was taken to lay the bushes all one way-lengthwise.
Each one of these underdrains began immediately
to perform its office of relieving the ground of a
portion of its surplus water, as might be seen by
examining the outlet in the main ditch. Some of
them, such as had tapped a spring, discharged
copious streams.
All who have had any experience in underdraining are aware how quickly it transforms wet land
into dry land; and those who have not, can form
no idea of it until they witness the result for themselves. It was so with my protege'. He was astonished at the work of his own hands. The drained
side of the swamp now dried up very rapidly. The
land in some places settled away from the large
stumnps which yet remained, and was evidently becoming hard and firm. These indications kept him
in excellent spirits, to which the manure-like appearance of the rich black soil that had everywhere
been turned up as the drains were dug, made a
further contribution. No one could walk over the
ground on the two sides of the main ditch without
instantly discovering the difference between the
drained and the undrained. That winter hlie employed in clearing utip the swamp more thoroughly,
130 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
being now of opinion that he might be able to plough
it in the spring.
When spring came, he did succeed in ploughing
nearly all the underdrained half, then limed it,
planted corn, and raised the first crop that that
swamp had ever produced. The corn was so large as
to be an amazement to the neighborhood. It exceeded
the yield of the upland on both sides of his line,
and settled the question as to the profitableness of
reclaiming swamp lands.
The young owner was so much encouraged by his
success that, after getting in his corn, he immediately
proceeded to underdrain the remaining half. The following spring it was dry enough to be all ploughed.
He then limed it, and at the proper season sowed
buckwheat, securing a crop quite as heavy as any
of his neighbors.  These first crops were regularly
succeeded by others, and they were invariably good
ones. In time, as the vegetable mould decayed, the
soil became loose and of remarkably easy cultivation, while in richness it far exceeded that of the
best upland in the neighborhood. It needed no
manure.  The more it was turned up to the sun, the
drier and more friable it became. Fruit trees were
planted and flourished, and strawberries were grown
in the rich new soil with astonishing success. It
seemed to be the very home for cabbages, turnips,
and celery; and there is now as little prospect of its
relapsing into swamp land as there was, ten years
ago, of its graduating into arable land. It could be
sold any day for $120 an acre.
So much for its marketable value, but now for the
131 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
cost of reclaiming it. This, all told, amounted to
$21 an acre, but not including the young owner's
timne. I make no account of that, because he has
his pay in the increased value of the land. The
actual money-cost was more than $21 an acre, but
the total stands at that figure by deducting sales of
wood and faggots.
There are tracts of swamp land which contain
three times the quantity of timber that this did,
which can be purchased quite as cheaply, and which,
from the greater quantity of wood they might yield,
could be reclaimed to better profit. There are
others, wholly clear of wood and underbrush, which
could be reclaimed for even less.  It should be the
business of the shrewd and enterprising to seek out
and appropriate them.
The first cost of this swamp was $20 per acre, the
reclaiming of it $21, making a total of $41, or
$1066 for the whole. Its value rose in two years to
$3120, or very nearly treble the first outlay. Here
was a large capital suddenly created out of a small
one, not by mere investment of the original sunm,
but by bringing to its aid the experience of one
man and the courageous industry of another. It
was the judicious combination of the three upon a
specific object, that worked the change. Thus, the
man who improves his own land, works with a long
lever, and will find that, in reality, but little power
is required. The lesson should be as instructive to
those who read this, as was the reclaiming of the
swamp referred to to the neighborhood wherein it
lay. The owner's success was so decided, that it
132 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
sent up the price of numerous waste places of similar character, and caused others to be as effectually
drained. Exhortation had been lost upon the
owners; but when the example was placed before
them, imitation came of itself.
The young man whose personal energy converted
twenty-six acres of utterly waste land into a productive farm, created for himself, at a single stroke,
a capital that set him up for life. He proved conclusively that it is the best lands which come last
into cultivation. The single acre of upland in his
purchase now contains his house and barns, and
from the remaining acres he produces all that his
family needs. In ten years from the day that he
first struck his spade into the main ditch of an apparently worthless swamp, he will be out of debt,
and worth histthousands,
In the estimation of some, an undertaking of this
character will smack of speculation. It is out of
the old routine-it is a new way to get a farmand being new, is therefore speculative, and being
speculative, is not only foolish, but hazardous. But
here the prevailing ingredients are good sense and
resolute industry. The speculators hate work-the
industrious hate speculation. Timnid minds will reject the example just given, not only because constitutionally fearful of a new thing, but because of
an equally constitutional incredulity. But the experien(ce of many in this country could be adduced
in confirmation of the idea that one of the surest
ways to get a farm cheaply, is to purchase and reclaim a swamp. It involves hard work as well as
133 
HOW TO GET A FAR{M,
dirty work, wet feet and muddy clothes, but few
undertakings will pay better.
It is known that several counties in New Jersey
contain thousands of acres of cranberry lands, which
annually produce abundant crops of fruit. In
numerous locations the owners of the land receive
no part of the crop. The whole region is but thinly
settled, and there are but few clearings among the
dense pine forests which cover a large portion of
the ground. Most of these have been made by pinehawkers and  charcoal-burners, who  support life
under great privations, and who rear families in
total ignorance of schools or churches. All round
them lay immense cranberry grounds, without a
panel of fencing on thousands of acres. From time
immemorial these squalid families have gathered
the fruit for their own benefit, and disposed of it at
the nearest stores. They swarm among the swamps
during the picking season, so that the owner gets
little or none of the crop. If residing at a distance,
as is generally the case, he has no chance whatever.
Even when within a few miles of his own swamp,
he receives no portion except by sufferance. The
cranberry grounds of the region have been so long
abandoned to these indiscriminate inroads, that the
annual plunder of the crop has grown to be considered a public right. In somie places, the owner
may receive a barrel or two as a gift, in others he
is permitted to send in a few pickers for his own use.
But it would be a dangerous experiment for him to
undertake suddenly and forcibly to suppress these
depredations-a general mutiny would be the result.
134 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
All these wild lands are consequently unsalable,
and are worth from two to five dollars per acre.
They have been in market at these prices for many
years. Some of them are covered with small pines
and scrub oak, the latter growing up wherever the
former have been cut off for the use of iron furnaces
or glass works. Large districts of them are within
a few miles of a railroad, on which two hours' fravel
will convey you to Philadelphia, and three more to
New York. But they lie on no public thoroughfare,
and hence they have remained unnoticed and neglected. No good roads penetrate them, hence there
are no travellers, and hence the distant public knows
but little of their capabilities.
Seven years ago an enterprising farmer of Burlington county purchased a hundred acres of this
swamp land, for which he paid $5 per acre. All
the adjoining land was in market at the same price,
a third or a half to be paid down. Much of his
purchase was grown up with cranberries. His design was to give them some general attention that
would cost but little money, and if found to pay,
then to bestow more care upon them, and eventually
to convert the whole tract into a carefully cultivated
cranberry plantation. He conciliated, to some extent, the jealousies of the neighboring sand-hillers
by employing them to cut brush sufficient to construct a fence around the portion to be protected,
so as to keep off the hogs and cattle which roamed
the woods, rooting up or trampling downil the plants.
This slight protection of a brush fence, costing
but little, produced the best results. The plants
135 
ROW TO GET A FARM,
bore freely, and ripened their fruit well. IHe had
purchased the land in April, and that fall - he sold
$600 worth of fruit, netting $440. The following
year was less productive, in consequence of a heavy
frost when the plants were in bloom. But the third
year paid better than the first. In the mean time
he had enlarged his plantation by extending his
brush fence around other portions of the tract, and
at this writing is clearing an average of $1100 annually from about thirty acres.
In the sections of New Jersey referred to, there
are numberless places whereon similar operations
may be carried out. Some of them have been already redeemed from their native wildness by a
very moderate expenditure, and converted into the
most lucrative investments. Once established, these
cranberry swamps rarely fail. Now and then a frost
may injure the crop, or the worm may wholly destroy it; but on the average of five years, there is
probably no investment that can be made to pay
better.  A cranberry swamp, well set with vines,
and conveniently located, is a cheaper purchase at
$50 per acre than a quarter section of government
land as a gift. If so located as to be easily flooded,
the crop may be considered sure.
For a beginner it possesses rare advantages. Generally it will take care of itself, requiring little labor
or attention, except when the crop comes in. For
at least ten months of the year he may employ most
of his time in working out for others, or ill cultivating other land for the production of food for his
family. The crop is among the most marketable of
1 P) 6 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
all the fruits. Its sale is distributed over the whole
year, instead of being, like other berries, crowded
into a few weeks. It is largely exported, and there
has rarely been a glut.
At a meeting of the New York Farmers' Club,
in 1858, a letter from Mr. Edwin Salter, of Barnegat, Ocean County, New Jersey, was read, from
which the following extract is taken:
"I notice, at a late meeting of the Farmers' Club, that
the subject of transplanting cranberries was brought up.
Could you put me in a way to find out what the New
England cranberry-growers consider a good crop, natural
growth and transplanted? There are scores of acres in
this vicinity that yield often over 100 bushels per acre from
natural growth; transplanting is here a new thing, and has
not been carried on long enough to know how successful
it will prove. The heaviest yielding cranberry-bog in this
section is one in the woods some twenty miles from any
habitation (except cabins), which is said to have yielded
300 bushels to the acre one season. In the vicinity of this
bog are hundreds of acres of land which appears to be
naturally such as at your meeting was described as the
best adapted for transplanting. As this land is held at
only a nominal price (firom $1 to $3 per acre), it would
doubtless pay to try transplanting there. At any rate it
will be tried. It ought to pay better than New England
land, for which, in addition to the higher price of land,
heavy expenses sometimes have to be incurred to make it
precisely what this is naturally. Our shore people here are
nearly all seafaring men, but of late some few of them are
turning their attention to the soil; their experiments thus
far prove that, though our land may not be as good as in
137 
IIOW TO GET A FARM,
other sections, yet it will prove as profitable to till, especially as we are but a day's journey from both New York
and Philadelphia markets."
If it be granted that it is a good thing to get a
farm, it would seem to be a better one to find it already planted with a permanent crop. Such is the
condition of a natural cranberry swamp. But if
the plants there flourish with profitable luxuriance,
it does not follow that they can be cultivated with
advantage on no other description of land. There
are varieties which have been proved to be successful even on dry upland.  But as such land is costly,
its use for this culture does not properly belong to
the subject in hand. Yet on the pine barrens of
Long Island, these berries have been raised at the
rate of seventy-five bushels per acre, after being set
three years, the sod from the native swamp, full of
plants, being transferred directly to the upland. In
various parts of New England, the upland culture
is reported to be profitable. But for light on this
question the inquirer is referred to such books as
treat fully of the cranberry culture.
The reader of any of the numerous agricultural
periodicals issued among us, cannot fail to have
noticed repeated narratives of success in the reclamation of swamp lands.  There are many instances
in which the work has been accomplished at a surprisingly low cost, while in others it has been the
reverse. It should be the study of the beginner to so
select the spot on which he is to operate, as to take
that only which can be reclaimed at the minimum
138 
. AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
expense. Our country abounds with desirable fields
for such operations. Every reader can call to mind
some worthless swamp or cripple, admirably situated as to neighborhood and market, large enough
to make a respectable farm, and obtainable at a low
price on such terms of payment as a small capitalist
could comply with. In some locations the neighbors would be disposed to aid the man who had enterprise enough to undertake the abatement of a
nuisance which was not only offensive to the eye,
but dangerous to public health. 
The surpassing richness of such lands, when redeemed from the dominion of the water, has long
been proverbial.  They need no manure, yet they
produce double crops. Strangely enough, though
the best soil on the continent, yet it comes last into
cultivation. Hence I am free to urge this process
as one of the best, the quickest, and the surest, by
which to get a farm. Like the cranberry swamp,
it possesses peculiar advantages for a small beginner,
as it yields immediate returns, and as there are long
intervals between the different stages of work, during
which he can employ himself at other labor. When
his drains have once been laid, the land will be drying while he sleeps; and if, when seeking for a
farm, he had been recommended to plunge into a
swamp, he will find, in the end, that it was not asking for bread and receiving only a stone.
Such an example operates powerfully on others.
Mr. Beecher says, that "if men are to become intelligent, we must give them specimens of intelligence. Let a man go into a village where the
139 
*
HOW TO GET A FARM,
hQuses are all going to decay, where the fences are
all tumbling down, and where no pains are taken
with trees and flowers, and build a neat house, inclosing his grounds with a neat fence, and tastefully
decorating his yard with comely trees and beautiful
flowers, and his example will be a blessing to the
place. In three years there will be twenty neat
houses, with good fences, and yards blooming with
shrubbery and flowers, as the result of his judicious
outlay of means. The taste of the whole village
will be educated and improved by the influence he
will exert through the instrumentality of whatever
advantages he may possess over its inhabitants."
But if moderate capitals may be advantageously
invested inl the reclaiming of either swamp or cranberry lands, it does not follow that large ones, so
used, will fail to produce equally satisfactory returns.
One instance may be cited where a large sum was
devoted to reclaiming a cranberry swamp in Massachusetts. The leading particulars were given in
the Boston Cultivator, from which the following account is taken. The grounds were visited by the
editor in November, 1863.  Their owner is Dr. E. D.
Miller, whose residence is Dorchester, some twentyfive miles from Boston.  The swamp is described as
having been almost worthless.
"Something like ten years since, this swamp was covered
over with a growth of alders, dogwood, white maples, and
other swamp-shrubs, which covered the ground; they were
cleared off, and a ditch cut through the swamp fbr the
brook, which before ran through a very crooked channel.
Ditches were then opened from the uplands on each side,
140 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
which are gravelly and sandy, leading into the main ditch.
A dam was constructed across the swamp, which serves the
purpose of flowing it, and also that of a road to pass across
it. In the winter, the swamp was usually flowed, and
gravel, this being better than sand, was drawn on the ice
and spread. Afterwards it was planted to cranberry cuttings, in drills about eighteen inches apart, this, from experience, proving to be a suitable distance apart. How
many coverings of gravel have been put on was not learned;
but several, judging from the excavations when removed.
"About twelve or fourteen acres of this swamp have
been planted; and so favorably is it situated, that it can be
covered with water in little more than an hour's time. The
brook is of such capacity, with the aid of a reservoir above
the cultivated ground, that the plants can be protected
from frosts at any season when there is any danger.
"The crop of the past season was about 1100 barrels
of very nice fruit, and of remarkable size. I brought away
a couple of berries, that measured nearly three inches in
circumference. The crop was all picked by hand, at a cost
of nearly $2000. At one time, said Dr. Miller's farmer,
200 persons might have been seen in that swamp picking
cranberries. It was a lively scene. After they were
gathered, they were taken to the house, where they were
sorted, the soft berries, after winnowing them, were culled
out by women and girls, preparatory to barrelling.
"When Dr. Miller first contemplated the cranberry culture of this swamp, he visited Mr. Joseph Breck, the wellknown seedsman of North Market-street, Boston, and
asked him how to go to work. Mr. Breck said he could
not tell him: then he asked for the best work on cranberry
culture. Mr. B. told him he did not know of any he
could recommend; then, said Dr. Miller,'Can you tell me
of a man I can employ that knows something about it?'
141 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
and Mr. Breck said he could not.'Well,' replied Dr. M.,
'then I will try and see what I can do.' The result and
the mode of doing it is briefly stated as above, as learned
from Dr. Miller and Mr. Desmond, his farmer.
"Dr. M. has informed the writer, since visiting the cranberry swamp, that the fruit has generally been sold so far
as it is marketed, at the current price, though some of it
was sold at $15 a barrel. Call the average price $10 a
barrel, and 1100 barrels will bring the snug little sum of
$11,000. This beats tobacco-raising out of sight, as the
saying is.
"One  of the peculiar advantages  possessed by  Dr.
Miller over most of the owners of swamp lands, is the
facility with which he can flow it at all seasons of the
year, thus guarding the growing crop from both late spring
frosts and early autumn frosts; and, besides, gives him the
power to destroy insects that sometimes infest the vines.
Swamp lands that can be as quickly flowed and as quickly
drained as Dr. Miller's cannot be used more profitably than
by growing cranberries, as it would seem by the Doctor's
experience. It is also easily gravelled in the winter by
flowing it."
The foregoing account was considered so remarkable, that I applied to Dr. Miller for some additional
items of information. From these, in connection
with the narrative quoted, the reader will be able to
form a just conception of the magnitude of the enterprise, of the amount of capital invested, as well
as of the character of the result.
Dr. Miller has about twenty-five acres, divided
into five meadows, varying ill size from 3 to 12 or
14 acres, all on the same stream of water. The
whole can be overflowed at will in about two hours.
142 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
About 18 to 20 acres are drained by side ditches
discharging into a main ditch, all being open-no
underdrains. The top soil of the meadow was removed to the depth of eight to eighteen inches, and
about six inches of coarse gravel was put in its
place. The cranberry plants which were growing
wild upon the spot, were necessarily removed by
this operation, but they were replanted on the gravel.
The principal meadow of 12 to 14 acres was purchased at $12 per acre, and the. cost of reclaiming
and planting was about $500 per acre.
The work was begun in 1852, and' the next year
a small quantity of fruit was gathered. The succeeding crops, for eight years, varied from 200 down
to 7 barrels. The crop of 1862 was the smallest of
all, and was lost by the neglect of a workman; that
of 1863 was the highest, and amounted to 1030
barrels. Dr. Miller says, "I have no doubt that
when my meadows are brought to a proper condition, they will yield, some seasons, from 2000 to
2500 barrels."
ile says, moreover, that his example is followed
by others to a limited extent, owing to the want of
suitable meadows as to flowing, gravel, &c   He
thinks he could now do the same amount of work
(with labor at the same price) for $150 less per acre.
It was to get rid of the multitude of roots in the
ground that he removed so great a depth of soil.
All this was taken away by wheelbarrows, the
ground being too soft to sustain the tread of cattle.
It was finally burned, and the ashes used on other
land. The larger meadow had run to waste so long,
143 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
that for some time the owner could not decide to
whom it belonged.
-- It will doubtless occur to the intelligent reader
that Dr. Miller committed an oversight in destroying by fire the immense amount of sods, grass-roots,
muck, and peat, which he thus removed with the
alder and other roots. From so large a surface, and
going to so great a depth, the accumulation must
have been enormous. Though when dry it would
readily burn, yet it was in reality a highly concentrated manure. There was a certain value in every
load, as would have been manifested had it been
applied to other land. But the Doctor admits that
he kept a loose account of the profits he gained by
removing this mass of vegetable matter, and says,
"I was more anxious to get rid of it than to make
anything out of it." As he managed the affair, he
thinks he realized about 1200 bushels of ashes. But
it may be safely assumed that the real value of the
manure thus passed through the destructive ordeal
of fire, was fully equal to a third, if not the half,
of the whole cost of removing and replacing it.
This estimate is warranted by my own experience.
Some four years since I began the operation of reclaiming a jungle of three acres, which, since the
foundation of the world, had produced no crop but
alders, briars, hassocks, ferns, and bumble-bees. It
was too soft for cattle to graze through it, and in
many places would almost mire a goose. The alders
had been cut off thirty years previous, but the roots
had been left in the ground. For all agricultural
purposes this meadow was absolutely worthless.
144 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
I began by opening a ditch through its whole
length, some 800 feet, then dug narrow cross-ditches
at-rig,ht angles, 30 feet asunder, in which were de posited trunks formed by nailing two boards together,
and discharging into the main ditch. They were
then covered, and became underdrains.  This was
all done in the autumn. In July following, the
ground was dry and hard enough for a team of four
mules to plow up the tough and almost impenetrable
sod that covered it. In October this sod was taken
off and collected in a huge pile, so high and so long
as to resemble a railroad embankment. Two hundred bushels of lime were mixed in as the pile was
made. That winter the denuded meadow was filled
in with dirt from an adjoining highland, in many
places to the depth of a foot, the wheelbarrow and
horse-shovel being used. The next season it was
all ploughed and planted with corn, cabbages, and
pumpkins.
But the sod taken from the surface was worth
more than the whole improvement cost. It amounted
to several thousand loads. It burned readily when
only half dried, and could have been as quickly
converted into ashes as that which fell to the lot of
Dr. Miller. But in place of being burned, a section
of the heap went four times a year to the barn-yard,
where it speedily graduated into the richest kind of
manure.
It was interesting to notice how every plant grew
and flourished to which it had been freely applied.
Corn, grapes, strawberries, celery, potatoes, and
garden vegetables especially, were stimulated into
7
145 
/TOW TO GET A FARM,
a most luxuriant growth. It could hardly be otherwise, as it was pure vegetable fibre in a state of
decay. Some professional florists who visited my
premises, and examined this great mucek-heap, expressed their admiration of its richness. It was the
very material to obtain which they were compelled
to send many miles, and without which it would be
scarcely possible for them to prosecute their business. I could have readily sold it for more money
than the whole improvement of the three acres of
meadow cost me. This experience is cited as one
of the forms in which the reclaiming of a swamp
will return immediate compensation.
The abundance of swamp lands in this country
having been referred to, it may be of some interest
to give such figures in relation to the subject as may
be relied on. There are no statistics showing how
many acres the whole Union contains; but some
idea may be gathered from the legislation which
has been had in Congress when coming to dispose
of them. The first statute which dealt with this
interest was the law of 1849, in relation to Louisiana, a large extent of whose territory was annually
overflowed.  Along  the Mississippi the  alluvial
margin is from one to two miles wide; and to prevent the inundation from that river, an artificial
embankment or levee system had been adopted,
extending, on the east side of the river, from forty
miles below New Orleans to a distance up the
river of a hundred and eighty miles, and on the
west side generally to the boundary of Arkansas.
To aid Louisiana in constructing the necessary
146 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
levees and drains to reclaim these swamps and overflowed lands, Congress, by act of March 3, 1849,
granted to that State "the whole of those swamps
and overflowed lands which may be, or are found
unfit for cultivation." The Government, in the
spirit of enlarged public policy, conceded this class
of inundated lands to aid in the construction of permanent levees, with a view to secure private property, and also as a sanitary measure. To this succeeded the law of 1850, extending a similar grant
to Arkansas; but the last section of the act enlarged the grant, so as to embrace "each of the
other States of the Union in which such swamp and
overflowed lands may be situated." When this
measure had its origin, and before it became general,
the grant was estimated as embracing 5,000,000
acres. But in September, 1863, it was ascertained
that the enormous quantity of 57,923,737 acres had
been selected.
How such extraordinary flexibility was imparted
to a law having a definite object, is shown by the
subjoined explanation from the Washington UTnion:
"It is currently reported that extensive frauds have been
attempted in regard to the selection of swamp lands under
the act of September 28, 1850. That act granted to the
States the swamp and overflowed lands, unfit thereby for
cultivation, which were at that time unsold. Some of the
States selected swamp lands in accordance with the
field notes of the Surveyor-General; other States appointed
agents to select these lands, the agents furnishing lists to
the General Land-office, which lists, having been examined
by the Surveyor-General, were reported for approval or
147 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
disapproval. In some of the States these lands were
granted to the counties in which they were found, by the
State Legislatures. The counties, in some instances, entered into contracts with the agents for the purpose of selecting those lands for them. It is said that, in some instances, these agents went into the fields and selected all
the good vacant land which they could find, irrespective of
its character, whether swamp or otherwise.  These agents,
by contract, were allowed, say ten or fifteen cents an acre
in some instances, and in others one-fourth and one-third
of the lands found. Under these tempting inducements,
some swamp lands have been found on the tops of high
hills and mountains. If these lists of selections by these
agents should have been sanctioned by the Department,
this class of speculators would have made firom $250 to
$50,000 a day. On the 3d of March, 1857, an act was
passed in relation to these selections, which the Department of the Interior holds does not relate to selections of
lands made after the date of the act itself. It seemed to
be the design of this act of 3d of March, 1857, to confirm
to the several States such lands as may have been selected
under the act of 28th September, 1850, which had heretofore been reported to the Commissioner of the General
Land-office, so far as then vacant and unappropriated, and
not interfered with by actual settlement. Selections which
have been made since the date of this act, it will be perceived, have not been confirmed thereby. Some of these
parties, who have expected to be benefited by this act of
1850, will find themselves sadly disappointed."
In the overflowed region along the Mississippi
river, for the reclamation of which the law was
originally intended, and where it went earliest into
operation, the effect was speedy and very remark
148 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
able.  During the three years ending with 1857,
there was an increase of over $50,000,000O in the
assessed value of the lands in Mississippi, and of
over $25,000,000 in the value of the taxable slaves.
A very large portion of this enormous increase
of value occurred in the regions subject to overflow
from the river, but which, under the operation of
the law just referred to, had been drained and
brought under tillage.  But. this system of drainage
had scarcely been begun. All thus far accomplished
had been hastily, and therefore imperfectly done.
Yet the amazing fertility of the half-reclaimed
bottoms is shown in the rapid increase of values.
Their superior productiveness attracted capital and
population from all the slave States. Within the
three years mentioned, the slave population of Mississippi increased from 326,861 in 1854, to 368,861
in 1857. The progress developed in Arkansas and
Texas was even more remarkable.  This increase
would have gone on enlarging as the drainage extended and became more comnplete. But rebellion
not only interrupted its progress, but made the
whole region a hissing and an astonishment to the
world. As an organized institution, slavery became
utterly demoralized, and in many places ceased to
exist. The slaves became fugitives or soldiers.
Thousands perished of disease or starvation. Plantations were abandoned, their buildings and ma-,
chineiry destroyed, leaving what is probably the
finest region on the continent to be repeopled and
resuscitated by a new race of owners.
This appropriation of public land may be re
149 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
garded as the only instance in which our Government has extended aid to promote the drainage of
any description of lands. While with us the neglect
of this important interest has been the rule, in England the practice has been directly the reverse. For
a long series of years, the efforts of English landlords have been directed to the reclamation of waste
lands, moors, heaths, and lowlands. In 1797, a
committee of the House of Commons estimated the
area of such lands as had been brought under inclosure from 1700 to that date, at about 4,000,000
acres. The subsequent increase was relatively much
greater, as there are statistics to show that from
1800 to 1820, as many as 3,000,000 acres more were
brought under tillage. It is held that this rapid
addition was caused by the stimulant of high prices
for all agricultural products growing out of the
wars of that period.
Since 1820, it is said that the reclamation of waste
lands in England has not been pushed so vigorously,
but that the effort has been to increase the acreable
product of land, rather than to enlarge the area.
Hence the enthusiasm touching artificial fertilizers
and underdraining, both looking to a larger expenditure of capital and labor on an acre. Government
has shared in this enthusiasm by loaning to English
farmers some $60,000,000 to enable them to underdrain their lands. It is among the remarkable facts
of this munificent loan, that the lender has sustained
no loss from the borrowers, and that no land has
been underdrained without being signally benefited.
In numberless instances its productive capacity has
150 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
been doubled. Indeed, some authorities have held,
that but for the increased supply of food thus produced in England, as the result of a vast system of
underdraining, the people of that country would be
almost as helplessly dependent on other nations for
food, as their manufacturing industry has been dependent upon us for cotton.
Thus, if underdraining has been recognized in
England as a subject deserving of national encouragement, the fact is a significant endorsement of the
prominent position which it has been made to occupy in this volume.  But though no similar aid
has been given to AmericaR farmers, yet there are
thousands of them who, aware of its importance,
have made drainage a fundamental element of their
whole system of farming. From among these a
single instance may be cited, as showing not only
how thoroughly the art has been transplanted to
this country, but how fully its results here corroborate those which have been realized by English
farmers. The facts are taken from the New York
Tribune, for October 29, 1859:
"Mr. John Johnston, near Geneva, N.Y., at one time
esteemed a fanatic by his neighbors, has come, of late
years, to be generally known as' the father of tile-drainage
in America.' After thirty years of precept, and twenty-two
of example, he has the satisfaction of seeing his favorite
theory fully accepted, and to some extent practically applied throughout the country. Not without labor, however,
nor without much skepticism, ridicule, and controversy, has
this end been attained; and if, now that his head is
whitened, and his course all but run, he finds himself re
151 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
spected and appealed to by persons in every State of the
Union, he does not forget that it has been through much
tribulation that he has worked out this exceeding great
weight of glory. Mr. Johnston is a Scotchman, who came
to this country thirty-nine years ago, and purchased the
farm he now occupies on the easterly shore of Seneca Lake,
a short distance from Geneva. With the pertinacity of his
nation, he stayed where he first settled, through ill fortune
and prosperity, wisely concluding that by always bettering
his farm he would better himself, and make more money in
the long run than he could by shifting uneasily from place
to place in search of sudden wealth. He was poor enough
at the commencement; but what did that matter to a frugal, industrious man, willing to live within his means, and
work hard to increase them? And so with unflagging zeal
he has gone on from that day to this.
"His first purchase was 112 acres of land, well situated,
but said to be the poorest in the county. He knew better
than that, however, for although the previous tenant had all
but starved upon it, and the neighbors told him such would
be his own fate, he had seen poorer land forced to yield
large crops in the old country, and so he concluded to try
the chances for life or death.  The soil was a heavy gravelly
clay, with a tenacious clay subsoil, a perfectly tight reservoir for water, cold, hard-baked, and cropped down to about
the last gasp. The magician commenced his work. He
found in the barn-yard a great pile of manure, the accumnulations of years, well rotted, black as ink, and'as mellow
as an ash-heap.' This he put on as much land as possible,
at the rate of seventy-five loads to thte acre, ploughed it in
deeply, sowed his grain, cleaned out the weeds as well as
he could, and the land on which he was to starve gave him
about twenty-five bushels of wheat per acre. The result
was, as usual, attributed to luck, and any thing but the real
152 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
cause. To turn over such deep furrows was sheer folly, and
such heavy dressings of manure would not fail to destroy the
seed. But it didn't; and let our farmers remember that it
never will; and if they wish to get rich, let them cut out
this article, read it often, and follow the example of our
fanatical Scotch friend.
"This system of deep ploughing and heavy manuring
wrought its results in due time. Paying off his debt, putting up buildings, and purchasing stock each year to fatten
and sell, Mr. Johnston, after seventeen years of hard work,
at last found himself ready to incur a new debt, and to
commence laying tile drains. Of the benefits to be derived
from drainage he had long been aware; for he recollected
that when he was only ten years of age, his grandfather,
a thrifty farmer in the Lothians, seeing the good effects of
some stone drains laid down upon his place, had said,
'Varily, I believe the whole airth should be drained.' This
quaint saying, which needs but little qualification, made a
lasting impression on the mind of the boy, that was to be
tested by the man, to the permanent benefit of this country.
"Without sufficient means himself, he applied for a loan
to the bank in Geneva, and the President, knowing his integrity and industry, granted his request. In 1835, tiles
were not made in this country, so Mr. Johnston imported
some as samples, and a quantity of the'horse-shoe' pattern
were made in 1838, at Waterloo. There was no machine
for producing them, so they were made by hand, and
molded over a stick. This slow and laborious process
brought their cost to $24 per thousand, but even at this
enormous price Mr. Johnston determined to use them.
Hlis ditches were opened and his tile laid, and then what
sport for the neighbors!  They poked fun at the deluded
man; they came and counseled with him, all the while
watching his bright eye and intelligent face for signs of
7*
153 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
lunacy; they went by wagging their heads, and saying
'Aha!' and one and all said he was a most consummate ass
to put crockery under ground and bury his money so fruitlessly. Poor Mr. Johnston! he says he really felt ashamed
of himself for trying the new plan, and when people riding
past the house would shout at him, and make contemptuous
signs, he was sore-hearted, and almost ready to conceal his
crime.- BUT WHAT WAS THE RESULT? Why this: that
land which previously was sodden with water and utterly
unfruitful, in one season was covered with luxuriant crops,
and the jeering skeptics were utterly confounded; that in
two crops all his outlay for tiles and labor was repaid, and
he could start afresh and drain more land; that the profit
was so manifest as to induce him to extend his operations
each succeeding year, and so go on until 1856, when his
labor was finished, after having laid 210,000 tiles, or more
than fifty miles in length! And the fame of this individual
success going forth, one and another duplicated his experiment, and were rewarded according to their deserts.
"It was not long after the manufacture of the first lot of
tiles that a machine was contrived which would make them
quite as well and faster; and by its aid they were afforded
at quite as low a price as after an English machine was imported. The horse-shoe tile Jhas been used by Mr. Johnston
almost exclusively, for the reason that they were the only
kind to be procured at first, and on his hard subsoil, finding
them to do as well as he could wish, he has not cared to
make new experiments.  He has drains that have been in
function for more than twenty years without needing repair, and are apparently as efficient now as they were when
first laid. In soft land, pipe or sole tiles would be preferable, or if horse-shoe were used, they should be placed on
strips of rough board, to prevent them sinking into the
trench bottom, or being thrown out of the regular-fall by
154 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
being undermined by the running water. He has not used
the plough for opening his trenches, for the reason that all
his work has been let out by contract, and the men have
opened them by the spade; charging from twelve and ahalf to fifteen cents per rod for opening and making the
bottom ready for the tile. The laying and filling was done
by the owner.
" His ditches are dug only two and a-half feet deep, and
thirteen inches wide at the top, sloping inward to the bottom, where they are just wide enough to take the tile.
One main drain, in which are placed two four-inch tiles set
eight inches apart, with an arch-piece of tile having a nineinch span set on top of them, was dug three and a-half and
four feet deep, and this serves as a conduit for the water
from a large system of laterals. Drains should never be
left open in winter, for the dirt dislodged by frequent frosts
so fills the bottom that it will cost five or six cents per rod
to clear them; and, moreover, the banks often become so
crumbled away that the ditch cannot be straddled by a
team of horses, and thus most of the filling must be done
by hand. Mr. Johnston, in draining a field, commences at
the foot of each ditch, and works up to the head. He
opens his mains first, and then the lateral or small drains,
but he lays the tiles in the laterals, and fills them completely, before laying the pipe in the mains. The object of
this is to prevent the accumulation of sediment in the
mains which would naturally be washed from the laterals
on their first being laid. By commencing at the foot of
each ditch, and working upward, he can always get and
preserve the regular fall, which mray be dictated by the
features of his field, more easily than by working toward
the outlet. A little practice teaches the ditchers how to
preserve the grade almost as well as if gauges were em ployed; but before laying the tiles, the instrument is ap
155 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
plied to test the bottoms thoroughly. The necessity of this
precaution will be apparent to any one who reflects that if
a tile or two in the course of a ditch be set much too high
or too low at either end, the water quickly forms a basin
beneath and around, sediment is washed into the adjoining
pipe, and ultimately even the whole bore is filled and the
drain stopped. When this happens, it will be indicated
after a time by the water appearing at the surface of the
ground above the spot-drawn upward by capillary attraction. In such a case the ditch must be reopened and the
tile relaid.
