Burlington & Missouri Railroad Lands for Sale, 1878

This 1878 Burlington and Missouri Railroad publicity pamphlet provided information to potential settlers about land in Iowa and Nebraska. It featured information about land agents, land prices, social and cultural oportunities, potential crop yields, and other information to entice settlers to purchase railroad land.

• 1878

• THE OLD B. & M.
  RAILROAD AHEAD

• KEEP IN THE RIGHT
• LATITUDE

• 705.000 ACRES OF THE
• BEST LANDS
• FOR SALE

• SOUTHERN IOWA
• AND
• SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA
• HAVE THE LARGEST AND FINEST CROPS
• THE BEST CLASS OF SETTLERS
• THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FARMERS
• THE BEST AND CHEAPEST LANDS
• THE LARGEST CREDITS & LOWEST INTEREST
• THE CHEAPEST FARES & FREIGHTS.

• THE ONLY ROAD FOR IMPROVEMENT PREMIUMS
• SEE INSIDE

LIST OF LOCAL LAND AGENTS

IN IOWA.

GENERAL LAND OFFICE	Burlington.
PERRY & TOWNSEND	Albia, Monroe County.
JAMES D. WRIGHT	Charlton, Lucas do
E. F. RILEY	Osceola, Clarke do
W. W. WICK	Murray, " do
G. W. BEYMER	Afton, Union do
KILBURN & ADAMS	Creston, " do
P. T. MAYNE	Cromwell, " do
MAXWELL & ADKINS	Prescott, Adams do
R. A. CRIPPEN	Corning, " do
W. W. ELLIS	Villisca, Montgomery do
A. SWANSON	Stanton, Montgomery do
JOHN HAYES	Red Oak, " do
WM. KEMPTON	Glenwood, Mills do
W. WARWICK	Atlantic, Cass do
G. L. BROOKS	Lenox, Taylor do

IN NEBRASKA.

GENERAL LAND OFFICE	Southeast cor. Public Square, Lincoln.
C. B. NELSON	Land Office, south of Union Depot, Omaha.
A. B. FULLER	Ashland, Saunders County.
C. W. PIERCE	Waverly, Lancaster do
F. L. ROPER	Crete, Saline do
TOBIAS CASTOR	Wilber, " do
W. H. SOMERS	Beatrice, Gage do
T. B. PARKER	Dorchester, Saline do
ALEX NEILSON	Friend, " do
H. G. SMITH	Exeter, Fillmore do
H. G. BLISS	Fairmont, " do
FOWLER & CAMPBELL	Sutton, Clay do
E. H. ANDRUS	Harvard, " do
GEO. F. WORK	Hastings, Adams do
B. F. SMITH	Juniata, " do
V. C. UTLEY	Syracuse, Otoe do
F. M. WOLCOTT	Weeping Water, Cass do
F. A. SIDLES	Bennett, Lancaster do
HENRY SPELLMAN	Centerville, " do
S. C. McCONNIGA	Firth, " do
ED. McINTYRE	Seward, Seward do
SYNNESTVEDT & NELSON	Utica, " do
F. A. BIDWELL	York, York do
H. S. KALEY	Red Cloud, Webster do
GEO. BUCK, Jr.	Bloomington, Franklin do
HENRY BATES	Plymouth, Jefferson do

PRICES.

Prices vary according to soil, location, water supply, timber, proximity to railroad stations, and other advantages, same as other lands do.

It is quite impracticable to prepare and send out lists of prices, but the following will show the general range of prices in each county:

IN IOWA.

Counties.	No. of acres.	Price per acre.
Adair	300	$7 00@$14 00
Appanoose	600	5 00@ 10 00
Adams	4,000	6 00@ 18 00
Cass	1,000	7 00@ 14 00
Clarke	1,000	6 00@ 8 00
Davis	800	5 00@ 8 00
Decatur	400	5 00@ 10 00
Fremont	1,500	10 00@ 18 00
Lucas	3,000	5 00@ 10 00
Mills	5,000	11 00@ 25 00
Montgomery	4,000	8 00@ 20 00
Monroe	5,000	5 00@ 10 00
Madison	500	5 00@ 12 00
Pottawattomie	3,000	7 00@ 16 00
Page	1,500	8 00@ 16 00
Ringgold	1,000	5 00@ 12 00
Taylor	2,000	7 00@ 15 00
Union	1,000	6 00@ 19 00

IN NEBRASKA.

Counties.	No. of Acres.	Price per acre.
Adams	36,000	$2 00@$ 7 00
Clay	35,000	4 00@ 8 00
Cass	18,000	7 00@ 10 00
Franklin	114,000	2 00@ 5 00
Fillmore	53,000	5 00@ 9 00
Gage	9,000	5 00@ 8 00
Hamilton	18,00	4 00@ 7 00
Jefferson	17,00	5 00@ 8 00
Kearney	21,00	2 00@ 6 00
Lancaster	110,000	4 00@ 12 00
Otoe	15,000	7 00@ 10 00
Saline	50,000	4 00@ 10 00
Seward	65,000	5 00@ 10 00
Saunders	13,000	3 00@ 7 00
Webster	98,000	2 00@ 5 00
York	65,000	4 00@ 8 00
Lands in North Platte,	1,000,000	1 00@ 7 00

SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.

THE PRESENT OUTLOOK.

AT THIS TIME,
a greater interest is being manifested throughout the Eastern and Middle states in regard to the Western Country than has been known for many years past.

Men are everywhere casting about for desirable locations, and it is no longer a question of moving or not moving, but "where shall we go?"

Nothing can be more important, a move having been decided upon, than the question of where the new home shall be founded. Many delusive offers are being made of "lands and town lots for nothing," "government lands still open," &c., and it is of the utmost importance that such as contemplate emigrating should be careful in their selection. Lands are being offered at exceedingly low rates. Some in the extreme North and South, others in the extreme West, which have positively no value as agricultural lands; hence we say
SEEK FOR TRUTHFUL INFORMATION,
and remember that if you would succeed in farming you must avoid the extremes of temperature.

Corn, wheat, oats and barley will not pay in a rice and cotton country, nor can stock-raising be profitably carried on in regions where Stock must be fed for six or seven months in the year.

The history of emigration proves that residents of one latitude who have moved to another latitude, whether it be north or south, have almost invariably been unsuccessful.

Do not be carried away by one or two accidental crops raised in regions that never were intended for agriculture, but rather seek a country that has been
DEMONSTRATED TO BE GOOD.

The object of this pamphlet is to under-state rather than exaggerate the facts in regard to the B. & M. lands. No good could result from any other course, in fact much harm must follow.



The interest of the Company is identical with the welfare of the Settler, and putting aside all considerations of honor and fair-dealing it would not pay in a business point of view to attempt to mislead. The B. & M. does not aim to sell land to speculators, but to actual settlers, and having the mst implicit faith in the superiority of its lands, it has always put the best possible facilities in the way of the land-hunter for making personal examination before purchasing.

We have sold lands already to upwards of
FOURTEEN THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED SETTLERS,
And not one of these purchasers can say that he has been unfairly treated, or that the Company has failed in a single instance to live up to its promises.

The Lands of the B. & M. in Southern Iowa and Southeastern Nebraska have become favorably known throughout the country; and there is good reason for this, because of the 360,000 acres originally owned by the road in Iowa, less than 40,000 acres remain unsold; and of the 1,500,000 acres originally owned in Southeastern Nebraska, only 650,000 acres remain, consisting of choice tracts situated in a well settled locality, surrounded by improved farms, with good roads, schools, churches, and all the evidences of an advanced civilization at hand.

