Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1892 — GOING FARTHER WEST. [ARTICLE]

GOING FARTHER WEST.

MANY FARMERS CHANGING THEIR HOMES. Large Numbers of Illinois and Wisconsin Agriculturists Said to Be Moving to Sections of lowa, South Dakota' and Nebraska. ' Toward the Setting Sun. The movement of Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin farmers to Northern and Western lowa, which has been an important factor in the development of these portions of lowa during the past two or three years, is extending further west, says a Sioux Cityy .lowa, correspondent, and this fall hundreds Of fanners from Illinois and Wisconsin, and ndt a few from the Mississippi River counties in lowa, have made purchases in Northern Nebraska and South Dakota, with the intention of making their homes in these States in the future. The farmers came out on the annual harvest excursions given by the railroad companies. Most of them come from about Council Hill, Galena, Pecatonica, from Kane County, and from the southern counties of Illinois. They invariably buy the best farms here and pay cash for them. They sell their old homes for from S4O to S7O an acre, and are able to buy the best farms here for from $lB to S3O per acre. This leaves them enough money to put on good improvements after paying cash for their farms and still have a neat balance left to their credit. Better Farmers. This movement to the West has had a great deal to do with its development. It is an undeniable fact that the Illinois and Wisconsin men are better farmers than those they found in possession of the country. They use more machinery and give more attention to the breeding of stock and to dairy farming. They are responsible for the wonderful growth of the dairy business throughout lowa, and are developing it as rapidly in the new fields they are seeking in Nebraska and South Dakota. They build better houses and their farms are neater in appearance. A person can come very near to picking out their places in driving through the country. Those who bought this fall already have under way or are planning improvements that will add greatly to the value of their places and at the same time enhance the value of surrounding property. Heal estate men agree in saying that it is this immigration that has had more to dothan any other one thing in advancing the prices of raw lands in this section, from $4 to $6 to $lO to sls, and of improved lands from $lO to S2O to from sls to $25 during the past two years. Their coming has been a relief to many a mortgage-ridden Western farmer, who has received from them the money in exchange for his farm -with which to clear away his indebtedness and start anew on a goon foothold. The farmer who sells generally buys cheaper lands in the same neighborhood or raw lands and starts in again. This year the sales to Illinois and Wisconsin farmers have been f.O per cent, greater than ever before, and it is estimated that the farm population of the country within a radius of l>o miles of this city will, in the next eight months, be increased by at least 8,000 persons, because of their removal to purchases made in this area.