"Mr. Johnston says tile-draining pays for itself in two
seasons, sometimes in one.  Thus, ill 1847, he bought a
piece of ten acres to get an outlet for his drains. It was a
perfect quagmire, covered with coarse aquatic grasses, and
so unfruitful that it would not give back the seed sown
upon it. In 1848, a crop of corn was taken from it, which
was measured, and found to be eighty bushels per acre, and
as, because of the Irish famine, corn was worth $1 per
bushel that year, this crop paid not only all the expense of
drainage, but the first cost of the land as well.
"Another piece of twenty acres, adjoining the farm of
the late John Delafield, was wet, and would never bring
more than ten bushels of corn per acre. This was drained
at a great cost, nearly $30 per acre. The first crop after
this was 83 bushels and some odd pounds per acre. It was
weighed and' measured by Mr. Delafield, and the County
Society awarded a premium to Mr. Johnston.  Eight acres
and some rods of this land, at one side, averaged 94
bushels, or the trifling increase of 84 bushels per acre over
what it would bear before those insignificant clay tiles were
buried in the ground. But this increase of crop is not the
only profit of drainage; for Mr. Johnston says that on
drained land one-half the usual quantity of manure suffices
156 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
to give maximum crops. It is not difficult to find a reason
for this. When the soil is sodden with water, air cannot
enter to any extent, and hence oxygen cannot eat off the
surfaces of soil-particles and prepare food for plants; thus
the plant must in great measure depend on the manure for
sustenance, and of course the more this is the case, the
more manure must be applied to get good crops. This is
one reason, but there are others which we might adduce if
one good one were not sufficient.
"Mr. Johnston says he never made  money until he
drained, and so convinced is he of the benefits accruing
from the practice, that he would not hesitate-as he did
not when the result was much more uncertain than at
present-to borrow  money  to drain.  Drains well laid
endure, but unless' a farmer intends doing the job well, he
had best leave it alone, and grow poor, and move out West,
and all that sort of thing. Occupiers of apparently dry
]and are not safe in concluding that they need not go to
the expense of draining, for if they will but dig a threefoot ditch in even the dryest soil, water will be found in
the bottom at the end of eight hours, and if it does come,
then draining will pay for itself speedily. For instance,
Mr. Johnson had a lot of thirteen acres on the shore of the
lake, where the bank at the foot of the lot was perpendicular to the depth of thirty or forty feet. He supposed
from this fact, and because the surface seemed very dry, that
he had no need to drain it. But somehow he lost his crops
continually, and as he had put them in as well as he knew
how, he naturally concluded that he must lay some tile.
So he engaged an Irishman to open a ditch, with a proviso,
that if water should come into it in eight hours, he would
drain the entire piece. The top. soil.was so hard and dry
as to need an application of the pick, but at the depth of a
foot it was found to be so wet and soft that a spade could
157 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
easily be sunk to the entire depth of the handle. The
ditches were made, and in less than the specified time, a
brave lot of water flowed in. The piece was thoroughly
drained, and the result was an immense crop of corn. The
field has regularly borne 60 to 70 bushels since. Corn was
planted for a first crop in this and the preceding instances,
because a paying crop is obtained in one year, whereas, if
wheat were sown, it would be necessary to wait two seasons.
He always drains when the field is in grass, if possible, for
the ditches can be made more easily; and spring is chosen
that the labor may not be interfered with by frosts.
"To show how necessary it is to avoid planting trees
over drains, we quote a case in point. In a lot adjoining
his house are four large elms, which are marked to be
felled, and for the reason that the lot was formerly so wet
that a pond of water stood upon it in winter, and throughout the season the children skated and slid upon it.  It was
drained, and all went well for a time; but after three years
Mr. Johnston found that his drains did not discharge properly, and that in certain places the water came to the surface, so as to destroy or greatly lessen the crop above them.
Hle could not account for the circumstance until he dug
down to the drain at each of these spots, when, to his surprise, he found the tile completely choked with fibrous
roots of the elms, which, naturally seeking the subterranean
supply of water, had so accumulated in mass as to stop a
two-inch bore of tile.
"Mr. Johnston does not think there are a hundred
acres in any neighborhood that do not need draining, and
would not pay well for it. Perhaps this may be thought
an extreme assertion, but it is nearer the fact than most of
us have been aware. Mr. Johnston is no rich man who
has carried a favorite hobby without regard to cost or profit.
He is a hard-working Scotch farmer who commenced a
158 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
poor man, borrowed money to drain his land, has gradually
extended his operations, and is now reaping the benefits, in
having crops of forty bushels of wheat to the acre. He is
a gray-haired Nestor, who, after accumulating the experience
of a long life, is now, at seventy-five years of age, written
to by strangers in every State of the Union for information,
not only in drainage matters, but all cognate branches of
farming. He sits in his homestead a veritable Humboldt
in his way, dispensing information cheerfully through our
agricultural papers, and to private correspondents, of whom
he has recorded 164 who applied to him last year. His
opinions are, therefore, worth more than those of a host of
theoretical men, who write without practice. He says that
the retrogression of our agriculture in the older States is
to be accounted for in our lack of drainage, poor feeding of
stock, which results in giving a small quantity of poor
manure, and in not keeping enough to make manure. He
applies 100 loads of manure to the acre at the beginning
of a rotation, and this lasts throughout the course. He
learned from his grandfather that no farmer could afford to
keep any animal that did not improve on his hands, and
that as soon as it was. in good marketable condition it
should be sold, and replaced by another. This theory he
has always carried out, and, as a natural consequence, has
always got higher prices for his beef stock, and a ready
market even in the dullest times.
"Although his farm is mainly devoted to wheat, yet a
considerable area of meadow and some pasture has been
retained. He now owns about 300 acres of land. The
yield of wheat has been 40 bushels this year, and in
former seasons, when his neighbors were reaping 8, 10, or
15 bushels, he has had 30 and 40.  We  are informed by
him that there has been no such crop as the present since
1845, either in yield or quality; and the absence of weevil
159 
-f
HOW TO GET A FARM,
is remarkable. A variety of white wheat from Missouri,
sown more thinly than usual, has yielded 31 bushels to
something less than one bushel of seed sown. It headed
out a fortnight earlier than the Soule's, but ripened laterprobably because thinly sown. Mr. Johnston thinks we
have been sowing too thickly for fifteen years past upon
rich land, and there can be no question but that he is right.
Still, it is better to take a medium course between thick
and thin sowing, and thus avoid, on the one hand, rust,
overcrowding, and waste of seed, and on the other, placing
an entire crop at the mercy of insects which may attack it.
"A too common error with improving farmers is that of
using too small tile for main drains, and too large for
laterals. Those accustomed to the roomy conduits of ordinary stone drains, suppose that nothing less than a threeinch bore will conduct the drainage from the surface into
the mains, and curiously enough the same persons, unmindful of the large area drained by each system of laterals,
err in using mains but little larger in the bore than the
latter. If any are willing to look into the results of the
drainage on our Central Park, the most stupendous work of
the kind in this country, and one of the best conducted,
they will find that the one and a-half-inch and two-inch
tiles there used for laterals do not run full even after the
most violent and protracted rains, and yet from a single
'system' of twelve acres, the discharge, after a recent rain,
was at the rate of 3,000 gallons per hour.  This error of
using too large tile Mr. Johnston fell into, and now that he
has learned better, after a twenty years' experience, he
cautions his brother farmers against using larger than twoinch tile for laterals. For mains, each farmer must provide
as the quantity of water to be conducted is greater or less.
In many cases Mr. Johnston has used two rows of four-inch,
in others six-inch, and in one, semi-circles of eleven inches,
160 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
one at top and one at bottom, making a pipe nine inches
bore to discharge water. At first, he had many to take up
and replace with large pipe to secure a complete discharge.
Main drains he makes six to eight inches deeper than those
emptying into them-not with an abrupt shoulder, but
leveled up, so that the descent may take place gradually in
the length of two tiles-29 inches-and always giving the
laterals a slight sidewise direction at the end, so that their
water will be discharged down stream into the mains.
"Another error he at first fell into was, in having too
many drains on lowlands, and not enough on the upland;
thus seeking to carry off the effect, while the cause-the
out-cropping springs on the hill-side-remained untouched.
Where the source of the water is most abundant, the means
for removing it should most abundantly be furnished. Rainwater falls on hills, sinks to an impervious stratum, along
which it runs until it either finds a porous section through
which it can fall to a lower level, or not finding such, continues on the hard bottom to the side of the hill, where it
crops out in the form of a spring.  If this spring-water is
suffered to run down hill, it washes the hill-side more or
less, and coming to the lowland, sinks as far as it may into
the soil, makes it sodden, and produces bad effects. To
drain effectually, then, we must cut off the supply above,
and fewer drains will be necessary below. Here is the
whole secret of the thing, and here we see why so much
money is spent to so little purpose by those who think that
they should only drain the wet lowland. Appearances are
deceitful, and we should not suppose that a seemingly dry
upland is really dry."
Comment on such a character and such a history as
this is superfluous. Mr. Johnston's example as a tiledrainer has been of inestimable value to American
161 
tHOW TO GET A FARM,
farmers. As how such a.man feeds his cattle and
manufactures manure, must be interesting to many,
the following additional extract on that subject is
given:
"A word as to this most important subject. On poor
lands good crops are got by the use of much manure.
This all know. But do they know as well that all manure is not equally good; that a cord of it that has been
leached by drenching rains throughout fall and winter, and
that has been shone upon by the sun through a hundred
hot days, has lost the greater part of its efficacy? That
the rivulets of brown liquor that run from the barn-yard
into the public road will make more wheat than the brownwashed straw which remains? And that, be manure never
so well cared for, its value may be increased at will by the
food given to the animals that make it?  If they don't, Mr.
Johnston does; and so, instead of freezing his stock until
they are almost in articulo mortis, and starving them on
dry stocks and refuse hay until the bones well nigh pierce
the skin, he has comfortable sheds and deeply-littered yards
for his cattle, and feeds them well at regular intervals with
sweet hay, oil-cake, bean-meal, and grain. The resultbut what other could you expect?-is, that in spring they
are in store condition; he loses none, has no disease among
them, saves a large quantity of such manure that one cord
of it will bring more wheat or corn than four of ordinary
dung, and he grows rich. Reader, if you desire to be a
good farmer, go and do likewise!"
162, 
AND WlHERE TO FIND ONE.
CHAPTER YII.
Getting the first thousand dollars-How to save-Man wants but
little here below-Actual cost of food-Great successes-A dime
a day.
EcoNoMY  is the sheet-anchor of every beginner,
no matter what calling he may adopt.  Without it,
industry and hard work go for almost nothing. As
a general rule, men more frequently grow rich from
what they save than from what they make. In
farming, especially, it may be assumed that this rule
has no exceptions. Our actual bodily wants are
few, and may be cheaply supplied without converting us into a race of misers. In illustration of these
positions I have gathered from various sources some
facts sufficiently striking to command general attention, even if they should be found too hard to
imitate.
The greatest fortunes have originated in the
smallest beginnings. Stephen Girard, the millionaire of Philadelphia, began the world by selling
oranges from the head of a barrel in the streets of
an obscure country town. ils remark in after life
was, that when a man had acquired his first thousand dollars, there was no difficulty in becoming
rich. John Jacob Astor began his wonderful career
163 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
of prosperity by buying the skins of skunks and
musk-rats. He is reported to have said that it cost
him more severe effort to get the first thousand dollars, than all the others.
Mr. Edwin T. Freedley has written much and well
on all these subjects. Hie says, referring to Astor,
that,   "If he had bequeathed to mankind an easy and certain
method of overcoming the difficulty, the bequest would have
been a far more valuable one than all his fortune; entitling
him to the most conspicuous niche in the gallery of the
world's benefactors. The task, however, was beyond his
powers, as it has proved too vast for abler men. Franklin attempted to teach the true secret of money-catching-the
certain way to fill empty pockets-with what success we have
seen. Millionaires have favored the world with their dicta
and opinions; but the world has not attached any great importance to their sayings, and certainly not been much
benefited by their observations. Mankind generally have
probably abandoned the idea of discovering a royal road to
wealth, and concluded that an individual, or nation, in order
to accumulate capital, must earn something by labor, and
then save a portion of the product. Something, however,
may be done-and a good deal more than has been doneto facilitate this accumulation; to show labor how, without extra exertion, it can increase its rewards; and show
economy how, without injury to the physical system, less
may be consumed."
Mr. Freedley has gone largely and thoroughly
into all the details of the question as to how to get
the first thousand dollars. Hie tells us
"First, How TO SAVE.  The human mind receives its
first practical lessons in the realities of life at a very early
164 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
period. The child is initiated and instructed in one of the
fundamental principles of social science when he discovers
that he cannot purchase a cake and also keep his pennythat he must forego the one or part with the other. As a
corollary from the proposition, he then comprehends that,
to keep his pennies, he must deny himself cakes; and thus,
by involuntary deduction, he arrives at a fundamental principle of economy, viz.: self-denial in ex.pendituresfor personal gratification. The limit to which it is possible to
carry this self-denial without injury to health, or diminution
of power for production, is somewhat remarkable.  The
cost of what are absolute and actual necessaries of life is, in
most countries, comparatively little-as is evidenced in cases
where stern necessity affixes the bounds of possible expenditure. In France, for instance, there are tens of thousands
of peasants and of operatives whose daily earnings do not
exceed ten cents, and yet they contrive to live gayly on that
sum. As a consequence, in no other country has the art of
cookery made equal progress. In Paris, an enterprising
woman, Madame Robert, furnishes a dinner daily to six
thousand workmen for two pence each, her bill of fare being cabbage soup, a slice of boiled beef, a piece of bread,
and a glass of wine. In our Southern States, the food of
the chief laborers-the men who at one time produced an
export value of over two hundred millions of dollars per
annum in cotton, sugar, tobacco, and rice-did not probably
cost their providers ten cents per day.
"The full allowance for a laboring man and woman-one
that toils all the hours of daylight in the field-is a peck
and a half of corn meal, and three pounds of fat bacon. In
the Cotton States, the average price of the corn is about
seventy-five cents a bushel, and the price of bacon eight
cents a pound. This would make the week's rations cost
fifty-six cents. At still higher rates it would not be a
165 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
dime a day-in many places, not half that. In many places, though, the negroes do not get half the above rations.
We might still further illustrate the principle that the cost
of the substances actually necessary for the support of life is
small, by reference to the self-imposed abstinence of misers,
and the compulsory abstinence of prisoners.
"An item has been circulating in the newspapers, purporting to be the result of some experiments made in a
prison, where it was found that ten persons gained four
pounds of flesh each in two months, eating, for breakfast,
eight ounces of oatmeal made into porridge, with a pint of
buttermilk for dinner, three pounds of boiled potatoes, with
salt; for supper, five ounces of oatmeal porridge, with one
pint of buttermilk, which cost two pence three farthings
per day. Ten others gained three and a half pounds of
flesh, eating six pounds of boiled potatoes daily, taking nothing with them but salt. Ten others ate the same amount
of porridge and buttermilk, with the potatoes, as the first
ten, but for dinner had soup; they lost one and a quarter
pounds of flesh each; and twenty others who had less,
diminished in size likewise. From this it would seem that
potatoes are better diet than smaller quanties of animal
food, at least for persons in confinement. The meat-eaters,
if they had been allowed ordinary exercise, might have exhibited a very different result.
"A few years ago, a Yankee philosopher of the school of
Diogenes, endeavored to ascertain, by actual experiment,
how cheaply a man could live; and his experience he has
recorded in a volume entitled'Walden; or life in the
Woods.' Mr. Thoreau, the gentleman referred to, being
possessed of a capital of $25, took possession of a few acres
of land esteemed worthless, and proceeded to erect a cabin
by his own labor. The result of his building operations he
gives, as follows:
166 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
"' I have thus a tight-shingled and plastered house, ten feet
wide by fifteen feet long, and eight-feet posts, with a garret
and closet, a large window on each side, two trap-doors, one
door at the end, and a brick fire-place opposite. The exact
cost of my house, paying the usual price for such materials
as I used, but not counting the work, all of which was by
myself, was as follows; and I give the details, because very
few are able to tell exactly what their houses cost, and
fewer still, if any, the separate cost of the various materials
which compose them:
shanty boards............ $8 031
s for roof and sides.......4 00
..........................        1   25
nd windows, with glass,.... 2 43
old brick..................     4 00
me,......................   2 40
.........................           31
in,......................            15
.........................         3 90
rewse,..................... 14
.........................           10
...........................          01
..........................       1   40
In all,.................. $28 123
"'These are all the materials, excepting the timber, stones,
and sand, which I claimed by squatter's right. I have also
a small wood-shed adjoining, made chiefly of the stuff which
was left after building the house.'
"Obtaining his fuel in an adjacent wood, at the cost
merely of gathering it, he details his house-keeping expenses as follows:
"' The expense of food for eight months, from July 4th
to March 1st, the time when these estimates were madethough I lived there more than tw?o years-not counting
167 
168
HOW TO GET A FARM)
potatoes, a little green corn, and some peas, which I had
raised, nor considering the value of what was on hand at
last date, was
Rice....................................$1 73+
Molasses................................ 1 73
Rye meal................................ 1 04
Indian meal............................. 0 99
Pork.................................... 0 22
Flour................................... 0 88
Sugar............................ 0 80
Lard.................................... 0 65
Apples.................................. 0 25
Dried apples............................ 0 22
Sweet potatoes........................... 0 10
One pumpkin............................ 0 06
One watermelon......................... 0 02
Salt....................................0 03
Amount......................$8 74
"It will thus be perceived that his food cost him in
money about twenty-seven cents per week. For nearly two
years after this, he states, that it consisted of rye and Indian meal (without yeast), potatoes, rice, a very little salt
pork and molasses; and his drink was water. The cost of
his clothing for eight months he estimates at $8.40, exclusive of washing and mending; and his other household
expenses, oil, &c., at $2-making his whole expenses for
eight months less than $25.'I learned, from my two
years' experience,' he says,'that it would cost incredibly
little trouble to obtain one's necessary food even in this
latitude; that a man may use as simple diet as the animals,
and yet retain health and strength.'
"Another consoling fact is presented in the fruitfulness
of the earth, or in the amount of food that can be produced upon an acre. Nearly every one in our country can
command the use of an acre of soil, and let us see how 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
much it is within the bounds of physical possibility to make
it produce. Simmonds, in his'Vegetable Kingdom,' re  marks, with regard to the comparative productiveness of
crops of human food, that one hundred bushels of Indian
corn per acre is not an uncommon crop. One peck per
week will not only sustain life, but give a man strength to
labor, if the stomach is properly toned to the amount of
food. This, then, would feed one man four hundred weeks,
or almost eight years.' Four hundred bushels of potatoes
can also be raised upon an acre; this would be a bushel a
week for the same length of time, and the actual weight of
an acre of sweet potatoes is 21,344 pounds, which is not
considered an extraordinary crop. This would feed a man
(six pounds a day) for 3,557 days, or nine years and two thirds. To vary the diet, we will occasionally give rice,
which has been grown at the rate of ninety-three bushels
to the acre over an entire field. This, at forty-five pounds
to the bushel, would be 1,185 pounds; or, at twenty-eight
pounds to the bushel, when husked, 2,604 pounds; which,
at two pounds a day, would feed a man 1,302 days, or more
than three and a-half years.'"
"Such considerations as these are full of consolation to
the aspiring, and of encouragement to the very poor.
None need despair, and moreover, none need be dishonest.
It is possible to accumulate capital, aye, to get the first
thousand dollars, from an income not exceeding the most
moderate earnings or wages. And let it be inscribed on the
lintel of every dwelling-on the desks in every counting house-on the pericardium of every heart-It is better to
live on ten cents a day than to do a wrong for the sake of
money.
" Again, the economy that leads to wealth implies a ju dicious use and profitable investment of savings.  A saving
of even a small sum will amount, it is true, within the
8
169 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
limits of an ordinary life, to a handsome aggregate; but
rapid accumulation in this way can only be attained when
money reproduces itself through the agency of compound
interest. The wonderful ratio of increase effected by this
means, can only be understood by those who  have  experienced it-though a glimmering of the reality may be
obtained by a glance at the following familiar table, interest
being calculated at six per cent.:
In 50
Years.
$2,900
5,800
8,700
11,600
14,600
Savin.g          s
in 1 Year.
$10
20
30
40
50
In 20
Years.
$360
720
1,080
1,440
1,860
"The most notable instance that now occurs to me of
remarkable success attained through attention to the prompt
investment of small sums, is afforded in the annals of
Abraham Shriver, of Frederick County, Maryland. With
no other resources than a salary of $1,400 a year as judge
of a court of inferior jurisdiction, and a small farm of fourteen acres, he succeeded in keeping his personal expenses
within the receipts from his farm, which he cultivated like a
garden; and by promptly investing his salary every quarterday-sometimes borrowing for the purpose of anticipating
or securing an investment promptly at the time-he accumulated an estate of $150,000. Among the records of
Savings Banks, which perform a most useful purpose in collecting and rendering available the dribblets of wealth, no
doubt there are many other remarkable instances. In Massachusetts, the deposits in Savings Banks amount to over
$23,000,000.
"3. Another element of economy, essential to the accumulation of capital, is protection against great losses by
170
In 10
Years.
$130
260
390
520
650
In 30
Year,,3.
$790
1,580
2,370
3,160
3,950
In 40
Years.
$1,540
3,080
4,620
5,160
7,700
Savings
in 1 Day.
2i ots 5i
Si
11
13i 
AND WHiERE TO FIND ONE.
carefully providing against smnall ones. The importance of
this principle is thus illustrated by M. Say, a political
economist:
"'Being in the country, I had an example of one of
those small losses which a family is exposed to through
negligence. From the want of a latch of small value, the
wicket of a barn yard, looking to the field, was left open.
Every one who went through, drew the door to; but having
no means to fasten it, it re-opened.   One day a fine pig got
out, and ran into the woods, and immediately all the world
was after it. The gardener, the cook, dairy-maid, all ran
to recover the swine. The gardener got sight of him first,
and jumped over a ditch to stop him, he sprained his ankle,
and was confined a fortnight to the house. The cook, on
her return, found all the linen she had left to dry by the
fire, burned; and the dairy-maid, having ran off before she
tied the cows, one of them broke the leg of a colt in the
stable. The gardener's lost time was worth twenty crowns,
valuing his pains at nothing. The linen burned and the
colt spoiled were worth as much more. Here is a loss of
forty crowns, and much pain and trouble, vexation and inconvenience, for the want of a latch, which would have
cost three pence; and the loss, through careless neglect,
falls on a family little able to support it.'
"Proceeding now to inquire how  to labor with profit,
we remark first, that capital is a general term for the accumulated stock of former labor. Its father is labor, and
its mother economy Ties of consanguinity, however, it
was long ago discovered, are no preventive against unseemly
contention. It is an old proverb,'When two men ride on
one horse, one must ride behind,' but it is not always easy
to decide the question of precedence between them. In
primitive and unsettled states of society, labor is more
powerful than capital. In pruning the luxuriance of na
171
I 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
ture, and subjugating it to man's uses, the capitalist shrinks
into insignificance beside the man of the strong arm and
the sharp axe. But as soon as population approaches
density, capital vaults into the saddle, and labor must ride
on the crupper. In society, as at present developed, especially in the old world, a man who has nothing but ordinary unskilled labor to offer in the market, finds that,
"' To beg, or to borrow, or to get one's own'Tis the very worst world that ever was known.'
"Wages would seem to be regulated by the cost of the
things supposed to be necessary to support life; and he who
would save a portion of his earnings, must reduce his expenditures for living to a very low standard. Nevertheless,
there are many well authenticated instances of men who,
even in the old world, accumulated some capital from the
proceeds of day labor, and eventually became wealthy.
How much may be accomplished by an indomitable willa resolute determination to overcome all obstacles-Foster
has illustrated in his "Essay on Decision of Character."
He refers to a young man who, having expended a large
fortune in prodigality, sat down on the brow of an eminence
overlooking what were lately his estates, and there resolved
that all these estates should be his again.
"' He had formed his plan, too, which he instantly began
to execute.   He walked hastily forward, determined to
seize the very first opportunity, of however humble a kind,
to gain any money, though it were never so despicable a
trifle, and resolved absolutely not to spend, if he could help
it, a farthing of whatever he might obtain. The first thing
that drew his attention was a heap of coals, shot out of a
cart on a pavement before a house.  He offered himself to
shovel or wheel them into the place where they were to
be laid, and was employed. He received a few pence for
172
. I 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
173
the labor; and then, in pursuance of the saving part of his
plan, requested some small gratuity of meat and drink,
which was given him. He then looked out for the next
thing that might chance to offer, and went with indefatigable
industry through a succession of servile employments, in
different places, of longer and shorter duration, still scrupulously avoiding, as far as possible, the expense of a penny.
He promptly seized every opportunity which could advance
his design, without regarding the meanness of occupation
or appearance. By this method he had gained, after a
considerable time, money enough to purchase, in order to
sell again, a few cattle, of which he had taken pains to understand the value. He speedily but cautiously turned his
first gains into second advantages; retained, without a.
single deviation, his extreme parsimony, and thus advanced,
by degrees, into larger transactions and incipient wealth. I
did not hear, or have forgotten, the continued course of his
life; but the final result was, that he more than recovered
his lost possessions, and died an old miser, worth ~60,000.'
"In the United States, similar instances of moderate
fortunes acquired through persevering industry, and acquired,
too, without the sin of covetousness, are so numerous, that
a volume would hardly contain them. A leading builder,
in New York city, now entitled to a place in the book of
the' Rich Men,' was, some years ago, a bricklayer's laborer,
at one dollar per day. He states that out of this sum he
always contrived to save fifty cents per day, and laid by
$180 the first year. The senior members of many a staunch
firm commenced their connection with mercantile life by
sweeping out the store in which their fortunes were afterwards acquired. But, notwithstanding the many cheering
exceptions to the rule, it is nevertheless true, that ordinary
unskilled labor can, at best, make but slow progress toward
the accumulation of capital. 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
"Secondly. The rewards of labor and the facility for the
acquisition of capital are increased by the possession of
some peculiar knowledge or skill. A man's pecuniary value
may be said to augment in exact proportion to the amount
of his effective intelligence, superadded to ordinary physical power. The demand for educated labor in progressive
countries so far exceeds the supply, that it may, to a certain extent, dictate its rewards. Men, animals, and machines, are everywhere working fruitlessly, or unprofitably,
for want of suitable persons to direct their movements;
enterprises of the first magnitude languish for want of
competent managers; and regions, where nature has been
most bounteous in her gifts, are yet comparatively a wilderness, because the arts and mechanism of civilization have
not been introduced.  The soil of Uruguay, for instance,
would produce wheat and Indian corn abundantly and luxuriantly; but its adaptation for the growth of these cereals
is rendered comparatively worthless by the absence of suitable mills to grind the products. The sugar-cane of the
Southern States, and especially in the Tropics, is wasted
immensely, for want of the proper machines and the requisite skill to extract all the sugar from the juice. There are
dies in the Indies rarer than the cochineal; fibrous plants
more valuable than any flax or hemp; substances more
oleaginous than linseed; but they are unappreciated, because the educated mechanism has not as yet prepared them
for the world's markets. A quick brain and a ready hand
constitute a man Fortune's master. Even women, limited
as their opportunities are for gaining a livelihood, independently of being a helpmate to man, wonderfully enlarge
the scope of their powers when they combine administrative and manipulative skill. As managers of work-rooms,
superintendents, etc., women are especially in demand; and,
if qualified, can readily earn from $6 to $12 per week
174 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
" Thirdly. Again, the accumulation of capital may be
accelerated by associating with personal labor some responsibility. Capitalists, in general, are timid, and desire to protect themselves against extraordinary expenses. It is in the
nature of capital to surround itself with safeguards, and it
willingly pays a premium for guarantees. Thus, though
an employer may be able to calculate the cost of an undertaking as measured by the labor involved, he would yet
prefer to pay something additional to insure its execution
for a definite sum. There are many instances, however,
where the skilled laborer alone can form an estimate of the
cost; and in such cases he may, by shrewd bargaining, obtain liberal compensation for the work. Many of those who
have been remarkably successful in accumulating capital,
have done so by advancing, as soon as possible, from the
position of simple laborer to that of contractor.
"Fourthly. But the lever of greatest efficiency in promoting accumulation is association of several for a common
purpose. Man, however skillful, is, if unaided by others, a
very helpless being. There are tribes, we are told, whose
cardinal principle it is for each individual to act independently of his fellows, never helping each other; but their
condition, as may be supposed, is but little better than that
of the wild animals with which they are surrounded. All
of man's most wonderful achievements, those which, if considered disconnectedly from their performance, seem practically and physically impossible, are explained by the
mystical power embodied in a combination of numbers for
a common purpose.
"And lastly, the accumulated stock of the products of
labor may be vastly increased by the judicious use of credit.
Credit is the offspring of good laws and good character.
It is one of the advantages of legal protection for person
and property that the owners of capital are willing to lend
175 
HOW TO GET A FARMI
it, trusting to the honesty of the borrower that he will return it, or its equivalent, with rent or interest for its use.
It is one of the advantages of good character, and known
or presumed punctuality in dealing, that a man may, on
his own security, obtain the possession and use of a reasonable amount of capital. Credit, being the representative of
capital, performs many of its functions, and confers upon
the borrower the same benefits, less the charge for its use.
The advantages of credit are nowhere more strikingly exemplified than in the rapid material progress of the United
States; and in no other country are the profits from its use so
large, when combined with industry and mechanical skill.
"An instance is recorded of a farmer, in Peoria County,
Illinois, who lived on a rented farm of eighty acres, for
which he paid two hundred dollars rent for the land, and
twenty-six dollars for the house; he did all his work himsel;f, except some help in planting corn; had one team of
horses; and, after paying his rent and supporting his
family, cleared one thousand dollars a year. The Rev.
John S. Barger, a Methodist clergyman, in Illinois, furnishes the following interesting account of two Mr. Funks,
Jesse and Isaac-no relation of Peter, whose address, as
heretofore, is New York city:
"' I will now give you a concise history of the operations
of Mr. Funk. Both before and after his marriage, he had
made rails for his neighbors at twenty-five cents per hundred. But when the lands where he lived came into
market, twenty-five years ago, he had saved of his five
years' earnings $1,400, and says if he had invested it all
in lands, he would now have been rich. With two hundred
dollars he bought his first quarter section, and loaned to his
neighbors eight hundred dollars to buy their homes; and
with the remaining four hundred he purchased  a lot of
cattle. With this beginning, Mr. Funk now owns seven
176 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
thousand acres of land, has near twenty-seven hundred in
cultivation, and his sales of cattle and hogs, at the Chicago
market, amounted to a little over forty-four thousand dollars in a single year.
"' Mr. Isaac Funk, of Funk's Grove, nine miles distant
from his brother Jesse, and ten miles northwest from
Bloomington, on the Mississippi and Chicago Railroad,
began the world in Illinois at the same time, having a
little the advantage of Jesse, so far as having a little bprrowed capital. He now owns about twenty-seven thousand
acres of land; has about four thousand acres in cultivation;
and his last sales of cattle at Chicago amounted to $60,000.'
"In California, farming has yielded equally good returns.
A gentleman writes:
"The following facts have come under our knowledge.
A German farmer squatted on one hundred and sixty acres
of ground, some four years ago. Although he began without a halfpenny, he made in the first year, by wheat growing, the handsome sum of nine hundred dollars, besides
paying for his land at one dollar per acre, and for his implements, and buying horses, cows, and oxen, building his
house, and completing his fence. For the last two years,
his field of forty acres has yielded him 1,100 bushels of
wheat per annum, selling for net $1,400; his eggs, poultry,
vegetables, fruits, &c., brought in four hundred dollars.
He estimates his increase in cattle at eight hundred dollars,
and the increase in value of the land at three hundred and
twenty dollars.  Besides this, according to his own account,
he had $2,500 cash in the bank; and, in fact, considered
he was worth $10,000, and all this the result of four years
judicious labor, single-handed, and commencing totally
without capital. A field of 500 acres of wheat has pro(duced, within the last four years, a total of 63,220 bushels,
of the value of $108,000.
8*
177 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
"An Irish farmer began farming in 1853 with the small
sum of $300, made in the mines in company with his
nephew, a young lad. He first bought two hundred acres
of land, paying a deposit on the same; and the rest of the
money was invested in a horse, a cow, and the necessary
implements. The first year, his fenced-in fields yielded
wheat to the value of $800, which enabled him to pay the
remainder of his money for his land, besides repaying him
for that expended on his stock. He owns six hundred
acres of land, and twenty-eight head of cattle, including
seven horses; together with lots of pigs, sheep, and poultry.
His arable land is now forty-five acres, besides which he
has a large orchard and kitchen garden. In a word, he
has made himself a very snug, comfortable home, and
something like $4,000 to boot.
"In 1852, an Englishman and two Germans came from
the mines, with a united capital of thirteen hundred dollars.
They bought six hundred and forty acres of land, and
farmed it. Last year one of the Germans sold his share in
the increased concern for nine thousand dollars. Some
years ago, an intimate acquaintance of ours, a German, in
company with another as partner, bought a farm, and took
to cultivating it and raising cattle. He now owns upwards
of fifteen thousand acres of land, and is worth pretty nearly
one hundred thousand dollars. This person, too, began
without a halfpenny.
"The Germans are proverbially a frugal, money-making
people. One of the Teutons, in reply to a question propounded at the Philadelphia Board of Trade, in relation to
discounts, is reported to have revealed the secret of his
success as follows:'I open von grocery, mit cot-fish, and
molasses, and one barrel of viskey. Vell, I goes on und by
and by I gets a box of sugar and one box of tea; und by
and by I gets a big grocery store mit a box china man in
l8 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
der winder and a horse and wagon to go to market. But
I know notin about der book-keeping nor dish-kounts, nor
der per cents, but den I tells you vat I knows: I knows
ven I buys sugar for a five cent and sells it for a ten cent,
den I makes money.'
"The cultivation of fruits and vegetables, especially in
the vicinity of large cities, is, if skillfully managed, almost
uniformly a profitable business. An acre of superior pear
trees has produced to their owner $2,650 in one season.
A gentleman who is engaged in cultivating strawberries on
ten acres, eight miles from Cincinnati, states that the gross
receipts of his patch, in a single season, were $2,210. The
expense of picking, including the boarding of the hands,
was two hundred and twenty-five dollars, and the expenses
of marketing twenty-five dollars. The probable cost of
cultivation per annum is fifteen dollars per acre. This
gentleman cultivates all his strawberries on new but very
hilly ground.
"Nurseries generally yield excellent returns for the skill
and well-directed labor expended upon them, though, to
conduct them successfully, considerable capital is also required. A nursery in the western part of the State of
New York, is reported to have made a profit of $80,000 in
one year, and another of $20,000. A writer describes a
half acre of seedling pears that he saw, as worth, at market
prices, ten thousand dollars."