The geographical position of the lands is perhaps one of the most powerful arguments in their favor. The westward stream of migration has always flowed in one well-defined channel; first from New York and New England to Pennsylvania; thence to Ohio; thence to Indiana and Illinois; thence to Iowa and Missouri, and for the past five years the stream has emptied itself into Nebraska.

This belt of country, bounded north and south by about the north and south lines of the State of Illinois, may be called the heart of the United States, containing, as it does, the great bulk of the population, commerce, wealth and intelligence of the country.

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF NEBRASKA
Is a matter of interest throughout the East, and we have been besieged with enquiries in reference thereto during the past few months.

That the statements so widely circulated during the past three years as to the drawbacks in Nebraska are false, is proven by an



examination of the State statistics of 1875, 1876 ad 1877. These statistics show that the population has increased at the rate of ten per cent. per annum; that the amount of personal property has trebled, and that the increase in the area of land under cultivation is very marked; while in cattle, sheep and hogs, the returns show the wonderful increase of over one hundred and ten per cent. per annum—something without parallel in the history of any State.

The best evidence of this condition of affairs, present and prospective, and the best proof that well informed people are choosing this section of the country in preference to others, is found in the
BUSINESS TRANSACTED IN Nebraska
during the last four months by the B. & M. R. R. Company.

During September, one hundred and seventy-seven persons purchased 22,115 acres, for $114,832.55.

During October, three hundred and seven persons purchased 39,210 acres, for $216,695.36.

During November, three hundred and one persons purchased 40,443 acres, for $220,272.95. During December, three hundred and two persons purchased 41,600 acres, for $226,246.36. This business is large and speaks for itself; and it will be remembered, that this does not include the large number of people who are pouring into the country, and purchasing lands from private parties, and who are purchasing the rights of parties who have obtained, or are about to obtain, their patents to Government Lands; nor does it include the large number of people who are settling in Franklin and Webster counties, and other counties in the Republican Valley Region, in search of Government Lands not yet taken up. The most important facts of all, however, is that the people who are settling in this region are of the very best class, both as to intelligence, morality and financial condition.

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
have progressed and are now well nigh complete. Railroads are plentiful for a State so young. Good wagon roads are found everywhere. Bridges, School Houses and State buildings have been built, and most of these improvements are paid for.

Farms are to be found upon two-thirds of all the quarter sections throughout Southeastern Nebraska, and the new settler of to-day finds himself surrounded by all the conveniences of the old home.

THE FINANCIAL CONDITION
of the country is good. Government lands not hitherto taxable have been largely proved up, and now stand upon the same footing with regard to taxation as railroad lands.

The management of the various counties, townships and school districts is in the hands of competent and honest men, and taxation is kept at the minimum.

• SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS.

The social, educational and religious elements are the wonder and admiration of all new comers, and would do credit to a country twice as old. Schools and churches are found everywhere, and law and order are as safely established here as anywhere in the world. The population is mainly composed of people from the Eastern and Middle States. The rowdy element has never obtained a foothold in Nebraska.

Nebraska farmers are frequently asked
HOW MUCH HAVE YOU RAISED
In the last three years? The invariable answer is that the crops of small grains have been good each year. Not one failure of wheat has ever been known in Nebraska, and only one failure of corn, namely: in the grasshopper year of 1874, when all the Western States suffered more or less. The outcry of grasshoppers, which was raised in 1874, proceeded almost entirely from a certain class of homesteaders, who had just come into the country and were relying upon their crop of sod corn for subsistence—having lost which they lost their all.

The Governor of the State has recently gathered statistics from the different Railroads covering the shipments of the so-called grasshopper year of 1876. These figures show that in the small region traversed by the B. & M. road, and known as the South Platte country, there was not only enough produce raised for State consumption, but enough wheat, oats, rye, barley, corn, beef, mutton and pork was shipped east to feed over a quarter million of people for a whole year! This fact speaks for itself, and goes to show how false are the statements that have gained circulation abroad in reference to the State's condition.

THE CROPS OF 1877
Are simply immense. It is something to be proud of that in the diversity of products raised in Nebraska, there has been success in everything, and failure in nothing.

The returns from the various counties lying along the line of the B. & M. R. R. have been received, but the estimates of the yields in different parts of each county differ considerable, and hence, we have adopted the lowest estimates as the most reliable, though the figures here given are in many instances an under-estimate. Many fields of properly cultivated wheat have yielded over thirty bushels of grain per acre, and many fields of corn over seventy, but the average has been stated, and not the maximum. If there had been more farming done in Nebraska, the yields would have been thirty or fourty per cent. average better than they are; but like all new countries, bad farming is the rule, and not the exception.

CLAY COUNTY.— Wheat, 34,816 acres; average yield per acre, 18 bushels. Rye, 4,560 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Barley, 23,380 acres; average per acre, 33 bushels. Oats, 15,950 acres; average per acre, 48 bushels. Corn, 31,651 acres; average per are, (estimated) 45 bushels.

FILLMORE COUNTY.— Wheat, 33,844 acres; average per acre, 18 bushels. Rye, 1,645 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Oats, 6,279 acres; average per acre, 50 bushels. Corn, 30,389 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 53 bushels.

FRANKLIN COUNTY.— Wheat, 7,500 acres; average per acre, 18 bushels. Rye, 5,000 acres; average per acre, 20 bushels. Barley, 1,000 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Oats, 5,000 acres; average per acre, 30 bushels. Corn, 15,000 acres; average per acre, 50 bushels.

SEWARD COUNTY.— Wheat, 36,864 acres; average per acre, 18 1/2 bushels. Rye, 2,860 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Barley, 12,288 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Oats, 3,686 acres; average per acre, 45 bushels. Corn, 46,080 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 45 bushels.

ADAMS COUNTY.— Wheat, 34.000 acres; average per acre, 18 bushels. Rye, 1,200 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Barley, 11,000 acres; average per acre, 30 bushels. Oats, 10,200 acres; average per acre, 50 bushels. Corn, 24,000 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 45 bushels.

SALINE COUNTY.— Wheat, 35,560 acres; average per acre, 19 bushels. Rye, 1,200 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Barley, 11,520 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Oats, 11,820 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Corn, 52,000 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 55 bushels.

YORK COUNTY.— Wheat, 45,000 acres; average er [sic] acre, 18 bushels. Rye, 1,500 acres; average per acre, 15 bushels. Barley, 8,000 acres; average per acre, 35 bushels. Oats, 19,000 acres; average per acre, 40 bushels. Corn, 33,000 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 50 bushels.

LANCASTER COUNTY.— Wheat, 47,000 acres; average per acre, 18 bushels. Rye, 5,000 acres; average per acre, 25 bushels. Barley, 23,000 acres; average per acre, 45 bushels. Oats, 5,000 acres; average per acre, 50 bushels. Corn, 82,000 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 55 bushels.

WEBSTER COUNTY.— Wheat, 12,000 acres; average per acre, 20 bushels. Rye, 1,000 acres; average per acre, 20 bushels. Barley, 8,000 acres; average per acre, 35 bushels. Oats, 5,000 acres; average per acre, 50 bushels. Corn, 20,000 acres; average per acre, (estimated) 40 bushels.

The average weight of this grain is as follows: Wheat from 60 to 65 lbs. per bushel; Rye, 56 to 60 lbs.; Barley, 42 to 50 lbs.; Oats, 35 to 40 lbs

WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY.

