CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE

AGRICULTURE PIONEER HISTORY.

'HE first object of the pioneer settler of Indiana was to provide the means of subsistence, and for a considerable time all the surplus produce was limited to a few articles, and usually disposed of to other settlers. Every one, as soon as possible, prepared a corn field, a garden, procured a few swine, one or two horses, and a few cows. These made up the capital of the pioneer farmers of Indiana. Many of the citizens of the State who are now rich, can to-day point back to a beginning of this kind, and we doubt not they often do so with pride, as they justly should. They frequently entered on the public lands with even less stock than that above enumerated; they were generally protected in the improvements they made, and after accumulating sufficient means, entered and purchased the lands. Many of the wealthy farmers of to-day in Indiana can look back to the period when they began to erect the little log cabin with only an ax and some provisions—their capital consisting wholly in a persistent energy. They rented land on improvement leases, by which they were to have the use of from ten to twenty acres from seven to ten years, and, in most cases, at the end of that time, they were abundantly able to buy land for themselves.

It was an easy matter in those days to maintain stock. The wild grass, nutritious roots, and several kinds of nuts and acorns, were so abundant that neither horses, cattle, nor hogs required much grain; and often, after a few years residence, the flocks and herds of the settlers were very numerous. This condition of things soon produced a surplus of corn, beef, pork, etc. Low prices created a market, and even before the