Tile foregoing appropriate extracts fromn an article
of Mr. Freedley afford the reader a favorable insight to the practical character of his labors. His
works on kindred subjects are crowded with facts so
pertinent to the design of this volume, that every
interested reader may study them with advantage.
But instances of individual success, equally striking
1.79
0 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
with any which he has recited, may be found in all
sections of our country.
To return to the consideration of the actual cost of
living, I give the lively and instructive narrative of
Mr. Solon Robinson, of New York, showing how a
widow supported herself and four children on a
dime a day:
"I had," said she, "one day last week, only one dime in
the world, and that was to feed me and my four children
all day; for I would not ask for credit, and I would not
borrow, and I never did beg. I did live through the day,
and I did not go hungry.  I fed myself and family with
one dime."
"How?"
"Oh, that was not all. I bought fuel, too."
"What! with one dime?"
"Yes, with one dime! I bought two cents' worth of
coke, because that is cheaper than coal, and because I could
kindle it with a piece of paper in my little furnace with two
or three little bits of charcoal that some careless boy had
dropped in the street just in my path. With three cents I
bought a scraggy piece of salt pork, half fat and half lean.
The}e might have been half a pound of it-the man did
not weigh it. Now, half my money was gone, and the
show for breakfast, dinner, and supper, was certainly a very
poor one. With the rest of my dime I bought four cents'
worth of white beans. By-the-by, I got these at night, and
soaked them in tepid water on a neighbor's stove till morn ing. I had one cent left. I bought one cent's worth of corn meal, and the grocery nman gave me a red-pepper pod."
"What was that for?"
"W ait a little-you shall know.  Of all things, peppers
and onions are appreciated by the poor in winter, because
46
180 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
they help to keep them warm. With my meal I made
three dumplings, and these, with the pork and the pepperpod, I put into the pot with the beans and plenty of water
(for the pork was salt), and boiled the whole two hours;
and then we had breakfast, for it was time for the children
to go to school. We ate one of the dumplings, and each
had a plate of the soup for breakfast, and a very good
breakfast it was.
"I kept the pot boiling as long as my coke lasted, and at
dinner we ate half the meat, half the soup, and one of the
dumplings. We had the same allowance for supper; and
the children were better satisfied than I have sometimes seen
them when our food has cost five times as much. The next
day we had another dime-it was all I could earn for all I
could get to do-two pairs of men's drawers each day, at
five cents a pair-and on that we lived-lived well. We
had a change, too, for instead of the cornmeal and beans,
I got four cents' worth of oatmeal and one cent's worth of
potatoes-small potatoes because I could get more of them.
I washed them clean, so as not to waste anything by paring,
and cut them up, and boiled them all to pieces with the
meat and meal."
"Which went the farthest?"
"I can't say. We ate it all each day, and didn't feel the
want of more, though the children said:'Ma, don't you
wish we had a piece of bread and butter, to finish off with?'
It would have been good, to be sure; but, bless me! what
would a dime's worth of bread and butter be for my family?
But I had another change the next day."
"What, for another dime?"
"Yes, that was all we had, day after day. We had to
live on it. It was very hard, to be sure; but it has taught
me something."
"What is that?"
181 
HtOW TO GET A FARM,
"That poor folks could live a great deal cheaper and
better than they do, if they only knew how to economize
their food. You have told them how, but they are slow
to learn, or loth to change from foolish old practices."
"What was your next change?"
"Oh, yes, I was about to tell you that. Well, I went to
the butcher's the night before, and bought five cents' worth
of little scrap pieces of lean beef, and I declare I think I
got as much as a pound, and this I cut up into bits, and
soaked over night-an all-important process for soup or a
stew-cooking it in the same water. Then I bought two
cents' worth of potatoes and one cent's worth of mealthat made the eight cents; two had to go for fuel every
day, and the paper I got my purchases in served for kindling. The meal I wet up into stiff dough, and worked out
into little round balls, about as big as grapes, and the potatoes I cut up into slices, and all together made a stew, or
chowder, seasoned with a small onion and part of a pepperpod that I got with the potatoes. It was very good, but it
did not go quite so far as the soup either day, or else the
fresh meat tasted so good that we wanted to eat more.
But I can tell you, small as it may seem to you, there is a
great deal of good eating in one dime."
"So there is-what a pity everybody don't know it!
What a world of good might be done with a dime!
"Reader, have you got a dime-that is, to spare-only
one dime? Give it to that poor widow. Give it? No;
you owe it. She has given you twice its value, whether
you are one that will feast to-day on a dollar, or be stinted
with a dime. She has taught you what you never knew
before-the value of one dime."
In his essay on "Economy of Food," Mr. Robinson speaks as follows:
182 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
"Meats generally are about three-fourths water;  and
milk, as it comes from the cow, over ninety per cent.
How is it as it comes from the milkman?  It is true that
chemical analysis does not give us the exact comparative
value of food, but with that, and the prices of the various
articles, it cannot be a hard matter to determine what is
the cheapest or most economical kind of food for us to use.
Perhaps of all the articles named, taking into account the
price and nutritious qualities, oatmeal will give the greatest
amount of nutriment for the least money. But where will
you find it in use? Not one family in a thousand ever saw
the article; not one in a hundred ever heard of it; and
many who have heard of it have a vague impression that
none but starving Scotch or Irish ever use it; and, in short,
that oats, in America, are only fit food for pigs and horses.
It is a great mistake. Oatmeal is excellent in porridge, and
all kinds of cooking of that sort, and oatmeal cakes are
sweet, nutritious, and an antidote for dyspepsia. Just now,
we believe, oats are the cheapest of any grain in the market, and it is a settled fact that oats give the greatest
amount of power of any grain consumed by man or beast.
This cheap food only needs to be fashionable, to be extremnely popular among laborers, all of whom, to say nothing of other classes, eat too much fine-flour bread."
Again, he says:
"Look at the Scotch with their oatmeal porridge, as robust a set of men as ever lived. A Hiighlander will scale
mountains all day upon a diet of oatmeal stirred in water
fresh from a gurgling spring with his finger, in a leather
cup. Another excellent, though little used, breadstuff, particularly for the sedentary, or persons of costive habits, is
cracked wheat, or wheaten grits, as the article is called.
That and Graham flour should be used in preference, at
183 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
the same price per pound, to white flour, because more
healthy and more nutritious. One hundred pounds of Graham flour is worth full as much in a family as one hundred
and thirty-three pounds of superfine white flour. Cornmeal usually costs less than half the price of flour.  It is
worth twice as much. It is not so economical in summer,
because it takes so much fire to cook it. The first great
error in preparing cornmeal is in grinding it too much, and
next in not cooking it enough. Cornmeal mush should
boil two hours; it is better if boiled four, and not fit to eat
if boiled less than one hour. Buckwheat flour should never
be purchased by a family who are obliged to economize
food. It is dear at any price, because it must be floated in
dear butter to be eaten, and then it is not healthy. Oatmeal
makes as good cakes as buckwheat, and far more nutritious.
But it is more nutritious and is particularly healthy for children, in the form of porridge."
Thousands of the poor, in all ages, have studied
the great problem of how to get rich. How to get
a farm, as the stepping-stone to wealth, is shown in
a new light in the following article from the New
York Tribune for August, 1859:
"Carlyle has said somewhere that the only state of future
torment much regarded or feared now-a-days, is Poverty.
How to make money-how to acquire rapidly abundant
wealth-is the  genelral and anxious inquiry.  Somebody
has lately published a book purporting to lay bare the
whole art and mystery of making minoney-including the
difficult feat of making the first $1,000-for the paltry
sum of one dollar. Fired with emulation, we propose to
contribute our mite toward the development of auriferous
science.
1811 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
"Let us begin by frankly confessing that we know no
royal road to desirable wealth, and greatly doubt the existence of any. We have heard of this or that man making
a great pile in a day, or night, or some other short period,
by speculation, forestalling, gambling, or something of the
sort, but have no faith in that sort of acquisition as either
desirable or (save in rare instances) practicable. The Old
Book says,' Hie that maketh haste to be rich shall not be
innocent'-and a more important truth has rarely appeared
in any book. If those who are hot on the scent of coffee
plantations in Central America or sugar estates in Cuba
don't believe it now, ninety-nine in every hundred of them
will rue their skepticism before they shall be ten years older.
"Nor can we advise any one to rush to Pike's Peak in
quest of the eagerly-coveted gold. A good many are now
streaming thither, and more perhaps will follow them,
some of whom will probably succeed in their quest, while
a far larger number will return poorer than they went, besides being sick, sore and weary. Of the few who make
anything in the new Dorado, many more will owe their
good fortune to success in gambling or peddling than in
personally digging gold. Still less can we counsel any
young man to seek a classic education, with a view to eminence in some profession. The professions are all overdone; it would be a blessed thing for all if not another
lawyer or doctor should be ground out during the next ten
years. The market is already glutted, and the stock held
for a better demand is deplorably heavy. Nor do we think
it well for even one more youth to addict himself to trade.
There are this day as many as two persons engaged in selling goods to each twenty families throughout the country.
In other words: Productive industry is paying about onequarter of its products for the trouble of exchanging them,
not taking into account the cost of transportation. If
185 
*
HOW TO GET A FARM)
we could reduce our aggregate of merchants of all grades
by three-fourths, the remainder might thrive, while selling
goods at one-half the profit now charged. And yet we believe the world never afforded larger or better opportunities for acquiring wealth than it does just now; and that
there is no better place for trying than our own country
affords. Let us give a few hints on this head to those who
may need them.
"We will suppose the inquirer to be a young man of fifteen to five-and-twenty, whose educational advantages have
been meager, and who is not thoroughly qualified for any
field of productive labor. How shall he set about getting
rich? We say:
"1. Consider whether you would prefer to be a farmer or
an artisan; and, if the latter, of what trade. Having decided, keep your eye steadily on the pursuit you prefer, and
find employment in it so soon as possible-doing meantime
the best thing that offers, though that be chopping wood at
two shillings per cord. Never be idle a secular day when
there is any work to be had; and if there is absolutely
none where you now are, keep in motion towards a less
crowded locality till you find some. Having found work,
stick to it heartily and faithfully,' and, if it pays you but
twenty-five cents per day, cortrive some way of living upon
twenty.
"Whenever you can find employment in the pursuit you
mean to live by, accept it, unless withheld by the necessity
of earning more at something else in order to pay your debts.
And, in deciding where first to follow so as in time to master
the calling you have chosen, prefer the place where you can
learn most and fastest to that where you can obtain the
largest pay.
"3. Be sure that work and thought go together.  Keep
your eyes wide open and your mind intent and active. Re
186 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
solve not only to keep trying till you know how to do everything just right, and then do it no otherwise than that,
but to know vwhy that is the best way-its reason in the nature of things. If you have chosen farming, be sure to find
some time in each week to read the best treatises on that
noble calling, and keep a keen eye on all the periodicals
within reach that treat of it. Take the best one yourself,
and study it carefully. In short, give the next two, three
or four years to the vital work of mastering your chosen
pursuit, so that thenceforth, through every day learning,
you may confidently measure your strength in it with any
competitor.
"4. Having thus mastered your calling, go to work in it
for others for the best wages you can obtain, resolved so to
earn them that you will be morally certain to command a
larger sum next year.  Thus persevere in industry, frugality and temperance, carefully economizing your time and
means, until you shall have earned enough to strike out
boldly for yourself.
"5. By this time you will have made friends, especially
among those of kindred position and habits to your own;
and now you can make that sympathy available for your
mutual good.  Haveas many as possible join you in a purchase of land to be divided among you according to your
several means and needs; whereby your wealth may be
doubled in a month. For example: two or three hundred.
young men of twenty to thirty, knowing and trusting each
other, and each of them a good, thrifty, likely farmer or
mechanic, having severally earned and saved from $200 up
to $2,000, resolve to buy and settle together.  So they send
out two or three of their number to look and buy lands for
them-in any of the new or of the border Slave States,
where even improved lands are cheaper than elsewhere on
earth.  They select and purchase from  2,000 to 10,000
187 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
acres of land, according to the price and their means, survey it into large and small farms and village lots, and sell it
at auction to the highest bidder, each member being entitled to buy to the extent of his investment in the purchase, and as much more as he can pay for-each being
pledged to settle and improve his tract. The hour this is
done and the tract all settled, the members' lands alone are
worth double their cost-often much more. The farmers
have thus secured lands at wilderness prices, and secured at
the same time the vicinage of millers, merchants, mechanics, &c., which gives additional value to lands long since
improved; while the carpenter, shoemaker, blacksmith,
tailor, tinner, &c., &c., have acquired not merely homes,
but life-long customers at the lowest possible prices. CONCERTED EMIGRATION is a plan by which the industrious can
at least double their moderate means without making a
profit out of anybody else; and there are millions of our
people, especially of the young, who might speedily double
their little properties by means of it.
"6. Having thus made a home, resolve to spend your remaining days there, and to be one of the best farmers or
artisans to be found there or elsewhere. Work steadily
but not immoderately; think, observe and read so as to
make every blow tell.  If your land is mainly timbered,
contrive a way to make the timber, if possible, a source of
profit; if the soil is rather lean, devote all the time not absolutely needed otherwise to making it richer. Sell only
for pay down, and buy likewise for cash. Do not allow
your wants to grow faster than your means. Make each
mistake or failure a source of instruction and improvement.
Form no bad habits-have no liquor on your premises, and
no tobacco unless to repel vermin. Have no capital locked
up in land that you do not use, unless it be woodland rapidly enhancing in value; nor in fat horses, showy turnouts,
iss 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
nor any sort of fancy property-at least, not till you shall
be out of debt, with good buildings, well fenced fields, and
everything comfortable about you. Thus move on quietly
and steadily; and if you have no bad luck, you may be beyond the reach or fear of want in five years, in comfortable
circumstances by the end of ten, and as well off as a man
need be within twenty.
"Do you say this seems a slow, humdrum, petty way of
getting rich? Well, it is not quite so fast as gambling, or
slave-trading, or making $100,000 in a month by cornering
an adverse party in the stock market; but let two hundred
young men try the course we have so rapidly outlined,
against an equal number who try any radically different
course-gold-mining, trading, speculating, or the professions-and if our party do not, in the average, come out
very far ahead, we shall be forced to conclude that the
world is a lottery and that Chance is God."
-189 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
CIEAPTER VIII.
The Long Island Barrens-Their Condition, Price, and Crops.
WITHIN one to three hours' ride of the city of
New York, by railroad, there lies a vast body of uncultivated land popularly known as "The Barrens."
Why an area so extensive should have remained unappropriated and idle, within cheap and easy reach
of a population of nearly a million of consumers,
has long been a subject for wonder and speculation.
But of late years the public attention has been more
particularly turned in that direction, principally by
publications of the Farmers' Club of the American
Institute, the writings of Hon. John A. Dix, Mr.
Thomas Schnebly, Dr. E. F. Peck and others, from
whose examinations and reports the substance of the
following account has been compiled.
It would perhaps be difficult to say exactly how
these lands first acquired the damaging name of
"Barrens." In the early settlement of Long Island
they secured a very different character, and were
held in the highest esteem by all who either described or lived upon them. The writers of two
centuries ago referred to them as exceedingly fruitful, with a fine climate, and beautiful streams and
bays abounding in all kinds of fish and water fowl.
They enumerate the grains, the fruits, and the
190 
AND WHiERE TO FIND ONE.
grasses that they produced.  None of them mention
the land as being poor or barren. The plains, free
from timber, and covered with grass, were wonderful as natural curiosities. A traveller in 1759, says
that strangers were always taken to them as the only
great curiosity of the kind then known in America.
Other portions of the island were covered with immense forests.
It is suggested by Mr. Schnebly that the character of barrens attached to these lands in consequence of their being held in very large bodies,
whose owners cultivated only a few acres, allowing
the forest to occupy the remainder. The island was
mapped out by patents owned by various parties,
whose possessions extended from the waters on the
north and south sides to the middle and woodlands
in the centre. The Nicholas patent, at West Islip,
contained originally ten miles square. There were
numerous other holders of enormous tracts.  They
made little effort at cultivation, neither did they desire any others to improve them, "and consequently
shut out all investigation, and while they lived
among gorgeous scenery, a genial climate, and on
so productive a soil, were satisfied with cultivating
a few acres to supply their wants, leaving the balance of their territory to unproductiveness, which
in time, for that reason, became known as the wild
or wood lands of Long Island."
Such is Mr. Schnebly's explanation.  More modern times have substituted "barren" for "wild.'"
But the fact of land being thus held in vast tracts
on Long Island affords another illustration of the
191 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
evils inseparable from a land monopoly. These
owners became an aristocracy. They not only failed to improve their possessions, but, by refusing to
sell, prevented others from doing so. When the
monopoly was broken up by their descendants dividing and selling, population flowed in and farms
were established. Emancipation in Russia is producing, like results, and such will follow the enactment of the Homestead Law.
The great bulk of these lands were comparatively
inaccessible to the public. There were roads, it is
true, but they were few in number.  The island was
not a thoroughfare, having crowds of travellers
firom other States passing over its soil. Few, therefore, saw these tracts, and these few, seeing that
they were uncultivated, adopted and propagated
still further the popular idea that they were barren.
The opening of the Long Island railroad served to
dissipate this delusion. It opened up a tract of
country ninety-five miles in length.
In September, 18S60, the Farmers' Club made excursions over the railroad for the purpose of examining the Barrens.  They say that "a stranger unacquainted with the country would readily remark
the immense quantity of uncultivated land traversed
by the railroad, with only here and there a spot exhibiting tillage, and hence the inquiry would naturally arise, why is it that this extensive tract, so
near the great city of New York and its sister city,
Brooklyn, remains unsubdued and untilled, and
what means can be economically used to make this
apparent wilderness productive and remunerative
192 
AND W IIERE TO FIND ONE.
to the labor of man?" Along the railroad line is a
district containing 150,000 acres, but partially cultivated. In Queens and Suffolk Counties there
were nearly 200,000 acres of unimproved land, as
shown by the census of 1855. All this lay within
two and three miles of the railroad. In leaving
the cultivated lands about Jamaica, there is an unoccupied, uncultivated, unenclosed expanse, without
tree or shrub to obstruct the view for miles.
Numerous towns held great tracts containing
thousands of acres, which were kept for public use
as commons. Hempstead originally held  17,000
acres. North Hempstead disposed of her lands at
low prices, and was largely benefited by the influx
of new settlers. When the railroad was opened in
1844, it traversed an almost unbroken wilderness,
in which scarcely a dwelling was to be seen. But
twenty years have wrought wonderful changes in
the condition of the lands adjoining it.
In many places on and near the railroad, within
about an hour's ride of New York, there is land for
sale at moderate prices —Mr. Schnebly says at from
ten to thirty dollars an acre, according to location.
lie refers to the crops produced by various farmers
on land in this condemned region. Peach trees
grow luxuriantly and bear profusely. Corn, oats,
barley and rye are produced as largely as in the
best regions, while the average wheat product of
the island exceeds that of the State. The State Agricultural Society awarded to Mr. Van Sicklin, of
Riverhead, the premium for the best cultivated
farm, he having produced crops worth $3,300 at an
193 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
expense of $1,100 for manure and labor. Another
party, who bought land at $12.50 per acre, so cultivated it as to produce one hundred bushels of oats
to the acre, and the same season grew turnips which
yielded an additional profit of $29 per acre. A
tract of these neglected lands has produced twentyfive bushels of wheat per acre, a year or two after
being taken up.
These lands have been a frequent subject of discussion at the New York Farmers' Club. As the
parties who share in these discussions are experienced agriculturists, some of their opinions are
quoted. Professor Nash said:
"It has been stated and denied that the land is loam,
and not sand or gravel. I have lately spent some days in
examination of this soil, and find that statement correct,
and that it is beautifully adapted to garden culture, and
capable of producing various crops most profitable to the
cultivator. This loam has produced and is able to produce
$400 to the acre in strawberries.  I wish the slanders that
have been spoken against the lands of Long Island could
be counteracted, and their value better knowni and made
useful to the world. Although not as rich as prairie soil, it
is well worthy of the attention of small farmers and men
in search of lands for homes. Such homes can be made
upon the wild lands of Long Island as well, to say the least,
as in the west."
Dr. Peck said that these lands do not need renovating, but merely cultivation. The whole centre
of the island is a natural clover field. Hie added
that upon just such land as that which is called barren, fifty-four bushels of wheat had been grown,
194 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
taking the State Society's premium.   One man had
fifty acres of clover in the very midst of the scruboak barrens, as fine clover as ever grew. HIe gave
the figures of a thirty-acre farmn, which gave a profit
for the year of $9,300.  There were ten acres in
cucumbers. Another farmer raised 4,000 bushels
of potatoes, which he sold for $7,000.
A  member of the Club having asserted that "it
was impossible for any poor man to occupy such
land, because he could not improve it," another said
in reply:
"The Long Island lands were no poorer than those along
the Camden and Amboy Railroad, which have been made
the garden spot of New Jersey, and made so by the labor
of poor men. He deprecated this continual attack upon
Long Island, this constantly telling poor men not to go to
that poverty-stricken region to starve.  It was this oftrepeated assertion that the lands are barren which keeps
them so; it is not because they are so, for it has been
proved by the most incontestable evidence that these plains,
or barrens, as they are called, can be profitably cultivated.
He thought it would prove a great blessing to a great many
poor men if they should go out upon the island and culti,ate it like a garden. It is no use to talk about capitalists
undertaking the work of renovation, if they have got to
buy the land and spend a hundred dollars an acre to improve it before they begin to realize a profit. Such men of
money are much more likely to spend it in Wall street
speculations. For the improvement of Long Island we
must look to the laborers, the hard-working poor men, such
as the gentleman, in his old-fogy argument, would discourage from the attempt to better their condition."
Another member related an interesting anecdote
195 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
of one of his acquaintances, who proved, in the
most practical manner, that a poor man could settle
upon these so-called poor Long Island lands, and
make a good support for his family, and gain property at the same time.  HIe thought it a disgrace to
the country and the age we live in to say that these
lands were incapable of improvement, except by an
expenditure of money so far beyond the reach of all
ordinary cultivators that none would be found to
undertake the work of improvement.
How some of this land within a few miles of New
York is used, and what a variety of products it is
capable of yielding, is related in the following lively article from the Tribune for July, 1858:
"Long Island is to New York city just what is, or should
be, the little inclosure picketed in at the back of every
farm-house-the garden-spot furnishing a great abundance
of fruits and fresh vegetables to the residents of the mansion in front.  Unfortunately, the simile holds good in
several respects, for this great garden spot is, like a great
many kitchen gardens, run to weeds and waste for lack of
care and cultivation. Like the garden divided off in plats,
parterres and little nooks, it shows one of lovely flowers
and another of weeds-a third is filled with choice fruit,
and the next is a nest of wild vines, crabs and bramblesa fourth is waving corn, growing in all the luxuriance of
the wonderful soil, while right alongside is a spot that only
affords a scant pasture to a stray cow. Instead of being
one great garden, unsurpassed by all the world, it is a sad
evidence of what neglect and careless cultivation can do to
such a spot.
"In the course of our ramble we became satisfied that
the soil is capable of furnishing this great city with all its
1.96 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
food except, perhaps, the great staples of the west, which
alone bear transportation. At Ravenswood we looked into
a garden where raspberries are grown by the acre-four or
five acres, we should say, in a plat-not for fruit, but to
sell the plants to others, at $70 or $80 a thousand, the demand being greater than the owner could supply. Within
the same inclosure is an acre or two of rhubarb, which,
grown as a crop on several farms on Long Island, yields
$500 an acre.
"There are also a great number of sample vines started
as stocks for cutting, and to show what is the quality of
the fruit of those two new and very superior grapes, the
Delaware and Rebecca. The cuttings are all started in
thumb pots, in forcing-houses in the winter, and as they
make roots, successively removed into larger and larger
pots, until there is a mass of fibrous roots filling a gallon
pot, which gives a rapid growth to the vine when set out,
which buyers greatly prefer to the slower growth obtained
from cuttings set in the open ground. The owner is profitably working land that is worth at least $1,000 an acre for
building lots.
"'Next to his grounds we visited those of a grower of
the new cherry currant. But, excellent as that is, he is
not satisfied without an attempt to get a better one, and so
he has 2,000 seedlings a year old, grown from seeds of the
very largest of the fine ones at present grown. Of these,
2,000 plants were grown with much labor, requiring the
care and attention of the planter for three years before he
can obtain and prove the fruit. He may be rewarded with
one choice new seedling, and cast the other nineteen hundred and ninety-nine into the fire, or he may not get even
that single one. It is a great labor to grow seedlings until
one is obtained better than the original, yet some one must
persevere in such labor, or we should never have the choice
197 
HfOW TO GET A FA RM,
fruits we now enjoy-such as iovey's, Hooker's, Longworth's, McAvoy's, Peabody's, Burr's, Wilson's, and other
new strawberries; Brinkle's raspberry, Houghton's gooseberry, Lawton's blackberry, and an almost endless list of
apples, pears, plums, cherries, and other choice fruits and
plants, that somebody has had the patience and perseverance to grow from the seed of old sorts.
' Jumping from Ravenswood-that village of beautiful
residences on the bank of the East River, opposite the Isle
of Penitence-to East Brooklyn, we shall see as we ride
out Division avenue, alias Broadway, a considerable number of small gardens and cultivated spots; but most of the
land lies waste and useless to the thousands of starving laborers that throng the streets in pursuit of employment.
Not that they are unwilling to work, or the owners of the
land unwilling that it should be cultivated, but because the
absurd practice prevails of letting cows, horses, hogs, goats,
geese, ducks and fowls run at large, pirating their living
upon the unfenced lands, and frequently breaking into inclosures. Thus no one can plant a little patch of garden
vegetables, which in some cases would save the family from
begging or being a public charge. And it is almost an
annual charge to fence in a lot, since the material will be
stolen for winter fuel, unless closely watched. And so a
wide breadth of rich soil, extending as far out as the land
has been cursed by city lot surveyors, is a worthless waste,
with only here and there a rich green spot, to show us it is
not by nature a barren.
"One of these green spots we notice on our left hand,
some three miles from Peck Slip Ferry, is a pear nursery,
where more than ten thousand trees were in bloom last
spring.  The most of the trees are grafted upon quince
stocks, and are growing vigorously in a clayey loam soil,
deeply prepared and highly manured. The trees grown
198 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
for fruiting are some of them trained to branch three to
five stemns from the ground, and others one stem, with
branches only a few inches from the surface, and top of
pyramidal shape a few feet high.  Between all these trees
plants of Hovey's seedling strawberries are set, and one
spot of wonderfully small dimensions, for such a yield, was
pointed out. from which forty quarts were picked one evening, which sold readily for forty cents a quart. We should
say an acre at the same rate would produce a thousand
dollars.
"Between the rows of nursery trees one or more rows of
cabbages are grown, by which a clean and continual cultivation is insured to the trees, and a summer crop sufficient
to pay for all the labor, leaving the money for trees sold as
profit-less the first cost.  All of the quince stocks, and
many of the pears ready grafted in them, are imported from
France. One bill of freight covered 20,000 trees. Who
buys all the trees annually imported, or grafted, and cultivated here, we cannot say; but the proprietor assured us
that he had constantly upon his book orders ahead of his
ability to fill, not being willing to send out any but wellrooted trees.
"Now, all this production from a waste spot has come
without premeditation; the proprietor, while engaged in
other business, built a house here for his family residence,
and could not bear to see all around him a desert of waste;
and so he began, first for his own use, to plant pear-trees,
and finding his neighbors wanted them, he enlarged his
production, until from an amateur he has become a nurseryman, and has made an oasis in the middle of the desert of
unoccupied, unfenced city lots, where whole farms have
been turned out to common grazing-ground for wandering
cows.
"By his side, a man has fenced in with wire several of
1911) 
2IO'W To GET A F4RMS
these vacant lots, and made a market garden, which is more
profitable than twenty times its area of wheat and corn ill
Illinois. We were pointed to one portion of it that had
already yielded two crops this season, worth about $700 an
acre, and is now set with celery that will produce four or
five hundred more. True, it costs labor and manure, and
requires skill beyond that requisite to grow potatoes or
pumpkins, but it pays a large profit upon all outlays, and
leaves a handsome surplus to reward the man of intellect
who does or directs the work.
"A little further on we stopped a few minutes to look at
the work of two remarkably skillful English gardeners,
father and son, enthusiastic propagators and producers of
new plants and rare flowers.  Among the curious things in
the garden are a thousand thrifty plants of the Lawton
blackberry, all propagated from one plant stem last spring,
by some secret of their own, which enables them to multiply it almost indefinitely. But the most curious of all
things about this garden, where we see everything growing
so luxuriantly, is the fact that it is done without manure.
They were too poor to buy it, and they cannot afford to
grow weeds to make compost, and as the surface had been
exhausted by long cropping it in the old style of farming,
what were they to do? Go on the same old course of putting nothing on, and taking everything off that the thin
surface-soil would produce? No, they could not live by
that, and as they would not buy and cart on fertility, they
dug for it. They found it two or three feet below the surface, where they put the loose stones, enabling the water to
drain off, and roots to run down. Now, when a plant needs
fertilizing, a loosening of the surface with a fork lets in the
air, and the plant grows again with renewed vigor. Devoted industry and spade labor produce the results we see.
"Next we come to East New York, where waste lots lie
200 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
all around, with only here and there a house upon a plain
miles in extent. Now, getting beyond these we come to
fields of most wonderfully rich and rank green Indian corn,
great hay-fields, and smaller ones of rye and wheat stubble,
with here and there men digging potatoes. There are but
few market gardens or fruit farms, though every one has
apple and pear trees for his own use. As a general thing,
going on towards Jamaica, farming appears to be done now
much as it was in the days of the fathers and grandfathers
of the present occupants. Here is an exception. Captain
Briggs, who for thirty years followed the sea, and has since
been engaged in commerce, and even now, at sixty-five
years old, goes every day to the city to attend to business,
has still found time to plant an orchard covering twentyfive acres, in which he has sixteen hundred pear-trees, now
six to eight years old, and very thrifty, and all in bearing
condition. A good many are in fruit this year, although it
is a season of general failure, and all show a vigor of
growth that proves this fact, that although a man may be
bred upon the sea, or has been fifty years of his life engaged in commercial pursuits, it does not disqualify him
from cultivating the earth with success if he is a man of
sense, who never does a thing without knowing why it
should be done.
"For instance, he thought when about to plant his appletrees, that they were strong-rooted trees, with heavy tops,
and should be planted on the northeast side of the orchard
to break the prevailing winds from the slower-growing and
weaker pear-trees. In looking about, however, he found
that apple-trees, as they are usually planted out, are of slow
growth, sometimes dying, and sometimes being blown over
by the winds that sweep up this gently inclined plain from
the broad Atlantic. So he inquired, why? He soon found
why. He saw trees stuck down into holes that were so
9*
201 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
small that the few roots not trimmed off, had to be doubled
and coiled around the clump root, and trod and jammed
into their narrow quarters, and there the tree was expected
to grow.
"' How  can it?' said the old sailor.' These people
never reason-I'll have no such work on my farm.'
"It was difficult to get men to work differently, but he
could work himself, with his own strong hands. So he had
holes dug eight feet broad and two feet deep, and threw
back a foot of the top soil in the bottom of the hole, well
mixed with compost manure, all as finely pulverized as a
garden bed. Then he went to the nursery and bought
large trees-'too large to do well,' the nurseryman said,
'he had better take smaller ones.' No, he wanted trees,
not whip-stalks. And these trees he wanted with roots, and
by determined perseverance he got them with roots.' Great
sprawling things,' the man said who dug them,' that never
could be set out, because nobody was a going to dig holes
big enough for that.' Hle was mistaken, for somebody did
dig holes big enough, and somebody got down upon somebody's hands and knees, and' with fingers weary and worn'
straightened out every little fibrous root, and bedded it
nicely in the soft earth, and. not a tree failed to grow at
once; and now, who ever saw such handsome, large, bearing trees at eight years old ~ Every tree in the orchard
stands up as straight as the spars of the owner's ship.
"At Baiseley's Pond we saw men and teams at work
digging out the deep bed of muck that for ages has been
accumulating, and we said to the man who was digging his
potatoes-small potatoes and few in a hill-within a few
rods of great piles of this muck, which the contractor had
had to buy the privilege of placing on dry land,'Your
crop would be better if you had a good lot of that muck,
well rotted and mixed with your soil.'
202 
AND WHFRE TO FIND ONE.
"' Humph-so I have heard before.'
"And that was his answer to our kindly-meant sugges.
tion; and he bent again over his profitless toil, disinclined
to talk of what'he had heard before.' Some of this muck,
compressed like brick while moist, and then dried, burns
like cannel coal, leaving an ash highly charged with potash. As we walked over the immense pile, extending in a
broad belt around the pond, we picked up tuft after tuft as
large as a man's hat, so light that we played football with
them. They were made up of a knitted mass of fibrous
roots, which would burn like dry wood twigs, and afford an
equal per cent. of potash. Yet, while they lie here and decay and waste away, the owners of the poor, sandy soil adjoining will send to Vermont or Western New York for
leached ashes, for these they have proved are good for the
land, while the value of the muck they have only' heard
tell of before.' They have also heard that it'is pizen to
the land,' and therefore will not listen and learn how to use
it and make it most valuable.
"Turning away from this pile of wasted wealth, we
drove a mile or two across the plain to visit'a successful
market-truck farmer;' not a'garden-trucker,' but one who
grows field crops for market. To-day he was digging potatoes-' a very fair crop of Mercers, about 150 bushels per
acre.' The tops were still very green, and the farmer
thought the tubers would have increased about a quarter, if
left to ripen, but then they would not bring as much. The
price to-day is $3.25 a barrel. The vines are pulled and
tubers shaken off between two rows, and the remainder
forked out with  a five-pronged, flat-tined fork.   Then
two men pass along picking all the marketable tubers into
a basket that holds about three pecks-three being counted
to a barrel-saving, as they go along,' all the best in a
smaller basket, to top off with-the best, of course, always
203 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
on top. The small potatoes left on the ground are afterwards picked for pig feed, yet sometimes they are sold to
the bakers to piece out the superfine flour, and make it
carry more water, so as to answer the law that requires
bread to be sold by weight. The baskets being filled are
loaded upon a wagon that carries forty, with feed and food
for a man with two horses, who starts in time to reach the
market some time in the night, where he sells his load
early the next morning, and returns in time to rest and
load up again. This potato ground is sown as soon as
cleared of the crop, to wheat and seeded to clover."
From this copious summary of the condition and
capabilities of the neglected lands of Long Island,
new wonder will be excited at the fact of any large
body of them continuing to be unoccupied. The
term " barrens" should now become obsolete-they
never have been such. The consumer is at their
very door, taking not only all they now produce,
but ready to devour all that their uncultivated acres
could be made to yield. It would be wise for the
producer to plant himself beside this consumer.
Every man now looking for a farm should go and
examine them.
204 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
CHAPTER IX.
The neglected Lands of Delaware-Repeopling the Slave Re gion-Condition, Soil, and Products-Crops and Lumber Farms for Sale, and Prices-Railroads-Maryland Farms.
THE State of Delaware is rapidly coming before
the public in a new and regenerated attitude. The
immemorial blight of slavery is fast disappearing.
A wholesale Northern emigration is coming in to
enlighten and control the remaining heresies which,
for a generation at least, must linger among those
who were born and educated to believe in them.
About eighteen months ago, an association of prominent citizens was formed, with no view to individual
profit, but having for its sole object the circulation
of knowledge touching the cheap and fertile lands
of the State, so that Northern settlers might be
drawn thither, thus at once crushing out at the ballot-box the pro-slavery element which had ruled and
blasted the region. Many such have become purchasers in consequence of this information, and
the number is constantly increasing.
As Delaware presents great attractions for those
who desire a farm, much pains has been taken to
obtain a full insight into the condition and prices of
land, and of its facilities for reaching market. A
leading object of the association referred to was the
205 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
improvement of the State by introducing farmners,
artisans, manufacturers, and tradesmen, from other
localities. A special object was to develop the agricultural resources of the State, particularly the
Central and Southern portions, by encouraging the
settlement of truckers, who would purchase and
divide the large tracts into small truck farms, producing fruit and vegetables for the Philadelphia
and New York markets. This course would not
only bring the lands into a higher state of cultivation, but would invite a thriving and enterprising
population, greatly adding to the productive wealth
of the State, purifying its political atmosphere, and
enhancing the value of property.
For the securing of these ends, it was necessary
to disabuse the North in regard to the true sentiment of the State, and to assure all who thought of
settling there, that they would be welcomed by a
large and intelligent portion of the population, from
whatever section of the country they might come,
and whatever their political views, if loyal to, the
Government, and disposed to contribute to the development of the resources of the State.  The documents thus put forth for general information have
been freely used in this chapter.
Such an enterprise appeals strongly to Northern
self-interest. It cannot be doubted that, in thus developing Delaware and adjoining sections of the
peninsula, with other portions of the South, the
trading interests of the North will be largely benefited. By furnishing increased facilities to settlers,
capitalists of all classes may make profitable invest
206 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
ments in new village locations, in lots, and in manufacturing and other establishments, whfich would
greatly appreciate in value with the growth of the
place. Destined, as Delaware is, to be the great
thoroughfare to Eastern Virginia and the further
South, when a general tide of emigration shall set
in that direction after the war, investments wisely
made in that State must be highly remunerative.
In the past, many properties have doubled in value
within a few years.
After Delaware has been thus unionized and
emancipated, the idea was to present the same
potent example of the superiority of free-labor enterprise to other portions of the South. Maryland
was to come next, then her neighbors. It is averred,
as the most probable hypothesis, that at the close
of the rebellion, a large standing army must be
maintained for years, or the sentiment of union and
liberty must be rapidly created in the South by an
infusion of Northern emigration. The blood of the
two sections must be made to mingle —the Yankee
taking his seat beside the Southron, there teaching
him a new lesson of life, how to work or whittleuntil he is educated to the right sentiment. Such
infusion must be an overflowing one. But the signs
of the times indicate that such will be its character.
In Delaware, slavery would still be, as it always
has been, a fatal objection to settlement there. The
Milford News stated, in 1858, that "in Newcastle,
the most northerly county in Delaware, where there
are scarcely any slaves, improved lands are worth
over $50 per acre, while in Sussex, where the bulk
207
0 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
of the slaves of the State are held, lands are worth
only from $7 to $8 per acre." The same paper says,
that three years previous, "A  band of 300 Swiss
emigrants arrived in New York with all their arrangements made to settle in Delaware.  They were
farmers, with money to buy land; and hearing that
land was cheap in Delaware-a State settled by
their fathers-they concluded to settle there; but
finding, on their arrival, that Delaware was a slave
State, they passed us by, settled in Ohio, and helped
to augment the wealth of that young giant of the
Union." The sagacious editor declared, eight years
ago, that an act of emancipation would at once increase the value of real estate in Delaware five
millions of dollars. But emancipation is now at her
very door-rebellion has destroyed the institution,
and the few slaves are rapidly disappearing.
Northern immigration will soon secure an entire
eradication of this only remaining drawback to the
prosperity of the State. Delaware may therefore
be considered a free State, running with Maryland
a race for freedorm.
The Puritan element having never predominated
in Delaware, churches and schools are scarcer than
in New England. Slavery has cast its usual blight
on the religion and education of her people. Yet
these indispensable elements of a high civilization
are not wholly absent. They exist in larger extent
than in most places where land is equally cheap.
They are incomparably better developed than in the
new States and Territories of the extreme West.
There are churches of different denominations in
208 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
the principal villages, and a large number within
convenient distances in the country. Schools exist
in equal number; while the villages and towns contain others of a better class, and sometimes academies. The great need is an infusion of Northern
religious and educational elements.
A farmer can do but little active work without
health. The country is, in general, pre-eminently
healthy, the climate being mild and regular. It is
recommended to all who are troubled with pulmonary or bronchial diseases incident to bleak and
changeable Northern latitudes. Preachers, who had
been compelled by these affections to abandon the
pulpit, have been enabled to resume it after a few
months' residence in Delaware. It has also advantages, in point of healthfulness, over more newly
settled regions, in being less subject to chills and
fever. Good soft water abounds, at from ten to
twenty feet.  All fruits and vegetables  can be
raised for very early market. A week or two at
the beginning of a season, is sometimes worth
thousands to the truckman. Ploughing can generally be done all through the winter.
There is almost every variety of soil, most of
which may be said to be the natural home of the
peach and sweet potato. Major Anthony Reybold
has netted $20,000 in one season from peaches.
Mr. George Parrish, from 9,000 trees, occupying
ninety acres, in 1863, netted  $10,000.   The tree
is here free from the blights that affect it in the
North, thus it lives and thrives for many years.
Sweet potatoes produce enormously, as much as
209 
H1OW TO GET A FARM,
200 to 300 bushels per acre. Grapes, melons, and berries of all kinds, produce largely. In the wild blackberry trade alone, almost incredible quantities are
gathered by women and children, and sent to market.
Before the construction of the Delaware Railroad,
thousands of acres in the central and southern portions of the State were shut in from market. Hence
there are vast quantities of virgin land, more or less
wooded, whose timber is to be felled, and whose soil
developed by the hand of industry. Much timber is
still standing along and near the railroad. A profitable business is done in getting out ship timber, while
the railroad is constantly requiring wood for fuel
and ties for the track. Distant roads are buying
ties almost without limit. Nurnerous tracts of such
timber land are for sale. As an illustration of their
general character, I copy a single advertisement of
a farm of nearly 300 acres, which, finding no purchaser at $25 per acre, was withdrawn from sale:
"With the exception of 50 acres cleared, it is all covered with the heaviest timber to be found anywhere in the
State, including heart and yellow Pine, Cypress, Beech,
Chestnut, Gum, Poplar, &c., with some scattering White
Oak. Most of the large pine timber is perfectly straight,
and they run up 60 to 110 feet before the first limb is
reached. A great many of them will make from 4,000 to
5,000 feet of lumber each. Many of the cypress trees are
from four to six feet in diameter three feet above the
ground, and will yield from 5,000 to 8,000 shingles each.
The soil of the tract is a deep, black, yellow muck, from
three to five feet in depth, thoroughly drained by county
ditches, and when cleared will yield from 50 to 100 bush
210 
AND WHIIERE TO FIND ONE.
els of shelled corn per acre, and other crops in proportion.
On the cleared part there is a small dwelling and outbuildings, and some few fruit trees of various kinds. A good
opening for a steam mill."
Thirty such announcements might be quoted, the
terms of payment being in all cases extremely accommlodating to the buyer. With reference to the
timbered land, it may be added that there are numerous m-rnill seats, with flour and saw-mills in operation, and much unused water-power. Many of the
latter are for sale at reasonable prices. As fuel is
abundant and cheap, so steam power may be and is
used to advantage.
The lumber question will be one of interest to
many readers. It ranks among the most extensive
interests in the country. While in the Free States
the forests have been melting away before the axe of
the freeman, those in the Slave States have remained comparatively undisturbed. Delaware abounds
with tracts of invaluable forests of hard. and soft
woods, which wait only for the hand of Northern
enterprise to lay them low. The lumber could be
worked up in many profitable ways.  The neighboring market of Philadelphia would consume immense
quantities. With an influx of population there will
be an increased demand for saw-mills. In new village sites already selected, two or three are needed
now. There will also be a demand for planing-mills
and sash factories.   Turning establishments will
pay, as black gum, the best material for carriage
hubs, is very abundant.  They  now  leave these
woods in rough blocks, to be manufactured else
211 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
where, instead of being more cheaply turned on the
spot where they grew. Spokes and axe-helves could
be produced at the lowest cost. Now, Connecticut
comes to these Delaware woods and takes away
quantities of hickory logs, converts them into spokes
and axe-handles, and then brings them back among
the very people where the timber grew, and where
they could be more cheaply turned.  It is the same
with manufactories of agricultural implements, with
tanneries and  other indispensable  employments.
But one of the greatest wants is a development of
the vast deposits of muck which are found in many
places.  These masses of decayed fertilizers are deposited in basins along the creeks, many feet in
depth. But so far they have shared the general
neglect. It will be the task, as well as the remuneration, of enterprising settlers, to seize and appropriate these abounding deposits of manure.
Until within a very few years, Delaware has been
a comparatively sealed book. It had but one or
two railroads. There was no thorough view of the
country to be had-no ready ingress, no ready
egress. Moreover, it was blasted by dominion of the
slave power, and few desired to know what it really
was, because none were willing to remove into a
slave region.  Land was consequently unsalable;
but this condition of things has undergone a mighty
change. Railroads have been built, which open up
to public observation a region heretofore of difficult
access to travellers, slavery is certain to be speedily
wiped out, and immigrants are pouring in.  Even
yet the price of land is very low, ranging from ten
212 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
to forty dollars per acre. Farms with house and
outbuildings, fences and fruit trees, within three or
four miles of a railroad station, of fair quality and
in fair condition, may be obtained for from twenty
to thirty dollars per acre. The purchaser can take
as much or as little land as he wants. Kent and
Sussex counties contain much of this description.
After soil and price have been considered, the vicinity to market is to be looked at.  Here it is near
and accessible daily by railroad. Products, such as
in the West would perish for want of buyers, here
find ready sale at high prices. Philadelphia, New
York and Boston, are all reached in a few hours.
New lines of railroads and steamboats leading direct
to New York, are in progress, and when opened
will enlarge the present outlets for all kinds of
produce. At certain points along the Delaware
Railroad there are large establishments for canning
peaches, in which hundreds of hands are employed.
That portion of the crop which goes to market from
the tree, takes the daily train to New York in the
afternoon, and reaches that city by daylight the
next morning.
In some sections there has already been a marked
change in the value of real estate, in consequence of
the opening of new railroads, and of the public attention having been directed to these lands. About
Middletown, in New Castle county, land which
some years ago was thrown out into commons as
worthless, cannot be obtained now for less than one
to two hundred dollars per acre. Farmns in Kent
county, now obtainable at from $15 to $40, must
213 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
within a few years command $75 to $100 per acre.
Such are some of the inducements to a settlement
in Delaware. If the reader has by this time learned
how to get a farm, it is very certain that here he
can find one. Population is scarce, land is abundant, and consequently cheap. There are hundreds
of owners who, insensible of the advantages they
possess, are overstocked with land, and desirous of
selling.
The opening of railroads here, as elsewhere, attracted enterprising men from abroad. Among the
most active of these is Mr. Alfred T. Johnston, of
Milford, in Sussex county, on the Junction and
Breakwater Railroad, six miles from Delaware Bay,
a hundred from Philadelphia by rail, and at the
head of navigation on the Mispillion river. Here
the fisheries are very productive, and shipbuilding
is extensively carried on. In population Milford
ranks next to Wilmington, the second town in the
State. Mr. Johnston came from Pennsylvania and
settled, five years ago, in Milford. Being shrewd
and enterprising, he soon discovered the wants of
the region, and the numerous openings for settlement that it presented. He made himself thoroughly acquainted with the land and with those owners
who desired to sell, then devoted himself to introducing settlers by making the outside world acquainted with the capabilities of Delaware lands.
These were such as to attract hundreds from all
parts of the Union. Hie has introduced so large a
population as to change majorities at the polls. In
the summer of 1864 I went among some of the set
214: 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
tlers thus introduced.  Some are mechanics, but
most of them are farmers. I saw their improvements, their crops, and questioned them as to their
prospects. As most were from a colder climate,
they spoke strongly in favor of this. I found none
of these recent comers desirous of selling and removing. On the contrary, they were writing letters to former neighbors to invite them to settle beside them. The cheap lands they had bought a few
years ago had in all cases risen in value, some
double, some treble.
It did not appear that any of these settlers were
mere speculators-they came to cultivate the soil.
But while doing so, it rose enormously in value. A
farmer from Bucks county, Pennsylvania, purchased
in 1858 a tract of 475 acres, at $12.50 per acre,
within two miles of Milford. It had good buildings
and fences, and much of it was cleared. He made
payment in a house in Philadelphia, with a mortgage on the farm for the remainder. Hie has sold
off three farms containing 355 acres, in the three,
for $12,600, and reserved, during a period of fifteen
years, the fruit from 3,000 peach trees he had
planted, besides having a farmn of 120 acres, now
worth $6,000. The peach crop thus reserved is
worth $3,000 per ainnum.  Other instances of rapid
increase of values were pointed out, some of them
quite as remarkable.
Mr. Johnston showed me a long list of properties
which he controlled, and was offering to settlers.
Many of these were large enough to cut lup into half
a dozen farms. Others would divide handsomely
215 
HOW TO GET'A FARM,
into two or three, while some were already of the
proper size, and others contained only fifteen acres.
The aspirations of every possible class of buyers
could here be gratified, from the man with a full
purse down to him whose whole capital was only a
few hundred dollars. Most of these properties were
astonishingly cheap, the price, in many cases, being
less than the cost of the improvements. All could
be had by paying down a fourth, a third, or half
the purchase money, with, in most cases, a long
term of years for the remainder. Some had been
sold without any money being required, a credit
having been given for the whole.
For men not strictly farmers, or for farmers with
a talent for other business or trade, there were on
some of these very advantageous openings for operating in lumber. The timber standing on much
of this land could be cut and marketed at a profit
of double the first cost of the land, leaving the latter all clear, with a profit besides. This operation
has been repeatedly performed, as much of this fine
timber stands within a few miles of schooner navigation, an& with saw-mills near at hand. In short,
for those looking for a new location, there are few
regions deserving more attention than the hitherto
neglected woods and farms of Delaware.
The lands on which Mr. Johnston is thus introducing settlers, are located principally in Sussex
county It is here the peach tree flourishes in such
profitable luxuriance. The product of the county
was very large in 1863, but foi 1864, it was estimated at 500,000 baskets. This increase is owing
216 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
to the young orchards, planted by new settlers,
coming into bearing.  Mr. Johnston's estimate is,
that in five years from this time, Sussex county will
send millions of baskets to market. The strawberry
culture is just beginning on a large scale. But in
the common wild blackberry trade, the amount has
been so great as to be a most important item in the
cash account of every railroad in the State. Sussex
county has poured these things into Philadelphia
by tens of thousands of bucketfuls, the railroads
having opened a market for what formerly perished
in the fields.  At every railroad station I saw the
platform covered with hundreds of buckets of these
berries, sometimes a thousand in one place, waiting
for the train, while men, women, and children, were
constantly bringing in additions to the huge supply.
There were buyers from the city who were taking
all that came, paying fifty cents per bucket of about
eight quarts. In less than twenty-four hours, the
great bulk of this supply would be eaten up by the
people of Philadelphia.
It will be a subject of wonder with many as to
what    becomes of this vast supply of light and extremely perishable fruit. The history of a single
establishment will go far to remove it. A house in
Philadelphia,       Messrs. Aldrich and Yerkes, has been
several years engaged in the business of canning
and preserving fruit. This firm occupies three
large  five      -story warehouses in Letitia street, in which
they   manufacture p ickles, jellies, marmalade, champaign cider, and put up great quantities of tomatoes,
strawberries, and blackberries, in cans. These va
10
217 
218
HOW TO GET A FARMS
rious preserves are sold all over the Union, penetrating even to the gold mines of Pike's Peak, and
consumed ill every ship that sails the ocean.  The
demand increases as their productions become better
known. They contract for whole orchards of peaches,
and last year used 26,000 baskets. Of common
wild blackberries they consumed immense quantities: of pine apples 3,000 dozen cans were preserved; of raspberries and currants they consumed
wagon loads.  In additioni to these items, they put
up 60,000 jars of honey, and 36,000 bottles of
champaign.   Pears and good  plums  they  have
never been able to procure in sufficient quantity.
This year, 1864, they will want some 40,000 baskets
of peaches, and fifty acres of pickles. They employ
400 hands, principally women, and can put up
nearly 20,000 cans daily. Their pickle tank holds
25 barrels, which are greened in 24 hours, and replaced by as many more. In 1863, this establishment consumed $30,000 worth of sugar.
Here is a single manufactory which buys orchards, cucumber patches, strawberries, raspberries,
blackberries, tomatoes, &c., by the acre. But it is
only one among many others doing quite as large a
business.   Every city contains several such, and
they are springing up in all the smaller towns.
Even in the present infancy of the business, they
exercise a marked influence in preventing a discouraging glut of the general market. The public,
having had a taste of canned fruits and vegetables,
call for increased quantities. The market for these
perishable productions,- instead of being limited to 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
a few weeks, is made to extend over the whole year.
Formerly, a third of the peach crop did not pay for
taking to market, and fine fruits of other kinds were
frequently given away on reaching the city, the
glut being so complete that no buyers were to be
found. The canning and preserving establishments
are now so numerous as to check these gluts and
prevent these losses. From this brief reference to
them, the reader will learn something as to what
becomes of the enormous amount of the smaller
fruits transported over the railroads, as well as of
the propriety of going to work at producing them.
Leaving Delaware for Maryland, a very similar
condition of things is found to exist. The quantity
of land for sale is enormous. The firm of Messrs.
R. W. Templeman  &  Co., of Baltimore,  control
more than four hundred farms, to which they are
inviting the attention of settlers. Some of these
contain thousands of acres in a single tract, and
could be advantageously divided into smaller farms.
Others contain only five to seven acres. Every
possible variety of property is embraced in the extensive catalogue which these gentlemen control,
while the locations are as various as the different
tracts. Many are within easy reach of Baltimore,
a city whose daily wants require the products of a
large extent of country. In that market, all that
the farmer can produce, the fruits and vegetables
especially, command highly remunerative prices.
Around that city there are farms having fifty acres
set with strawberries alone.   Some  of the first
pickings are distributed among northern cities as
219 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
far as Boston and Portland, but the great bulk of
the crop is consumed in Baltimore and Washington.
Whoever should be searching for a location in this
region will save himself labor, time, and money, by
first consulting the gentlemen referred to. They are
well acquainted with all these lands, and have been
kind enough to furnish me with many facts in relation to them. They have introduced multitudes of
settlers from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
the New England States.
The buyer of a farm in Maryland will find no
difficulty in arranging favorable terms of payment
with the seller. Hundreds of owners are anxious
to dispose of their properties. The conditions are
as accommodating as in Delaware; for where the
competition to sell is so keen, the buyer is very sure
to have his own way. I know of farms belonging
to a non-resident, who is vainly offering them to
Northern men on almost any terms-either to buy,
to occupy on shares, or at a nominal rent with privilege of purchasing, or giving them, by some other
arrangement, the use of the owner's capital. Many
settlers from New Jersey have located in the vicinity
of Baltimore, where they are successfully pursuing
their former trucking business, feeding both Baltimore and Washington, and doing remarkably well.
By examining the map of Maryland, the reader
will perceive that the Chesapeake Bay nearly divides the State into two separate parts, known respectively as the Eastern and Western shore.
Beginning at the south end of the Eastern shore,
lie will find the lands mostly sandy and of sandy
220 
AND WHERE ITO FIND ONE.
loam, up to the line of Talbot county. They are
adapted to growing corn, melons, sweet potatoes,
and such fruits as peaches, strawberries, &c., and
are generally quite level. Where unimproved, they
are valued at $10 per acre; where improved, at
from $20 to $50.
Continuing north, on the same shore, the lands
are generally of a red, stiff soil, level or slightly
rolling, and are underlaid with beds of marl. They
produce large crops of wheat, corn, fruits, and roots.
These lands, unimproved, along the broad waters,
are valued at from $30 to $40 per acre; if improved, at from $60 to $80. Further inland, the
prices are one-half less. The country along the
whole of this shore is indented with numerous broad
and deep inlets, furnishing the inhabitants with vast
supplies of the finest fish and oysters, crabs, terrapins, and the famous canvas-back and other varieties
of ducks. Near the larger towns, and in many
other localities, will be found a very superior society. Access to the cities is had by a railroad
partly completed, and by steamboats traversing the
Chesapeake Bay.
The Western shore will be found, from its most
southern point north to the line of Anne Arundel
and Prince George county, to be of sandy and sandy
loam soil, and in all respects like the first part of the
Eastern shore described above, except that the land
is more undulating, and produces a light variety of
tobacco in large quantities. The value per acre is
about the same.
Going North, on the same shore, we reach the
221 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
very productive lands of "The Ridge," in Anne
Arundel  county,  and  "The  Forest," of Prince
George county, extending to within forty miles of
Baltimore. These lands yield large crops of wheat,
corn, tobacco, and roots, are of sandy loam with
clay subsoil, are mostly improved, and are valued at
$40 to $100 per acre. Continuing North, the lands
are of light sandy soil up to the vicinity of Baltimore. When improved, they produce fine crops of
early small fruits, melons, peaches, and corn, and
are valued, where accessible by railroad, at about
$20 to $30 per acre; if not improved, at $12 to
$15.   The foregoing portions of the State have
heretofore been worked exclusively by slave labor,
hence the farms will not be found as neat or well
cultivated as those in other portions of the State.
The inhabitants have access to the cities by steamboat and river craft, the latter furnishing cheap
transportation of freight.
From Baltimore, going north and west, to the
Alleghanies, and northeast, the lands are high and
rolling. The valleys are of limestone, the hills of
gray rock, blue slate, and red soil, generally. On
the valley lands large crops of wheat and corn are
produced, with many cattle. Lime is relied on
as the great fertilizer. These lands vary in price
with their accessibility. Genlerally, when distant
from the cities, the improved valley lands are valued at from $30 to $80 per acre-the hill lands at
about a third less. This region abounds in turnpikes and railroads. Near the large towns, the society is good, and distant therefrom, the people are
222 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
a thrifty, hard-working class.  Here white labor
preponderates.
From the base of the Alleghanies, going west,
the lands are in many places almost entirely unsettled, and west of the dividing ridge are valued for
the large and numerous deposits of the finest bituminous coal, and of hematite and other varieties of
iron ore. The table or glade lands of these mountains produce the finest wheat and potatoes, but are
too high above tide water for the certain production
of corn.  Where the mineral region is approached
by railroad, the lands are very highly valued; but
the table lands can be bought at from $2 to $5 per
acre, and offer to a race of hardy settlers very attractive inducements. In this region the winters
are long, and sometimes very severe. East of the
Alleglianies, down to the latitude of Baltimore, they
are shorter and milder. In many parts of the Eastern and Western shore, cattle are not housed except
for a very short time.
Northern farmers are astonished at hearing of the
low prices at which these Delaware and Maryland
farms can be purchased. Compared with rates established throughout the North, they find it difficult
to understand why prices should be so high here
and so low there. They cannot believe that land in
a long populated region, offered so cheaply, can be
of any value. If it were, they think it would be
quickly occupied by others. The vast quantity for sale
is an additional amazement. Yet those who go and
see for themselves, discover that they have been mistaken, while many of them purchase and remove to it.
223 
- HOW TO GET A FARM,
A friend has furnished me with an illustration as
to these lands. In the autumn of 1854 he had occasion to visit a gentleman named Seely, living
about two miles from Perryville, on the Susquehanna, in Maryland. Hie there owned and occupied
a farm of 200 acres, on which was a stone house
standing onl a knoll some distance from the main
road, and approached by a broad and handsome
carriage way. In conversation with Mr. Seely, lihe
stated that he formerly resided in Philadelphia,
where he had been engaged in business. He had
bought the land five years previously for $15 per
acre, or $3,000 for the whole farm.
The buildings, consisting of house, barn, cowhouse, wagon-house, &c., were in tolerably good
condition at the time of purchase, but the fencing
was poor, and the soil almost entirely exhausted by
slave labor. The former owner was the possessor
of thirty slaves, of various ages and conditions,
whose labor had been employed in the cultivation
of this farm; but both they and their master had
become literally starved out for want of proper
management. When the owner sold, he took his
slaves and purchase money with him, to seek another locality, there to repeat the same exhausting
operation.
At the time of my friend's visit, the whole appearance of the farmi had undergone a great and
favorable change. Everywhere the fences were in
good order, the land had been resuscitated by careful cultivation, and the crops of all kinds were
abundant. Mr. Seely stated that his wheat crop
224 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
alone had that year netted him more than $600.
He employed two men the year round, and found
their help to be all that was requisite for the proper
care of that portion of the farm which was under
tillage, except during harvest and haying, when he
lent a hand himself. A German servant woman assisted his wife in household duties, and these three
hired persons were all the help needed to conduct
the farm properly.
My friend said to him, " Mr. Seely, what do you
consider this farm worth at the present time?"
He replied, "I have refused $10,000 for it, but I
have no disposition to sell. I find farming to be
both a pleasant and a profitable employment. I
am making money slowly, but surely. Philadelphia and Baltimore afford me a ready market, at
good prices, for every thing I can raise, and as I
am near a railroad, my transportation is cheap,
quick, and easy. After an experience of five years,
I love farming, and no ordinary consideration would
induce me to leave it for the care, the toil, the anxiety and uncertainties of business in the city."
Mr. Seely continues on his cheaply purchased
farm, for which, last year, he was offered $15,000.
This case embraces all the strong points which the
neglected lands of the two border slave States present. Slave labor exhausts the land, and starves
upon it until compelled by a famine of its own creation to emigrate. Free labor comes in and changes
the scene from scarcity to plenty. With thirty
slaves to work this land, it became too poor to keep
them, but with three or four free laborers it yielded
10*
225 
HROW TO GET A FAR]M,
bountiful crops, while in ten years its market value
increased four hundred per cent.
Northern men, who are thus astonished at the
cheapness of these lands, and incredulous as to their
value, have overlooked the great underlying fact
that the prosperity of these two States has been
weighed down by the presence of slavery; that the
average value of land in the slave States has uniformly been less than in the free States; that in the
former there are no large cities to give value to
thousands of surrounding acres, by furnishing
markets for their products; that they support no
manufactories of their own, but depend almost exclusively on ours; that consumer and producer are
everywhere widely separated; that labor, instead of
being diversified, is confined principally to agriculture; that instead of being honored, it has been
despised; that education and morals have been
neglected, and free discussion forbidden. Into communities so governed, Northern men, educated to a
higher standard, refused to migrate. It is true, that
some were moved to do so, but the census proves
that there are more native-born emigrants from the
Southern States to the North, than Northerners to
the South. Foreigners avoided it for kindred reasons. Thus, with no increase of population from
abroad, and with very little at home, it was impossible for land to rise in value. As the West
has grown to her colossal proportions by force of
immigration, so the South, having none, has failed
to increase her numbers to an extent sufficient to
enhance the value of her soil.
226 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
This unnatural condition of things is now passing
away, and a new era is opening on the South.
Delaware and Maryland, the two slave States nearest to the North, and, therefore, the most accessible,
are already beginning to feel its influence. Slavery
removed, they are becoming worthy of Northern
attention and enterprise. Delaware is rapidly reviving. Emigration already sets strongly toward
her cheap and fertile soil. She is less exhausted
than Maryland, and will revive the sooner. An infusion of Northern morals, capital, and enterprise,
will regenerate her laws, her institutions, and her
habit of thought. Such, also, in the end, will be
the happy experience of Maryland. But until the
people of the free States enter in by families and
colonies, taking possession of the places which
nearly two centuries of slavery have made waste,
and teaching the inhabitants new thoughts, new
habits, and a new civilization, they must remain as
they are.  Up to this moment they have stood still.
If they are to advance, it can only be by help of
Northern immigration.  As that imperfect form of
civilization whose basis was slave labor, has failed
to promote State advancement, so the superior one,
whose basis has been education and free labor, must
be called in to work out in the slave region the only
salvation which could prevent it from sinking into
a barbarism that was overwhelming the white race
as well as the black.  Its humanizing influence
having been sufficient for itself, it will be found
equally potential for others.
227 
HIOW TO GET A FARM,
CHAPTER X.
Wild Lands of New Jersey-Opening of the first Railroad Rapid Improvements-New Towns-Hammonton, Egg Harbor
City, Vineland, its history, condition, and future-The Neigh boring Lands.
OF all the Middle States, none contain so wide an
area of uncultivated land, in proportion to the whole,
as New Jersey. By the report of the Geological
Survey, made in 1856, it appears that of 4,960,595
acres in the State, 3,192,604 acres were, at that
time, entirely uncultivated. In 1855, when a bill
was before the Legislature for incorporating a comnpany to construct an air-line railroad leading from
New York across the lower section of the State, the
condition and extent of that uncultivated region
were often referred to. The Hon. William Parry,
Speaker of the House, made the following statements:
"The amount of land in West Jersey, including the
counties of Ocean and Monmouth, which would be benefited by this road, embraces an area of 2,632,000 acres,
and in the same section, according to the census of 1850,
there are 600,681 acres of improved land, leaving unimproved, mainly for want of railroad facilities, over 2,000,000
of acres. This large extent of country, up to July, 1854,
when the Camden and Atlantic Railroad was opened, had
228 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
no railroad except that skirting along the northern border,
following the sinuosities of the river, with spurs to Mount
Holly and Freehold, located mainly to accommodate the
through travel, without reference to the wants of the interior.
"Can any other State show so large a tract of fertile
land, so well adapted to cultivation, and so admirably located as this great peninsula, intercepted between the
largest city in the Union and the broad Atlantic, fronting
hundreds of miles on the great waters connecting us with
Europe, with no more railroads than this section has? The
Camden and Atlantic Railroad Company have the credit
of opening the way through this heretofore uncultivated
portion of our State. Cast your eyes along that road, the
location of which is not so favorable for reaching the eastern
market as this Air Line, and see the magical effect upon
the value of property. Thousands of acres of land, which,
previous to its construction, were comparatively of little
value, although naturally good, the location being so remote that the price obtained for crops in market would
not bear the expense of carting them through the sand,
have, since the completion of said road, advanced in value,
some, one hundred, some five hundred per cent., and some
more, according to the location. The wood which covers
most of the high table land, and has heretofore been considered an incumbrance in the way of cultivating the soil,
now readily commands from three to four dollars per cord
on the road."
The testimony of Mr. Parry becomes especially
valuable from two facts-he unites in himself the
two professions of land surveyor and nurseryman.
Hie has been for many years the successful proprietor of a nursery embracing two hundred acres, in
229 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
Burlington county. As surveyor, he necessarily
travelled on foot over the land he describes, and
therefore had the fullest opportunity of seeing it,
while his lifelong occupation of growing trees and
plants of all descriptions, qualifies him as a competent witness as to their capabilities. Thus qualified
as an impartial judge, Mr. Parry further said:
"Having spent some time during the past summer surveying in that vicinity, I witnessed what would otherwise
have seemed almost incredible; one tract of 30,000 acres
was purchased a little before the location of said road, at
$1 per acre, and sold shortly after at $5 per acre; $30,000
given and $150,000 received by that transaction, which
land is now being divided into small farms, and a large
portion of it already sold to actual settlers, at $10 per
acre. Another tract of between 20,000 and 30,000 acres
has, since the opening of said railroad, been divided into
jots and farms, and all sold at $10 per acre to over one
thousand purchasers.
"This land has not yet reached one-half its real value,
for by this railroad it is brought within one hour's ride of
Philadelphia, and it is fertile land, of a sandy loam on the
surface, underlaid with clay and gravel, so very essential to
retain manures and moisture, and promote the growth of
fruit trees, plants and flowers, which flourish remarkably.
It is well adapted to raising all kinds of vegetables and
grain, which can be taken to market as quick and cheap by
railroad as similar articles can in wagons from farms which,
owing to their proximity to the city, will bring from $100
to $200 per acre.
"Peaches, which seem to have degenerated in older sec tions, where the soil has been highly stimulated with arti ficial manures, there I beheld in a flourishing condition;
230 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
trees over fifteen years of age were laden with luscious
fruit, bending their slender branches nearly or quite to the
ground. There is scarcely an enterprise offering such rich
rewards for capital and labor as the extensive cultivation of
peaches along the Camden and Atlantic Railroad. Orchards
there would rival those so recently celebrated in Delaware.
"Grapes were abundant, and plums without plantingnatives of the soil-offered their fruit gratuitously. This is
only a part, several other tracts, varying in size from 17,000
to 70,000 acres- each, and many of smaller dimensions, are
now offered at the low sum of from $5 to $10 per acre, and
purchasers and settlers are actually pouring in by thousands, like pigeons to their roost. It seems almost incredible that land of this quality and price should so long remain unnoticed by enterprising men, within thirty or forty
miles of Philadelphia, and it is altogether owing to the
Camden and Atlantic Railroad that it is now brought before the public.
"Great as these developments are, they dwindle away
when compared with what the Air Line will unfold. We
who have lived along the Delaware river, and been bound
as with a spell to the Camden and Amboy road, cannot
appreciate the hidden treasures through the interior of our
State. Through this great Peninsula, a large part of which
is naturally good land, and all valuable for some purposes,
penetrated by lively streams, some of them navigable, many
above the limit of navigation would furnish strong power
for mills and factories, and all of them, in addition to numerous springs, afford an abundant supply of soft water.
"After the fires, which  frequently  pass through  the
woods, destroying large quantities of timber, have abated,
Nature, ever active in good works, pushes forth a spontaneous growth of rich, sweet grass, equally nutritious either
in the green or dry state, and so protected by dead bushes
231 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
and trees as to defy the skill of man to gather it; but it is
well adapted for feeding stock, and herds of young cattle
are marked and driven there from the surrounding country
to graze on the pasture, shielded from the sun, and supplied
with brooks of pure water, from which they are drawn in
the fall or at the approach of winter, fat and ready for the
knife.
