Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1874 — West of the Mississippi. [ARTICLE]

West of the Mississippi.

Keaknhy City, N ki:., July Stilli, 1874. FbixpKS Union : The possibility that .1 may succeed in giving some items concerning this part of the ’Great West that may interest or be of value to some of your readers, •induces the attempt, and any success in that direetiou will-ainjdy repay tl-.e saerilice of personal comfoit uuci-essari!y resulting from such an undertaking. Kearney_Ci tv is situatedin sotitliwestern Nebraska, at the junction of the Burlington <fc Missouri River Railroad with the Union Pacific in the Platte Valley, a little more than two hundred, miles west of Omaha, and one hundred and thir-ty-six miles wets Liiuuibm T -l‘-Xho-City,” as it is proui.lly-called, hd-s’-a-population of about ot>e thousand. It supports three hotels and two daily papers, and has all the appearance- of it flourishing town, preparing for,and enjoying in anticipiiti on, a Jlrture , of- ■unliinifcdgreatness. My route here was over tire Raiload to Burlington, Iowa; thence hy the Burlington <C Missouri River Railroad via Omaha and Lincoln City...., U w'j'he co'imtry tlirough which this road passes from Burlington to Oyiaha is magnificent beyond the ability of my pen to’ describe.— Taken as a whole,, with its fertile prairies', beautiful groves and numerous streams, no finer or more attractive country can'be found.— Fruni Omaha westward, the country differs in character, being chiefly a beautiful rolling prairie stretching away on either side as far-as the eye can reach, and scarcely broken by the few trees marking the course of streams. Of the latter there arc several flowing into tlie Platte between Omaha and* Kearney City, hut unless it may be in tlie valley proper not a sufficient number, I think, to justify tire assertion that the country is well watered. According to the best information Khava obtained, unim-, proved lands in this vicinity range in value from two to twelve dollars per acre, according to their location with-reference to railroads and towns, and the natural advantages dl water, quality of soil, etc. Farther cast of course the prices are higher, and in the vicinity of Lincoln City range from five to fifty and seventy-five dollars an acre.— This difference in, prices is due to somo extent to a difference in the quality of tlie which becomes more sandy westward from Lincoln, but ? of course, Ts ‘chiefly due to difference 'of location and the present aud anticipated demand. Lands 'can bo pui chased ofttre Rail go ad Companies at the above figures,-on

a credit often years with six per centum interest on purclias.enioney; 'all of which, principal and interest, j it is confidently stated by many, can be paid with the crops of two ■ or three years, or, rather, with the j surplus of the crops for that period.; This, however, is only one side of. a story which, like all others, has two sides; and while it is true it is by no means the whole truth, and J obviously depends on the condition j that all the crops for that time j "should be of the best. The soil of ( this portion of Nebraska seems to I bo, and under favorable conditions [ . • I no doubt is, well adapted to the growth of all kinds of grain; bufj with present, conditions only the] smaller grains can be relied on.— Wheat is regarded as pretty sure for an average of from twenty to forty bushels and oats from forty to sixty or seventy bushels per acre, while corn is not certain to yield anything. The drought -and hot winds of July injure corn greatly, and when the grasshoppers pat in an appearance, as they r have done this season, its destruction is complete. « One who lias never seen grasshoppers as they exist here can have no adequate idea of the extent and completeness ot their Between Kearney and Omaha, wherever there was anything for them to eat, we found them in countless myriads. I think it is no exaggeration tt> say that in all that distance I did not see fifty acres of corn along the-line of railroad that would yield any thing; but I did see many acres of stalks stripped of the last vestige ;if blade and ear, and standing cleaner than a field of cane made ready for cutting.— Fortunately- this pest did not appear until the small graiils had been safely harvested. Of course the “hoppers” do not appear every year, but may in any ; and when suc-h is the ease they are terrible, and as yet no method is known by which complete destruction of crops can be prevented. 31y stay in Lineoln Was brief, and I did not have'the pleasure of. meeting liny of our former citizens ot Jasper, of whom there are quite it number in that vicinity, inquiry developed the fact that ail of them were prospering, .and hoping to meet some of them when returning, I contented myself with that. I expect to go from here back to Burlington, lowa, and thence up the Mississippi to St. Paul, Miuneapolis, Minnehaha Falls, and other points in Minnesota. May write

to you again. '

W. H. M.