To gather together the experience of the thousands of men who now form the population of Southeastern Nebraska, would be nearly impossible, for a number of reasons—one of the principal of which is the fact that the most of those who have been, and are, largely prosperous—the men who have bought land when others were selling, the men who have bought corn and other products from their neighbors who sold—are just the men who have the least to say. In other words, they do not propose pointing out to others the "lead of pay ore" which they themselves have struck. In order to show the reader what men of capital do in Nebraska, we give here the statements of three or four men who started without capital. If they have succeeded under such circumstances, what may not those do who come into Nebraska under the present improved conditions, with a reasonable amount of capital to work with?

Here is the statement of a man in Filmore county who began with almost nothing, long before the railroad reached the county, who has undergone hardships, and has fought his way to success.

How a New York Cabinet Maker Solved the Money Question.

Mr. Christian Holock, writes from Fairmont:—Early in life I was a cabinet maker in New York city. Times were bad; employment for mechanics scarce, and wages low. I did what multitudes of mechanics might do now: I quit cabinet making, and turned to farming. I farmed in New York and Illinois, and did not find it easy work. In 1866 I arrived here a poor man. I had a span of old horses; a wagon in which was my wife and six children; a cow, two little pigs, provisions for sixty days, and just money enough left to buy me a stirring plow. It was in June, 1866, that I homesteaded 160 acres ten miles northeast of Fairmont, and for some years my farm was not Eden. But read my statement and you will see that I have a reward for all my toil. The first winter we had short rations, and three weeks our food was boiled corn. In the spring I had to borrow four bushels of seed wheat, and planted three acres, harrowing the field with a branch of a tree! I had ninety bushels of wheat which gave us bread for Sundays and holidays, and biscuit when a neighbor sat at our table. These were tough times; but next year I could sow 7 3/4 acres; and since that harvest we have had bread sure, and meat, potatoes and vegetables enough and to spare. What is my position now? I own 320 acres, 160 of which I purchased of the B. & M. R. R. Co.; and, of the 320, this year, 1877, I have had 90 in wheat, 10 in barley, 12 in oats, 14 in rye, 50 in corn, and 5 in potatoes. I have a good yield of small grain stacked; and a better promise than ever for corn. I have a good board-fenced garden about my house, with thrifty forest and fruit trees, and grape vines in bearing. I am out of debt; and own a reaper and mower and Marsh-harvester. I have a fanning mill, a corn sheller, two corn cultivators, two harrows, four plows, seven milch [sic] cows, twenty young stock, fifty to sixty hogs and pigs, and three teams of horses. My buildings are: milk-house, stable, two granaries, good log-house, and good frame-house, the latter 1 1/2 stories, 24x32, and well finished throughout, which I built last spring. I will neither go east nor west, but stay right here; and $10,000 would not buy my farm improvements. As for the railroad land, I would not give the B. & M. Company the crops grown on it this year for a clear deed.

CHRISTIAN HOLOCK,
Fairmont, Nebraska.

Here is the statement of a man who came into the country and homesteaded in 1872, with nothing but his tools and $30 in money:

A Blacksmith Farmer—His 1877 Crop worth $10,000.

Mr. A. H. Myers, who is settled near Harvard, in Clay County, Nebraska, thus writes:

I came from Knox County, Illinois, in the Spring of 1872, and homesteaded 160 acres in Town 7, Range 7, on the rolling prairie; I had a wife and several children, some stock and trade implements, but only $30 in money. I worked for sometime as a blacksmith in Harvard; then built a shop on my own land, and cultivated my land. Starting thus as a poor man, in 1873 I raised 100 acres of corn and small grain, and I have added to my land as I have been able. In 1874 I had 160 acres in corn, wheat, oats and barley; and in 1875 190 acres in the same crops, with flax added, my flax making 10 bushels to the acre. In 1876 I had 330 acres in corn, wheat, rye, oats and barley. I did not consider the barley did well, but it was raised on "sod" and yielded 25 bushels to the acre. My other crops that year paid me well. This year (1877) I have had 320 acres in wheat, 270 in Cherokee or grass wheat, which is No. 1, and I think 25 bushels to the acre; and 50 acres China tea, also No. 1, and some of it will run 30 bushels to the acre; I had 130 acres of 6 rowed barley, which is threshing 37 bushels to the acre. My other crops are good, and my corn on 50 acres is the best I have ever seen in any State; and at a low estimate my present crop will pay me $10,000. I do half of my plowing in the winter, while Illinois farmers are plodding in the mud; and I consider my location equal to Knox County, Illinois, if not better. My farm now comprises 640 acres; I have good buildings thereon: house and shop, wind mill, barns, stables, and houses for machinery. I have all necessary farming machinery, including thresher and header, and all paid for out of Nebraska, for I have not received over $150 in all from any source outside of my own exertions. I have an orchard and a good grove. Our water is pure, easy of access, and always sure; and I can buy wood, delivered at my door at $4 per cord, and good oak posts at 12 1/2 cents each.

A. H. MYERS,
Harvard, Neb.

Here are the statements of two men who came in at a later day, with a little capital.

RAILROAD LAND WILL PAY EXPENSES.

Friendville, Nebraska, August 4th, 1877.

You request me to give you my opinion and experiences about this part of Nebraska, since I have settled here.

I came here two years ago last March, from near Dixon, Lee County, Illinois, and settled on 160 acres of B. & M. R. R. land, three miles east of Friendville. First year I broke 45 acres with one team, besides putting in and working 70 acres with the same team. I raised 460 bushels wheat, 270 bushels barley, 360 bushels oats, and over 600 bushels corn. I have now 94 acres broke, and have built a house 16x20, granary 16x25, stock stable, cow and hay yards, paid taxes and payments on land as they became due, the cash for which I made out of crops, except part of cost of house and granary.

Hogs have paid me well, and my cattle are increasing and doing well. I have taken particular pains to observe the ways and manners of different farmers and the returns of their labors, and have come to the conclusion that Saline County, Nebraska, will return a greater amount of grain for labor done than any part of Illinois that I know of. Rain fall is generally in abundance when most needed—in latter part of May June and fore part of July.

The soil is productive, and with deep cultivation will stand greater drouth [sic] than any soil I ever saw. Many men come here and spend their time in town and in the saloons, and then curse the country because they do not get rich without work.

My opinion is that any man with common sense, a team and a few hundred dollars in hand, and willingness to work, can come here and buy R. R. land on ten years time, and unless he has uncommon bad luck, can pay for it (besides making improvements by building,) long before the time expires.

I expect that the wheat on my farm this year will turn out between twenty-two and twenty-five bushels to the acre.

Information gladly given to any one by letter.

HERMAN F. MOELLER,
Friendville, Saline Co., Nebr

BETTER SMALL GRAIN AND STOCK COUNTRY THAN
Illinois, AND EQUAL FOR CORN.

I, William Van Boening, formerly of Amden, Logan County, Illinois, do hereby certify that I came to Adams County in the spring of 1876, and commenced on one hundred bushels of corn and three sows; the rest of my stock I brought with me. Last year I raised 2,000 bushels of corn, 450 bushels of wheat, 540 bushels of oats. My corn yielded 40 bushels per acre after the grasshopper raid of last year; oats yielded 45 bushels per acre, and my wheat 11 bushels. The ground on which the wheat was sown was new, and the sod not well rotted. I sold last winter from my stock of hogs $200 worth, and kept 9 hogs over. This year I have 80 acres in wheat, a part of which will yield me 30 bushels to the acre, and the remainder 25 bushels. I estimate the yield of oats this year to be 75 to 80 bushels per acre, and confidently believe it will. My corn, if nothing harms it until it ripens, will yield at least 50 bushels per acre. Other crops that I have raised have been equally good. I am satisfied after two years' crops, that I can raise more wheat, rye and barley per acre, here in Adams County, than where I came from, and corn about the same here as there. As a stock country, it is the best I have ever known.

Potatoes are very productive and easily cultivated.

WM. VAN BOENING.

Dated Hastings, Neb.,
Aug. 11th, 1877.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR CAPITALISTS IN NEBRASKA.

Here is the statement of a man of capital:

Mr. W. P. Phillips, one of "the solid men" of Lincoln, informs the Land Department as follows: "I resided in eastern Ohio, and in 1870 I visited Nebraska to inquire into the resources of the State, and to prospect around for a location. My visit was a satisfactory one. I had not had good health, and it was evident to me, from my six months' residence in the State, that in this important matter I should be better than at my old home. I also saw manifold present business opportunities, and



a sound prospect for the future. For these reasons I determined to move my family to Lincoln; and we came here in 1871. I think I may say that I brought with me considerable means for a person moving west; and I have had no difficulty in utilizing these means. Indeed, my expectations in moving into the State have been more than realized. I have engaged in banking and in other business, and I own a considerable area of land, which I regard as a good investment. From my experience of the State, I think there is room here for a considerable moneyed class—men who command from $5,000 to $100,000. Capitalists coming here will not have to search for investments. They may loan money on improved and improving farms, and be certain of an adequate return without trouble to themselves. They may invest in live stock—a business in which much money can be employed, and large profits be made. They can put money in land, which is now at a low price; and, as regards the land bough of the Railroad Company, they can make it pay for itself by crops. They can also obtain a satisfactory profit from land partly improved, and then let out to rent; and they can also engage in manufactures, the time for which has come in our State. For instance, though we have oil mills, we need more of them; and the more there are, the more flax the farmers will probably raise. We also need methods of utillizing, on the spot, our abundant and cheap corn; and I consider that a starch manufactory and a distillery would pay at Lincoln. Speaking from my own experience, I have no hesitation in recommending the rapidly developing and well settled region of Southern Nebraska to the notice of men of capital, who are looking around for a location where they can profitably and safely employ their money."

W. P. PHILLIPS,
Lincoln, Neb.

STATEMENTS OUTSIDE THE STATE.

We have just given the statements of a few who are residents of Nebraska; and it is perhaps in place to add here one of a thousand letters that have been written within the last two years by parties who have come in and examined Nebraska. This letter is an extract from the Niagara Journal, of July, 1877, and is from the pen of the Hon. D. W. Judd, one of the proprie-



tors of the American Agriculturist—a journal of world-wide reputation. To this letter might be added hundreds of similar ones, but there is no room for them;

Lincoln, Nebraska, July 12th, 1877.

To the Editors of the Lockport Daily Journal;

"Two weeks since I came out here from New York to see the virgin prairie and to shoot prairie chickens. I have now been from the east border of the State to the Colorado line, a distance of five hundred miles, and have no hesitation in pronouncing Nebraska the most beautiful State in the Union; and it is rapidly filling up with the best population.********

"The farmers of Nebraska are now harvesting the most magnificent crops I have seen anywhere on the way from New York. The broad prairies fairly groan under the weight of ripening harvests, and there are no grasshoppers here to devour them. The wheat, corn and other grains which Nebraska will send east and west (the Pacific States now furnish a market,) will be simply enormous.

"I have never, before coming here, taken much stock in the stories of wonderfully cheap homes at the West. But I find people here in Nebraska living almost in affluence on their prairie farms who I know left New York State only a few years ago with next to nothing. The land is going at a rapid rate, but you can still purchase beautiful prairie land in Eastern and Middle Nebraska at from four to ten dollars per acre.

"There are no fences in Nebraska. The State compels every owner of cattle to herd them, so that the new and old comers are saved the expense of erecting fences all about their farm. It is a very common thing here for emigrants from the older States to raise sufficient crops, in the second or third year after coming, to pay for their lands and all attending expenses of getting settled."

Hundreds of just such statemetns could be given, but the best plan for a man to adopt is to
COME OUT AND SEE FOR HIMSELF.

The men who are pouring into the state, at this time, are among the best farmers of the Northern and Middle States, and the class of improvements that are being made are working out a wonderous change in the whole country. Go out and examine the country and talk with the people, and you will be convinced that this is the region in which you should make your new home.

Leading Facts with Reference to Southern Iowa and Southeastern Nebraska.

SOUTHERN IOWA.

Of the 360,000 acres formerly owned by the old B. & M. Railroad Company of Iowa, now owned by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, which lie principally in the southwestern portion of the State—principally in the Counties of Montgomery, Taylor, Mills, Page and Adams—there remain unsold about 36,000 acres. Of this amount there are still here and there a few fine tracts of 80 or 120 acres, suited for small farms, and which are offered upon the terms of credit hereafter set forth. Of the remaining amount, 36,000 acres, as before stated, there are about 20,000 acres of rougher tracts of land, which can be bought very cheap under the new cash and short credit terms.

Southern Iowa is now a comparatively old settled region; and the advance in the values of farming lands during the last few years have been very large indeed. The opportunities that present themselves in this region are attractive principally, if not altogether, to men of some means, who can afford to purchase farms partially improved. Scattered through Southern Iowa are found men who came into the country five and seven years since, and bought land at $5 an acre, which have now improved to a value of $12, $15, and $20.00 an acre. Large transfers of this class of property are being made to men of larger means from Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, &c., to which latter class of men some of the finest opportunities are still offered for locations in Southern Iowa, both on lands which were formerly owned by the Railroad Company, and other lands.

SOUTH-EASTERN NEBRASKA.

This region is known as the South Platte Country. The lands of the C., B. & Q. Railroad Company in Southern Iowa extend westward to the Missouri River; and the lands of the B. & M. in Nebraska commence where the Iowa grant leaves off. One grant is an extension of the other, the Missouri River being the dividing line between the two.

The state of Nebraska is a very large one; its length, from east to west, is 412 miles, and its width, from north to south, 208 miles.



The eastern and western portions of the State are so distinct in their characteristics, and the area is so great, that it would be well to divide Nebraska into two distinct States. Nineteen-twentieths of the population of the State live in the eastern half. The eastern half is again divided into North and South regions by the Platte River, and the southern half, or rather the South Platte country, contains the greatest portion of the population. In the southeastern part of the State, and abutting directly on the State of Iowa, are found the lands of the B. & M. Railroad Company in Nebraska.

The leading facts in reference to Southeastern Nebraska are briefly as follows:

THE CLIMATE

Is exhilerating, temperate and healthful, and the atmosphere dry and pure. Fever and ague, so common in new countries, are here unknown. The greatest amount of rain falls during the farming months, and the supply is ample. The lengthy report of Geo. Tilden, M. D., on the subject closes as follows:

"In fine, the atmosphere of Nebraska is very pure, clear, dry, elastic and bracing, and promotes in a high degree mental and physical activity and development. Take the seasons as they come and go, and average them, and no State can make such goodly promises as this for health, development and longevity."

This whole region has become so favorably known for its health giving characteristics, that many have been induced to settle here for the sake of health.

THE SOIL.