"I have examined these lands of which I speak, have
spent much time in surveying and tracing out the boundaries of hundreds and thousands of acres, and have yet to
find the first acre that is not valuable for some purposethat does not possess intrinsic worth within itself. Some
swamps which are termed worthless by the casual observer
from a stage ei route for the fashionable watering places on
the coast, when examined through the aid of science, unfold large deposits of iron ore, more than enough for home
consumption. Others are well adapted to, and periodically
furnish a spontaneous growth of tall; stately white cedars,
unequaled  for fencing material.   Some of the land on
which there is no growth of timber or grass, has been
called barren, but upon a closer view it is found to consist
of a superior quality of glass-sand, and would furnish large
quantities for exportation. Other portions are underlaid
with large deposits of marl, so very fertilizing to the soil
when brought to its surface. The amount of this valuable
article is deemed inexhaustible-at least, there is a plenty
to enrich the whole State of New Jersey, if we had railroads to distribute it. On other portions, on which there is
but a small growth of timber and scanty supply of grass,
sand is found to predominate, intermixed with a fine loam.
This quality of land is admirably adapted to the cultivation
of early vegetables; heavy rains leaving the surface and
filtering through the soil, when followed by a hot sun, act
like gentle, refreshing showers to hot-house plants; the
232 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
ground still remains free and mellow to imbibe the atmospheric influence, and does not bake in drying so as to exclude the air, like our heavy, loamy land. This is the
reason why sweet potatoes grown on light, sandy soil, are
dry and mealy when cooked, light colored and of excellent
quality, while those grown on rich, heavy land, worth from
$100 to $200 per acre, according to the location, are
watery, heavy, dark colored and unpalatable. This is the
reason why our light Jersey soil is so very certain for a
crop of round potatoes."
Here are some two millions of acres of uncultivated land, shut out from all ready approach, until
the year 1854, for want of railroads. In that year
the Camden and Atlantic road was opened. It begills at Camden, opposite to Philadelphia, and extends to the ocean at Atlantic City, once a mere
barren sand-heap, but now a populous town, with
gravelled streets lighted with gas, and built up with
great hotels on the beach, and private summer residences of wealthy Philadelphians.   At  that time
Atlantic county contained 315,000) acres, of which
only 15,000 were improved; Ciumberland contained
335,450 acres, with only 48,460 improved.   The
railroad traversed an almost desolate wilderness.
The lantd had only a nominal price, and was constantly accumulating in large tracts in the hands of
wealthy owners. But no sooner had the railroad
been opened than the whole condition of thiigs was
chalged.  Its track is becoming lined with  farms
and villages. The old growth of pine and scrub
oak is being cleared off, buildings erected, lands enclosed, and crops produced.  On  every side the
233 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
traveller sees tokens of rapid and substantial improvement, for a market has been opened for whatever the land can be made to yield.
Large tracts have been bought by companies and
individuals, and divided into small farms for the accommodation of settlers. It is the West over again,
only on a smaller scale. One of the first of these
enterprises was at Hammonton, where 5,000 acres
were speedily sold in small farms, many of the settlers coming from New England. They find a cash
market at Philadelphia for all that they can produce. Yet this was a barren tract, producing nothing salable but wild berries. Another settlement
on the railroad is called Egg Harbor City, founded
by Germans, who bought a large tract at a low
price immediately after the road was opened, and
divided it up into town lots and farms. The excellence of the location has attracted to it many families from the West. Nearly all the dwellings are of
brick, made on the spot. They have several brickyards, numerous stores, a printing office, piano factories, saw-mills, and other industrial establishments.
The streets are lined with shade trees, and the whole
settlement is a model of enterprise, ingenuity and
thrift. As seen from the railroad, it will strike
every observer as an eminently flourishing place.
A great area of wild land has been cleared and
farmed, and is producing crops quite satisfactory to
the owners. Some are establishing vineyards, others growing tobacco, and others sending great quantities of firuit and vegetables to Philadelphia. All
the land thus taken up and improved has quintupled
234 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
in value within a few years, while that within the
neighborhood, though still wild, has advanced in
price at least three to four fold.
The natural quality of the soil of this whole section of New Jersey has been long established as
good.  Its means for improvement are abundant
and cheap, in consequence of the vast deposits of
marl. You see these deposits cropping out by the
road-side, in some places far above the water level.
The area of this marl deposit covers 900 square
miles, or 576,000 acres, and its benefits are shared
by a large district of country lying on each side of
it, so that a much greater area than that stated may
be fertilized by using it. It has been worth mnillions of dollars to the State in the increased value
of land and produce. It has long been known that
Monmouth county potatoes, grown with marl as
manure, command half a dollar more per barrel
in New York market than any other kind.  Mr.
Cook's report on the geological and agricultural
resources of this portion of the State, made in 1857,
informs us, that while the potato crop of Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, has diminished,
that of New Jersey and Delaware has largely increased. This increase in New Jersey was mostly
in the counties of Monmouth, Burlington, Camden,
Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland, the counties in
which marl is found, while in the other counties the
gain was small, and in some there was a material
falling off. In Delaware, Newcastle county, where
marl is found, shows the largest gain. In New
York, only three counties showed an increase.
235 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
These were on Long Island, and the largest was in
those which, there is some reason to believe, lie in
the same geological formation with those New Jersey counties in which there was the greatest increase.
Uniformly, the potato crop increased most where
marl existed. Mr. Cook says:
"The absolute worth of the marl to farmers it is
difficult to estimate. The region of country in
which it is found has been almost made by it. Before its use the soil was exhausted, and much of the
land was so lessened in value that its price was but
little, if any, more value than that of Government
lands at the West; while now, by the use of mnarl,
these worn-out soils have been brought up to more
than their native fertility, and the value of the
land increased from fifty to a hundred fold. In
these districts, as a general fact, the marl has been
obtained at little more cost than that of digging and
hauling but a short distance. There are instances,
however, in which large districts of worn-out land
have been wholly renovated by the use of this substance, though situated from five to fifteen miles
from the marl beds, and when, if a fair allowance
is made for labor, the cost per bushel could not
have been less than from twelve to sixteen cents.
Instances are known where it has been thought remunerative at twenty-five cents per bushel."
A ton of marl is sometimes dug from under each
square foot of surface; at even half this rate, a
square mile will yield nearly 14,000,000 tons. The
quantity being thus inexhaustible, the price is consequently low. A right to dig a pit ten feet square
236 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
costs about $8. The buyer removes the top soil,
and plunges into a deposit ten to thirty feet deep,
and goes down until stopped by water. In other
cases he digs on high ground, and obtains more
marl at less cost. The farmer applies froln five to
twenty-five loads to each acre, according to the exhausted condition of his land.  The latter is uniformlybenefited by the application. Facts of this
description are unanswerable; while the statistics of
the potato crop are remarkable enough to secure
attention from the most indifferent observer.
Another singular resource for enriching these
lands has been discovered and applied. A large
crab, known as horse-foot, sea-spider, and king-crab,
abounds along the sea-coast, but nowhere in such
numbers as on the Delaware Bay. In June, they
come on shore in numbers absolutely incredible, for
the purpose of depositing their eggs, covering the
beach for a distance of forty miles, a moving, crowding, jostling cavalcade, looking as if the beach
itself were a living expanse.  For weeks they are
to be found upon the beach. A million of these
unsightly creatures could be gathered in a single
mile. The sand is so thickly covered with their
eggs, that they are shovelled up by wagon loads,
and carried off as food for hogs and chickens. The
hogs feed and fatten on the whole crabs, whose
average weight is four pounds. During the season
when this spontaneous offering of the sea is mnade
to man, the farmers near the ocean come there and
collect the living crabs in huge piles, where they
cover them with soil, thus composting them into a
237 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
most energetic manure. A quantity equal to two
to four thousand crabs, when applied to the poorest
soils, may be relied on to produce 20 to 25 bushels
of wheat, though even 30 are by no means uncommon. This fertilizing power has long been known
among the farmers.
As it was manifestly impossible to use up the
millions of crabs that came upon the beach, within
the few weeks that they remained upon it, a manufactory of manure was established at Goshen, in
Cape May county, some nine years ago, by Messrs.
Ingham and Beesley. These gentlemen first dry the
crabs, then grind them into powder, and deodorise
the product by combining plaster and charcoal. The
manure thus produced they call cancerine, and is
sold over a wide extent of country. The quantity
manufactured in 1863 was about 500 tons.  It is
cheaper than guano, which contains about onie-sixth
of ammonia, while this has been proved to contain
more than a fourth. On corn, potatoes, &c., this
manure produces very marked results, in all cases
beneficial. With these bountiful treasures of the
sea and land within reach of the people of this
portion of New Jersey, it can be the fault of none
but themselves if they should fail to convert their
admirable soil into one vast garden.
When access to this long neglected portion of the
State was opened, in 1854, over the Camnden and
Atlantic Railroad, nothing was more natural than
that the attention of enterprising men front other
quarters should be attracted towards it. To secure
this attention of the great outside public'was a
238 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
principal object of those who built the road. The
holders of the vast tract of ced'i, pine, and scruboak, through which the road was to run, combined
in aid of the enterprise. Half the railroads in our
country, all of those which traverse wood and
prairie throughout the West, owe their origin to
like combinations of great land-owners to open
up an inaccessible region to settlement and improvement. Such objects may be denounced as
speculative; but their accomplishment has conferred blessings on the Union which cannot be
estimated. It has provided new and better homes
for millions, built up entire States whose prosperity
is an amazement to the world, and done more to
secure the perpetuity of the Union than any other
movement witnessed among us.
As it has uniformly been in the West on the
opening of a new railroad, so it was in New Jersey
on the opening of that from Camden to Atlantic
City. Enterprising men were drawn to the region
thus inviting speculation, investment and improvement. They brought capital, skill and energy, and
quickly made an impression.  Among the earliest
and most thorough-going of these was Mr. Charles
K. Landis, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This gentleman was impressed with the great value and
availability of organized colonization. He secured
5,000 acres on the railroad at Hammonton, and in
1858 his colony was fairly under way. His ideas
with respect to colonization appear to have outstripped all others for comprehensiveness, while his plans
were definite, practical, and liberal. He sold to
239 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
none but actual settlers, telling the mere speculators
to go elsewhere, and gave especial encouragement to
fruit growing. He introduced the New England
school system, and kept out the sale of liquor. He
laid out streets and roads, and in other ways expended money liberally in promoting the welfare of
the settlers. These were of the best class, principally from New England-intelligent, tasteful and
industrious. Home manufactures of various kinds
were introduced, churches and school-houses were
built, good crops were yielded to the farmer, and a
general prosperity prevailed which astonished all
who witnessed it. The settlement speedily numbered 2,000 persons, who now produce more food
than they need, and ship large quantities to New
York and Philadelphia.
The experience acquired in settling Hammonton
enlarged the views of Mr. Landis, showed him his
omissions and mistakes, and gave him ideas which
he considered so valuable that he determined to
carry them out on a wider field. Accordingly, in
1861 he secured 25,000 acres in one body, in Cunmberland county, all in the same wild and uncultivated condition.   This tract of waste land lay on
the then newly opened railroad from Camden to
Cape May, passing through Milville and Glassboro.
It covered an area of 45 square miles, with the railroad passing through it, and was within 35 miles of
Philadelphia.   This settlement he  named VINELAND.
In this great undertaking his plan was to establish a perfect, regular, and comprehensive system of
240 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
public improvement for the benefit of the commu  nity to be there located; to found a town in con nection with and as an adjunct to an agricultural
settlement; to develop therein a system of home
manufactures and industry; to promote religion,
morals, and a high standard of education, and to
provide homes for intelligent and worthy families
who might be seeking them.
It was a gigantic project, such as no other indi vidual in this country had ever undertaken to carry
out. It required experience, incessant personal at tention, great administrative and engineering abil ity, and the expenditure of a large capital. There
have been owners of tracts as large, but none who
undertook to transform them from a desolation into
a populous community. The lay of this land was
such as to admit of its being plotted out as the
owner desired. There were no rocks to blast, no
mountains to remove, no unwholesome swamps to
drain or fill up. lHe began the enterprise amid the
gloom which overspread the public mind immediately after the outbreak of the slaveholders' rebellion. Hiis friends predicted difficulties and discouragernients, while all advised him to wait before
commencing such an undertaking. But his confidenee was not to be shaken-he knew that the very
convulsion against which his friends were warning
him, was one of those which, of all others, induce
men to look for pecuniary safety by purchasing
land.
In August, 1861, Mr. Landis went upon his new
purchase with a surveyor, for the purpose of locating
11
241 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
the first street that was to cross the railroad, since
called Landis Avenue. As there was no carriage
road either to or through the woods, they traversed
the narrow cow-paths afoot, until they reached the
spot where the surveyor was to plant his first stake.
A profound stillness reigned around them-nothing
could be heard beyond a rustling of the leavesthere was not a house within several miles. While
the surveyor was planting his stakes, an old dweller
among the pines and scrub oaks of that region
came up to them, looked at the instruments, and
inquired of Mr. Landis what they were doing.
Tie replied that he was locating an avenue a hundred feet wide for a new town, and that within two
years he would see the spot they then stood on surrounded with buildings for miles, with farms and
orchards where now the forest alone could be seen.
The man turned away incredulous, and pitying the
infatuation of the projector.  No wonder-he had
lived seventy years in that particular locality as a
wood-chopper, had never been to Philadelphia, did
not know how a city looked, and considered the
idea of building one in that wilderness as the dream
of a lunatic.
But the town was laid out, with many five and
ten acre lots, and many farms. Miles of spacious
streets and roads were opened, public squares, and
a park. Every purchaser was required to plant the
front of his property with shade-trees, to build a
house within a year, at a certain distance from the
roadside, and affording room in front for shrubbery
and flowers. Unity of plan was thus secured, in
242 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
suring the utmost neatness and the highest emnbellishment-it was to be, in fact, a vast assemblage of
beautiful cottage residences. Mr. Landis has already, at his own expense, opened nearly eighty
miles of streets and roads, building bridges wherever
needed, cleared out acres of stumps and rubbish, established the grade, and on many other improvements expended thousands of dollars in making his
great enterprise acceptable to the numerous families
who have located on his property.
I visited this remarkable spot in the summer of
1864, to examineits condition and surroundings. I
had known and passed over the spot, years before,
when it was a perfect solitude, with neither hut nor
clearing. It would be impossible, within these
limits, to specify the marvellous changes that had
been made. The forest had disappeared, and in its
place was to be seen a settlement containing some
650 houses and 4,000 inhabitants. There was a
rapidly-growing town, having  churches, schools,
stores, mills, and other conveniences. I conversed
with numerous settlers as to whence they came and
how they fared in their new location. As a body,
they belong to the better class of citizens, are educated, intelligent, moral, and enterprising.   The
drones which infest other communities are never
found in hives like this. Great numbers of themn
are from New England, while the neighboring
States, and even the West, are largely represented
n this common centre, Many have built costly
and elegant houses.  Many are professional fruitgrowers and gardeners. Those who buy farms are
243 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
practical farmers. There are wealthy families in
Vineland who remain there because of the mildness
of the climate and healthfulness of the place. Taken
altogether, the settlement has an old and cultivated
look already.
The soil of this great tract varies from a sandy to
clay loam, is retentive of manures, and abundantly
productive. It produces from 100 to 250 bushels
of potatoes per acre, 15 to 25 of wheat, though the
premiumn crop for wheat in Cunmberland county, in
1855, was 44 bushels per acre. Of shelled corn, 50
to 75 bushels is the ordinary crop, and two tons of
grass.  Fruit trees and vines bear abundantly.  I
saw new peach orchards of thrifty growth, some
trees showing fruit, and grape vines giving promise
of abundant crops. The winters are so mild as to
allow out-of-door work nearly all through them.
Mr. Landis told me that for seven years he had not
known the ploughing to be interrupted, by reason
of frost, for five days in any one winter. All kinds
of fruits are cultivated, the five and ten acre lots
being mostly devoted to the smaller descriptions.
All such are planted so that the picking will come
in succession, thus-strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, grapes, apples, &c.
In driving many miles over Vineland, I entered
into conversation with numerous settlers at work by
the roadside. Most of these happened to be farmers from the West, from New England, and western
New York. All were busy on their growing crops,
sometimes in groups of two or three in the corn
field. Not one of them but expressed his prefer
244 
AND WVHERE TO FIND ONE.
ence for his new location over the bleak climate he
had left. I saw but one desirous of selling and removing, and but one house having on it a handbill
as being in market. Most of these farms were just
carved out of the woods, showing piles of roots that
had been grubbed up. They were, of course, rough
looking, like all new clearings in a new country;
but the hand of industry was rapidly taming their
wildness, and bringing them into prime condition.
The general testimony was, that one day's labor on
this soil would accomplish twice as much work as
if expended on the heavy or strong soil from which
they had migrated.
Such was the condition of the farms bought
within six months or a year. Those which had been
taken up by the first settlers, those of two and ahalf years ago, presented a very different appearance. The genial and tractable soil had enabled
their owners to work a great transformation even in
that brief period. From most of these the stomps
had wholly disappeared. Great fields of grain were
whitening to the harvest; many acres of peach and
apple orchards were to be seen, the former promising to yield a crop the coming season; gardens were
full of fine vegetables; the front upon the road had
been trimmed up and seeded to grass, while shrubbery and flowers were visible on many of the lawns.
Of the thirty-acre farm of Mr. William  0. IH.
Guynneth, a brief notice may serve as an illustration.
This gentleman is from Boston, and Was among the
earliest of the settlers. HIe bought thirty acres,
then utterly wild, now completely tamed. Hiis
245 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
dwelling-house is so beautifnl a structure as to commnand  admiration  anywhere.  Hie  has  planted
orchards, now growing finely, and has acres of excellent wheat. His large cornfield showed as fine
a growth as farmer could desire, and so also did his
clover crop.
I walked over his ample garden, vineyard, and
fruit grounds. Every kind of ordinary garden truck
was growing with a luxuriance altogether unexpected, and fully equal to the average of that on
lands that sell readily at seven times the cost of his.
Several hundred grape vines, Concord, Isabella, and
Catawba, two years planted, showed such an excess
of fruit as to compel Mr. Guynneth to remove at
least half. In no section of New Jersey have I seen
the grape vine grow so rampantly as in this ground.
Cherry trees, pears, and other fruits, flourished
equally well.  It was the same with strawberries,
gooseberries, and blackberries. This ground had
not received a particle of manure. What it now is
affords a practical illustration of the real value of
this section of New Jersey-three years ago a
forest, now the productive and really elegant home
of an intelligent and accomplished family.
On reaching the extreme boundary of the Vineland tract, I called on Mr. Robert G. Brandriff, who
has here cultivated a farm of 90 acres during the
last eleven years  This length of tillage I judged
likely to show what was the real stamina of this
soil-whether it had any endliring heart in it, or
whether it would speedily run down to barrenness.
As Mr. Brandriff's land was of even lighter char
246 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
24:7
acter than that of Vineland, its behavior under
long cropping would afford a favorable test for the
whole neighborhood. iHe gave me, without reserve,
all the particulars of a truly remarkable history,
with permission to use them.
Eleven years ago, this farm was covered with
forest.  The owner offered it to Mr. Brandriff for
$400 for the 90 acres, and an ample time for payment, and being a storekeeper a few miles off, added
the important help of a credit on his books for supplies for family use, and materials for buildings, to
the amount of $600. At this time Mr. Brandriff
was not possessed of a dollar; but he went to work,
cleared up his land little by little, a few acres
yearly, and thus conquered all difficulties, until
now he has 60 acres in cultivation, from which his
receipts, in 1863, were $2,000.  His family consists
of six persons, who have lived well during all this
time. His fences and buildings cost him some
$1600. Hle keeps four cows, pigs, and one horse,
by which all the work on the easily tilled soil of
the farm is done. He hires but one man, except in
busy times. For the wants of his family, and the
prosecution of other improvements, his annual outlay is $1,000.
Mr. Brandriff showed me his account book for
the eleven years he had been at work, in which all
his receipts and expenditures were clearly entered,
with the balance accurately struck at each year's
end. His farm is now worth $6,000, and he has
abundant property outside of it to represent any
debt he owes. TIis residence here has not been the 
HOW TO GET A FARMY
hum-drum existence of a mere sandpiper or woodchuck. He is a keen sportsman with line and gun.
At the proper season he plunges into the forest that
covers much of this section of New Jersey, camps
out at night as naturally as an Indian, considers
sleep of no consequence when  compared with a
coon hunt, and is a dead shot at any unlucky deer
that crosses his path. The huge antlers hanging up
in his shed afford evidence of his skill with the rifle.
At other times he visits the neighboring waters of
Delaware Bay, where squadrons of wild ducks make
generous contributions to his fondness for the gun.
Mr. Brandriff sells his crops at Milville, two miles
from his farm. His wheat crop has been 20 bushels
per acre, 75 of shelled corn, 200 of round potatoes,
100 of sweet, 560 of carrots, 620 of turnips, while
his cabbages pay $100 per acre, and of grass
the yield is two to three tons. For manure, his
main dependence is on the home product, sometimes
using the fertilizers.  The particulars of his experience have been thus recited as affording unanswerable evidence of the character of nearly all
the land in this heretofore neglected region of New
Jersey. Much of it is superior to this particular
farm.
The visitor to Vineland cannot fail to notice the
absence of fences, even in a ride of fifty miles. No
farms have been fenced in, and not a dozen town
lots. It had been calculated that $5,000,000 would
be required to do the fencing of the whole tract.
To save the settlement from this useless tax, Mr.
Landis invoked the aid of the Legislature. A new
248 
AND WHIERE TO FIND) ONE.
township was erected, bearing his name, in which
the running at large of cattle and swine was pro hibited-thus each settler fences in his own stock
only, and is saved the great cost of fencing out the
vicious road-thieves of his neighbors. No other
township in New Jersey is found with a similar
regulation.
Another peculiarity will be noticed-the total
absence of grog-shops, with gangs of loafers con gregated  about their doors.  The  law  erecting
Landis township gave to the people the power of
saying whether rum should be sold there or not.
So far they have rigidly refused to have it among
them, and the character of the settlers coming in
will guarantee exclusion in the future. The fine
hotel which accommodates strangers has been at no
expense for either bar or toddy-stick. These two
enactments were portions of Mr. Landis's original
plan, and afford satisfactory evidence of the sound
morals and practical good sense which he has
brought to bear in carrying it out.
No one can spend a day at this place without being strongly impressed in its favor, nor converse
with its proprietor without being struck with his remarkable executive capacity. His whole enterprise
of settling a tract of forty-five square miles of wild
land, has been conceived and carried out on the
most comprehensive scale. It is now successfully
established on what was three years ago a perfect
solitude, by the energy of a single capacious mind.
I have seen much of the process of making new
settlements on the waste places of the earth; but
11*
249
0 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
no instance of methodical planning, of far-seeing
judgment, of just calculation of greater ends from
a great beginning, than is here exhibited. The original plan, as it was transferred from the projector's
mind to paper, can now be seen unfolded in all its
symmetrical vastness. Even the details are everywhere visible, all of them in harmony with the
whole.
That these results have been actually realized, is
shown by the rapid and astonishing success of the
settlement. Families are daily coming in from a
distance, and selecting homes wherever they think
best. As at the beginning, the proprietor continues to convey these locations at low prices and on
liberal credit.  Mere idle speculators-the men who
buy but do not improve, were not wanted, and have
been kept out. Many purchasers being well supplied with means, paid cash for what they bought;
but to many worthy families the credit given has
proved extremely useful. The railroad from Camden through Milville and Glassboro to Cape May,
renders the spot accessible to all.
Vineland is probably increasing as rapidly as any
new town in the West. In March last, lots were
selling so rapidly as to insure the erection of 40
new houses every month, or 480 per annum. No
such annual growth as this was realized by William
Penn in the early history of Philadelphia. These
new buildings are not ephemeral structures, mere
shanties to keep off sun and rain, such as one connects with the idea of a new settlement, but substantial and durable houses.  Some  of them are
250 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
truly elegant, such only as would be built by men
possessing means and taste. When the whole tract
has been disposed of, the population of Vineland
will be 15,000. Now, the population of the entire
county of Cumberland in 1860 was only 22,605; so
that in a few years more it will have been nearly
doubled by the energy and enterprise of a single individual. Whichever way you turn, progress and
improvement of some kind are visible-here a new
house is going up, there a new farm is being cleared. The settlement must become in the end an immense fruit garden. Its products reach the two
great cities over cheap and rapid railroads, and
command  cash  at generous prices.  Its history
shows the great public benefit that can be realized
from the ownership of a vast tract by one man,
when that man uses it and handles it as this tract
has been managed. Such wholesale colonization
may have been attempted by others, but it has
nowhere been so successful as here.
No ducal owner of hereditary acres, either in
England or on the Continent, with an annual income greater than the value of the fee of all Vineland, has ever undertaken a similar scheme of colonization. Such men devote their enormous wealth
to acquiring more land, not to sharing their acquisitions with their less fortunate neighbors. Instead
of clearing up forests and letting in population to
improve, and beautify, and acquire permanent and
happy homes, they plant the already cleared ground
with trees, and shut population out, ilncreasing the
difficulty of the masses for acquiring even the small
251 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
est freehold. It has been left for a single American
citizen, whose capital, unlike that of these baronial
landowners, lay more in his head than in his purse,
to set before all others thus extensively endowed
with land, an example which will add more largely
to the snm of human happiness the oftener it may
be imitated.
As may be supposed, such a transformation as
Mr. Landis has thus effected has powerfully affected
the condition and value of thousands of acres within
miles around Vineland. Prices have risen, settlers
are coming in from abroad, and the area of the great
body of waste land is annually becoming lessened
by the creation of new farms. The cloud of prejudice which overhung this portion of New Jersey
has been  effectually  dispersed.   Railroads  have
made it as accessible as any other region. Within
two hours' ride of it there is a population of a million of consumers whose consumption of its products must annually increase. Within such an atmosphere, these lands, which now sell at from $20
to $30 per acre, must rapidly rise in value, until
they reach the prices commanded north of Camnden,
where, having enjoyed railroad facilities for a longer
period, they bring from $100 to $300 per acre. If
the reader is at a loss where to find a farm, let him
look in this quarter.
252 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
CHAPTER XI.
The West-Illinois, and the Central Railroad Lands-Climate,
Soil and Productions-Vine Growing in Missouri-Free Lands
in the Territories.
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 character and capabilities.  Little, therefore, remains
for me on these subjects, than a compilation of details appropriate to the matter in hand-where to
find a farm.
In the year 1850 Congress granted to the Illinois
Central Railroad Company 2,595,000 acres of land,
to aid in building a railroad which would open up
to sale and settlement a much greater adjoining
area belonging to Government, most of which had
been many years in market without finding purchasers, even at the low price of a shilling per acre.
The quality of the land thus so long for sale was
undoubted. It was prairie and rolling land of well
ascertained fertility, but, like the long neglected
soil of Long Island and of certain portions of New
Jersey and Delaware, was effectually shut out from
public approach for want of railroads. Mr. Gree
253 
254
HOW TO GET A FARM.
ley's description of the State, given in 1861, is too
graphic to be omitted:
"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 south, with the majestic Mississippi
washing her entire western border, and the Wabash skirting 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.
"Other States have each some peculiarity in which it
may fairly claim a precedence. Michigan and Wisconsin
are both far better timbered, each having an abundance of
pine, whereas Illinois has not a stick. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Missouri, are richer in minerals; Iowa and
Kansas have more undulating surfaces, and are (we think)
better watered; Ohio lies nearer to the seaboard; New
England has her manufactures, and New York her foreign
commerce; but in average depth and richness of soil-in
capacity to produce, cheaply, grain and grass, meat and
vegetables, Illinois is probably the first among the States,
and surpassed by no equal area on the face of the globe.
"Originally, scarcity and imperfect distribution of timber,
with defective facilities for transportation and travel, were
her great drawbacks. Probably three-fourths of her surface were prairie when settlement commenced; while her
timber was for the most part stunted and gnarly, by reason
of the high winds constantly wrenching, and the fierce fires 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
frequently scorching it. She had no evergreens of conseq(uence, and very few trees from which decent boards could
be sawed. Many prairies were ten to twenty miles widesome were thirty to forty. The deep, black muck which
formed the soil was powdered into dust by drouth, or sodden into mire by rain. The moment the prairie sod was
cut through, the wheels of each loaded vehicle sank,
through half of each year, nearly to the hub; and thus
not only building materials, salt and groceries, but fencing
and fuel, were to be carted for long distances-a load of
wheat being drawn to Chicago, and the proceeds converted
into a load of boards for fencing-the journey out and
back often consuming a week. Many a load of produce
thus marketed, has seen nearly or quite its price absorbed
in the inevitable expense of the journey out and in. This
impelled the State to engage prematurely in the construction of canals, which involved her heavily in debt, without
very materially improving her access to markets. Railroads followed in due season, and did her good service,
while, being constructed mainly by private enterprise,
whatever advantage accrued to the public was so much
clear gain. Still, extensive areas of her soil must have remained unimproved, uninhabited for ages, but for the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad. That great work,
munificently endowed with wild lands by Congress, starts
from Chicago in the northeast, and Dunleith in the northwest of the State, and converging to a junction near the
center, runs thence by a single line to Cairo in the extreme
south, at the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, the
work having thus a total length of over six hundred miles.
And, though not run as the profit of the stockholders
would have dictated, its course is precisely such as best
conduced to the settlement and growth  of the State.  Millions of acres, else uninhahitable, are by it rendered among
255 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
the most inviting and valuable of any wild lands on our
Continent; and though the Federal grant covered more
than two and a half millions of acres, we believe the public
domain was increased not merely in value, but in productiveness to the Treasury by this enlightened liberality.
"Illinois, already the fourth, and probably soon to be
the third State in the Union-for Virginia is already behind her in every element of consequence and power-is
yet in her infancy. Of her soil, probably less than onefourth has yet been ploughed; and her last crop-immense
as it was, especially of corn-is but a fraction of what she
can and will produce. We believe her product of this
staple already far exceeds that of any other State, while in
wheat, beef, and pork, she is scarcely second to any. Her
coal is hardly exceeded in abundance by that of any other
State; nearly every foot of her surface is underlaid with
lime; and her iron, though less abundant, is good. Her
chief mart, though hardly thirty years old, ranks seventh
among American cities; it promises ere long to be the
fifth. Illinois bids fair to have five millions of inhabitants
in 1880, and to increase the number to ten millions early
in the next century. Her career is hardly begun."
Three years after the Central Railroad Company
began their operations, their sales of land amounted to 1,312,373 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 collected 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 $12 and upward per
256 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
acre, according to location. Hle 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 Comnpany 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 Dunleith, 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 centre; and wheat, tobacco and cotton in the south.
In all parts of the State vast numbers of live stock
are produced. A healthy climate, a rich soil, and
railroads to convey to market the fullness 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 manufac
257 
258
lOW TO GET A FARM,
turer, and the laboring man, find surer rewards of
industry.  With 12,000 common  schools, 21  colleges, 48 academies, and a liberal fund for the support of learning, Illinois offers the means of education such as few States can boast. All the
conditions favorable to prosperity are to be found
here.
From publications made by the Company, most
of the facts and descriptions contained in this chapter have been compiled; such, at least, as refer to
their lands, and to the statistics of climate and productions. The climate of Illinois is healthy, and
the mortality is less than in almost any other part
of the country. 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 State the deaths
per cent. to the population were in that year only
1.14, while the average of the whole country was
1.27.  Extending 380 miles from  north to south,
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, Kentucky and Tennessee, and in the
nQrthern section more  nearly resembling that of
Pennsylvania,  Southern New  York, New Jersey   *
and Connecticut.
The soil in the different parts of the State presents
very marked characteristics. From the latitude of
Chicago as far South as the Terre Haute and Alton 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Railroad, the country for the most part is open prairie, with here and there 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 production of corn,
sorghum and tame grasses.  For stock-raising no
better land can be found. South of this line the
soil is lighter and of a greyish 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 the south, the country is heavily
timbered. In this district, fruit, tobacco, cotton,
and the different productions of the Border States,
are largely cultivated and highly remunerative. A
large number of saw-mills 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 purposes, and is so indispensable an article for
foreign consumption, that however abundantly it
may be produced, the constantly increasing demand
will press heavily upon the supply. In 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. Illinois stands
pre-eminently first in the list of corn-producing
States.
For the culture of wheat the lands of the Illinois
Central Railroad are in all respects equal to any
in the State.   One great advantage which these
259 
H:OW TO GET A FARM,
lands have, is their 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 transportation. During
the year 1862, the stations on this road sent for ward to market 4,688,755 bushels of wheat, besides
567,627 barrels of flour. In Southern Illinois, win ter 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 inll the southern part of Illinois.
It was cultivated in 1862 in almost every town
south of Centralia, 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 6f 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 Illinois will send to the eastern market thousands of barrels of sorghum molasses, besides retaining sufficient for home consumption. In 1859 this
State 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 annlual consumption of molasses in the United States
260 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
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.  Hie goes on to say: "This
enormous and increasing consumption 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. Waterrotted 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 hemp 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 of linen
goods has made but little progress in this country,
it is because 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 flax seed 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
261 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
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
averagste crop in Niagara county, New York, in 1862,
was one ton of straw and fourteen bushels of seed
to the acre.
Much attention is directed to Southern Illinois,
on account of its peculiar adaptation to fruit raising. It has the advantage of early season, as well
as a soil especially suited to the growing of fruits
and vegetables, together with unequaled 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
fortnight in advance of the ripening of these luxuries in the immediate neighborhood of that city. It
is the early market that gives the greatest profit to
the fruit grower. Strawberries from Cobden and
Makanda are placed in Chicago as early as the 14th
of May. The Railroad Company 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
region of America. While every part of Illinois is
to some extent adapted to friuit culture, it is only in
the southern part of the State that all conditions
262 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
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 railroad track:
but no matter to what extent they may be multiplied, the demand for fruit will always be in advance 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 ex                                         4
cQss of Ohio, which until the last year or two has
stood first among the pork-producing States. The
following table, giving the number of hogs packed
in seven States in 1862, shows a wonderful result:
Illinois................................1,484,834
Ohio.................................. 981,683
Indiana............................... 587,528
Iowa.................................. 403,899
Kentucky............................. 130,920
Wisconsin............................. 196,745
Missouri............................... 284,011
Total....................4,069,620
Illinois is the great stock-raising State of the country-sending two thousand head of beef cattle a
week to the New York market. In the census return of 1850 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 of stock for market has been the source of
many fortunes in Illinois. The Company have large
263 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
tracts of land well adapted by nature to the raising
of cattle, sheep, horses and mules-better adapted,
indeed, than are the lands of almost any other State
of the Union. During the year 1862, 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. Woolgrowing is a branch of industry that cannot be
overdone, and will inevitably be largely increased.
The immense coal deposits of Illinois are worked
at different 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 distributed. 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 mined 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 developed, there can never be any very great
accumulation of breadstuffs in this country. It is
impossible for Europe to yield enough wheat for its
three hundred millions of people, and the soundest
writers upon the subject assert that even with the
most favorable harvests, three-fourths of the populationi are inadequately fed. With cheap means of
transportation to the shores of the Old World, it is
believed that five hundred million bushels of bread
264: 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
stuffs 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
every thing 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.
As before stated, the price of the Jlands varies
from seven to twelve dollars and upward per acre.
The prairie lands, except in the immediate vicinity
of towns and stations, are generally sold upon the
"Long Credit Terms," i. e., payments of principal
in four, five, six, and seven years, with interest
annually in advance at the rate of six per cent. The
timber lands in the southern part of the State,
within three miles of the railroad, are sold upon
what are known as "Canal Terms," i. e., one-fourth
of the purchase money in cash, and the balance in
one, two, and three years, with six per cent. interest
each year in advance.  The  following examples
illustrate the different terms:
40 ACRES AT $10 PER ACRE-LONG CREDIT TERMS.
Principal.
Interest.
Cash payment...................$24.00
Payment in one year............ 24.00
"  two years............ 24.00
" three years..........24.00
"  four year s............ 18.00
"     five years............ 12.00
'     six years.............6.00
seven years..............
12
26,5
$100.00
100.00
100.00.
100-00 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
40 ACrF  AT $10 PER ACRE-CANAL TERMS.
Principal.
$100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
Interest.
Cash payment..................$18.00
Payment in one year.............12.00
"  two years............ 6.00
"  three years..............
Thus, forty acres bought on the long credit system, if the credit is all used, will cost the buyer
$132 for interest, and $400 for principal —a total of
$532. If bought on canal terms, they would cost
him $36 for interest, and $400 for principal-a total
of $436.  If bought for cash, the discount of twenty
per cent. would reduce the cost to $320.
Some years ago, Mr. John S. Barger bought five
hundred and forty acres of the company's land for
$1,513. He had two hundred and eighty acres prepared for seeding, and his gross income, the first
year, amounted to $4,428, of which $1,210 was net
profit. But to this should be added $1,094, the cost
of making the farm, as it was not necessary to
repeat the same work another year. Mr. B. had
little more than a theoretical knowledge of farming.
Mr. William Waite purchased a prairie farm of
eighty acres, in the spring of 1853, paying $4.50
per acre. His land thus cost him $360; the fencing,
$400, and the breaking up of sixty acres, $150-a
total of $910. None of these outlays would have to
be repeated a second year.  Hie marketed 2,100
bushels of wheat and corn, producing him $1,545,
leaving him a clear profit of $134, to which the
266 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
$910 aforesaid should be added.  In three years
from the time Mr. Waite first broke up the prairie,
his farm was worth $25 per acre.
Every small capitalist who can command only
$200 or $300, can quickly acquire a farm in this
locality. At first he must put up a shanty of some
kind in which to live, then a fence just high enough
to turn cattle and horses, these being the only stock
permitted to run at large. Then what is known as
sod corn may be planted in May, and if the season
be fair, it will yield him twenty to forty bushels per
acre. The planting is done by striking an axe or
spade between the layers of sod, and after dropping
the corn, applying the heel of the boot freely. It
needs no culture whatever. A man with two horses
can ordinarily attend to thirty or forty acres of regular corn land, one ploughing being sufficient.
Wheat follows the corn crop.  An industrious man
can manage eighty acres, by having help at seedtime and harvest.
Mr. W. R. Harris began in 1847 with a capital of
$700. IHe bought one hundred and eighty acres of
timber and prairie, of which he broke up fifty-five
the first year, and at the end of the fourth year had
one hundred and fifteen under the plough. The
annual product was $2,000 in cash. At the end of
six years, Mr. Harris's capital of $700 had increased
to $8,000.
These settlers on the prairie are not subjected to
the inconveniences that many will suppose inseparable from a pioneer life.  Such as they may be, the
robust and thorough-going man will not regard with
267 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
apprehension. A very neat little house, sixteen by
twenty-four feet, a story and a half high, containing
five rooms, is furnished and delivered on the cars for
about $200. When within one hundred and fifty
miles of Chicago, it is put up, plastered, painted,
and made ready for occupancy for $350.  There are
regular manufactories of these portable houses, at
which they can be purchased ready made, and the
settler fitted out without delay.
But the great West is full of instances like the
foregoing. It is true that there have been disastrous
failures. Whoever goes there must make up his
mind to dispense with some of the comforts and
conveniences to which he may have been accustomed.  If without capital, he should avoid hanging
round the towns, but strike directly for the country,
where labor is in demand at paying rates. When
able to buy a team, to fence his farm, and pay for a
cheap dwelling, then he may safely purchase land.
Let him avoid grasping after too many acres at first.
The great rock on which many have split is that of
seeking to own greater tracts than they can either
manage or pay for. Three years of working out
will enable a man to save money enough to make a
safe beginning. His first crop of sod corn, with a
little money, will carry him through the first year,
and the second year his land will be mellow enough
to bring him a crop of double value.
The Central Railroad Company have given no
encouragement to speculators, few of whom are
either permanent or improving owners. Their effort
has been to secure the actual settler by offering him
268 
AND WHlERE TO FIND ONE.
extraordinary inducements, for it is he whose labors
enhance the value of the 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 varying from 200 to 10,000
or more, having factories, mills, stores, postoffices,
schools, churches, and newspapers. They rapidly
increase in numbers and wealth, distributing 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.
Other western States afford diversified openings
for all classes of enterprising men, whether rich or
poor. Kansas has some thirty thousand farms
already hewed out of the forest and prairie, on which
at least ten millions of dollars have been invested.
Some of her towns have grown up as in a single
night. Leavenworth expanded, in three years, firom
a population of 100 to 8,000, with eight newspapers.
All the towns of Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota, are growing rapidly.  The immigrant
can find a farm under the Homestead Law, let him
look in what direction he may.
M[issouri has been extensively settled by colonies
of German wine-growers. These form communities
by themselves, who are covering the hillsides with
vineyards, and have already had remunerating vint.
ages, their wine carrying off the premium at Cincinnati, and coining everywhere into demand. The
single town of Herrnann, with less than 2,000 inhab
269 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
itants, produced in one season 80,000 gallons. A
vineyard of three to four years old yields the owner
two hundred and fifty to three hundred gallons per
acre, while a very favorable site has yielded 1,000.
One industrious man manages five acres; and as
the wine sells for $1.25 to $1.50 per gallon, five
acres are sufficient to secure an ample subsistence.
The climate is more favorable to vine growing than
that of Germany. The German population detests
slavery.  Now that it has been swept from the soil
of Missouri, immigrants are pouring ill with every
arrival, lands are rising in value, and the Homestead Law is providing thousands of them with permanent homes.
Further west, the territories contain millions of
acres of the public domain, all open to settlement
by whomsoever chooses to locate upon them. How
vast the quantity is, and where situated, will be
seen by the following table of acres:
California....................... 94,000,000
Dakota......................... 83,000,000
Nevada.......................... 50,000,000
Colorado........................ 66,000,000
New Mexico..................... 72,000,000
Arizona......................... 80,000,000
Utah........................... 62,000,000
Oregon.......................... 55,000,000
Idaho...........................203,000,000
Washington..................... 38,000,000
Nebraska....................... 43,000,000
Kansas.......................... 45,000,000
These figures are an approximation to the true
amounts, which in all cases are understated.
270 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
CHAPTER XII.
Land in the South-Effect of civil war on titlesProgress and
results of Pacification Openings in Louisiana, South Carolina,
and Virginia-Great demand for Labor-Cotton Growing Society after the War.
WHILE the eyes of thousands have for years been
directed westward, in search of homes, the slaveholders' rebellion has opened up in that region a
new field for enterprising and adventurous spirits
from the North and West.
It is a peculiarity of civil war to unsettle or destroy the titles to real estate. A foreign war, even
when attended by invasion, produces no such result.
When the British overran our northwestern frontier,
destroyed Buffalo and other settlements on the
Lakes, though personal property was carried off, and
houses burned, yet the title to real estate was unimpaired. When they landed on the Chesapeake,
sacking Washington and Havre de Grace, holding
a possession that was but feebly disputed except at
Baltimore, it was personal property alone that
changed owners. If the people abandoned their
domicils as the enemy approached, they returned to
them as he retired. No interlopers having occupied
them during their absence, there were none to set
up claim to title by possession. The flight of loyal
271 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
people under such circumstances worked no civil
disability. What they suffered was simply a mis fortune of invasion. If the enemy had temporarily
deprived them of their rights, holding them for the
moment in abeyance, yet when he retreated they
immediately revived.
But it was not so during the revolutionary contest. That was so emphatically a civil war, that in
every State there were two parties in arms against
each other. One party fought for American independence, the other for British supremacy, but both
were composed of native-born citizens. One was
aided by the presence of a British army, the other
depended on itself. Had the American people been
unanimous in their opposition to Great Britain, it
would not have been a civil war, neither could it
have been so long maintained against them.  But
citizen being arrayed against citizen, gave to it a
mixed character-it was foreign and civil war combined. To fight for independence was held to be
loyal, to oppose it was held to be disloyal.
Those who opposed it were universally known as
Tories. Many of them had been office-holders under
the king; many of them belonged to the highest
classes of society; many were educated, talented,
and wealthy; while the fact cannot be disputed,
that Toryism was so prevalent that it furnished more
armed men to assist in crushing independence, than
the Continental army was able to muster for mnaintaining it. As the Whigs of the Revolution staked
their all upon the issue of the contest, the Tories
necessarily assumed a like hazard.  Many of the
272 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
latter withdrew from the country at the beginning
of the contest, carrying with them their personal
effects, but abandoning their real estate. Society
was already so disorganized, the future was so uncertain, and money was so universally hoarded, that
more were desirous of selling than of buying.
Titles had already become uncertain. As the war
progressed, the condition of things became worse.
Each State enacted confiscation laws designed to
cripple the Tories by stripping them of their property. They abandoned lands and houses precisely
as the Rebels have been abandoning theirs, and
thousands of them never returned to reclaim their
possessions. As the American armies advanced, the
Tories fled; when the British army moved, others
were induced by fear to follow it. The fugitives
had no rest. So large a quantity of their real estate
was thus brought within reach of the confiscation
acts that much of it was overlooked and escaped
condemnation and sale.
As the cities and their vicinity had been crowded
with Tories, so in those localities their abandoned
property abounded.  Some of theml had been killed
in battle, others had fled the country, and dare not
return to reclaim what they had left. The few who
ventured to do so were again compelled to fly.  In
multitudes of cases even the voluntary absentees
failed to return and resume possession. Titles thus
became unsettled. Their properties were entered
on by squatters, who eventually gained good titles
by long possession. Property of this description is
found in all our seaboard cities.  Some of it has
12*
2T3 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
been thus taken out of its neutral status within a
very few years. There are also ground rents which
have not been demanded since the first outbreak of
the Revolution. Other estates, liable to confiscation, but overlooked at the time, have been squatted
on and held until title came of possession. So valuable had some of these become, and so numerous
were they in some localities, that sharp lawyers,
who devoted themselves to unearthing the secrets of
a past era, have grown rich by levying contributions
from those who held them in possession, as the price
of undisturbed ownership.
These are invariable incidents of civil war. The
rich traitor knows beforehand that confiscation of
his wealth will be the penalty of his treason. -When
our population was barely three millions, of whom
say only half were hostile to the Government, if
civil war resulted so to disloyal owners of real property, what will be the uncertainty and misery among
a population nearly six times as large, whose defiant
boast has been that they are all traitors? Thousands of them are now passing through the same
furnace which consumed the Tories. Like them,
having staked all, they have lost all, and are now
fugitives in the earth. Others will unquestionably
enter into their possessions, the loyal succeeding the
disloyal precisely as they did in the last century.
The old uncertainties of title may be cured by the
action of a Government which seems alive to the
necessities of the case. This, if done promptly, will
hurry on pacification.
As aforetime, squatting will be practiced every
274 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
where, and in the absence of healing legislation,
time will confer title. Owners have disappeared,
some killed in battle, some fugitives, others outlawed.
Families have been scattered, while others must
have perished bodily. Entire States have been
made a desolation.   Offices of record have been
sacked and burned, their parchment contents destroyed or scattered beyond hope of recovery.
Trunks full of deeds and wills have gone into the
camp fire, or been distributed as military trophies.
Fences have been demolished, corner trees cut down,
and boundary lines so effectually obliterated, that
even the fugitive owners would find it difficult to
retrace them, while strangers would find it impossible to do so. The future is full of embarrassment
to all titles thus circumstanced. No such wholesale
exodus of people occurred anywhere during the
Revolution, nor were the armies of that period large
enough to produce a tithe of the havoc. The South
will thus abound in vacant places which their banished owners dare not return to occupy. The North
will rush in to fill themn, converting its liberating
army into an army of occupation. Into the remaining masses it will infuse new life, new morals, a
wholesale education. The sluggards of the South
will rise slowly from the depths in which they have
been wallowing, conceding to the North, by the
logic of events, her true position, that of the ascend ant. Subjugated by Northern arms, she will vol untarily acknowledge a new subjugation to Northern
mind.
Every Federal army which traverses the Southern
275 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
States may be said to be an army of land survey ors.  The soldiers see for themselves that the trait orous owners of vast plantations have abandoned
them, that repossession is impossible, and that they
must fall into new hands.  In some cases this change
of ownership will be caused by confiscation, in
others by a hasty sale at ruinous sacrifice. In other
cases the soldiers will acquire title by marriage.
All these methods of transition came into active
operation soon after the war began. The mnagnifi cent climate of the rebellious region, the fertile hills
and valleys, soon won the admiration of men whose
homes had been among the bleak and rocky soil of
New England, or the sparsely populated prairies of
the West. Their long stay in that region made
them familiar with its value, and there thousands
have resolved to settle. With true Northern flexibility of character, they immediately became at
home. Intercourse between loyal residents and the
soldiers led to intimacy, and intimacy to marriage.
Thousands of young volunteers have already married Southern women, and will settle in the South
when peace is established. In a single company, as
many as thirty such contracts have taken place.
These marriages are not restricted to this or that
regiment. Wherever the army has gone, there it
has been greeted with sympathizers, and there such
ties have been established. The longer it remained,
and the further it advanced, the more numerous
they became. In addition to marriages actually
entered into, there will be innumerable engagements
to be consummated on the return of peace.  Officers
21-6 
AND WHEBE TO FIND ONE.
as well as men have been equally ready to enter
into like relations with Southern women. In the
case of wealthy women, some have thus married as
much to save their property as to secure a husband.
How far this element of pacification has already
progressed, may be seen by the following statement
of an army correspondent of the Tribune.
"I learn from the most undoubted sources, that in New
Orleans, Vicksburg, Memphis, and in smaller places where
we have permanent military posts, nothing has become
more common than for our soldiers to marry the women of
the country. At Memphis, from fifteen to twenty such
marriages occur weekly. Let us look at this with the light
which social science gives us. Naturally, men establish and
live in society. Whatever may be their occupation-fighting, trading, or farming-they will associate in society, and
the foundation of this is the family relation. Where opportunity affords, no great length of time can pass in which
society will not be organized. It is now from two to three
years that we have held most of the places named, and, as
a consequence, men without wives, and women without
husbands, unite to form a new society, for the old one was,
if not destroyed, greatly disrupted, and this, without regard
to the fact that formerly they were bitterly opposed to each
other. At first widows with large property and no one to
attend to it, accepted Union husbands, hoping, and with good
grounds, to save their wealth. I know of several young men
of good qualities who thus have become rich. I know of one
who in a month after marriage, sold $50,000 worth of cotton,
which the widow for six months had tried to sell in vain.
Other ladies, whose fathers and brothers were in the Rebel
army, and had no homes, married; and now, some with
277 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
fair means and good homes, and who also are well educated, are proud of a gay officer for a husband.  There has
always been an idea among the women of the South that
Northern men make the best husbands. Whether this is
true or not is doubtful, but it is certain that multitudes of
our officers have every accomplishment, and are skilled in
all the arts which attract women. In the ball-room, the
parlor, or at promenade, they act the perfect gentlemen;
and if the subject of the discourse be literature, art, or philosophy, or even matters of practical life, they are ready to
instruct or amuse. So long as we continue to possess the
country these marriages will increase. It is evident from
this that in a few years more, the Rebel soldiers will be forgotten in the places where they were born, and should they
return they will find, beside their houses and land being occupied by others, that their women have become the wives
of their enemies."
But whether love or lucre be the motive, the
effect on society in that region will be the same.
An infusion of Northern sentiment of this wholesale character will be the entering wedge to a sectional salvation. It will be driven home by subsequent accessions of civilians of all professionsmechanics, merchants, traders, lawyers, doctors,
speculators. The only true path to the supremacy
of civilization is by thus setting free the land, and
by planting a true democracy where the most
brutalized form of landed aristocracy had been the
only ruler.  The latter suppressed education, the
former will encourage and diffuse it. There will be
"a man to every acre, with his right-hand full of
brains, and a school-house behind him."
278 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Four years of such progression, even though all
were warlike, have already produced a stupendous
revolution. Wherever pacification became assured,
there agriculture, trade, and commerce, have rel-ived. One Northern manufacturer has received
orders from Louisiana for a thousand ploughs, three
hundred farm wagons, as many carts, with harness
for all, and quantities of tools for carpenters and
blacksmiths. Others are crowded with orders from
the same region.  The makers of agricultural machines, of cotton gins and presses, are equally overrun with orders. Sugar machinery and farm mills
cannot be supplied as rapidly as they are wanted.
These are but solitary indications of the astonishing prosperity which is sure to follow in the path of
peace. In former times these products of northern
workshops were demanded by slaveholders. But
the current of events has already changed-that
class has disappeared, and a new race of owners
and operators has pushed them from their seats.
The orders now come from northern capitalists who
have succeeded to the abandoned plantations, which
they now conduct with great profit by paying to the
liberated bondman a fair day's wages for a fair day's
work. These openings in Louisiana are numerous,
and of all dimensions, small as well as large. An
army correspondent thus describes the country
above  New Orleans:
"For a long distance the road runs in sight of, and but a
few miles back from the Mississippi, and passes directly
through magnificent sugar plantations-magnificent before
the war, but now in many instances tenantless, fenceless,
279 
HOW TO GLT A FARM,
and desolate. The mansions, surrounded with orange
groves and with superb shade trees of the live-oak and the
cypress, are still there, and the long rows of negro dwellings, far superior to the huts and cabins of Virginia and
South Carolina, with their whitewashed sides still glisten
in the sun, and look not unlike some neat little village on
some Western prairie, clustered around the court-house
square. Indeed, all of these plantations are so large, the
mansions so princely, and the negro-houses so numerous,
that as you whirl by them in the cars it is difficult to realize that you are not passing village after village as you
would at the North. But the proud occupants of these
princely estates are gone. What they look like as you pass
by them in the cars, they are rapidly becoming.
"New England farmers are making them New England
villages. The schoolhouse and the church for the first time
since these bayous were diked and these vast deltas reclaimed from the Father of Waters and the Gulf, are becoming permanent institutions. In a few years where now
you see but a platform alongside of the road for the accommodation of the hogsheads of sugar and the bales of cotton
-the crop of the planter through whose estate the road
runs-villages will rise as numerous and thriving as along
the great Central Road of Illinois.
" Indeed, when this war is closed, and these great plantations are divided up and sold to the soldiers, the sailors,
and the German emigrants who will flock to these southern
States, Illinois, great as she is, and destined to be much
greater, must look out for her laurels. Louisiana could
and should have been the wealthiest State in the Union,
and when northern industry and enterprise have drained
all these swamps and diked all these bayous, no State in the
Union can surpass her in the fertility of her soil or in the
healthfulness of her climate."
280 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Even in South Carolina, where slavery was most
despotic, white superintendence over paid black
labor has yielded generous returns to northern capital and enterprise. On thirteen estates at Beaufort,
four hundred blacks were employed, rating two
children as one hand, and the average wages paid
them was fifty-five cents per day. With this help
814 acres were planted with cotton, from which
72,000 pounds of sea-island were obtained, worth
$1.50 per pound, while the whole cost was only
thirty-eight cents. The poor blacks themselves,
when working their own little cotton fields, have
lived better than at any former period of their lives,
and saved money enough to purchase small farms.
When domestic traitors charged that government
was wasting millions of dollars in feeding what was
said to be a lazy crowd of them at Port Royal,
Congress instituted an inquiry, and the Secretary of
the Treasury replied that there has been expended
for agricultural implements, $77,081; for the purchase of the schooner Flora, $31,350; for white
labor, $82,748; for colored labor, $34,527. Total
expenses, $225,705.  From this expenditure has
been realized $726,984. Deducting the above expenses, there remained on hand from this fund
$501,279. The Secretary says that no expenditure
whatever has been made fromn the Treasury on account of the cultivation of the plantations or the
collection of cotton, or the educational or benevolent care of the laborers. MIore than half a million
of dollars were saved by these operations. If the
uneducated negro, just liberated from bondage, can
281 
IJOW TO GET A FARM,
perform these pecuniary wonders, and at the same
time acquire a homestead of his own, how brilliant
must be the prospect for the educated northern freeman!
It is thus evident that a new chapter is opening in
the history of South Carolina. In 1860 rebellion
defied the power of the Government.  In less than
three years the result of this defiance was ranifest.
The plantation despot became  a fugitive.  Over
100,000 acres of the sea islands, out of the 19,336,320
acres within the limits of the State, are being rapidly settled by soldiers, sailors, marines, negroes, and
teachers who have resided in the Department of the
South for six months. The lands have been put up
at auction by the Federal Government for non-payment of taxes, and were bought in by its representatives. They are now being re-sold to actual settlers
at $1.25 per acre.  Each unmarried man or woman
can purchase twenty acres, and each head of a family can buy forty acres in addition.  So far, some
5,000 acres have been reserved for school purposes,
and the dwellings on the portion sold have been appraised at their value, and will be held at that
price; the buyers of the soil can purchase the houses
only by paying the proper value in addition to the
$1.25 per acre for the land. There has been a great
rush for the soil thrown open to loyal settlers, and
as more of it is offered for sale the demand will
increase. A writer on the spot, describing the sale,
says:
"It is rather a matter for editorial comment than mere
correspondence, that the effect will be to inaugurate the
282 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
pacification of the country wrested from rebels and added
to the domain of the Union. The difficulties which our
armies have experienced during the progress of war among
hostile populations will, in this department, be prepared for
the secessionists, should they ever return to the sea islands.
After men have paid for land, and begin its cultivation,
they believe it to be truly theirs, and they will fight to defend their rights of ownership. Planting will immediately
follow the occupation of lands. Thus a new population of
workingmen, white and negro, will take possession of the
territory abandoned by the secessionists.   Industry  and
production will follow closely the armies in the field. Every
owner of twenty or forty acres, having bought and paid in
part at least for his homestead, will feel that he has an
interest in his country. The exhaustion of the productive
forces that usually remains as the worst evil of a state of
war, and that brings with peace a mere syncope of national
vitality, will be hereby obviated. The negro population of
the sea islands is about 18,000, of whom one-fifth are eligible to pre-empt. In addition to these, the soldiers, sailors,
and civilians who are likely to claim land are numerous.
It is believed that under the new rule very little land will
be left unoccupied. Deeds for lands pre-empted will not
be given until the process of cultivation has begun, to prove
the good faith of the persons proposing to buy it. Under
the guidance of their friends the former cultivators of the
soil are staking off their claims. Whole plantations are
being settled by families of owners formerly slaves upon the
same estates. Generally, the former superintendents of
plantations are preparing to settle among their late pupils
and subordinate laborers.  The place is thrown open to
immigration  and  settlement.  At  this  time,  furniture,
household utensils, farmers' and mechanics' tools, strong,
durable clothing and materials for the wear of both sexes,
283 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
hardware, and nearly all other useful merchandise suitable
to the wants of a new country, are in great demand among
all classes at good prices for cash."
As regards that portion of Virginia east of the
mountains, the whole region has been made a desolation. Politics and slavery have combined to
precipitate rebellion, and rebellion has made it the
tramping ground of armies which have eaten out
everything but  the soil.  Every gift of nature
seemed to have been lavished on this favorite region-it has an unequalled climate, rivers, coal,
and every valuable mineral. But these advantages
were thrown away. Virginia employed herself in
making Presidents, while New York employed herself in making canals. Virginia was engaged every
year in reaffirming the resolutions of'98 and'99,
while New York was passing resolutions to build
the Erie Canal-not only passing them, but carrying them out. Virginia was employed in setting
the machinery of the Federal government in motion,
while New York was taxing her colossal energies
to start the wheels of commerce.  This tells the
whole story, and illustrates the superior utility of
industrial enterprise over a too long continued devotion to mere political abstractions.
Separated now, the new State of West Virginia,
begotten by loyalty from disloyalty, is thus far, in
its most prominent features, singularly unlike that
of the righteously desolated Old Dominion. The
new State is founded upon free labor as opposed to
slavery. In that fact alone, she places enterprise,
intelligence, skill and forethought, in opposition to
284 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
their antagonistic elements. Her soil is rich and
fertile, as opposed to lands which have been cropped
to the last stage of exhaustion by a never-ceasing
and never-compensated harvest of tobacco. She
has a clear and health-invigorating air, noble
mountain-heights, and streams which leap out
among them, inviting manufactures. The government is aiming for the greatest good of the greatest
number.
Nothing short of a high prosperity was to be
expected from conditions such as these.   Thus,
after disbursing nearly $100,000 since June, 1863,
with one half the counties paying no tax whatever,
and only a portion of the residue paying their full
proportion, there was a balance in the treasury of
more than double that amount.  This astonishing
result is evidence of high prosperity; for if this
new State, " wrenched from the grasp of rebellion
by military power, and growing on the very hem of
civil war, can thus flourish under such circumstances,
the restoration of peace and order will develop a
prosperity surpassing  all  that  has  been  written in the history of its ill-starred and traitorous
parent."
All through the Southern States there will be innumerable openings for Northern enterprise, whether
the adventurers be farmers or mechanics. White
labor will be as urgently needed as that of the
blacks. The South niust continue to grow cotton,
rice, sugar, and tobacco, as aforetime. The world
needs these products, and is determined  to have
them. England has relied with pitiable helplessness
285 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
upon the South for cotton, and France for the maintenance of her stupendous monopoly of tobacco.
They have long been chafing under the stoppage of
their supplies, and to ensure an early resumption,
will at the proper time advance capital without
limit to the growers of free cotton. This infusion
of new capital will stimulate and invigorate every
department of business. More than this, the utter
destitution of the South, in consequence of the war,
will require the labor of more whites and negroes
than she ever possessed, to repair the damages she
has suffered.
One half of Kentucky, all Virginia and Tennessee, a large portion of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, have been stripped clean of
fencing. Others have suffered vast damage in the
same way. When the reader is told that the fences
in the single State of New York cost $144,000,000,
he may form some estimate of what must be the
demand for labor in the South, to make good this
single item in the long catalogue of ravages committed by invading arminies.
Hiouses, barns, outbuildings, factories, forges,
bridges, have been destroyed by thousands. Other
thousands have been stripped of doors, shutters, and
siding, to feed the camp fire. In very many instances whole towns have been destroyed. More
than half of Charleston lies in ruin. A-vast railroad system has been reduced to terrible disorder,
and receiving no repairs, will cease to be operated.
All these structures were the product of mechanical
labor. No one can doubt that the South will in
286 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
time recover from her desolation, and that these
damages will be repaired. But to place her where
she stood before the rebellion, will require enormous
drafts on Northern industry, not only on that which
may remain at home in the workshop, but on that
which, to be effective, must migrate to the spot
where the ruin exists.  In addition to the huge
effort of repairing this waste, there will be even
more urgent demands for labor.  Food must be
grown with which to support life, and exportable
products from the proceeds of which to purchase
clothing, hardware, horses, tools, machinery, and
the vast variety of comforts and necessaries which
a blockade by sea and land had long excluded.
Those who may be seeking for a farm, will be
able in this region to find a hundred. It is doubtful if much capital will be required to secure one.
The abandoned properties will be numerous, while
of the owners who remain in possession, thousands
will be found so impoverished and disheartened as
to hail with joy the advent of a Northern coadjutor.
It is help that they will need, not land. Of the
former they will have too little, of the latter they
have always had too much. Such, then, as think
that they know how to get a farm, and who have no
preference for remaining where they were born, will
have little difficulty in finding one somewhere in
the South.
On this branch of the subject it will be in point
to give the following letter from a prominent officer,
dated at Goodrich's Landing, in the northeast district of Louisiana, under date of October, 1863,
287 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
and addressed to the ion. Henry T. Blow, of St.
Louis:
"I write to you as my friend and as a public man, taking
interest in whatever concerns the public good. There is
an immense gold field down here, and nobody appears to
know it. I want it thrown open to the people, so the
people can work in it. I refer to the many abandoned
plantations from Helena, Arkansas, to Natchez, Louisiana.
The owners, most of them, have fled with their negroes to
Texas and elsewhere, leaving land that should be occupied.
"During this year, some of the plantations have been
worked by Northern men, by hiring negro labor. But few
leases were given, as it was late in the season when the idea
of cultivation was thought of. Three commissioners were
appointed by General Thomas, who gave the leases. The
plan was the best that could be adopted on the spur of the
moment.
"What leases were given expire in February next, and
then I want to see a large laboring population from the
North come down here and fill up the country.  I lived at
Fort Kearney during two gold excitements. One was California, the other Pike's Peak. I saw the great numbers
of people that moved there to dig for gold. The gold got
there was nothing to what can be made by coming to this
country. Let the prospect be advertised in the newspapers
of the West, that every man coming down here can have
80 or 200 acres of cotton land, according to his means for
working it, to work for one year. Two hundred acres of
land means 200 bales of cotton, the net price of which, in
New York, will be 840,000. If 80 acres, it will be $16,000.
With hired labor, cotton can be raised at 5 cents per pound,
which gives a profit of 45 cents per pound net.  No farmer
of the North ever dreamed of such profit; and if the ad
288 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
vantages of coming here were known, they would flock
down here by thousands.
"This matter should be brought to the notice of the
Government.  I want  the man of moderate  means, our
Western laborers, here. They will be a militia to take
care of the country, and our troops can go elsewhere. The
persons who cultivate the next cotton crop are the ones who
will buy the land here. Shall this land be distributed and
owned in small tracts? For the good of the slaves freed
by Mr. Lincoln's proclamation I wish it; for to a great extent the ground will be tilled by their labor, and I want a
large population of white people here, so their labor will be
in demand and respected, and combinations of a few capitalists cannot be made against them. We have uprooted
one aristocracy here; let us not establish by our own act
one of another kind.
"The question of title to the land must not make timid
a man who is thinking to come here. The cultivation of
one year is enough to induce him to come. A man that
takes only 80 acres can go back home at the end of the
year with at least $8,000 in his pocket. Would he make
one-tenth that by staying at home? See what you can do
towards sending the thousands to our gold fields, and locating a large population on the banks of the Mississippi
river. Any man who has seen the emigrants going to California and Pike's Peak knows the inducements and recommendations for coming here. Every officer I have spoken
to on the subject favors it. Those who want to plant
largely, and be the future aristocrats here, oppose it. Now
is the time to change the destiny of this country. I hope
you will work favorably and immediately for it."
It will not be doubted that, in multitudes of private ciroles, in parlor, counting-house, exchange,
13
289 
ITOW TO GET A FARM,
and wherever men do mostly congregate, the question has been constantly debated as to what is to be
the condition of the rebel States, and what the attitude of North and South, when this rebellion shall
have been crushed. It is alleged that subjugation
will be succeeded by a sullen and scowling submission to the laws, a peace in name only-that, under
this novel dominion of the laws, the South will chafe
and fret, and be as intractable and malignant as
ever. A reals hearty, lasting peace, a thorough fraternization, is predicted as impossible. Old associations divided by the sword, are presumed to be
beyond the hope of reunion. The nation, nominally
compacted, will be in reality an enforced association
of radically antagonistic elements, liable to be again
convulsed by rebellion, and by this liability so
weakened as to become dangerously open to foreign
aggression. Constantly on guard against domestic
treason, it will be impossible to combine against
foreign attack. Intercourse between the sections
will be greatly diminished-business between the
two will never revive-old friendships will die outno new ones will be established-and so general an
estrangement must occur as to convert us permanently into two distinct and hostile communities.
These are not such views as I either entertain or
desire to express. I give them as the utterances of
others; and it may be added that, while they are
peculiar to one class of thinkers, they are in direct
conflict with those of another class, whose habits of
thought and action entitle their opinions to be received with equal deference. Between the two, let
290 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
history and  experience  decide.   The  annals  of
almost every nation are luminous with instruction
touching the flnale of such a crisis as this, because
all governments have been subject to similar con vulsionis. Rebellion seems to be a chronic infirmity
of nations. None have escaped it; many have re peatedly experienced it; most of them have sur vived it. It involves the single certainty that some how, and at some time, it must come to an end.
As we know how other rebellions have ended, we
may infer results as likely to succeed the termina tion of this. I grant that the long smothered but
fierce heartburninlgs which precede and precipitate
them, are not, have never been, and cannot be immediately forgotten. In some instances, they have
been wholly obliterated in a single generation. In
others, they have survived for ages. Scotland has
no scowl for England now, notwithstanding the
murderous outbreak a century ago, and the equally
bloody war of the roses no longer lives in personal
animosities; yet Ireland continues sullen and untamable.  Even the Reign of Terror survives only
in Parisian history. But the desolation of modern
Greece remains fresh in the public memory, because
the family of Bozzaris still exists.
Our own history however, furnishes abundant
illustrations of how rebellions end. They are of
greater significance, too, because occurring among
ourselves. What the past has done for us we may
feel assured the future will accomplish. The Revolutionary war closed with the withdrawal of the
British armies from our shores and the breaking ilp
291 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
of the very foundations of the vast Tory society
whose opposition had greatly increased the horrors
of the contest, as well as prolonged it. These domestic enemies were resolutely refused either protection, indemnity, or even immunity, by the treaty
of peace, whose terms were dictated by our commissioners. The public exasperation against them was
deep and universal. No act of oblivion was passed
by any of the States, but banishment and confiscation was the rule. The leaders became fugitives
and beggars. Even the rank and file fared but little better. As many of the former as the British
fleets could carry away, sailed with the troops for
England. The vast remainder, thus abandoned by
England, fled the country from every outlet by
which they could escape. The southern Tories
sought refuge in Bermuda and the West Indies.
Those in the middle and northern States escaped to
Canada and Nova Scotia, where they settled in
numbers so large as to give to British power in
those regions its first successful momentum.  The
breaking up of families by this terrible exodus occasioned indescribable suffering. Thousands fled fromn
rich homesteads and ample means, carrying with
them little else than the clothes upon their backs,
losing all they possessed, and being refused permission to return. The less active Tories, the mere
sympathizers, who secretly desired the British to
succeed, just as the sympathizing traitors of the
present day desire the rebellion to triumph, remained in the country. But they lived despised
anid hated. Honest men shunned them, and society
292 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
spewed them out.  Many, unable to live under an
intolerable odium, abandoned locations where they
were known as Tories, and sought new homes among
strangers. The breaking up of families from this
cause occasioned widespread suffering. The numerous gangs of marauding Tories, now represented by
the rebel guerrillas, were forced to quit the neighborhoods they had desolated, the people whom they
had outraged executing the task with sanguinary
thoroughness.
