St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-11-25
For the st. Czouez Democrat.
CROPS, CLIMATE &C., OF
MINNESOTA.
CHRISTIAN EHRMAN, 3EsQR,

MINNESOTA.
CHRISTIAN tI T EHRMAN, sElsQR, III
HARRISBURG, PA.
DEAR Sir x our favor. Of few days
since, making sundry inquiries in regare
TO the climate, crops, productions, &c., o.
Minnesota, came duly to hand. Letters
from our old eastern friends containing sim
liar y nterrogatories, come so thick 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 grasshoppers
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-
Etiyeness Of our soil Winter wheat, owing
to the absence Of seed, has not been test
ed yet. but by another harvest we shall be
able 70 report as to its success. Winter
rye, spring barley, corn, Of every variety,
brckwheat, oats, &C., have yielded just as
much as could stand upon the ground
and with the exception of late sown
buekwheat, all matured to perfection.-
The smooth varieties Of spring-wheat,
owing to the wet season and the joint-worm,
were a 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 well, but the SEED, as general rule,
will nave 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 are reported as considerably be-
low samples produced by farmers in differ
ent parts Of our county, $780,. "
Bearded wheat 40 bushels per acre.
Oats 66 bushels per acre. Molasses 1876
gal. per acre. Potatoes 400 bushels per
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 - vi. 5
=. One head cabbage 269 pounds; one
potatoe 21bs Coz; one white turnip 171bs J.
one ruta-baga turlip l7ibs; one leaf to-.
bacco IS by 10 inches; one onion, seed
sown last spring and narrowed in like
wheat, II ounces Mr.. MITCHELL, our
next door neighbor, has sample pink-cye
potatoes, twenty-five Of which make a
heaped half-bushel and we have in our
store twenty-one scotck-2sreys, excluding
the large one above named, which fill the
measure equally full. Hay, fully equal
to your best timothy, can be had by the
thousands Of tons for the cutting. Cattle,
feeding upon it duriag the summer are 1T
for slaughter in autumn without any fur
Their fatting. The following are our pres
ent prices for produce -
Flour $3.50 per Dbl. Wheat 81. i've
zoe. Corn 35@40c. Barley Zoe. Oats
25GS0c. Duckwheat Soc Potatoes Is
@2Oc. Turnips 10@l5c per bushel.-
Molasses 60O75c per gal. Hay 4@s5
per ton: Butter Zoe per b. Lard 15c
Pork IS. Beef, by the quarter, 6@7c.
'enison same price. Lumber 1OWs20
per NJ. Dry eak wood $3.50 per cord.
Saved shingles $3.50. Laths2.
Fruit, grapes, berries &C., have not yet
been cultivated in this section of the State,
and strong doubts are entertained as to
whether many Of the varieties will ever
mature. We can only say, that the wild
plum and cherry, cranberries, strawberries,
gooseberries, blackbcrries, sour-grapes &c.,
grow spontaneously in great abundance.
.s5= Surface and Soil. :
I This county, Stearns, is generally made
up Of small praries and oak openings,
just suited to the pioneer farmer, who one.
week after his arrival, can have his crop
in the ground. It is bounded on the east
by the Mississippi, and watered by two or
three small rivers. The surface is suAici-
entity rolling for all practical purposes, and
the entire country is dotted with small
fresh-water lakes, which abound with fish
Of a superior quality. Here and there
you find a tract Of heavy oak timber or a.
tamarac marsh, provided by nature for,
fencing purposes: The soil, IS rich,
DARK, sandy loan, and to the unpracticed
eye Of the writer, resembles carefully
cultivated garden, of some twenty years
standing, in Pennsylvania. For the orig
inal breaking up, you require a plough Of
huge proportions, and two to four yoke Of
oxen. After the first year, one horse will
plough more than two in the old states.
Our rains are not SO frequent or abundant
as in the East, but the soil drinks it up
as it falls, and returns it gradually as re-
quired by the growing crops For this
reason, our roads, as a general rule, are
very good; and our streams, including the
Mississippi, rarely rise or fall beyond a
few feet. Owing to the above feature of
Tho coil and III n To ~; 20 %1,n#ol: