are found to be blessed in summer with an almost daily breeze from the Rocky Mountains, which is so cool and refreshing as to preclude all oppression from heat. The wet season is in May and June, and then the rivers fill and some overflow their banks. The fall is the dryest portion of the year. Snow in winter seldom exceeds two or three inches in depth, and soon disappears. Cattle can subsist on the prairies throughout the winter without artificial shelter, though they would do better under cover. The greater part of the territory is healthy, being high and dry. The low, marshy grounds form but a small portion of the territory, and consequently there is but little danger from malaria. Winds come pure from the Rocky Mountains, Kanzas lying wholly west of the swamps which abound on the Mississippi and Missouri valleys.

SURFACE AND SOIL.

From the eastern boundary of Missouri to the base of the Rocky Mountains, the face of the country is a continual succession of undulating ridges and valleys. These ridges generally run north and south; they are diverted in many places from their uniformity by the courses of streams and rivers. The eastern portion, extending from 80 to 200 miles west of the Missouri boundary, is the most available for agricultural purposes. It is well, though not abundantly, timbered. It has a limestone basis, and the surface soil varies from two to six feet in depth, much of it a black vege

table mould, superior to ordinary prairie soil. Beyond this district there is a gradual deterioration westward,

and beyond Council Grove and Sandy Creek, the soil presents a sandy appearance, but it is covered with the vine, rushes, &c.; the basis is sandstone. The only trees in this portion of the country are those in the valley of the Kanzas River. They are chiefly cottonwood and willow. This character of soil extends from 100 to 150 miles westward, and beyond it the soil is in good part composed of marl and earthy limestone, and so is well adapted for corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, &c. There are table lands, elevated from 15 to 50 feet above the ordinary level, with perpendicular sides. The surfaces of these elevations are flat, and some of them are covered with mountain cherry and other shrubs. This region is, however, destitute of timber. This is but a narrow belt of land, and beyond it is a district resembling the eastern portion of the territory. Along the base of the Black Hills there is an abundance of timber growing on a broad bank of fertile, finely-watered soil. The scenery here is very fine, and there is an abundance of wild fruits and flowers. tween the Black Hills and the Rocky Mountains there is every variety of soil and aspect, and the scenery rises to great sublimity and grandeur. It is adorned with sparkling rivulets and placid lakes, and there is an amount of water power surpassing that of any settled portion of the United States.

Be

The Republican and Smoky Hill Forks take their rise from the snows and streams of the Rocky Moun

tains, and unite to form the Kanzas River on the 39th degree of latitude and 96th degree of longitude. This river flows eastward to its mouth in 39° latitude and 96° longitude. The valley varies from 20 to 40 miles in width near its mouth, and narrows towards its source. The timbers which grow in the upper portions of the two great forks are poplar, cedar, pine, and other trees common to mountainous districts. The principal trees of the Kanzas River valley are hickory, oak, walnut, sugar maple, ash, &c. The southern portion of the territory presents great advantages for stock raising and wool growing, as the animals require little or no shelter during the winter, and the expense of building sheds, &c., can be dispensed with. In the north the soil is said to be perfect for agriculture, being rich and retentive, with just sand enough in it to make it easy to cultivate.

AGRICULTURE.

It is impossible at present to give any correct statements in regard to the productions of the soil in Kanzas, as farming is yet in its incipiency; but the unparalleled richness of the soil, combined with the rapid influx of population from the Eastern States, leads us to believe that the fertile resources of this embryo state will shortly be developed to an extent which will astonish the great farming countries in the Ohio River, and who will be forced to give up the princely title which they have arrogated to themselves as the "Granaries of the World."

We are enabled to present, however, what is of more immediate importance to those contemplating emigration, and who wish to know how the necessaries of life are sold, a correct list of the

PRICES CURRENT.

Lawrence, September 22, 1855.- Corn, $1 25 cents a bushel; corn meal, $1 50 cents for 50 pounds; beans, $4 a bushel; flour, in sacks, $5 per 100 pounds; superfine, $5 50 cents. Dried peaches, $3 50 cents a bushel; butter, fresh, 25 cents; beef, 7 and 9 cents a pound; hams, smoked, 15 cents; bacon, 12 cents; prime pickled pork, 15 cents; lard, 12 cents a pound; tallow, 121 cents a pound; cheese, 15 and 20 cents a pound; eggs, 25 cents a dozen; salt, coarse, $1 50 cents a bushel; sugar, New Orleans, 9 and 11 cents; crushed, 15 cents; white, 12 cents; molasses, sugarhouse, 75 cents; golden sirup, 95 cents; common, 70 cents; rice, 12 cents a pound; crackers, 15 cents a pound; codfish, 10 cents a pound; coffee, 14 and 163 cents a pound; tea, black, 70 and 80 cents a pound; green, 80 cents and $1; tobacco, 25 and 70 cents a pound; saleratus, 10 and 15 cents a pound; bar soap, 10 and 12 cents a pound; coarse boots, $3 and $3 50 cents a pair; blankets, $2 and $14; buffalo robes, $3 and $8; calicoes, 10 and 16 cents a yard; delaines, 25 and 40 cents a yard; sheetings, coarse, 9 and 12 cents; domestic, 9 and 10 cents; bleached, 10 and 15 cents; lamp oil, $1 25 cents a gallon; burning fluid, $1 25 cents a gallon; iron,

bar, 9 cents; round and square, 9 and 10 cents; nail rod, 12 cents; nails, $8 per cwt. ; hides, dried, 8 cents; green, 4 cents; lumber, $25 and $35 per 1000 feet; hard wood, $2 50 cents a cord; shot, 12 cents a pound; lead, 10 cents; powder, 35 and 50 cents; window sash, 8 and 10 cents a light.

Stock Market. - Beef cattle, from 5 to 6 cents; no demand for stock; prices at a stand; mules and horses selling at liberal prices; oxen $80 to $125 per yoke; milch cows, $25 to $40.

MISSOURI COMPROMISE.

On the 18th of December, 1818, the petition of the legislature of Missouri Territory, asking for the admission of that territory into the Union as a state, was presented to Congress. A bill embodying the views of the petitioners was framed, and on the 19th of Februa ry an amendment prohibiting the further introduction of slavery or involuntary servitude was adopted by a vote of 87 to 76 in the House of Representatives. On the 15th of March, on motion of James Tallmadge, of New York, an amendment providing that all children born within said state after its admission shall be free at the age of 25 years was adopted by a vote of 79 to 67. The Senate refused to concur in these two amendments, and as the House insisted on them, the bill did not pass at that session.

During the next session of Congress, the Missouri bill being again under consideration, Mr. Thomas, of Illi