The rebellions which succeeded the Revolution
were mere military episodes, though at times presenting an alarming front to the then feeble authorities. Shay's rebellion ended with the dispersion of
his followers, the flight, capture, and pardon of its
leaders, with an amnesty to the rank and file on returning to their allegiance. The more formidable
Whisky Insurrection in Pennsylvania ended quite
as ignominiously to its instigators. As in the case
of Shay's, that outbreak was fomented by a single
demagogue, who, fluent of speech and reckless of
results, traversed the country and roused the people
to arms. He in turn became a fugitive, with multitudes of his followers.  Others were ruined pecuniarily, while two were condemned and sentenced to
death for treason, though subsequently pardoned,
while a proclamation of amnesty secured a general
pacification. The leaders banished, the masses were
forgiven. In Dorr's rebellion the same general facts
and consequences are prominently visible. But
neither of these insurrections developed the murderous hatred which marked the contest between Whig
293 
HOW TO GET A FARM,.
and Tory, or the still more bloodthirsty virus with
which the Slavehlolders' Rebellion has shocked the
world. Yet time, the great pacificator, has obliterated all the bitter feeling which these half-forgotten
contests engendered. With the death of the generations that shared in them, it passed away; and the
little of it that still survives exists only in the handful of veterans who yet lag superfluous on the stage
of life.
Thus the thick-coming future must be conjectured
from the clearly defined past. As all rebellions
come to an end, so will the present one. The nation
will be no more likely to tolerate its bloodstained
instigators within its bosom than our fathers tolerated the masses of the less guilty Tories. Though
this government has never executed a man for treason, yet it will seem to many that the gallows may
now come actively into use. Flight or the halter
will be the only alternative for leading traitors whose
hands are dripping with loyal blood. The former
will expatriate thousands.  That secured, the national horizon will be comparatively  clear, and
amnesty for the masses will develop the germs of a
pacification.
But it must be evident that time alone can make
it complete and permanent. Our habits as a people,
we know, will go far to hasten in the new millenium. Commerce and trade, the modern humanizers, will rapidly reopen every channel now obstructed. Collision of the scales and yardstick will abrade
a multitude of asperities, for with too many of us
the dollar is the only divinity to be worshipped.
294 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
The nations of Europe which, six years ago, were
waging war against each other, have all recovered
their commercial equilibrium.  Southern destitution
of a thousand comforts and necessities will compel
a grateful recognition of Northern abundance. A
vast railroad system telegraphs, and steamers. created for the promotion of intercourse between the
sections, will be actively engaged in facilitating that
intercourse. The arrogance of Southern temper will
be modified under the subduing knowledge that its
chivalry has been soundly whipped by Northern
mudsills.  Opinion, both printed and spoken, will
be free-for Northern colonization will pour in with
schools and ploughs, educating a hitherto benighted
people, and redeeming an almost ruined agriculture
by placing the manufacturer side by side with the
produeer. This intercourse will rapidly teach the
South how grossly her banished demagogues have
deceived her as to the design and purpose of the
North; and, though humbled by subjugation, she
will diseover that her prosperity is becomiing greater
than ever.
But it is idle to presume that the griefs, the passions, the fierce animosities, engendered by this
awful contest, will die out while this generation
lives. Too many brave men have perished, too
many homes have been made desolate, too many
families have been broken up and beggared for that.
3lel whom it has impoverished will live and die
poor, remembering constantly the causes of their
poverty. Widows will weep over husbands, children
over fathers, slain in battle.  No catalogue of griefs
295 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
and horrors could be longer or blacker. These
things must be identical with those which closed up
the Revolution, only ten times magnified. In those
Southern States where loyal men have been outraged by their neighbors, the latter will doubtless
be exterminated or driven off by those whom they
have persecuted. Blood for blyod will be the rule
with them. Here, in the North, every local traitor
will be marked.  Good men will shun him, honest
men refuse to trust him, society will keep him at
arm's length. His generation will never cease to
remember that he was a traitor. The status of
these is defined already.  Thus history reproduces
itself, and we are living witnesses of the instructive
truth.
But underlying and overshadowing these general
facts, there remains the great question of American
slavery. In all former contests, both foreign and
domestic, slavery was passive or incidental. In this,
it is confessedly supreme, the sole animating cause
of rebellion, giving it impulse at the beginning and
vitality during its progress. Had it been struck
down at the outset, the rebellion would have been
brief and far less sanguinary. There has been no
pacification during sixty years of its aggressive existence-there can be none so long as it may be continued.  It has the nation by the throat, and the
nation must have the courage to shake it off and
destroy it. I have shown how other rebellions have
ended, but it is only by universal emancipation that
this one ought to be crushed.
Yet even while the war was being waged, the
296 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
South was stretching forth her hands for Northern
wares and merchandise. While willing to fight,
she was even more anxious to trade. From the first
gun at Sumter, every lying trick that treason could
devise has been practised to smuggle into the South
the products of Northern workshops. A perjury
was regarded as commendable that secured the admission of a handful of percussion caps. No false
swearing was too black to obtain an ounce of quinine. The dearth of Northern products compelled
Southern women to remain at home or go abroad in
meaner stuffs than are worn by paupers in a Northern almshouse. Every intercepted letter of a
Southern woman called for clothing as a necessity,
pins and needles as blessings, and bonnets as the
greatest of mercies!
With necessities thus embracing every department of human society, it will be impossible for the
South to stand aloof from the North. Agriculture,
trade, and commerce, will be greater necessities with
her than ever.  Her people are now impoverished,
and they must begin life anew. As this grasping
after Northern products prevailed during the contest wherever there was hope of its being gratified,
so will it become stronger and more general with
peace. Trade of all descriptions will immediately
revive. War has fulfilled its mission-her people
have had enough of it, and the old antagonism on
the slavery question will no longer disturb what will
soon become a general harmony of interests. Commerce will compel a thorough and lasting fraternization. The South will be far safer for Northern
13*
297 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
emigrants than it has been, during three years, for
natives of her soil.
The quantity of land to change owners and be
settled up is almost incredible. In Virginia alone,
according to Judge Underwood, there are more than
two hundred million dollars' worth of property,
chiefly real estate, which ought to be confiscated.
Thousands of acres have already been sold to
Northern purchasers.  "These States," says Mr.
Julian, "constitute one of the fairest portions of the
globe. They are larger in area than all the free
States of the North.  They have a sea and gulf
coast of more than six thousand miles in extent, and
are drained by more than fifty navigable rivers,
which are never closed to navigation by the rigor of
the climate. They have at least as rich a soil as the
States of the North, yielding great wealth-producing
staples peculiar to them, and two or three crops in
the year. They have a finer climate, and their agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial advantages, are decidedly superior. Their geographical
position is better, as respects the great commercial
centres of the world. The institution of slavery,
which has so long cursed these regions by excluding
emigration, degrading labor, and impoverishing the
soil, will very soon be expelled. The cry which already comes up from these lands is for free laborers.
If we offer them free homesteads, and protect their
rights, they will come.  John Bright, in a recent
speech at Birminigham, estimates that within the
past year 150,000 people have sailed from England
to New York. Let it be settled that slavery is dead,
298 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
and that the estates of traitors in the South can be
had under the provisions of the Homestead law,
and foreign immigration will be quadrupled, if not
augmented ten fold.  Millions in the Old World,
hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of
free institutions, will flock to the sunny South, and
mingle there with the swarms of our own people in
the pursuit of new homes under kindlier skies. Inmmigration has not slackened, even during this war,
and in determining the direction it will take, it must
be remembered that settlements have very nearly
reached their limits in the North and West. Kansas
and Nebraska are border States, and must so continue. Their storms, and droughts, and desert
plains, give a pretty distinct hinit that the emigrant
must seek his Eldorado in latitudes further South.
In the new northwestern States the richest lands
have been purchased, and vast portions of them
locked up by speculators. Their distance from the
great markets for their produce, and their severe
winters, will also check emigration in that direction,
and incline it further South, if lands can be procured there with tolerable facility. The rebel States
not only abound in cheap and fertile land, with
cheap labor in the persons of the freedmen to assist
in its cultivation, but they possess great mineral resources. They have also extensive lines of railroads,
which, in connection with their great rivers, bring
almost every portion of their territory into communication with the sea."
With slavery extinct, and peace restored, then, in
the eloquent language of Solicitor Whiting, " the
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MHOW TO GET A FARM,
hills and valleys of the South, purified and purged
of all the guilt of the past, clothed with a new and
richer verdure, will lift up their voices in thanksgiving to the Author of all good, who has granted
to them, amidst the agonies of civil war, a new
birth and a glorious transfiguration. Then, the
people of the North and the people of the South,
will again become one people, united in interests, in
pursuits, in intelligence, in religion, and in patriotic
devotion to our common country."
No one who has not visited Virginia since her
desolation came upon her, can imagine how complete
and terrible it has been. When the army first penetrated the country beyond Alexandria, it was asserted that the corps of axe-men was so large that it
levelled an acre of timber every ten minutes. But
much of this East Virginia land had been rendered
barren by a ruinous system of cultivation before invasion camne. Farms were abandoned as worthless,
and were sold at one to five dollars per acre.  Yet
there is no region in the Union containing finer
land than this. It is near to Alexandria, Washington, and Georgetown, cash markets in which all that
a farmer can produce will sell at high prices. Its
soil is capable of the highest improvement at a
moderate cost, as was proved by numerous Northern
farmers who settled there previous to the rebellion.
They made it yield 40 bushels of wheat and 100 of
corn to the acre, and raised the market value of
their farms from $5 to $60.  All these now desolated and abandoned lands must change owners.
They can be purchased at extremely low figures.
300 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE,
Their location and advantages are so superior, that
of all the rebellious soil of the Southern States,
these will probably be first purchased and redeemed
by Northern farmers. Such of them as settled
there before the rebellion were rapidly becoming
rich. The chances for those who may settle there
hereafter will be infinitely better.
301 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
CIIAPTER XIII.
Many kinds of Farmers-Women managing Farms-Very Small
OnesEleven Acres-A Two-acre Farm-TThe Spade and the
Fork-A Single Acre-Heads better than Hands-Help Your
self.
THERE are all classes of farmers, the sick and the
well, the sound and the cripple, women as well as
men. Some are cultivating their thousands of acres,
using the steam-engine as a ploughman; others are
contented on a single acre, depending on the spade
and hoe. Yet all seem to live. That they continue
to do so is presumptive evidence of intrinsic goodness in the occupation, or that, if a poor one, they
manage it so prudently as to make it a paying one.
Some of them have been suddenly placed in charge
of a farm, with no previous knowledge of the business, yet have done well. Thus some men may be
said to be born farmers, as others have been born
generals.
It is related by an agricultural journal, that an
eminent London tradesman had married the daughter of a farmer who held three hundred acres near
London, and who had acquired considerable property. The farmer having died, the widow carried on
the farm, but after two or three years' experience
discovered that she was losing money. The son-inlaw was consulted as to what it was best to do. On
302 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
looking over the farmer's old accounts, he found
that the farm had paid well before his death, and
knowing no reason why it should not still do so,
under proper management, agreed to take the farm
himself. He had been eminent as a gunsmith, and
now commenced as an agriculturist. Knowing
literally nothing of farming, he began by reading
all the books and papers on the subject which fell in
his way. He had not read far before he found that
a knowledge of chemistry lay at the foundation of
good husbandry. Hie therefore put himself under
the tuition of an intelligent working chemist until
he made himself a good practical chemist for agricultural purposes. He then applied this knowledge
by adapting his manures to the quality of the soil
and the nature of the crop he intended to raise
from it.
The result was that the neighbors, who began by
ridiculing the " cockney farmer," and who prophesied his ruin in three years, were glad, at the end
of that period, to go to him for advice about their
crops. Hiis own crops of grain, hay, and roots, were
the admiration of the whole country, and his wheat
would often command more than the mrarket price
for seed. At the end of the fourth year, in making
up his account, he found a balance of twelve hundred pounds in favor of the farm. Such was the
result of science diligently acquired and judiciously
applied; and by such means, without any previous
knowledge of the subject, did one who had been
eminent as a tradesman become equally eminent as
an agriculturist.
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HOW TO GET A FARMI
A lady is now residing in New Jersey whose case
is quite as remarkable. She was living with her aged
father, on a farm encumbered with mortgages to its
full value. He offered to convey it to any one of
his children who would agree to keep him for the
remainder of his life. All declined the offer except
the daughter. Her husband was in feeble health,
could be of no assistance, and died soon after. But
she engaged resolutely in the work she had undertaken, grasped with surprising readiness the whole
details of what, in the eyes of her neighbors, was a
hopeless case, and went on prosperously. There
happened to be a large quantity of currant and
gooseberry bushes on the place. She caused the
fruit to be gathered, and converted it into excellent
wine, for which she found ready sale in New York.
Taking the hint from this, she enlarged her operations another season by buying all the common wild
blackberries and currants that were brought to her.
The farm was in an isolated location, with no ready
sale for perishable fruits; but a market being thus
established by her, supply followed demand. All
the children for miles around took to picking blackberries, and the quantities offered to her were immense.  With characteristic energy she enlarged
her facilities for handling them, and bought all that
came, converting some into wine, some into syrup,
and some into simple preserves.
Meantime, her ordinary farming operations went
on with unabated energy. Without doing any of
the work herself, she saw that it was done thoroughly and well. In her wine manufacture she
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AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
was singularly successful. Her products obtained
a high reputation, and all that she could make was
readily disposed of. The business was profitable, as
was shown by her making repeated payments
toward freeing her farm from debt. When the
great army demand for blackberry syrup sprung up
in 1861, she supplied vast quantities at high prices.
This demand increased yearly as the war continued,
but she enlarged her supply, obtaining higher prices each year, until, in 1864, after seven years of
energetic devotion to her farm, she paid off the last
dollar of the debt by which it had been encumbered.   This woman  now  owns  an unhampered
homestead, and is carrying on a highly profitable
business, made up of items which the majority of
cultivators consider of no commercial value.  Having the sagacity to discover their availability, and
the skill and energy to develope it, she has had an
abundant reward.
There are numerous cases of American women
who have been, and who still are equally successful
in the management of farms. In England, the devotion of women to agricultural pursuits is even
more general and thorough than with  us.  Mr.
Holcomb, in his address before the Maryland State
Agricultural Society, relates the following incident
as showing the thorough knowledge possessed by
some English women on these subjects.
"I cannot but relate a casual interview I chanced to
have with an English lady in going up in the train from
London to York. Her husband had bought a book at the
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HOW TO GET A FARMS
stand as we were about starting, and remarked to her that
it was one of her favorite American authors-Hawthorne.
I casually observed that I was pleased to see that young
American authors found admirers with English ladies, when
the conversation turned on books and authors. But I said
to myself pretty soon,'this is a literary lady —probably
her husband is an editor or reviewer, and she uses the
scissors for him; at all events, I must retreat from this
discussion about authors, modern poets, and poetry. What
should a farmer know critically of such things? If I were
only in those fields, if the conversation could be made to
turn upon crops, or cattle, then I should feel quite at home.'
"I finally pointed out a field of wheat, and remarked
that it was very fine. The lady, carefully observing it,
said,' Sir, I think it is too thin-a common fault this season-as the seeding was late. Those drills,' she added,
turning to her husband for his confirmation,'cannot be
more than ten inches apart, and you see the ground is not
completely covered-twelve, and even fifteen inches, is now
preferred for the width of drills, and two bushels of seed
to the acre will then entirely cover the ground, on good
land, so you can hardly distinguish the drills.'
"If the goddess Ceres had appeared with her sheaf or
cornucopia, I could not have been more taken by surprise.
A lady descanting on the width of wheat drills, and the
quantity of seed! I will try her again-this may be a
chance shot, and remarked in reference to a field of ploughed
ground we were passing, that it broke up in great lumps,
and could hardly be put ill good tilth.'We have much
clay land like this,' she replied,' and formerly it was difficult to cultivate it in a tillage crop, but since the introduction of Crosskill's clod crusher, it will make the most
beautiful tilth in these lands, which are now regarded as
our best lands for wheat.'
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AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
"Conversation turned on cattle-she spoke of the best
breeds of cows for the pail, the Ayrshires and the Devonstold me where the best cheese was made-Cheshire; the
best butter-Ireland; where the milk-maids were to be
found-Wales.'Oh,' said I,'I was  mistaken.   This
charming, intelligent woman, acting so natural and unaffected; dressed so neatly and so very plainly, must be a
farmer's wife, and what a help-mate he has in her! She is
not an extravagant wife, either-not an ornament about
her-yes, a single bracelet clasps a fair, rounded armthat's all.'
"The train stopped at York.  No sooner had my travelling companions stepped upon the platform than they
were surrounded by half a dozen servants, men and maids,
the men in full livery. It turned out to be Sir John and
Lady H. This gentleman was one of the largest landed
proprietors in Berkshire, aud his lady the daughter of a
nobleman, a peeress in her own right; but her title added
nothing to her, she was a nobleman without it."
It is not the size of a farm that in all cases determines the question of success. Whether large or
small ones are the more desirable, is referred to
elsewhere.  Great things have been accomplished
on the former, but results comparatively marvellous have been achieved upon the latter, sometimes
with very inadequate means. No farm is to be despised because it happens to be a very small one.
An acre of land possesses capabilities which few can
be made to understand until they see them fully developed. It is not exclusively from the land that
profit comes, but from the judicious application of
labor upon it.
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HOW TO GET A FARMI
An admirable specimen of farming on a small
scale is presented in the management of Mr. Nathan
G. Morgan, of Union Springs, New York. That
gentleman formerly possessed 300 acres, which he
subsequently reduced to 160, and afterward, in consequence of protracted illness in his family, he removed to another place containing only 11 acres.
iHe has remarked that even this is too large. Yet
from this little spot he has sold $300 worth of farm
products in a single year, besides retaining enough
for the use of his family. He performs all the labor
with his own hands. He is especially successful in
raising pork, and finds this the most profitable
branch of farming, much more so than raising
wheat. Hie long since gave up raising cattle, as
being far less productive. iHe has raised 130 bushe]s of shelled corn per acre, but the average is
about 80. By his skill in the art of pork-making,
he realizes a dollar per bushel for corn when the
pork is five cents per pound in market. Hie makes
an acre of ground maintain a horse during  the
whole year, by soiling, feeding corn,  &e.   He
thinks, nevertheless, that a large farm may be made
as profitable as a small one, if equally well managed; but he considers the temptation, in nearly
all cases, is to do the work too superficially.
Coming down to what has actually been done on
a two-acre farm, we obtain some approximate idea
of the real capabilities of well managed land.  A
writer in the New England Farmer says, that nine
years previous he came into possession of a two-acre
farm, from the whole of which it was barely possi
308 
AND WIIERE TO FIND ONE.
ble to get one ton of hay, so badly had the land
been run down. Yet he increased the product of
hay to two and one-half tons, and the whole money
value of the two acres to $133 per annum. Let
only six or ten acres be farmed with equal skill, and
any one can cypher up how far the yield will count
in the keeping of a family.
The further one looks into this branch of the subject, the more apparent does it become that success
depends not on the quantity of land, but on the
management. Some years since a little treatise was
published in London, by Mr. John Sillett, setting
forth the results obtained by cultivation of two
acres with the spade and fork. The author being
broken down in health by long confinement to business in London, purchased two acres of land, for
which he paid $1,180. He undertook farming in
total ignorance of the art; yet, he supported himself, wife, and child, entirely from the products of
his little tract. After twelve years experience he
speaks with confidence of the possibility of a man's
getting a living from two acres. lie states the
requisites to be a fair start with a good piece of
land, sufficient means to commence with, skill, perseverance, a willingness to labor, and a reasonable
degree of economy.
This success on two acres was secured by rejecting the plough and depending on the spade and fork,
the latter being subsequently used as the preferable
tool.  His land had been many years in pasture,
but he produced wheat, potatoes, cabbages, turnips,
and mangolds. Of course he owned a cow, which
309 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
fattened a calf annually to better profit than could
have been secured by selling milk or making butter.
The litters from a single sow he fattened and sold.
The manure he needed was manufactured on the
farm, and its efficiency greatly increased by keeping
it under cover. While these curious results were
being annually realized, Mr. Sillett contrived to
build a dwelling-house, cow-house, and piggery, and
was contemplating underdraining.
But other benefits accrued from his undertaking.
He says
"Besides the greatest of all benefits that I have derived,
in restoring a sickly constitution to perfect health, I felt
delighted at the thought of being independent of the harassing cares of business. Of all the feelings which we
possess, none is dearer than consciousness of independence;
and this no man who earns his living by the favor of the
public, can be said to enjoy in an equal degree with the
husbandman. In trade there is a great jealousy and competition existing, and a submission to the public which is
galling to the spirit. But since I have given my attention
to the cultivation of the soil, I find I have no competition
to fear, have nothing to apprehend from the success of my
neighbor, and owe no thanks for the purchase of my commodities. Possessing on my land all the necessaries of
life, I am under no anxiety regarding my daily subsistence."
Spade husbandry means, and in reality is, thorough cultivation of the soil.  Our gardens are all
perpetual illustrations of its superior value. There
is a nian at Javington, in England, Dumbiel by
name, with a wife and several children, very poor,
310 
AND WITERE TO FIND ONE.
and so afflicted by disease as to disable him from
working a whole day through. An acre of land
was let to him on condition of his stall-feeding a
cow, building a shed for her, and making a tank for
her liquid manure.  At first his neighbors ridiculed
him for keeping his cow under shelter all the year
round, saying it would be unhealthy. But his answer was that some one had lent him ~5 toward
buying a cow on these conditions, and he would- try
them. Eminent agriculturists, hearing of this poor
man's case, went to see how he was succeeding with
his cow. They found her perfectly healthy, after
being stall-fed three years and a half, and that from
the butter he had sold he had soon paid off the loan
of ~5, and had got a second cow on half an acre of
pasture, but he told them he had had to apply twice
to the farrier for the pastured cow, but never for
that which was stall-fed, while she gave a third
more butter than the other. This land was worked
with the spade, and thus was made to yield a succession of green and succulent crops for summer
use, with abundant store for winter consumption,
besides supporting a large family. Dumnbrel's condition was improving annually. Yet in his case
there was a combination of two exceedingly discouraging elements-ill-health, and spade-husbandry,
the most laborious description of agricultural toil.
Its superior value was manifest in making a sick
man entirely comfortable.
More remarkable than any of these cases is that
of a farmer who rose from nothing into absolute independence, though born without either hands or
311 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
arms.  This man was William Kingston, the son of
a laboring woman, and was ushered into this world
poor and helpless, for he had neither hands, arms,
nor shoulders. But nature had blessed him with
longer toes, and greater flexibility of feet and legs,
which by constant use made up for the deficiency
of hands and arms. Hie shaved himself regularly,
wrote plainly and distinctly, and in dressing and
undressing required assistance in buttoning ana unbuttoning only certain portions of his dress.  lHe
was at no loss at meals; tea, coffee, and food were
conveyed by his feet with equal facility as by hand.
In the hayfield he was as active as any other in
securing the crop, and performed every duty in the
haymaking process, except mowing and pitching.
Few were better milkers-he worked at all the requirements of a dairy-farm, with the aforesaid exceptions. He could cut the hay at the stack, and
take it to the cows and fodder them as well as
others did.
But this deficient body was furnished with a capacious head in which a mighty brain was stored.
When a mere boy, some compassionate neighbor
gave him a hen and chicken, then another gave
him a lamb. These fractions of a capital he nursed
and multiplied until he was able to procure a colt.
In the end he became possessed of a dairy-farm,
and died independent. It would seem clear that
his success depended exclusively on his head, seeing
that he was destitute of arms.
Few facts could show more conclusively than
this, that he who is striving for success in life must
312 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
be his own right hand-man. A writer who is unknown to me, lays it down as a rule that "people
who have been bolstered up and levered all their
lives, are seldom good for any thing in a crisis.
When misfortune comes, they look around for somebody to cling to or lean upon. If the prop is not
there, down they go. Once there, they are as helpless as capsized turtles, or unhorsed men in armor,
and they cannot find their feet again without assistance.  Such silken fellows no more resemble selfmade men, who have fought their way to position,
making difficulties their stepping stones, and deriving determination from defeat, than vines resemble
oaks, or sputtering rushlights the stars of heaven.
Efforts persisted to achievements train a man to
self-reliance; and when he has proven to the world
that he can trust himself, the world will trust him.
It must therefore be unwise to deprive young men
of the advantages which result from energetic action, by buoying them over obstacles which they
ought to surmount alone.   No one ever swam well
who placed his confidence in a cork jacket; and if,
when breasting the sea of life, we cannot buoy
ourselves up, and try to force ourselves ahead by
dint of our own energies, we must go to the bottom."
"We must all learn," he adds, "to conquer circumstances, thus becoming independent of fortune.
The men of athletic minds, who left their marks on
the age in which they lived, were all trained in a
rough school. They did not mount into their high
positions by the help of leverage. They leaped
14
313
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HOW TO GET A FARM,
into chasms, grappled with the opposing rocks,
avoided avalanches, and when the goal was reached,
felt that but for the toil that strengthened them as
they strove, it could never have been attained."
The question whether it is better to have a small,
well-cultivated fairm, or a large one poorly cultivated, or not cultivated at all, and whether men
with small holdings are not usually most successful,
has often been discussed. It would be out of place
to reopen the debate here. But as the subject of
small farms is now before us, I quote from the
Country Gentleman the following remarks of Mr. O.
S. Leavitt, of Detroit, as bearing on the question
"The general broad proposition, without qualification,
that small farms are preferable to large ones, is a fallacy.
A great deal of nonsense has been written and spoken in
favor of it, and, in my judgment, no one error of opinion
is more wide-spread or more injurious. The real arguments, pro and con, lie within a very narrow compass. All
will admit that it requires a great deal of science, knowledge, industry, tact, and agricultural skill, to conduct even
a farm of 20 acres in the best manner, or in an excellent
manner. Very few farmers can do it. The cases are rare, indeed, where a small farm or a large one either, is well managed.
I am not writing to flatter the farmers; I would rather tell
the truth. Are all the small farms well managed? Far from
it. Probably more large farms, in proportion, are well
managed than small ones. If a farmer is to do all his work
himself, he of course should have a small farm; but it is absurd to say that a man who thoroughly understands farming,
say one farmer out of a hundred, should do this. A yood
farmer would greatly benefit the public, as well as himself,
lll i,
311 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
by hiring as many unskilled farmers as he can superintend,
and let his light shine. In fact, so few farmers understand
their business, it would be better for them generally to hire
out to some good farmer until they can learn how better
to conduct farming on their own account.
"Now, it requires more skill to conduct a small farm
profitably, than a large one. A greater variety of products
is required, all of which must be understood; more care is
required, greater judgment is necessary, and even the very
drudgery must be mostly done by the owner himself. A
farmer of less agricultural skill, confining himself to such
branches as he best understands, with only ordinary judgment, hiring judiciously, &c., will generally do better on a
large farm than a small one. But there are so many contingencies and conditions that may affect the result, it
is very difficult to lay'down a proposition on the subject
sufficiently clear and guarded to be of general application.
"Then this is a day of agricultural machinery; this, indeed, constitutes a new epoch in the annals of agriculture.
The mowing and harvesting machines are of yesterday.
Can the twenty-acre farmer avail himself of these?  Can
he even supply himself with all the cheaper and smaller
improvements-ditching machines, planters, drills, rollers,
horse hoes, clod crushers, potato diggers, horse powers,
threshers, &c.? Nor can he generally avail himself as
well as the larger farmer, of those natural resources, often
so useful and so neglected, of running streams for irrigation, supplying water for stock, &c., to say nothing of his
greatly increased expense for fences.
"The constant reader of the Country Gentleman is aware
that successful agriculture requires a wider range of knowledge, more extensive and varied attainments, than almost
any other pursuit. Indeed, but few men can succeed well
315 
HOW TO GEr A FARM,
in all its departments. The good dairyman or grazier may
be but an indifferent fruit grower; a successful cultivator of
the cereals is seldom equally successful at sheep husbandry
or horticulture. The man who has been blessed with such
varied endowments, and is a genius of so high an order as
to succeed well in all these things, should indeed have a
large farm, giving employment to as many young men as
possible-a model farm-a  normal-school farm.  Such a
man should dispense wisdom and knowledge daily, both by
word and action, theory and practice, to great numbers of
his dependents, assistants, employ6s-overlooking, superintending, directing everything-a Columella in wisdom, a
Liebig in science, a Mechi in vigor and enterprise. We
see him, by the aid of his manager, gardener, nurseryman,
and fruit grower, architect and builder, machinist and
blacksmith, civil engineer, chaplain, professor of chemistry,
schoolmaster, farrier, surgeon, landscape gardener, &c.,
practically educating his numerous laborers, so that theymay in due time be able to carry much  of this weight of
wisdom into practical effect, and butter their bread upon
the countless millions of uncultivated lands now at the
West.
"But this may be called a mere fancy sketch-an extravaganza.  I shall be told that, in this country, no man
can succeed by thus attempting to carry on farming by
employing so many skilled, educated persons, as it would
be desirable he should do, at the high salaries they would
require, and that it would be necessary to have the wealth
of a Nabob. Well, if the farmer, having the requisite
amount of land, hasn't the means to hire them, let him
take them into partnership. If he has but the land, and is
the true country gentleman of education, experience, business talent and tact, he can easily draw around him  the
landless, skilled, educated, and industrious persons, to take
316 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
charge of the various industrial departments of his estate
for a reasonable share of interest, and divide the profits
among the members. They could then, among themselves, have a school good enough to render it entirely unnecessary to send their children abroad to be educated."
317 
HOW TO GET A FARMI
CHAPTER XIV.
Why Land so often changes OwnersTenures and Estates in
England-Absorption there and here-Results of English
Husbandry-The real Value of Land-Stick to the Farm ScarecrowsWhy Farming is Unprofitable-Glo where most
wanted.
IT has been assumed, throughout these pages, that
the masses in this country are desirous of becoming
owners of land.  But among the curiosities of the
subject is an extraordinary propensity among a portion of them to get rid of it. This must have its
origin in the absorbing passion of Americans to
become traders and speculators rather than farmers.
Some writer, whose name is unknown to me, pronounces the American a type of a restless, adventurous, onward-going race of people. "i He sends his
merchandise all over the earth; stocks every market;
makes wants that he may supply them; covers New
Zealand with Southern cotton woven in Northern
looms; sends clerks of stores to the Sandwich
Islands; swaps with the Fejee cannibals; sends his
whale-ships among the polar icebergs, or to cruise
in other solitary seas, till the log-book tells the
tedious sameness of years, during which boys become men; gives to the torrid zone the ice of our
Northern winters; piles up the crystal squares of
318 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
Fresh Pond on the banks of the Hoogly; gladdens
the sultry savannahs of the lazy South, and mnakes
life tolerable in the bungalow of an Indian jungle.
The lakes of New England thus awake to life by the
rivers of the East, and the antipodes of the earth
come in contact at this meeting of the waters. The
white canvas of his ships is seen in every nook of
the ocean. Scarcely has the slightest information
come of some unknown and obscure corner of the
sea, when captains are consulting their charts, and
cargoes are taken in for speculation." An idea suecessfully inaugurated here, he reproduces wherever
civilization is established. He covers the West
India Islands with a net-work of railroads, astonishes
England with street conveniences of the same description, raises fleets of sunken frigates in the
harbor of Sevastopol, scents out new guano islands,
and gluts all Europe with mowers and reapers,
Yankee clocks, sewing machines, and baby-jumpers.
It is money he is seeking to acquire-anything but
houses or lands.
The reverse of all this is witnessed in Europe.
"There," says another, "but more especially in England, landed property seldom changes hands. This
is partly in consequence of entails. But apart from
that, if a man owns a house or lot, in a town or
village, it will commonly remain in the hands of
children and children's children, while here a man
will buy and sell the homestead a dozen times, or
at his death it passes into the hands of strangers,
almnost as a matter of course.  Why is this?  A
multitude of causes operate to produce it, such as
319 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
the equal distribution of property among children,
the prejudice in many quarters against making a
will, the rise and fall of fortunes, and the constant
changes in the value of real estate. But one cause
is probably more potential than all. Almost every
man who buys real estate, buys, builds, or improves,
not so much with a simple view to his own comfort,
as with an eye to what it will sell for when he has
done making his improvements. Many men build
very extensively, calculating upon  this and this
alone. They are not architects, not builders, not
even capitalists; but they build largely on credit,
simply to wait as tenants for a rise in price, and
then sell. Of course, the larger and more expensive
the house, the larger the hope and expectation of
gain.
"All such," he adds, " are mere speculators. Their
plans succeed often enough to encourage others who
fancy they have skill and taste to imitate.  Many
of these aspirants for fortune lose thousands, but
their disasters are soon forgotten. Such men, says
some one, build houses far in advance of their real
means and situation in life, and cities improve and
towns spring up, beautiful to look upon, but too
often they are not the abode of content and happiness. They might be, if each man built an
1humble home, just such as he could afford to hold
through all the vicissitudes of business-such a home
as his widow could afford to own, free from debt,
and live in, without pecuniary care, after he was
gone-such a home as any one of his children might
reasonably hope to be able to keep up, without in
320 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
convenience or ostentation. We all see how families
scatter; but this is one chief cause of the scattering
-that men buy houses, or build them about as a
soldier builds his tent, for a night. Houses, farms,
and furniture, are bought on credit, kept on mortgage, and sold at a loss or gain, as the case may be,
at five minutes' notice, because it was a part of the
purchaser's original plan to hold the property only
for an advantageous opportunity of disposing of it."
The same writer thinks that, in " nine cases out
of ten, it is cheaper to buy than to build, because
dealing in houses and lands requires a skill and a
capital which the majority of men do not possess.
It is, moreover, far more comfortable, because it is
free from the cares and annoyances of being engaged in matters very complicated, aside from a
man's regular business, and because he can generally select such a residence as suits his wants, and
means, and convenience. In Europe, the happiest
homes are those which, having been built for the
present convenience of the father, have been merely
altered so as to make them'correspond with the
present condition of the son or grandson, or more
remote descendant, as the case may be-greatly
changed by time, and mellowed and softened by its
graver tints, or decayed and nibbled into by its old
tooth, or enlarged piece by piece, and generation
by generation, irregularly it may be, but with a
strict eye to comfort and convenience, and corresponding with the growing wealth of an accumulating and prudent family. In this country, we live
too fast in the first generation to have many such
14*
321 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
houses as these -homesteads built comfortably
within a man's income, in which he can and does
live more liberally than he cares to appear to live 
houses in which, if times should change, he or his
children could live consistently and without meanness, on half his present expenditure.
