St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-12-09
For the ST, Cloud Demo c7.at.
CROPS, CLIMATE &C., OF
MINNESOTA.
CHRISTIAN EHRMAN, EsQR, -
HARRISBURG, PA.

! M1N IN EjoO1A.
CHRISTIAN EHRMAN, EsQR, ..*
HARRISBURG, PA.
DEAR SIR Your favor Of a few days
since, making sundry inquiries in regard
to the climate, crops, productions, &c, of
Minnesota, came duly to hand. Letters
from our old eastern friends containing sim
liar Undergraduates, come so thickly upon
us, that, both for their and our convent
ence, we have concluded to reply at, length
in this public manner. ... l.. ..1ui
| H., .. ~,.,. Crops. ,.1+ ,a.ss.
The crops in this section Of the State
were nearly destroyed by the grass'hoppers
in 1855 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 our soil. Winter wheat, owing
to the absence Of seed, has not been test
ed yet, but by another harvest we shall be
able to report as to its 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
buckwheat, all matured to Perfection
The smooth varieties Of spring-wheat,
owing to the wet season and the joint-worm,
were partial failure; but the bearded
varieties fulfilled the largest hopes OF our
tarl hers, both as to quality and quantity.
Veg etables, MELONS and rect crops exceed
anything we ever dreamed of in the East.
tobacco and Chinese Sugar cane, have
been decided success,-the cane ma
turing we'll, but the seed, as a 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 are reported as considerably be-
low samples produced by farmers in differ
ent parts Of our county :-::.&. 80
Bearded wheat 10 bushels per acre
Oats Sc bushels per acre. Molasses 1856
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 nleasured:- 49,.
One head cabbage 2G3 pounds; one
potatoe Obs Coz; one white turnip l7ibs ;
one ruta-baga turnip 17ibs; one leaf to-
bacco IS by 19 inches; one onion, seed
sown last spring and narrowed in like
wheat, II ounces. Mr.. MITCHELL, our
next door neighbor, has sample pink-eye
potatoes, twenty-five Of which make a
beaped ha]E-bushel and we have in our
!: store twenty-one scotch-greys, excluding
the large one above named, which fll 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 during the summer ere fit
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. Rye
zoe. Corn 35@40c. Barley 40c. Oats
25@30c. Buckwheat SOC. Potatoes Is
@20c. Turnips 10@l5c per bushel-
} Molasses 6O@75c per gal. Hay 4@S5
per ton. Butter zoe per IT, Lard l5c.
Pork So. Beef by the quarter, 6@7c.
:: Venison same price. Lumber 1o@$2o
per N. Dry oak wood $3.50 per cord.
Sawed shing les $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
1 whether many Of the varieties will ever
mature. We can only say, that the wild
plum and cherry, cranberries, strawberries,
gooseberries, blackberries, sour-grapes &C.,
grow spontaneously in great abundance
Surface and Soil.
This county, Stearns, is generally made
up Of small praries and oak openings,
lust suited to the pioneer farmer, who one
week after his arrival, can have his crop
in the ground. 1t is bounded on the east
by the Mississippi, and watered by two or
three small rivers. The surface is suAici-
emily rolling for all practical purposes, and
the entire country is dotted with small
fresh-water lakes, which abound with fish
Of superior quality. Here and there
you find 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 Impractical
eye of the writer, resembles a carefully
cultivated garden, of some twenty years
standing, in Pennsylvania. For the orig
inal breaking up, you require plough Of
] huge proportions, and two to four yoke Of
oxen. After the first year, one horse will
j 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-
Iquired 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 3
few feet. Owing to the above feature Of
the soil and the peculiarities Of the eli
4