The soil is a rich vegetable mould, from three and one-half to eight feet in depth, underlaid by a subsoil of from forty to one hundred and fifty feet in depth. This subsoil of itself contains untold wealth, and was the subject of special comment in the Geological and Geographical Reports on Nebraska, prepared by Prof. Hayden for the United States Government, who ranks it as superior to that of the Rhine Valley.

The soil is absolutely inexhaustible; but the characteristics which will most interest the farmer are:

First. That it is very easily worked, and after two or three years' cultivation becomes as pliable as garden mould.

Second. It absorbs moisture so readily that a plough can be run through it within a few hours after the heaviest rains.

Third. It holds this moisture by reason of the retentive character of the subsoil, and gives it back to the plant root by capillary attraction when moisture is needed.

Fourth. As soon as the frost has gone, the land is ready for the plough, the moisture having been absorbed by the subsoil in the same way that the rains are absorbed and retained; consequently plowing, harrowing and sowing can be commenced in February or March.

Fifth. The land of Illinois and some other States being underlaid with blue clay, the water remains on the surface, and can only be carried away by evaporation or drainage. This often renders the land worthless in rainy seasons, while in dry weather, the moisture evaporating rapidly, the plant withers for want of nourishment.

While other regions possess a soil as good perhaps, though seldom as deep as that of Eastern Nebraska, there is no section, if we except Western Iowa, that possesses its subsoil.

Prof. Hayden's report states that over eighty per cent. of the deposit of which the subsoil is formed, is silica, so finely comminuted that its true character can only be detected by analysis, or under a microscope, and about ten per cent. carbonate and phosphate of lime, with some slight admixture of iron and alumina. The report concludes as follows:

"As would be expected from the elements which chemical analysis shows to be present in this deposit, the soil is one of the best in the world, and its fertility can never be exhausted until every hill of which it is composed is entirely worn away. Its drainage, which is the best possible, is owing to the remarkably finely comminuted silica, of which the builk of the deposit consists.

Where the ground is cultivated, the most copious rains soon percolate through the soil, which in its lowest depths retains it like a sponge. Even the unbroken prairie absorbs much of the heavy rains that fall, and when drouths [sic] come the moisture comes up from below by capillary attraction."

Productions.

Southeastern Nebraska possesses that peculiar advantage of being in the latitude where stock raising can be carried on with great success, and is at the same time pre-eminently an agricul-



tural country. Its crops of wheat, rye, oats, barley, corn, broom corn, sorghum, potatoes and all root crops, are of the finest variety and largest yield, as is shown by the statistics of the State and of the Interior Department.

STOCK RAISING.

Just at this time, notwithstanding that America has found a large market in Europe for beef and pork we hear the occasional remark that if everyone engaged in the stock raising business the market would be glutted, and beef down to three cents a pound, or less.

A little thought will show this to be a mistaken idea. The American people spend over two dollars on meat for every dollar's worth of bread they buy, and the consumption of meat is continually on the increase, both at home and abroad. It should also be rememered that the supplies which have hitherto come from the plains of Texas, Montana and Colorado are rapidly diminishing from one cause or another. Therefore, the opportunities for getting high prices for good corn-fed beef, raised on cultivated farms, are rapidly on the increase.

Experience in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa during late years has shown that in order to be highly successful, the farmer must combine stock raising with grain growing, and the reason is not far to seek. Five pounds of corn will make a pound of pork, and a bushel of corn will make twelve pounds of pork. A bushel of corn will bring from eighteen to thirty cents. Converted into twelve pounds of pork, it is worth, anywhere in Nebraska, at least forty-five cents.

Stock raising cannot be profitably carried on except in a good corn growing region. The advantages which Nebraska offers are these:

First.—Nebraska is free from the green-head and buffalo flies, which in many regions reduce the cattle in the very months when they should be fattening.

Second.—Nebraska, in the last eight years, has had a full corn crop, with the exception of the grasshopper year of 1874, which affected all the Western States.

Third. The grasses of Nebraska are particularly nutritious. The wild grass is chiefly of the blue-joint variety, and it is rarely met with as generally as it is throughout this region.

Fourth. The winters are short and mild, and it is a matter of fact, that with the exception of here and there a few days, stock can and do graze out the winter through. They require and ought to have shelter during the winter nights, but a large portion of the winter is made up of warm sunny days, during which stock browse upon the prairies, or among the cornstalks, instead of being shut up in close stables.

Fifth. None of the diseases common to cattle, sheep and hogs in the Eastern States are known in Nebraska; the pure air and open climate preventing all such maladies.

It is a matter of fact, that wherever Nebraska farmers, during the past eight years, have engaged in stock-raising, they are today prosperous and well-to-do men. Others have begun to realize the importance of it, so much so, that the increase in cattle, hogs and sheep during the last two years has been, according to the state and country returns, at the rate of 110 per cent. per annum.

FRUIT CULTURE.

The soil and climate of Nebraska are remarkably adapted to fruit growing. At the 1873 Fair of the American Pomological Society, which was open to all States, the first medal was awarded to Nebraska for the largest and best display of fruits. In the year following, at the Fair held in Boston, the first medal of the Society was again given to Nebraska, and at the 1874 Fair the wonderful progress of Nebraska in fruit culture was made matter of special comment by the President of the Society, who declared that he "had lived to see great progress in the pomology of America, but nothing more wonderful than the progress made by your youthful State."

The first premiums at many State Fairs have been awarded to Nebraska, and the reputation of the State for fruit growing has become so fully established that exhibitions have been entirely abandoned.

RAILROADS AND MARKETS.

Young as it is, Southeastern Nebraska has already 650 miles of railroads, while 200 miles more of the Union Pacific Railroad runs just at its northern border. These railroads consist of the B. & M., St. J. & Denver City, Midland Pacific, and the Atchison & Nebraska, giving direct communication with St. Louis on the south, Chicago on the east, and the mining regions on the west. So good are these connections that Southeastern Nebraska obtains within a small fraction the same prices on grain and stock as are obtainable in Western Iowa.

TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.

Energetic, thriving towns are found everywhere in the South Platte country. They all show evidences of progress, and a rapid increase in population and wealth has taken place during the past three years.

Churches of every denomination are established throughout the State, while in its school system Nebraska stands pre-eminent among the new States. Ths accounted for by the
CLASS OF PEOPLE
Who have settled this region. They consist of sterling people from Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the Eastern States; and whether he be on the cars, at the hotels, in town or country, the explorer cannot but be struck with the appearance and character of the people of Nebraska as compared with those of other new States.

COAL, WOOD AND TIMBER.

Native timber is found along the streams, and the country is as well, if not better provided than most prairie States.

All through the State—except in large cities like Lincoln—good wood can be procured, delivered at the door, for $4.00 a cord. Most farmers, however, buy uncut trees, and haul and saw them themselves, thus getting it at about $1.50 a cord.

Groves of timber are springing up all over the country, and the explorer is readily convinced of the ease and rapidity with which shade and fuel are obtainable.

Lumber is brought from Minnesota by the lines running north, and from Chicago and the Mississippi by the roads leading east.

Coal of the best quality is mined on the B. & M. R. R., in Iowa, and is cheaply transported to points in Nebraska. At Lincoln, good coal can be had at $5.00 per ton.

RAIN FALL.

The record of the rain fall during the past five years, made at various points in the State, gives an average for Southeastern Nebraska 38.30 inches, of which nearly two-thirds fell in the agricultural months, from April to September.

WATER AND STREAMS.

