St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1858-11-25
For tie st. CIau0 Democrat.
CROPS, CLIMATE &C., OF
MINNESOTA.
CHRISTIAN EHRMAN, I,sQR,
HARRISBURG, PA.

- A']AAS cih '~L Oul IdVQt VI q iCH utyc
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 heterogeneous, come so thick|y 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 yrasshoppcrs
in 1866 ar1 81; SC that the summer Of
1883, is the only basis upon which re can
properly FORM an estimate Of the rIoduc-
tivcness Of our soil. Winter wheat, owing
to the absence Of seed, has not been test
cd yes, but by another harvest we shall be
able to Erpo't as to It's success. Winter
rye, spring barley, corn, OF every variety,
brckwheat, oats, &c. have yielded just as
much as could stand uucn the ground
and with the exception Of Late sowil
Iuckwheas, all nsaturcd to pc@1cction.-
Tie smooth varieties Of sp~;ny-wheat,
owing to the wet season aud the Joint worm,
We're partial failure; bus the bearded
varieties fulfilled the largest hopes OF our
farmers, both as to quality and quantity.
Vegetables, mclIoiY and root crops exceed
anything we ever dreamed Of il. the East
Tobacco and Chinese i5u@ar cane. have
been q decided succc.s,-the cane n;;-
turing well, but the seed, as general rule,
will nave to be imported Tor another year
We give you The following rs Samples
OF the produce Ct our immediate neigh
borhcod, nearly all Of which we have
weighed or measured ourselves. and most
Of which are reported Is considerably be-
low samples produced by farmers in differ
cnt parts Of our county,
Bearded wheat 10 bushels per acre
Oats IS bushels per acre. bloIasscs 1856
gal. per acre. Potatoes 4e0 bushels rer
acre. We do not know ot The Yield I,or
acre Of any Of our other productions, as
meme Of them, SO far &; We are advised
were carefully tested. The following we
Wel4 ;hct; or measured :.--
: Ono head cabJayo 2Ga pounds; one
2otatoc 2lbs Coz; onc white tuuii2 + lbs !:
one ruta-basa turuip l77los; one leaf TO-
hacco IS by 10 inches; one oDion, seed
sown last spring and narrowed in Ike
wheat, Il ounces. MIR. MITCHELL, our
next door ncighbor, has g sample rin!<-eye
potatoes, twenty-five Of Which make u.
heaped hale-3ushel and We have in our
store twentyy-one scotcI.-o1roys, excluding
the large one above named, which fill the
measure equally full I1ay, 1r;,Ny equal
to your best timothy, can be had by The
Thousands Of tons ioI the cutting. Cutie
feeding upon it duriuy the summer are ct
for slaus hte. i'll autumn without any i2r-
Their fatt!ny. The following, aye our pres
emf prices for produce :-
Flour $3.50 per bb! Wheat 81. ],yc
Zoe: Com 35OA0c. Barley 40c. Oats
25W30c. Iuckwhc.,5 zoe. Potatoes Is
@!oc. Iurnirs loG;l5c per buxhel.-
Molasscs 6c015c pey gal. Hay 1855
per ton. Butter zoe per 3D. Lard l5c.
Pork S.. Beef, by the quarter, G(V77c.
"enison same price Lumber l0II$..O
per II. Dry oak wood $3.50 ner cord.
Saved shingles $3.50. Lath53.
Fruit, grapes, bcrrio., &C., have not yet
been cultivated in this section OF jhc 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,
gooscheZricH, blackberrios, sour-srapes &C.,
gro" spontaneously in great abundance.
Surface and Soil.
This county, Stearns, is generally made
up Of small pralics 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 OF
three small rivers The surface is sunici-
entity rolling for all practical purposes, and
the entire country is dotted with small
fresh~watcr lakes, which abound with FISH
Of a superior quality. Here and there
you find a tract Of heavy oak timber or ;
tamarac marsh, provided by nature To-
fencing purposes The soil, IS a rich
dark, sandy loam, and to the unpract icct
eye Of the writer, resembles u care full,
cultivated garden, Of some twenty year
standing, in Pennsylvania. For the orig
inal breaking up, you require plough 0
huge proportions, and two to four yoke O
oxen. After the first year, one horse vii
plough more than two in the old states-
Our rains are not SO frequent or abundan
as in the East, but the soil drinks it u
as it falls, and returns it gradually as re
quircd by the growing crops. For thi
reason, our roads, as a general rule, ar
very good; and our streams, including; tn
Mississippi, rarely rise OF fall beyond
few feet. Owing to the above feature 0
the soil and the pcculiarities of the eli
mate, our crops, including wheat am
corn, ripen within sixty to one hundre,
days from the time Of planting.
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