Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-08-06
AND BENCH. STREETS, ADJOINING THE BR1DGE)
ArURDAY MoRNNG AUeUgre rs

Minnesota. The weather is more regular and
not so sudden in it's changes. Spring opens
in April and the fall closes in November
These are the months which connect summer
and winter. About the 10Th of November
the rivers begin to freeze over and snow soon
after commences falling, and from December
1st to April 1st the ground is covered with
white mantle. During these four months the
sky is clear day and night, and the air still
and dry nearly all the time. Winter wheat
and rye are protected from exposure by the
snow until the cold weather is past. There
is rarely ever a February thaw, which over
flows rivers and mandates bottom lands,
strips the snow from off the winter cereals,
and exposes them to the subsequent freezing
winds. During the winter months people
can move about briskly on the snow. They
become readily accustomed to the cold, and
experience little Inconvenience from it A
damp atmosphere with freezing winds occa-
sion much more suffering than a dry atmos-
phere, however low the mercury may fall
| The winters in Minnesota break up suddenly
| in April, and pass away. They do not . lin
ger in the lap of spring." from March to june,
as in Northern Illinois, With the first of
May comes seed time the weather is delight
full from then until November. There are
some hot day s in July, but the nights are not
suffocatingly warm. There is plenty of sum-
mer weather to grow and ripen corn in per-
fection The prevailing character of the soil
IN the south half of Minnesota is a limestone
alluvium Or rich sandy loam Such soil
drives vegetation forward very rapidly, and
ripens cereals, fruits and vegetables before
the autumn frosts. | did not see better
wheat, corn, barley, oats or potatoes, in Hi
nos or Wisconsin, on my trip here than !
have seen about St. Anthony for a distance
of twenty miles, and was assured by per-
sons from various parts Of the State that the
crops look equally good, north, west and south
hundred miles from here OF the salubrity
of the climate there is no question. A health
ier State there is not in America. 1t is far
superior to New England or Northern Illinois
for persons having weak lungs. Chill fevers
and ague are almost unknown the people
have buoyant look and an elastic step, the
natural consequence of steady, dry atmos-
phere and clear sky. But let no one suppose
from my description that, like California, this
State is parched with drought in summer
There are frequent showers rains fall in suf-
fcient quantities for the wants of vegetation,
but there is less cloudy weather, less fog, and
more clear sunny days than in any State east
of it. Minnesota is West of the infu.
ence Of the great lakes, while the sur
face Of the State sparkles with multitudes
of lakes and ponds fed by springs. These
modify the temperature of the atmosphere
and prevent drOughts.
The streams of Minnesota are all clear and
limpid, and are remarkably well stocked with
l IL, e., 4, nc Il, L.,
no interior State of the Union do fish abound
in greater abundance. Every family Can
easily procure all they desire for domestic
use. Twenty, forty or sixty pounds are read
lily caught with hook and line by an expert
sportsman during an afternoons fishing in any
of the lakes near the falls Of st. Anthony.
The scenery OF Minnesota is surprisingly
beautiful The great body Of the country
alternates between rich river bottoms covered
with timber and high rolling prairies dotted
and mirrored over with lakes and pools firing
ed with trees. In every river or stream can
be found water falls varying in magnitude and
beauty from those of ST. Anthony to the
classic Minnehaha. The size ard zns.ber o
the lakes of the State form one of its most
distinguishing characteristics. Some are 81
miles in extent, and others less than a mile il
circumference Many of the more northern
are covered with wild rice, and are alive will
water fowl; the shores of nearly all are o
gravel or pebbles, and entirely free from
marshes or malaria. In many Instances they
are strung together by liDpid stream, likt
pearls on a silken thrcad-~thc whole fornin,
most singular and charming navigation by
which remote parts of the country are ren
dered accessible On the head waters of tn,
Mississippi and Minnesota this pecularity il
found in numerous instances.
For many years Minnesota will be the ia
vorite State for the New England emigrant
| have thought that if the whole three mil
lions of population of Yankee Land could b
transported to this State bodily with year
, provision and plenty of agricultural and rhse
chanical implements, that in twenty-five year
time they would individually and collectivel,
be as rich as they now are after two centurie
!, of toll and economy. If the Yankees had fu
possession of Minnesota twenty years the,
: would build city extending from the Falls
St. Anthony to Fort Smelling, and populate
f with half million of people. They woul
: drive thousand mills with the water powe
! of those Falls. They would manufacture a
the wheat grown in the State, all the WOO
and all the lumber at these falls. They woul
import thousands Of bales of cotton frCr
Memphis and Natchez, and spin and weave
4 here. They would combine the production
of Rochester, Lowell, Saginaw and Boston
thin one city, and supply the Valley OF tn
Mississippi with their notions and manufa'
lures. All tho Yankees of New England wal
is the soil, forests, water power, climate, na'
lgable streams, and agricultural capabilities
a State like Minnesota, in order to astonish a
! creation. j. M.