The water supply of this whole region is ample, and the purity and softness of the water is proverbial. The streams are all clear and rapid. The finest well water is obtained everywhere at a depth averaging from 20 to 60 feet. On the high prairies a greater depth must often be reached, but everywhere the water is found in inexhaustible quantities, and of the very best character. Cattle and sheep ranches are in many places to be found depending on a single well and wind mill for their whole supply of water. The sheep ranche of Mr. C. Jansen, in Jefferson County, which has proved one of the most successful in the country, is located upon two sections of upland prairie, where a single well, with wind mill, affords a never failing stream of water for 2300 head of sheep and over 80 head of cattle. In a word the whole country is underlaid at a depth of from 20 to 100 feet with a bed of sand and gravel, which is identical with the Platte river, and an underground river is continually pouring the melted snows of the Rocky Mountains from the bed of the Platte river to the bed of the Republican river, which lies one hundred feet below.

THE LAWS OF NEBRASKA

Are liberal in the extreme, and framed for the protection of the man of limited means. A homestead, not exceeding 160 acres, with the house and appurtenances, or the homestead within the limits of a city, "shall not be subject to attachment, levy or sale, upon execution or other process issuing out of any court in this State, so long as the same shall be owned and occupied by the debtor as such homestead."

Special laws have been passed encouraging the growth of trees and the making of general improvements.

HERD LAW

The Herd Law of Nebraska fences stock in, instead of fencing stock out. The cost of fencing is a serious item anywhere. It is estimated by competent authority that the fences of the United States cost more than any other property, real estate and railroads excepted. Two years ago the value of fences in the United States was set down at $1,800,000,000 ; and the expenditures for repairs annually $98,000,000. Under the wise provisions of the herd law of Nebraska, a man can commence his farming operations at once without fencing. Experience has proved the system to be both effectual and economical, and the farmer needs nothing better than this until the time when his fields shall be fenced with living hedges.

ELEVATION ABOVE THE SEA

The following table shows the gradual ascent from the Missouri river to Kearney Junction, of about 1,200 feet in 160 miles (direct line). There is no variation in the uniformity of the ascent. Perfect drainage is insured, and malarial influences are impossible.

STATIONS.	Elevation in Feet.	STATIONS.	Elevation in Feet.
Plattsmouth and Omaha.	954	Fairmont	1608
Ashland	1053	Sutton	1663
Greenwood	1092	Harvard	1766
Lincoln	1114	Hastings	1845
Crete	1320	Kearney Junction	2114

UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH

The rapid settlement of Illinois was the wonder of the times, but a comparison of the census returns of Illinois and Nebraska prove beyond question that Nebraska's population has increased more rapidly than Illinois ever did in her palmiest days.

In 1856 the census of Nebraska showed a population of 10,716 souls—while the census of 1875 showed the population to be 246,280—an increase of 2,198 per cent. in less than twenty years.

Nations have moved in masses and by force of arms taken possession of countries, but in the history of peaceful migration there is nothing to compare with this enormous growth.

There is no great movement without a justifiable cause. For a number of years the human tide has flowed, and is still flowing into Nebraska, and why? Because in Nebraska there is power for expansion ; because there is hope for the future and a sure return for labor and capital invested ; because both soil and climate are good, and men can work and enjoy health ; because, in short, Nebraska possesses all the elements necessary for the making of a second and a greater Illinois!

GOVERNMENT LANDS

For some years the American people have been on the look-out for good government lands near to railroads. To-day there is but a small quantity of government land lying within reasonable distances from railroads, and fit for agricultural purposes, open to settlement.

The Government lands contiguous to this line of road were all eagerly taken up four and five years ago, but in Franklin and Webster counties—distant twenty to forty miles from the railroad—there are still some tracts remaining, and this is an agricultural region.

You can judge for yourself whether it is not better to purchase land at four or five dollars per acre, on ten years credit, and six per cent. interest, that is good land and near a railroad, and will quickly advance to twenty-five dollars per acre, rather than go upon the far western or southern plains and homestead land upon which you are never certain of half a crop, and which will never advance in value.

HOMESTEADS

The homestead right attaches to 80 acres of land within twenty-mile railroad limits, and to 160 acres outside of railroad limits. (Franklin and Webster counties are outside of railroad limits.)

On entering a homestead the fees are $14, and when the certificate entitling to patent is issued, there is a further fee of $4. The homesteader must reside on and cultivate the land continuously for five years, when he becomes entitled to his patent. Soldiers and sailors who served in the war are entitled to a home-stead of 160 acres wherever they can find it ; and they can locate their claims through an attorney, but must commence residence within six months after the entry, and the time of their service, up to four years, is reckoned as residence on the land. A homesteader can " prove up " on his land at any time by paying $1.25 per acre outside of railroad limits, and $2.50 per acre within railroad limits.

Timber claims to the amount of 160 acres can be taken up on prairie land, and no residence is required. Only one claim of 160 acres is allowed to each person, and only 160 acres in each section can be entered as timber land. The improvements required are that one-fourth of the land must be put in cultivation the first year, one-fourth more in two years, and the remaining half in four years. The trees must not be more than twelve feet apart, and must be cultivated and kept in healthy condition, and at the end of eight years a patent will issue for the land to the improver.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES ABOVE THOSE OF OTHER COUNTRIES,

To be gained by settling in the South Platte Country of the B. & M. R. R. in Nebraska?

1st. The location of the lands is the best, being in the right latitude and in the central belt of population, commerce and wealth.

2nd. The lands themselves are the finest body of agricultural lands remaining unsold in the west.

3rd. The railroad communications are of the best, there being direct lines to the east and west, and north and south, so that the advantages of the Chicago, St. Louis and New York markets are obtained.

4th. The population is made up of the best class of people from Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the other Middle and Eastern States.

5th. The early Springs and mild Winters of this region make it one of the finest stock regions in the world.

6th. It is one of the best corn countries, and lies directly in "the corn belt," and, at the same time, all kinds of cereals, as well as all American productions, without exception, give generous yields in this middle region.

7th. The climate is one of the most healthful in the world, and the water among the purest.

8th. This region has been settled sufficiently long to determine that it is a first-class agricultural region, and the difficulties connected with early settlement are now over.

9th. The title to the land is a grant direct from the United States, the patents having been delivered to the B. & M. four years since. The Company gives a Warranty Deed, guaranteeing the land free from every incumbrance.

10th. The terms of sale, rebates for improvements, and freight and passenger arrangements, are more liberal than those of other companies.

11th. All the advantages of a settled region, in the way of churches, schools, railroads, bridges, and improved farms, are to



be found here, and order and good government are the rule everywhere, the "rowdy" element never having had any foot-hold in Nebraska.

12th. The country has only a small debt, and taxes are low.

13th. This is the only company offering ten years' time at only six per cent. interest, interest only being asked for the first four years.

14th. This is the only company making distinctions between the man who purchases for speculation and the man who buys land to make a home. To the latter a discount of twenty per cent. is given from the price of the land. The premiums already paid to improvers amount to nearly $400,000.

When all these advantages can be secured from this company—and on better rates and terms than are offered in less favored regions—is it not wise to take the best article?

THE BURLINGTON ROUTE.

HOW TO REACH THIS COUNTRY.

The C., B. & Q., or the Burlington Route, as it is generally called, is well known everywhere. It consists of some 1700 miles of railroad, located in the heart of Illinois and Iowa. Its branches so reach out as to tap the northern and southern portions of Illinois, and it runs in almost a direct line from Chicago and Peoria to Plattsmouth, where it connects with its feeder, the B. & M. in Nebraska.

