St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-12-09
For the 81. Cloud Demo c,ut
CROPS, CLIMATE &C., OF
MINNESOTA.
CHRISTIAN EuRMAN, EsQR,
HARRISBURG, PA.

! CHRISTIAN EHRMAN, EsQR,
HARRISBURG, PA.
! DEAR SIR Your favor Of q few days
since, making sundry inquiries in regard
to the climate, crops, productions, NC, OF
Minnesota, came duly to hand. Letters
from our old eastern friends containi ng sim
liar interrogatories, come SO thickly' upon
us, that, both for their and our convent
ence, we have concluded to reply at length
in this public manner.
Crops.
The crops in this section Of the State
were nearly destroyed by the grass 'hoppers
in 1856 and 81, so that the summer Of
1858, is the only basis upon which we can
properly form an estimate Of the produc-
tiveness of cur soil. Winter wheat, owing
to the absence Of seed, has not been test
ed yet, but by another harvest We shall he
able to report as to It's success. Winter
rye, spring barley, corn, OF every variety,
buckwheat, oats, &c., have yielded just as
much as could stand upon the ground,
and with the exception Of late sown
buckwhcat all matured to Perfection
The smooth varieties Of spring wheat,
owing to the wet season and the joint-wornl,
were partial failure; but the bearded
varieties fulfilled the largest hopes OF our
farmers, both as to quality and quantity.
, Vegetables, MELONS and root crops exceed
anything we ever dreamed Of in the East.
Tobacco and Chinese Sugar cane, have
, been a decided success,-the cane ma
turing we'll, but the seed, as general rule,
will have to be imported for another year
We give you the following as samples
Of the produce Of our immediate neigh
borhood, nearly all Of which we have
weighed or measured ourselves, and most
Of which arc reported as considerably be-
? low samples produced by farmers in differ
, ent parts Of our county,
Bearded wheat 10 bushels per acre.
Oats 66 bushels per acre. A'ol,sses l56
gal. per acre. Potatoes 400 bushels per
S acre We do not know OF the yield per
; acre Of any Of our other productions, as
none Of them, so far as we are advised
$ were carefully tested. The following We
: weighed or measured:-
e One head cabbage 2C3 pounds; one
9 potatoe Obs Ccz; one white turnip l7ibs
: one ruta-baga tucnip l7ibs; one leaf to-
;, bacco IS by 19 inches; one onion, seec
+ sown last spring and narrowed in like
Il wheat, y ounces. Mr.. MITCHELL, oul
Q next door nei2hbor, has {; SAM pie pink-eyt
k potatoes, twenty-five Of which make ;
:. Leaped haliE-!usllel; and we have in ou
= store twcuty-one scotch-grcys, excluding
S the large one above named, which Gil tl;
measure equally fall. Hay, fully equa
h to your best timothy, can be had by tht
h thousands Of tons for the cutting. Cattle
/ feeding upon it during the summer ere e
for slaughter in autumn without any fur
e ther tatting. The following are our pres
; ent prices for produce:
d Flour Sc, so per Dbl. Wheat 81. Ry'
IS zoe. Corn 35@40c. Barley 40c. Oat
25@30c. Buckwheat soc. Potatoes l!
r @20c. Turnips l0@l5c per bushel,-
o Molasses 60@75c per gal. Hay 4@S!
= per ton. Butter zoe per tb. Lard l5c
u u Pork s8. Beef, by the quarter, 6@7c
~ ~ Venison same price. Lumber l0@$2(
d per II. Dry oak wood $3.50 per cord
d Sawed shingles $3.50. Laths2.
&c Fruit, grapes, berries &C., have not ye
IS been cultivated in this section of the State
= and strong doubts are entertained as t.
), whether many Of the varieties will eve
Il mature. We can only say, that the wil'
: plum and cherry, cranberries, Strawberries
5 gooscberries, blackherries, sour-grapes &c.
e grow spontaneously in great abundance.
I Surface and Soil.
e e This county, Stearns, is generally made
up Of small praries and oak openings
just suited to the pioneer farmer, who ont
" week after his arrival, can have his cro|
in the ground 1t is bounded on the cas-
: by the Mississippi, and watcrcd by two O
F.; three small rivers. The surface is suffici
+ emily rolling for all practical purposes, an(
e the entire country is dotted with small
\ fresh water lakes, which abound with fsl
n of a superior quality. Here and there
s you find tract Of heavy oak timber Or ;
f tanarac marsh, provided by nature fo
;, fencing purposes. The soil, is rich
t dark, sandy loan, and to the unpracticee
e eye of the writer, resembles CAREFUL,
n cultivated garden, of some twenty year.
:, standing, in Pennsylvania For the orig
inal breaking up, you require a plough O.
q huge proportions, and two to four yoke O.
4 oxen. After the first year, one horse vii
:. plough more than two in the old states
S Our rains arc not so frequent or abundan
: as in the East, but the soil drinks it NJ
r as it falls, and returns it gradually as re
quired by the growing crops. For thi
reason, our roads, as a general rule, art
livery good; and our streams, including tn
Mississippi, rarely rise or fall beyond ;
: few feet. Owing to the above feature d
the soil and the peculiarities of the eli