Farming
Grove observes, “The stable was large enough for four horses and six cows. There were, further, a chicken house, harbouring also a number of geese, ducks, and turkeys; a granary, well-floored; a smoke-house; and a half-open shed for the very complete array of implements. Whatever Amundsen did, he did right.” Amundsen’s occupation comprises varied agribusiness undertakings: The stable is demonstrative of livestock husbandry whereas the ‘chicken house’ is distinctive of poultry. The undertakings necessitate ample water to sustain the animals and the birds.
Immigrants’ Settlement
Mrs Lund counsels Niels: “By the time you're ready to prove up, in the bush, you've paid for the place in work three times over. And what with the stumps and stones, everybody is willing to sell out as soon as he gets his patent. Yes, if you could get a homestead out in the open prairie . . . But there the land's all settled. And when a man has proved up and owns his quarter of bush, what can he get for it? Two thousand dollars. And that's for six, seven years of back-breaking work; and sometimes for longer. Take a prairie farm, now, which sells for six thousand dollars, let me say. You work it for six years, and you've paid for it in half crops. And you own all your machinery besides. You are worth ten thousand dollars.” Mrs. Lund’s counsel reveals that the immigrants must struggle for them to be self-sufficient and to be homeowners. According to her a ‘prairie farm’ is more expedient than ‘proving up’ because it is less strenuous. Immigrants’ long-standing ambitions of actualization encompass both property rights and financial stability.