"Another great reason why houses change hands
so often, and are so little homes for those who possess them, is the practice of living too hopefully into
the future, and without regard to future exigencies,
living with too much sail in proportion to ballast.
It is for every man to think what he desires in this
matter. Many do not desire homes in the sense
that I have described. They prefer to live on the
wing, and in a splendor above their real means.
With such it is better to rent, and quite absurd to
build. It is even worse-it is mocking their children
to build a house so splendid that none of them will
be able to keep it up. Better the humblest cabin,
respected and loved as the dear old home of childhood, the shelter of a father's gray hairs, the centre
of a hundred happy gatherings round a mother's
knees, the refuge uninvaded by all enemies save the
last, and where even he is so serenely met and welcomed as to be robbed of his sting, and to have his
enmity destroyed."
In England, the passion for owning land may be
said to be hereditary among all classes. With the
titled and rich, who are able to gratify it, it has
produced some remarkable results. The great landholders are now comparatively few in number. I
have seen them variously computed at from 30,000
322 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
to 40,000, who hold landed property yielding an
annual rent of not less than $500, the number rapidly diminishing as the annual rent increases. The
incomes of the wealthiest range from $100,000 to
$1,500,000 per annumn. A hundred years ago the
landholders of England were numbered at 230,000,
which number has ever since been rapidly dimiinishing by the purchase of the lands belonging to the
thriftless and wasteful, by the more prudent and
wealthy.
The Marquis of Bredalbane rides from his house a
hundred miles in a straight line to the sea, on his
own property. The Duke of Sutherland owins the
entire county of that name, stretching across Scotland from sea to sea. The Duke of Devonshire, besides his other estates, owns 96,000 acres in the
county of Derby. The Duke of Richmond has
40,000 acres at Goodwood, and 300,000 at Gordon
Castle. The Duke of Norfolk's park in Sussex, is
fifteen miles in circuit. An agriculturist recently
bought the island of Lewis, in the Hebrides, containing 500,000 acres. These vast domains are constantly growing larger. The great estates are absorbing the smaller freeholds as opportunity offers.
The great landholders never sell.
Wherever slavery has cursed the soil of this country by its presence, the same process of absorption
has been going on. Mr. Clay, of Alabama, gives
the following gloomy picture
"I can show you, with sorrow, in the older portions of
Alabama, and in my native county of Madison, the sad me
323 
/HOW TO GET A FARM,N
morials of the artless and exhausting culture of cotton.
Our small planters, after taking the cream off their lands,
unable to restore them by rest, manures, or otherwise, are
going further West and South, in search of other virgin
lands, which they may and will despoil and impoverish in
like manner. Our wealthier planters, with greater means
and no more skill, are buying out their poorer neighbors,
extending their plantations, and adding to their slave force.
The wealthy few, who are able to live on smaller profits,
and to give their blasted fields some rest, are thus pushing
off the many  who  are  merely independent.   Of  the
$20,000,000 annually realized from the sales of the cotton
crop of Alabama, nearly all not expended in supporting the
producers is re-invested in land and negroes. Thus the
white population has decreased, and the slave increased almostpairipassu in several counties of our State.  In 1825,
Madison County cast about 3,000 votes; now, she cannot
cast exceeding 2,300. In traversing that county one will
discover numerous farm houses, once the abode of intelligent and industrious freemen, now occupied by slaves, or
tenantless, deserted, and dilapidated; he will observe
fields once fertile, now unfenced, abandoned, and covered
with those evil harbingers, foxtail and broomsedge; he will
see the moss growing on the mouldering walls, of once
thrifty villages, and will find one only master grasps the
whole domain that once furnished happy homes for a dozen
white families. Indeed, a country in its infancy, where fifty
years ago scarce a forest tree had been felled by the axe of
the pioneer, is already exhibiting the painful signs of senility and decay apparent in Virginia and the Carolinan"
Among English owners "are many men of the
highest intellectual powers and attainments, of the
highest social position, and of the most refined cul
324 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
ture; noblemen not only by right of geniture and
rank, but noble men in the noblest sense of the
word, who are carrying forward on their enormous
estates the most magnificent operations in the highest culture of the soil, winning from their well fed
and well tilled acres the richest reward of the wisest
husbandry. One contemplates with amazement the
magnificence of their arrangements for irrigating
hundreds of acres, as may be seen on the estates of
the Duke of Portland; the vast extent of their systems of drainage and subsoiling, the enormous capital invested in carrying on their agricultural processes and improvemnents, and the vast revenues by
which they are enabled to push forward their splendid designs. It is fortunate for mankind that such
men devote their talents and their great resources
to an enterprise so important, and exert their powerflil influence in the promotion of so great a cause
-a cause which holds concentrated within itself
every inducement to allure the loftiests mlinds and
the fullest means to its support, as upon its success
humanity itself depends for the continuance of its
very existence."
It may be safely asserted that " but for the high
culture which the soil of England has received under such influences, and the consequent development of its exuberant riches, her population could
not have made the great strides that have carried it
from four and a half millions in 1600 to more than
twenty-five millions in 1862; nor could the nation
itself have attained that immense power and wealth
which make her now to stand foremost among the
325 
HIOW TO GET A FARM,
nations of the world, and the richest of human
aristocracies."
Thus, "under the influence of the culture created
by the action of such minds upon labor, we find a
yield of 50 to 80 bushels of wheat per acre in England, from 40 to 70 in France, and the productive
power of an acre of land in the well cultivated part
of Europe to be double what it was seventy-five
years ago. In proof of the influence of improved
tillage in England in enabling her to sustain her
own people with diminished reliance on importations from foreign countries, I may here state the
important fact, that while in the first ten years of
the present century she imported foreign wheats at
the rate of eight quarts per annum for each person
in the realm, in the next ten years she imported but
six, in the next five years but four, and in the last
three years of these five, at the low rate of a single
pint, the soil of the kingdom supplying all the rest
consumrned.  More land had indeed  been-brought
under tillage, but every acre, old and new, having
been better tilled, had made a better yield."
Many of the foregoing facts and observations are
here reproduced from anonymous sources;  but it
may be said that everybody who has taken the
smallest pains to ascertain the facts, knows and testifies that agriculture has advanced just in proportion as mind, mind as developed in men of intellect,
intelligence, education, and reflection, has given attention to it. The condition of English agriculture,
as an obvious and suggestive example, bears ample
testimony to the influence of mind upon progress.
326 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
When Americans acquire a similar fondness for agriculture, the possession of land will be as eagerly
desired by them. I admit that such a passion has
sensibly increased within twenty years; but our
country is too vast in size, our population too limited in numbers, and the wealth of the community
too small, for the present century to realize any approximation to the intensity with which it animates
the popular heart in Europe.
The Philadelphia Ledger says:
"It has been remarked, by political economists, that the
sum per acre at which landed property is found to sell in
nearly all countries, and for long periods, proves that men
are glad to purchase it at a price at which they know beforehand it will yield them less than the ordinary rate of
interest. In this country, men who could, on bond and
mortgage, easily get six or seven per cent., will be glad
rather to purchase the same lot of land, even though they
can hardly thus make five; and in England, where ordinary
interest is five per cent., they will purchase land where it
will not yield more than three.
"Various have been the methods taken to account for this
well-established fact. Some have attributed it to the tendency of landed property slowly and steadily to rise in value
as population becomes more dense, or roads and schools
become better, and the arts and habits of civilization more
complete. This may in part account for it, especially as
money has a tendency to depreciate in value very noticeably
in a long period. But after making every calculable allowance for that, the whole of this tendency in man to
become possessed of land at a less remunerative price is
not fully accounted for. The superior supposed security of
327 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
landed property has something to do with it. A man who
has a mortgage may find some fraudulent evasion of it,
some sale for taxes which has destroyed his title.  Or by
the death of the proprietor lawsuits may be brought that
will nearly swallow up the value of the mortgage in securing the claim, so that it has become an invariable rule
among capitalists not to invest even on mortgage where the
property is so far off that the man interested cannot look
after it himself. But land, if you start with a clear title,
and pay the taxes, and are loyal and quiet, is safe, and rises
with all the improvement of society, to fall only with its
decay.
"But the real and most fundamental reason for the extra
value attached to land, it appears to us, is, that however
narrow its dimensions, the possession of every acre involves
rights, the extent of which is literally unbounded. Stakes
may be driven at the four corners of a lot, and the lines
marked out and fenced in, north, south, east, and west.
But there are at least two sides on which it has no bounds,
the height above and the depth below. No one knows the
values that are or may be connected with those unlimited
sides of every man's farm.' Build high,' was a saying of
Stephen Girard,'there is no ground rent above.'  No one
knows what commercial value may some day attach to a
good situation for drawing in unlimited supplies of oxygen
or nitrogen. The fresh air or the beautiful prospect even
now give their greatest real value to many a building-lot of
land, for the eye has an empire of its own. It can stretch
far and wide, and from the proper stand-point connects the
possessor of land with realms and a domain stretching out
beyond the farthest star into absolute infinity. Some day
we may navigate the air, at least the lower regions of it,
and what may be the value of those rights, now only used
by the tree tops and the birds, who shall say? The
328 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
shooting is even now of great pecuniary value in England.
"But it is not only above, but below that most appreciable value is likely to become increasingly connected with
the possession of land. All the wealth of minerals and
mines is thus obtained.  To say, however, nothing of these
possibilities, how deep we may finally penetrate into the
bowels of the earth for water, or what may springs furnishing salt or oil afford, who shall say? Already we suck, if
not honey out of the rock, at least'oil out of the flinty
rock.' We may before long tap the earth regularly for gas
or fuel, or still more directly for heat or motive power.
"There is, however, yet a third direction in which the
possession of land connects a family with the unlimitedit is theirs, till voluntarily parted with,forever. It is like a
spring; it yields a present supply, and one that is undiminishing forever. The farms of England, that have been
worked for ages, yield on an average far more and not less
to the acre to-day than those of the State of New York or
Pennsylvania, that have been cleared but half a century.
The supply is perpetual. While the earth remaineth, seed
time and harvest shall not cease.
"Every spot of ground thus connects its possession with
the limitless on three sides, and it is this sublime alliance of
the mind of man with the unbounded and the infinite,
which gives to the possession of land such a peculiar value.
It enlarges the ideas more than any other earthly possession,
and leads out the soul into all that is grand and sublime.".
After all that has been said touching the best
way to get a farm, and where to find one, it may
be added that almost everything depends upon the
man himself-he must either know how, or he must
329 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
learn how to manage it. It has been well said, that
tools do not make the workman, but the trained
skill and perseverance of the operator himself. It
is proverbial that bad workmen never yet had a
good tool. Some one asked Opie by what wonderful process he mixed his colors.  "I mix them with
brains, sir," was his reply.
Hiaving secured possession of a farm, let the
young man cling to it.  Now, when land and its
products have been daily rising in price, with butter
at half a dollar, and hay at twenty-five dollars per
ton, be not led away from this honorable and independent occupation by the seductive glitter of some
apparently golden prospect in the distance-some
chance in city life, where there may be less of bodily
toil, more of what the world calls honor, but less of
real comfort. On this subject Mr. Henry IH. French
gives us an instructive caution:
"You are tempted to exchange the hard work of the
farm, to become a clerk in a city shop, to put off your
heavy boots and frock, and be a gentleman, behind the
counter! You, by birth and education, intended for an upright, independent, manly citizen, to call no man master,
and to be no man's servant, would become, at first, the
errand boy of the shop, to fetch and carry like a spaniel,
then the salesman, to fill the place which, at best, a girl
would fill much better-to bow, and smile, and cringe, and
flatter-to attend upon the wishes of every painted and
padded form of humanity-to humbly suggest to rakes and
harlots, as well as to starched and ruffled respectability,
what color and fabric best becomes the form and complexion
of each-and finally to become a trader, a worshipper of
330 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
mammon, compelled to look anxiously at prices current of
cotton and railroad stocks, in order to learn each morning
whether you are bankrupt or not, and in the end to fail,
and compromise with your creditors and your conscience,
and sigh for your native hills.
"Or, perhaps, your party being in power, you would obtain a clerkship at Washington, and remove your little
family from the North, to a more genial climate, to live at
your ease, and grow rich on twelve hundred dollars a year!
You give up your little farm, your New England privileges
of schools and churches, your independent and influential
membership of parish, and district, and town, and church,
the woods and playgrounds for your children, your friends,
and kindred, and home. Twelve hundred dollars is a large
sum to you, half the price of your farm, perhaps, twice the
amount of the minister's salary. With your habits of
economy and thrift, you can live on half the amount. Your
arrangements are to be made-the homestead is sold, and
you are landless. After all, it is not so easy parting with
our household gods. The trees our hands have planted
take root in our hearts, the vines and roses, twined by our
own fingers, and those of our loved ones, over rustic arbors,
cling round us more closely than we thought. Your labor
has been mingled with the soil of every field. Tears are in
the eyes of your wife at every thought of departing, but
she trusts in your superior judgment, and no murmur
escapes her lips at your decision.
"You have left your home. At the end of a single year,
in the city of magnificent distances, you have bitter realizations of the meaning of that phrase. It has proved, indeed,
to be full of magnificent distances for you, from happiness,
from independence, from advantages of every kind. For
the first time, you have felt how sore a thing it is for a
Northern freeman to be dependent, to labor at stated hours,
331 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
at the bidding of a superior officer, to feel that the office
you fill, on which depends your very means of living for
yourself and family, is held at the arbitrary will of another,
who may, if he please, make a servile conformity of your
views with his own, on political, or what you may deem
moral questions, the condition by which you retain your
place. You who, at home, had never seen the man who
dared claim to be your superior, are forced to submit to
the iron rule of caste, to send your card to the secretary,
whom you once knew, perhaps, as an equal, and wait an
hour with the colored servant in the hall, to be told at last
to call another day-to be slipped over, or shaken off by
the' member' whom you helped to elect, and who now had
no further use for you, and consume your energies in endeavoring to keep the toe of your boot from proximity with
that part of his person where his honor holds its seat-to
be assessed to support party presses whose principles you
may despise. In short, you have sold your birthright for a
mess of pottage.
"But the half is not yet told, for even the mess of pottage is not sufficient for your wants. Your salary is at
starvation point. You must pay two hundred dollars for a
house, with two parlors, and a basement for servants, without a cellar, without a closet, without a pump or aqueduct,
without a sink, or clothes yard, or garden. Your wife, with
the aid of a servant, cannot do the work so easily as she
did it alone when at the North.  All the water comes in
buckets from the city pump a dozen rods off; the slops are
poured into the street, your clothing is crammed into
wardrobes, your supplies must be procured daily at market,
in contemptible quantities-in short, everything, except the
parlors, which are for show, and to make you seem respectable, must be richly carpeted and  curtailned, everything is adapted to the idea that labor is degrading, and
332 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
that the comfort and convenience of those who perform it
is not worth consulting. The thrift, the energy, and comfort of Northern households is unknown in this latitude.*
"Look now at the prices of necessary articles of food.
On your farm, however small, your cellar was always filled
with an unlimited supply of such vegetables as you desired,
and barrels of beef and pork of your own slaughtering.
Your granary had always as much of corn and rye, and
perhaps of wheat, as you chose to use. Your cows at all
times gave you milk and butter in abundance, and your
garden and orchard supplied fruits for yourself and the
children without stint. Now you buy a peck of potatoes
for three shillings, beef at sixteen cents a pound, turkeys
at from a dollar and a quarter to two dollars each, chickens with the shells scarcely off their heads, not larger
than robins, at twenty-five cents each, butter at thirty-one
cents, and milk at eight. Instead of enjoying the abundance of the earth, as you have been accustomed to do,
you begin to associate the idea of dollars and cents with
the food on your table; you are compelled to vex yourself
with economizing in the details of living, and to feel your
soul gradually narrowing in, to a conformity with narrow
circumstances. You find yourself a poorer man than while
upon your hard Northern farm, poorer in your animal
means of living, poorer in comparison with those around
you, poorer in independence, in prospects for yourself and
family, poorer in everything."
This leaving the farm for a fortune is deplored in
graphic terms by the author, "Doesticks," who
avers that
* This was written in 1854. Ten years have revolutionized,
redeemed, and purified Washington.
3 "DJ3 
HOW TO GET A FARMS
"Young men in the West, when they get too lazy to
plough, drive oxen, and dig potatoes, invariably either go to
study law, physic, or divinity, or emigrate to New York to
make their fortunes. Hience the inundation of two-andsixpenny pettifoggers, the abundant crop of innocent, juvenile-looking M. D.s, and the army of weak-eyed preachers,
whose original simplicity is too deep-rooted to be ever
overgrown by the cares of after life. The portion of our
country known as the West, sends forth every year scores
of these misguided innocents, who, had they stayed at
home, might have grown up into tolerable farmers, or even
been cultivated into respectable mechanics, but who, being
thrown into the whirl of city life, degenerate into puny
clerks, with not half enough salary to pay for their patentleather boots.
"It is a curious fact, that two-thirds of the young men
from the country, their first year in the metropolis, do not
receive as a remuneration for their valuable services, a sum
sufficient to keep them in theatre tickets. If a committee
of their employers should be detailed to investigate the
hidden pecuniary fountain whence these young men obtain
the funds many of them lavish so freely, the said committee
would be considerably astonished to find out how much
more champagne and oysters the New York merchants pay
for than the most knowing of them are aware of; and their
wives would be astounded to learn how many bracelets and
diamond pins had been presented to ladies of the theatre
and ballet, and bought with their husbands' money. And
many a country mother would mourn to hear.that her
darling had, in the first six months of his city life, learned
to practice more vices than she had ever heard of, and
among his other attainments, had acquired the elegant city
accomplishment of spending his employer's money as freely
as if it were his own."
3904 
AND WHIERE TO FIND ONE.
I grant that change of occupation is sometimes
desirable and prudent, sometimes even necessary.
When driven to it by pecuniary calamity, it should
be made courageously, and with utter contempt of
the jibes or sneers of others. I know the world is
full of scarecrows-but why is it that they are always black? Go into the newly planted cornfields,
and you will see the unfolding blade protected by
effigies as woeful as if clad in the cast off inexpressibles of a rebel regiment. Old hats and older coats,
mounted painfully on crooked sticks, or waving to
and fro in the wind, suspended from patriarchal
apple-trees,-these are scarecrows-but what simpletons the crows must be for being thus easily
frightened off from a living. Yet one need not go
so far as even the nearest cornfield for a counterpart. There is a scarecrow of some kind in every
house, domesticated at every fireside, nestling in
every bosom. Old hats and worn out inexpressibles may serve to frighten crows, and we may smile
at their simplicity in thus being kept at bay; but
who among us, no matter how straitened or depressed, that does not find the prospect of reassuming even his own cast off toggery to be the unsuspected scarecrow of his own heart?  Pride, personal, foolish, utterly groundless, is the great
national scarecrow. Too many of us are slaves to
appearances, mere walking advertisements of the
milliner or tailor. Strangely enough, one leaves his
brown stone mansion and takes to boarding, without compunction; but the thought of earning bread
by apparently mean employment, is absolutely kill
335 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
ing, though it be honester than any previous one.
This reveals the household scarecrow, for wife and
family protest-it were better to starve!  We ridicule the crow for his simplicity, but are we any
wiser?
I know how habit clutehes at the heart-how
gambling, rumin, tobacco, both rule and stultify-and
that this pride tyrannizes with a despotism infinitely
more galling, because the whole family become its
victims.  Yet no heroism can be greater, no good
sense more positive, than that which so strengthens
a man into breaking its bonds, grappling with the
emergency, be it what it may, and kicking his own
particular scarecrow to the dogs.
"Right Side Up," traced legibly on a shingle
which had been planed smooth to enable the artist
to display his skill, met nay eye one morning at a
crowded steamboat landing in New York, soon after the rebellion burst upon the country. It stood
upon a table covered by a clean white cloth,
whereon was bounteous store of peanuts, gingerbread, and pretzels, intermixed with oranges and
penny confectioneries for which all urchins seem to
have been born with an undying relish. As the
day was windy and the street alive with carriages
and other vehicles, these delicacies were firosted
with dust. Tubs containing bottles of root beer
stood shadily under the table, but the imprisoned
effervescence must have been hot in spite of the
water that surrounded them. These things I barely
noticed-it was the shingle that attracted my attention. Could this be one of the signs of the times?
336 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
It seemed to mean something, hence I paused to
look and consider, never noticing the man who re joiced in being proprietor of this diversified exhi bition. But though not observing him, it seems
that he had noticed me.
" Right side up, sir, and mean to keep so," he ex claimed, rising fromn his seat, coming to where I
stood, and extending his hand.  My astonishment
was really very great, but he exhibited none. Hiis
emotion appeared to be that of satisfaction, open,
manly, heart-felt. I had known him as the. expert
foreman of a great machine shop, overlooking sev eral hundred hands, and making twenty dollars a
week  but at a glance I conjecturedhow the matter
stood.
"Why, how is this?" I asked.
"Swallowed my pride three months ago," he responded.   "Work  was  dead, employers  broke,
nothing to do, had a wife and fanmily, only fifty
dollars in pocket, and with twenty of it set up this
table. It sounds like coming down, and it was hard
to undergo this publicity, but look at my hands,
they are clean, and I am not ashamed to look any
man in the face.  My pride has left lme-gone to
trouble some one else. Wife and daughters make
the cakes and beer, keep up the table, and the
table keeps up us. Hiow does it strike an old acquaintance like you, or have you any thing better
on hand?"
Here it all was in a nutshell, just as I had somehow conjectured. I looked upon the man as a hero
-he was a hero. Depend upon it that all such
15
337 
HOW TO GET A FARM)
were not crowded into Pickens or Sumter; for there
is a moral heroism which as effectually challenges
the admiration of good men as that which personal
daring wins at the cannon's mouth. Did he not
confess to the scarecrow, and had he not ousted it?
iHere was evidence of the truly independent, selfrelying grit, which, in some form or other, ought to
be exhibited in time of sore calamity.
"You have done well," I answered.  " You have
made a double coinquest-pride and bad luck.  But
this will lead you to better things. There are many
stepping-stones to fortune, and this may be yours.
I honor you for your courage."
Poor, brave fellow!  These must  have  been
among the few words of cheering sympathy he had
heard, for his lip quivered, his eye became moist, and
he did not trust himself to reply. Hiis heart was
bigger than I had ever dreamed of.
The possession of what one may really call a
home, is among the unspeakable blessings of this
life. The man who cannot prize it must have some
radical deficiency in his organization. Mr. Beecher
refers to such a possession in one of his characteristic paragraphs. Hle says —
"But what a poor, shivering, restless, rapping sprite is
without a body, that is a living man without A HOUSE. He
cannot take root. A man at a hotel is like a grapevine in
a flower-pot, movable, carried round from place to place
docked at the root and short at the top! There is nowhere that a man can get real root-room, and spread out
his branches till they touch the morning and the evening,
338 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
but in his own house. If I could, I should be glad to live
in the house that my ancestors had lived in from the days
of the flood. That cannot be; for in ascending the line of
ancestry I find the people but not the houses, and it is
more than suspected that some of them never owned one!
My father's house! It is like a picture rubbed out. The
frame and canvas are there, but strangers have possessed
it. The room where I was born, where my mother rocked
my cradle and sang as angels do-where she died, where
all my boyish frolics began and life spread out its golden
dream-they  are all overlaid  by other histories.   We
planted pleasant things in the old house, but the Assyrians
canae in and settled down upon them."
But some one has said that nine-tenths of our
farmers find farming unprofitable-that is, paying
but a very small percentage on the capital invested
in land, stock, tools, &c. On this subject the editor
of the Country Gentleman   has crowded a mass of
interesting information into a nutshell, much of
which I reproduce as appropriate to the discussion.
iHe says that hundreds of farmers who own from a
hundred and fifty to three hundred acres of good
land, tolerably well stocked, find themselves barely
able to prove that they are as well off to-day as
they were a year ago; and many declare that the
laborer, who has nothing but his hands to get a living, lays up more money in a year than they with
all their broad acres and flocks of cattle and sheep.
If this be true, and doubtless it is so in many instances, a farm managed as a large share of our
farms are managed, would be a clog to a young
man with a small family, who is endeavoring to
339 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
lay up something for those rainy days which are
sure to fall to the lot of many of us in our journey
through life.
It is not high-priced labor, nor unpropitious seasons, nor because produce brings a low price, that
makes farming unprofitable. Every laborer is
worthy of his hire; the harvests are bountiful; consumners are increasing so rapidly as to keep provisions up to prices that ought to be satisfactory to
producers; yet the question as to why farming is
unprofitable continues to be asked.  It is'just as
regularly answered, but does not seem to stay so.
Instances are continually reported of men who
have maintained families on the product of ten, fifteen, or twenty acres of land, which, when they began, was no better than the average. They have
lived respectably, given their children a good education, and saved money. Ireland contains forty
thousand farmers who occupy spots ranging fromn
only one to two acres each. In France the subdivision of land into small parcels is equally extensive. Yet the occupants all live, and regard the
being dispossessed of their small holdings as the
misfortune of their lives. Why, then, cannot Americans who own two hundred or a thousand acres,
make farming profitable?  There is a controlling
reason which has been repeatedly set forth-they
plant too much, spreading their limited quantity of
manure over too large a surface, thus impoverishing  the land and wasting their labor.   Eighty
bushels of corn, and other grains in proportion, may
be raised on one acre of land much easier than on
ID40 
AND WIHERE TO FIND ONE.
two, and where land is so cultivated as to produce
such crops it is constantly improving. When not
so cultivated it is constantly depreciating.
Take, as an illustration, the case of two adjoining
farms, that of A containing 150 acres, and that of
B only 40.  A  has 40 acres of meadow, on which
he cuts an annual average of 35 tons of hay, while
B has only 15 acres of meadow, yielding him 212
tons per acre, or 3-71 in all. A plants 6 or 8 acres
of corn every year, which yield himn about 30
bushels to the acre, and his other field crops are in
proportion, with proportionate results.   On  the
other hand, B plants but 2 or 3 acres of corn, but
he gathers from 75 to 80 bushels per acre, and is
able to do all his work himself. A pays out $150
a year for help. He complains of hard times, of
the scarcity of money, and talks of moving West,
not because there is more money there, but because
he can obtain more land. He seems unable to comprehend that he already has more than he is managing properly.
No such longings assail B. His little freehold is
too precious in his eyes to be alienated-he is satisfied that no change could be for the better. His
farm is constantly improving in value, while the
other is annually decreasing. The latter is worked
by a skinner, the former by afarmer.  The skinner
ploughs and plants indiscriminately. Around his
barns the manure heaps lie unused from year to
year. He reads no agricultural books, takes no agricultural paper, sells all his best stock, and is thus
compelled to keep that which is so worthless as to
341 
HOW TO GET A FARM,
be unsalable.   But B  suffers no particle of manure to remain unused, and ploughs only such land
as he can thoroughly enrich. He sells his poorest
stock and keeps only the best. He takes the best
agricultural periodicals, and though he may read in
them the most glowing accounts of distant lands at
low prices, yet his affections are too firmly anchored
in his little homestead for them to excite in him a
single wish to leave it.  It is not the farn-ing that
is unprofitable, but the management.
This recital revives once more the often mooted
question of the comparative advantage of large or
small farms. It cannot be denied that very large
ones have been so managed by competent men as to
yield enormous profits, while annually becoming
more valuable. A single California farmer has harvested a crop of 400,000 bushels of potatoes, while
a neighbor's crop amounted to 250,000 bushels.
Another, at Los Angeles, with a vineyard of 35
acres, makes 35,000 gallons of wine annually. The
wheat crop of that region reaches as high as 60 to
70 bushels per acre. The district around Sacramento is a vast wheat and barley field. Cattle require no housing as in the Atlantic States, but keep
themselves the year round on the pastures.
Ini that State farming seems to be the sure road to
fortune-the larger the well-managed farm the
more rapid the accumulation.   It will  surprise
readers in the East to hear of the immense fruit
orchards in California, which so far surpass any
thing in the Atlantic States as to make our attempts
in this way seem exceedingly small. The following,
342 
AND WHERE TO FIND ONE.
343
from the California Farmer, is all accurate account
of the product of the orchard of Mr. G. C. Briggs,
of Marysville
"I send you," says Mr. Briggs to the editor, "the number of pounds of fruit as kept in my daily record. I have
annexed the price.  We have sold as follows:
Fruits.         No. Pounds.
Cherries............ 3,680
Appricots........... 58,400
Plums............... 22,120
Peaches............ 763,600
Nectarines........... 93,400
Apples............. 225,000
Pears............... 11,300
Quinces............. 4,720
Figs................ 6,300
Grapes............. 34,500
12,223,020
Price.
Cents.
60
20
30
8
8
13
15
20
20
8
Estimating it in bushels, it
twenty thousand bushels.
claim the palm for her horticultural products, and
though all her fruits may not equal those of our
more northern clime, they certainly surpass them in
abundance and size.
In our Western States there are farmers cultivating immense tracts of land with evident profit.
There are farms of 10,000 acres, yielding 90,000
bushels of corn alone, with thousands of bushels of
wheat, besides fattening great droves of hogs and cattle. But these facts are too well known to make a
recapitulation necessary. These must be profitable
undertakings, or their owners would abandon them.
Amount.
$2,208
11,680
6,636 -
61,088
7,472
29,250
1,695
945
1,260
2,760
$124,993"
amounts to more than
California well may 
HtOVW TO GET A FARM,
"Commerce and manufactures," says another authority,
"must ever be secondary to the cultivation of the soil.
The latter is not only the most important of all human industrial pursuits, but is the only real source of wealth.
Commerce produces nothing-its office being merely the
barter of commodities. Whether this barter takes place
between one country and another, or between individuals
of the same country, it is but an exchange of equivalents.
It is therefore to be regarded as a mere medium for the
distribution or circulation of wealth, and not as in any way
contributing to its existence or production. Then, as to
manufactures, there is no matter produced which did not
previously exist, their office being only to convert material
previously existing into forms of greater utility and convenience.  At first sight, mining may appear to have a
greater claim to the production of wealth, but it does not,
in reality, produce anything which did not before exist.
Every pound of iron, silver, gold, or coal, existed in the
bowels of the earth long before it was taken from them.
Increase of matter proceeds from agriculture alone. The
surplus of this over cost of production constitutes the only
increase of real wealth or capital. Yet however true this
may be, it must be remembered that commerce by the exchange of commodities, and manufactures by giving to the
productions of agriculture a more useful form, are greatly
conducive to the aggrandizement of nations, and to the
convenience and comfort of their population."
The reader is probably going somewhere. He
may possibly have various offers of employment
or occupation, and find it difficult to decide between
them. There is one rule which, in all such cases,
will generally be found a safe one to follow-go
where he is most wanted. It may not be that a man
344 
AND W1IERE TO FIND ONE.
should always go where most clamored after, or
even where most liberally paid, though either of
these things affords an indication of where he ought
to locate. In the foregoing pages, a shrewd and
persevering man cannot fail to discover where he is
most wanted-as well as the ways and means, how
and where, to plant his stakes. If at a loss to decide, such hesitation cannot spring from lack of opportunities, but from their abundance.  It is here
apparent that everywhere around him there are
openings that lie waiting to be appropriated. No
other country in the world presents a similar spectacle. Throughout Europe, land is at a premium,
and labor at a discount. Here the contrary is the
rule-labor commands the premium, and land is
held at the discount. Though slowly acquiring
some of this foreign passion for the ownership of
land, yet centuries must elapse before the American
people become generally imbued with it. Of those
who now hunger after freeholds, too many are mere
speculators. But recent legislation has placed beyond their grasp the largest portion of the public
domain. It remains for the actual settler to crowd
them altogether from the arena.
15*
THE END.
345  
JAMES MILLER,
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n.,.T'I.,.. ".. J..B..L.........i
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From the Press of
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MAYHEW'S HORSE ]lMANAGEIIENT.
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From toe iterr y Gze-tie.
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J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., Publishers, Phila.
I - I 
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CATTT.E AND THEIR DISEASES,
THE HORSE,                   THE STABT...
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Combined Threshers and Cleaners, Theshers, Separators, Fanning Mills, Wood Saws,
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mark et.
For Ptice anld Description send for Circultrs, ald satisfy yourself before purchartiing.                                               1t. &   ll. IM. AlR DEEt,
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LUMBER AND LOG BOOK.
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and selling, measuring or inspecting lumber, will at once appreciate the work.
This is the most complete and reliablle book ever published on this subject. Over
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30 cents, post-paid. Peddlers and dealers can make money selling the book.
Published and for sale, wholesale and retail, by
GEORGE W. FISHER, Rochester, N.Y.
Fruit, Evergreen, Ornamental, and Shade Trees;
Hledge Plants, &c.
The subscribers have thirty acres of nursery, entirely devoted
to the above purposes; and having a large trade with Land Associations and new settlements, to which they can refer, can advise
from experience, with their correspondents, as to
WHAT IS BEST TO PLANT.
A personal inspection of the stock or correspondence solicited.
MEEHAN & WANDELL,
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LOOKING GLASSE S,
AND LARGE OVAL GILT MIRRORS,
No. 53 South Fourth Street, Philadelphia.
DR. FINE,
(PRACTICAL DENTIST FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS)
219 Vine Street (below Third), Philadelphia,
Inserts the most beautiful TEEiTH of the age, and all of the latest
improvements, mounted on fine Gold, Platina, Silver, Vulcanite,
Coralite, Amber, Continuous Gum, and Mineral Plates, at prices
for nieat and substantial work, more reasonable than any Dentist
in this City or State.
Teeth Plugged to last for life.  Artificial Teeth repaired to
suit.
No pain in extracting. All work warranted to fit. References,
best families.
FICTUiiE FiiAHL, 3, 
CHOICE FRUIT AND ORNAMNTAL TREES.
EDW. J. EVANS & CO.,
Respectfully invite the attention of Parties purchasing and im.
proving Lands, or making Homes for themselves, to their supe
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SEILECT TREES:
Embracing a choice assortment of Standard and Dwarf
Fruit Trees, of all kinds; Grapes and Small FPruits,
in quantity; a large and fine stock of Decidu        ous Trees, for Street and Lawn planting;
Evergreens of choice kinds; hardy
Flowering Shrubs and Vines;
Roses, Bedding Plants, &c.
Catalogues mailed to applicants. Especial inducements to Clubs.
Address,     EDW. J. EVANS  & CO.,
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Relief from the Cares of City Life.
TEN ACRIES ENOUGH,
A PRACTICAL TREATISE FOR THE MIILL1ON
SHOWING HOW A VERYS_L  MFARM  MAY BE MADE TO SUP              PORT A VERY LARGE FAMTTILY.
With full and minute Instructions as to the best mode of Cultivating the Smaller Fruits, such as
Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries, etc.,
Also, What Capital is needed; Where the Man of Small Means
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Work, and what he can do when Beginning in a Small Way.
One Volume, 12mo.  Cloth, $1.50.
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