INDIANA FARMER.
Ct   3,-£>» O"   Devoted *o Agriculture, Horticultures Mechanics and the   U-scfiilArtB.
jCn^r
B. P. Holloway, W. T. Dennis.i
K.T.Ileed.—Editors.        I
RICHMOND, MARCH. 15. 1855. i"t°oT/ivf!V.p.No* w.
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Going to Kansas.
d
"Westward tio star of empire takes its way."    ■•■
There has never been a time within bur knowledge when a greater disposition was manifest
among the people of Indiana, and especially of
''Old Wayne," to; sell out and move further
West. Iowa has long had, and still has a strong
attraction for our citizens. Minnesota, being a
little nearer the pole, operates like a magnet, and
Kansas and Nebraska,are believed to contains
genn which is ere long to" burst- forth at the touch
of civilization, and become the paradise of farmers. Winter is already over, and the first bright
days of spring-time which waken the "sleeping
rills," set the current of emigration in motion.
V^__   .»■:.' »
"^    The,"ides of March" are looked to with a differ-
**-^    eat kind of interest from that which marked their
approach in the days of the C-csars.
Many aro the motives which induce our peo-
..     pie to emigrate. , Some whose means are limited,
J~    want to go where they can get larger farms, and
somewhere they can get better ones.   Some wish
to go-where they can obtain farms for their sons,
and not a few, it is feared, forsake good homes
and many enjoyments "which, they will hardly
find elsewhere, dazzled with the hope of becom"
ing rich.    Some have been unfortunate in business, and hope* to regain their shattered fortunes;
while it may bo safely said "tfiat with all or nearly all who forsake the haunts of civilization and
good society, to become pioneers in the wilder^
ness, the desire of gain is the great and moving
----cause; unless we should except a few who are
""*"    iaduced to settle in the new territories,,iii order,
i<    if possible, to prevent them from eventually be-
i   coming Slave States..        .-■;,-,'; , ,-•     :'   .;<
-  -*   While we are glad to know that our Western
forests and prairies are.;stiH being converted into
■->   farms, and the homes."of white men, and that
there are still found those amongst us. who are
'&  willing to go before and redeem the wilderness
from the wolf and the grizzly bear.    We can
hftrdly avoid the opinion that some who" are* selling
their farms to seek for homes beneath the cano~_
py of the "broad, the illimitable West," will in
nowise better their condition.   To the poor man,
who fears no privations, no hardships, and is
able and wiling to convert the wildernass into a
fruitful field, and who has a constitution of iron;
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we say go. But to him who has a snug little
farm in a healthy location, plenty of good neighbors, a good market—in short, who is "well
fixed," and as the saying goes,* is doing "well
enough'Mn the way of making money, we would
say do not think of emigrating. There are
enough who are not thus happily situated to people the wilderness regions of Kansas, Nebraska,
Minnesota and Oregon.
To those who are bent on trying their fortunes
in some far-off and yet uncultivated section of
our country, we.would desire, at the risk of being
called presumptious, to offer a few words of advice: ...
In the first place, don't think of selling out and
moving to Kansas, or any other place, without
first seeing the country and finding a location. If
you <io, two chances to one you will be dissatisfied, and heartily repent the day you resolved on
a change. The representations of others cannot
be relied on. They may be interested in the
matter, and if they are not, they see with other
eyes lhan yours.       - ' •''-;* ■•-'■-* •"-'    ^
* In the'next place, it is important that you have
the consent of your families, and especially of
your better halves. It is no small sacrifice for a
woman who has been reared up in refined society, to leave a comfortable home, and the friends
with whom she has been accustomed to. associate, perhaps from her girlhood, and for the r"e-
mainder of her days to undergo the privations,'
toils and hardships of a pioneer life; and if her
consent is not fully and fairly obtained ere the
first step is taken/ it is more* than probable she
will bo dissatisfied and unhappy in her new home.
Far better is it to have but a small farm and limited means, than to be possessed of hundreds of
acres of the most fertile soil, and a pining, discon-
tentedwife. - .    *'
The neiUtem of our advice is, that in seeking
for a .location, you shall not think of settling
down in any buta healthy one. Ague and fevers
are common, to some extent, in nearly all new
countries, but are much worse in some localities
than others. The enjoyment of-health is, one df.
the greatest blessings conferred on man. and, rib
one should deliberately take a.step which will ba
likely to bring sickness on himself or family.* although it be nothing ^worse than the ague, witlP