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very worst feature of his ground. The prairie lands, it is
true, have no forrests to hew down, they are entirely without
wood, and what is still worse, often without water. The
land purchased is distant from the larger towns, and conse-
quently devoid of all the conveniences of life. With wood to
purchase and haul a great distance, to build his dwellings
and barn, his fencing and supply his fuel, the settler finds
not only his first gieat trouble, but very important expense.
His crops of wheat or corn, or whatever he may plant, when
harvested, are subject to the same blighting influences of dis-
tance from market, so that the transportation eats up a very
large share of the profit, if, indeed, as has been the case fre -
quently, he does not have to burn up his corn for fuel, owing
to the scarcity of wood.

Under favorable circumstances his corn crop, for instance,
will yield about fifty bushels to the acre, and the very high-
est rate it will command in the Western market, is fifty
cents per bushel, yielding him the sum of $25 per acre. He
will be fortunate if his receipts for this, or any other crop he
may raise, will average him this amount.

These are some of the hardships of his home in the far
west, incident to all new countries. That the land is rich
and fertile, no one can deny, and in time these disabilities
will be overcome by an increase of population. But it is the
present we are considering, and present these disagreeable
truths, not for the purpose of discouraging the emigrant, but
to cause him to pause in his unthinking flight to the west,
long enough to ask himself, why he hastens to a section of
the country, where every hardship has to be encountered,
when there are hundreds of thousands of acres that can be
obtained at a cheaper price in the State where his foot first
presses the soil of the country, and where not only the neces-
sities, but the luxuries of life exist in great profusion, and
can be procured with one-half the toil he will have to expend
should he proceed to the interior.

The State of Maryland offers unsurpassed facilities for ag-
ricultural enterprise. The Chesapeake Bay, with its almost
countless tributaries in one section, and railways and canals
in others, provide means of ready and cheap transportation to
market of everything that is produced by the farmer. The
transportation rates, especially by water, are extremely mod-
erate. The soil and climate are favorable to the production
of everything, the earth will bring forth, and owing to the
variety of these latter essentials, there is nothing of value
grown in the United States, that has not its representative
in Maryland. Here, then, are the great essentials, soil, cli-
mate and ready access to market, which, combined with a
great abundance of the best lumber for building purposes,
with living springs in countless numbers, leave nothing to be
desired except the mere fact of possession, and this can be ob-