Farm Life Isn't Easy! Life as a farmer was by no means easy. There were a lot of problems and strains, but it had its good points. The Homestead Act passed in 1862 by Congress gave 160 free acres of prairie land to anyone who would live on it for five years. A lot of farmers also bought land from the Railroad Company so they could be close to the transcontinental railroad tracks, which made transportation better. Though the land was free, the problems nearly outweighed the advantages. The first was housing, which gave people two options. One was the sod house. Strips of sod were plowed and chopped into blocks, then laid down to start the walls. It was layered up, with packing boxes used for doors and windows. The sod was good for insulation in the winter, but they leaked badly in the rain. The second type was the dugout home. They were built exactly as it sounds. A space was dug on a bank or into a hill. Then the opening was covered with a roof of sod. True, people were living......
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