The emigrant's hand book, and guide to Wisconsin

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land as fertile as the richest river bottoms, and by settling in the edge of the timber, combine every advantage af¬ forded by the latter. He finds the land already cleared, and has only to enclose it. The labor of bringing it into cultivation is but trifling. A heavy plough and a strong team are required the first year to turn over the soil.—- The corn is dropped into the furrow, and covered over, and no other labor is bestowed upon it until it is fit to be gathered, because during the year the corn cannot be tended in the ordinary way, as the sod, already bound together by the fibrous roots of the grass, is merely turned, and not pulverised so as to admit of tillage. But by turning the grass down, exposing the roots to the sun, and leaving the sod undisturbed, it becomes mellow in one season, and while undergoing the process of decomposi¬ tion, it aftbrds nourishment to the growing corn. The crop thus raised is not abundant, nor is the grain very good; but something like half the usual crop is raised, which amply pays for the labor of planting and gathering. By the ensuing spring, the roots of the wild grass are found to be completely rotted, and the plow is put into a rich light mould, fit for all the purposes of husbandry.
In the greater part of the prairie region, building stone cannot be had; but in such places brick may always be substituted by those who want to build good houses.— The stratum of clay which is found under the soil, is well suited for brick making, and in such places can be obtain¬ ed by removing the light covering of loam which forms the surface. Immense herds of wild cattle once fed upon these fine prairies, but they, like the red Indian, have re¬ tired westward before the firer-armed European, and are now only to be found towards the base and amid the fast¬ nesses of the Rocky Mountains.
In America, a strong and constant tide of emigration