This whole region is reached from the south and east by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, and the Chicago & Northwestern Railroads, and wherever the passenger may start from, he should aim to reach one of these lines, for if he be upon a trip of inspection and investigation, he will find on sale at the junction stations, and at all leading stations upon these three roads, Land Exploring Tickets to Lincoln, and at Lincoln, Land Exploring Tickets are sold to all other points upon the road.

ROUND TRIP TICKETS.

Land exploring tickets to Lincoln, and return, will be found on sale at all the principal stations and junction points on the line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Chicago, Rock



Island & Pacific, and Chicago & Northwestern Railroads. The full first-class fare to Lincoln is charged going, but there is found attached to the ticket a contract binding the railroads to return the passenger at one-fifth of the regular fare from Lincoln to his starting point.

If you are going out to explore the country, all that you need to do is to buy, at the ticket office of one of the three roads named, a land exploring ticket to Lincoln.

On arriving at Lincoln, by showing your "Ticket Contract," you can obtain an extension ticket from Lincoln to any point west, at the same three-fifths fare for the round trip.

On your return journey, you will find an agent of the Land Department at the Lincoln Depot, and on surrendering your Ticket Contract to him, he will ticket you back to the point you started from, at one-fifth of the regular fare.

This makes the fare, for instance, from Chicago to Lincoln, and return from Lincoln to Chicago, only $23, and rates from other points correspond therewith.

REBATES.

To purchasers of B. & M. lands, the following allowances are made for fare paid on these exploring tickets:

On a purchase of 160 acres of land on six years' credit, two years' credit or cash terms, the entire fare paid from Chicago and Illinois points on the C., B. & Q.,, C., R. I. & P., and C. & N. W..

On a purchase of 80 acres of land on the foregoing terms, one-half the fare paid is allowed.

On a purchase of 160 acres on ten years' credit, one-half the fare paid is allowed, and the same proportionate allowances on smaller purchases.

ONE WAY TICKETS.

At all the principal stations and junctions on the C., B. & Q., C., R. I. & P., and C. & N. W. railroads, and most of the leading railroads in the country, will be found, on sale, second-class tickets to Lincoln, Fairmont, Hastings and other points on the B. & M. R. R. in Nebraska, at two and one-half cents per mile. These tickets are good upon any train.

THE TERMS OF SALE
FOR THE YEAR 1878.

We desire to call the special attention of all to the fact that this Railroad Company offers better lands at lower prices, longer terms of credit, and lower rates of interest than any company in the United States, and it will be found that this Company, in dealing with its more than fourteen thousand five hundred purchasers, has always acted in the most just and liberal spirit.

The B. & M. is the only Company offering a premium of fifteen per cent. for improvements, thus making a distinction between the actual settler and the speculator. The improvements are easily made, consisting of either cultivating one quarter of the land, or erecting buildings or fences equal in value to one quarter the price of the land, and the long period of two years is given in which to make these improvements. Read the explanation of the improvement premiums on another page.

If at any time a purchaser wishes to pay out his contract, he can do so and stop the interest, and in Nebraska a discount from the principal is allowed. There are four terms of sale

FOR NEBRASKA.

Terms I.—Ten Years' Credit, Six per cent. Interest ; only interest required for the first four years; discount of 15 per cent. for improvements.

Terms II.—Six Years' Credit, Six per cent Interest ; only interest required in the second and third years; discount of 20 per cent. from the Ten Years' Credit prices ; also a discount of 12 ½ per cent. for Improvements, making total discount of 32½ per cent.

Terms III.—Two Years' Credit, Six per cent. Interest ; discount of 32½ per cent. from the Ten Years' Credit prices ; one-third of the principal required down, the balance in two payments.

Terms IV.—Cash, with a discount of 35 per cent. from the Ten Years' Credit prices.

In the case of purchasers who have sufficient means to enable them to do so, it is, of course, by far the best to take advantage of the ENORMOUS DISCOUNTS GIVEN FOR CASH AND SHORT CREDIT PURCHASES : Thirty-five per cent. discount for cash ; Thirty-two and one-half for short credit ; and Twenty per cent. for six years credit.

TERMS No. 1.—TEN YEARS' CREDIT,

Requiring, at the time of purchase, interest only for one year at six per cent. At the commencement of the second, third and fourth years, the same payment is required, and not until the beginning of the fifth year is any part of the principal to be paid. At this time one-seventh part of the principal is required, with interest at six per cent. on the balance, and one-seventh with interest on the balance each year thereafter until the whole is paid. This system is further explained by the following example, showing the total cost of 160 acres of land at five dollars per acre, on ten years' credit, and the amount of each annual payment.

EXAMPLE FIRST.

160 acres, at $5 per acre, (bought January 1st, 1878,)—$800.

DATE OF PAYMENT.	Int.	Prin.	Total.
January 1, 1878, (date of purchase,)	$48.00		$48.00
" 1879,	48.00		48.00
" 1880,	48.00		48.00
" 1881,	48.00		48.00
" 1882,	41.14	$114.28	155.42
" 1883,	34.28	114.29	148.57
" 1884,	27.42	114.29	141.71
" 1885,	20.58	114.28	134.86
" 1886,	13.72	114.29	128.01
" 1887,	6.86	114.29	121.15
" 1888,		114.28	114.28
Total Payments	$336.00	$800.00	$1136.00

The discount of 15 per cent. for improvements on a tract of 160 acres, on ten years' credit, at $5.00 per acre, is shown in the following:

EXAMPLE SECOND.

160 acres, $5.00 per acre, (bought January 1st, 1878,)—$800.

DATE OF PAYMENT.	Int.	Prin.	Total.
January 1, 1878, (date of purchase,)	$48.00		$48.00
" 1879,	48.00		48.00
" 1880,	48.00		48.00
" 1881,	48.00		48.00
" 1882,	41.14		41.14
" 1883,	34.28	$108.57	102.86
" 1884,	27.42	114.29	141.71
" 1885,	20.58	114.28	134.86
" 1886,	13.72	114.29	128.01
" 1887,	6.86	144.29	121.15
" 1888,		114.28	114.28
Total Payments,	$336.00	$680.00	$1016.00

It will be seen by comparing this with Example First, that the premium of fifteen per cent. pays the principal due January 1st, 1882, and $5.72 of the principal due January 1st, 1883.

These are the most liberal terms ever offered by any Railroad Company in the United States ; but in addition to this, the purchaser of 160 acres of B. & M. Land, is allowed one-half the cost of his exploring ticket from Chicago, and C., B. & Q. points—and is offered low car load rates on his movables, as well as reduced fare for his family.

TERMS No. 2.—SIX YEARS' CREDIT.

The regular price for 160 acres of land on long credit being $5.00 per acre, the same land can be obtained on six years' credit at a discount of 20 per cent., or $4.00 per acre, with 6 per cent. interest annually.

EXAMPLE THIRD.

160 acres (bought January 1st. 1878.1 at $4 per acre. $640.00.

DATE OF PAYMENT.	Prin.	Int.	Total.
January 1, 1878, (date of purchase,)	$128.00		$128.00
" 1879,		30.72	30.72
" 1880,		30.72	30.72
" 1881,	128.00	30.72	158.72
" 1882,	128.00	23.04	151.04
" 1883,	128.00	15.36	143.36
" 1884,	128.00	7.68	135.68
Total,	$640.00	$138.24	$778.24

In addition to the large discount allowed on Terms II., a premium of 12 1/2 per cent. is allowed for Improvements, which is deducted from the first payment of Principal which falls due. Upon a purchase of 160 acres at the reduced price of $4.00 per acre, the premium for improvements would be $80, thus cutting down the principal, due January 1st, 1881, from $128 to $48, as per

EXAMPLE FOURTH.

160 acres at $4.00 per acre, $640.00.

DATE OF PAYMENT.	Prin.	Int.	Total.
January 1, 1878, (date of purchase,)	$128.00		$128.00
" 1879,		$30.72	30.72
" 1880,		30.72	30.00
" 1881,	48.00	30.72	78.72
" 1882,	128.00	23.04	151.04
" 1883,	128.00	15.36	143.36
" 1884,	128.00	7.68	135.68
Total,	$560.00	$138.24	$698.24

These Six Years' Credit Terms of Sale are the best terms upon which a credit purchase can be closed, and are purposely made so in order to induce people to buy on Six Years' Credit, and in order to assist them in paying their principal, and thus reducing the interest account, and by so doing the company secures a more reliable class of contracts than are Ten Years' Sales, upon which only interest has been paid. The experience of Land Departments is that the average time that contracts are paid up in full is a little over five years, and that very few men need ten years' time in which to pay for land. If a man is able to make this first installment of one-fifth of principal, it will pay him handsomely to do so, as he can see by examination of figures.

The absolute guarantee of all these premiums is fully set forth in all our contracts, and is fully explained on another page, under the head of Premiums for Improvements.

TERMS No. 3.—TWO YEARS' CREDIT.

The regular price for 160 acres of land on long credit being $5.00 per acre, the same land can be obtained on two years' credit at a discount of 32½ per cent., or $3.37½ per acre, with six per cent. interest annually.

EXAMPLE FIFTH.

160 acres, (bought January 1st, 1878) at $3.37½ per acre—$540

January 1, 1878, One-third of principal				$180.00
" 1879, " "	$180.00,	interest,	$21.60	201.60
" 1880, " "	180.00,	"	10.80	190.80
Total				$572.40

TERMS No. 4.—CASH.

This same land, 160 acres, worth $5.00 per acre, can be bought for cash at a discount of 35 per cent.

It will thus be seen that the lands of the B. & M. are rated as follows:

Taking 160 acres at $5.00 per acre, $800, the prices really are:

On Ten Years' Credit	$680
On Six Years' Credit	560
On Two Years, Credit	540
Cash Terms	520

IOWA TERMS OF SALE.

Terms I.—Ten Years' Credit, Six per cent. Interest ; only interest required for four years.

Terms II.—Six Years' Credit, Six per cent. Interest ; only interest required the Second and Third years ; discount of 20 per cent. from the Ten Years' Credit prices.

Terms III.—Two Years' Credit, Six per cent. Interest ; discount of 25 per cent. from the Ten Years' Credit prices.

Terms IV.—Cash. Discount of 30 per cent. from the Ten Years' Credit prices.

No Discount for Improvements is given on Iowa Lands.

Purchasers of land from both these Companies pay taxes for the year in which they buy. Under the terms of the Contracts and Deeds of the Companies, all back taxes are paid by the Railroads.

EXPLANATION OF THE IMPROVEMENT PREMIUMS.

Any purchaser of this Company's land in Nebraska, on ten years' credit, who shall, within two years from date of his contract, erect permanent buildings, or fences, to the value of at least one-fourth the cost of his land, or who shall, within the same time, cultivate one-fourth part of the land purchased, and keep the same under cultivation four years from the date of his contract, will be allowed a premium equal to
FIFTEEN PER CENT.
of the price of his land, to be applied on his principal as it becomes due.

Purchasers on six years' credit become entitled to the 121 per cent. premium, which is earned and applied in exactly the same way.

BRING YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS, IMPLEMENTS AND STOCK.

Some railroads advise farmers to sell all they have before moving. We are enabled, by means of our long line of railroad, stretching from Chicago westward, to offer low car load rates for household goods, horses, cattle, farm implements, &c., and so say, bring them along by all means. For full particulars, as to the manner of making the shipments, rebates allowed and so on, apply to Land Commissioner, B. & M. R. R., Burlington, Iowa.

The discounts offered are open to all settlers, whether purchasers of railroad land or not.

In order to make quick time, parties should ship early in the week—Wednesday at latest. Illinois shipments should be ready for train No. 49, and Iowa shipments for train No. 9.

PRICES IN Nebraska LUMBER.

The readers of this pamphlet will want to know what prices are. They are given, therefore, at three important points on the B. & M. road—Lincoln, Crete and Hastings—and as these are all leading markets, and centers of B. & M. lands, the prices may be estimated elsewhere.

LUMBER.	LINCOLN.	CRETE.	HASTINGS.
Fencing, per 1000	$18.00 @ $20.00	$22.00 @ $24.00
Barn Boards, " "	18.00 @ 20.00	20.00 @ 22.00	$22.00 @ $24.00
Stock Boards, " "	26.00 @ 28.00	@ 25.00
½ inch Siding," "	20.00 @ 22.00	20.00 @ 34.00	20.00 @ 25.00
Scantling, " "	22.00 @ 23.00	@ 23.00
Lath, " "	4.00 @ 4.25	@ 4.00	@ 4
Shingles, " "	3.00 @ 4.50	3.00 @ 4.00	2.75 @ 4.50
Timber, " "	20.00 @ 22.00
Posts (Cedar). " "	20.00 @	22.00 @ 22.00

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

The leading articles in agricultural implements are priced at Lincoln as follows : Breaking plows, $22 ; wood-beam 14-inch stubble plows, $14 ; wood-beam sulky plows, $65 ; two-horse corn planters, $55 ; wood-beam walking cultivators, $23.50 ; iron-beam riding cultivators, $30 ; broadcast seeders, $65 to $70 ; grain drills, $80 to $85 ; harrows, $10 to $12 ; Buckeye and Wood's Eagle mowers, $100 ; McCormick's single reaper, $145, and combined, $170 ; and Marsh harvester. $180 New-ton wagon, $90.

Machinery of all kinds can be purchased at any station at Chicago prices, with freight added.

HORSES AND CATTLE.

The average prices for a good team of Horses are $175 to $250 ; Work Oxen, $80 to $100 per yoke ; Mules, $200 to $250 per pair ; Milch Cows, $25 to $35 each.

Good Stock Hogs can be bought anywhere on the road, and most of the ranches have good grades of Sheep to sell.

Brick is manufactured at several points on the B. & M. The price at Lincoln is $10 per thousand. Lime 60 cents per bushel. Coal, $5 to $6 per ton.

SECTIONAL MAPS, showing each piece of Land for sale in the South Platte District, will be receipt of twenty-five cents, which is only the cost of Map. It is on large scale, and colored by counties.

Address : LAND COMMISSIONER, B. &. M. R. R.,

Burlington, Iowa.

?We are often asked what the cost of building a house in our section of country. To meet this enquiry, we have had plans drawn up by Mr. H. E. CHAPEL, of Crete, Nebraska, who is an architect and builder, and here give drawings :

This house can be built at Crete, or in that vicinity, for $300. This price does not include the hauling from Crete to place of erection.

It consists of two rooms, is 14 x 22, with walls 8 feet ; lath and plastered, and two coats of paint.

This house can be built at or in vicinity of Crete for $500.00. This does not include hauling the material from Crete. It consists of 5 rooms — 3 on ground and 2 above, with 2 closets. — Size of rooms as per plans ; walls of lower story 8 feet, and of upper story 4 feet at side, and 8 feet highth of ceiling; lath and plastered, and two coats of paint.