The Portland daily press., 1869-06-22

| Waldo ..............s. 1. MILLIKEN. ''. i
Washington. ID. X. HOBART. .-f..Isfi
York. rk................J. Il. BUTLER.
Republican State Commifiee.
Letter from the Nsrihwest-No.V.
| MANKATo, MIMI, June Is, 1860, f
To the Editor of the Press: ftH alndJ
1 date this letter from historic ground. Dur
| ing the fearful agtH Al ,roFg1H
| INDIAN RAID AND MASSACRE lQ b
OF 1852, this town was ''city of refuge" for
fleeing fugitives sufficiently fortunate to es-
cape the tomahawk and scalping knife of the
red demons who destroyed and burned, spar
| ing neither age nor sex, and before whose
bloodthirsty spirit a thousand helpless beings
were swept into the dalk tidal wave of death.
And 1t was in this city, on an open space be-
twesn the principal street and the Minnesota
river, on cold December day, in the same
terrible year, that thirty-eight stalwart Sioux
Indians, the most bloody and desperate of the
invading tribe, simultaneously expiated their
crimes against the unofending frontier set
tiers, upon the gallows, and their bodies, care
,lessly thrown upon drays like rotten logs
were hauled to a neighboring sand heap,
where, uncoffined, unhonored, but despised,
they were rudely buried, only TO be dsinterred
and spirited away before the second night
had passed, to become subjects for anatomists
and anatomical tyros. Few Of the people who
| lived in or near Mankato at that time failed
to witness the recherche spectacle, and those
| who did witness it looked on with as much
satisfaction as the famous "knitters" at the
gaillOtine, in the reign Of Danton, Murat and
Robespierre, tailed the heads that fell into
the basket by turning seams in their stock
ings. And those who failed, through sickness
or absence, to participate in the sacri6cial fes-
tivities, doubtless felt that their heads were
plumed with fewer feathers than those of
their more fortunate neighbors. y 49fE .fssa
But did not propose, when writing the
name of the locality from which date this
letter, to regale your readers with recital Of
Indian outrages, or of the terrible retribution
which those outrages drew down upon the
heads of the guilty perpetrators, but to speak
with some care upon the subject of f
i .ta MINNESOTA FARMING. M. VA
Blue Earth county, of which this city Is
the shire, is in the valley of the Minnesota
and Blue Earth rivers, in the southern por-
ton OF the State and is confasAaai,, %. y 4
the best wheat-growing sections of which the
West can boast. This city, the present ter
minus of the ST. Paul and Sioux City Rail-
road-ninety miles from the former eity--is
one of the great depots for the sale. by the
farmers, OF the great leading staple of the
State
propose to say something of the cost of
opening new farms, in this State, and of the
average yield and profits Of such farms when
under cultivation and in entering upon the
consideration OF this prolific topic, am, for
tunately, not obliged to feel my way in the
daik, TO depend upon mere guess.work, or in
any way indulge in reckless, hap hazard state
ments. lfsasy a.n ia inrlai.1 r. =
OFFICIAL AUTHORITY. ii Hal
/ have before me carefully and elaborate
/ ly prepared pamphlet of forty odd pages,
published by the State" for gratuitous circu--
lation, and sent postage paid to all who de-
l'sire it, entitled Minnesota; Its Advantages
10 Settlers" &c. This pamphlet has been
published since the opening Of the present
year, and purports to be the third annual edit
tion' eacn successive edition containing
such additions and amendments nc tbe pass-
ing year may suggest or seem to justify. siH
/ In this''official" pamphlet find an article
headed a''e nfl A tays is5io' s9
| ~ ."cHEAPNEss OF OPENING FARMs,n u.
referring, of course, to prairie farms, on
which no old, heavy growth has to be sub
dued before the plow can enter; in word.
the easiest kind of land upon which farms
can be opened. Many prairie farms require
before "breaking'--or first plowing--a great
deal of work in what is called 'grubbng,p
that is, digging up by the roots, with grub
bmg hoe and other tools, the dwarf oaks and
other shrubs that may be too formidable for
the plowto encounter, and not till this pre-
liminary work is accomplished does the work
of breaking, as that word is ordinarily used,
commence. n.s2@ Ag.'iii9 9i'oa iii 3..i
las 4.sa PROFITABLE CROPS aiaV bluoa
In the article above alluded to, the author
says "lands purchased at ten dollars per acre
are paid for out Of the proceeds of the first
crop" "a gentleman" he continues, shaving
a farm for sale offered it, with improvements,
for nine dollars per acre. Failing to sell, he
leased it, receiving one-third of the crop. His
one-third netted him more than he wound
have realized from the sale of his land" To
show that this is not an exceptional case the
author adds: "Many such instances could be
given. This illustrates what bargains may
be secured where lands are cheap and the
| products of the soil high" nis'al oi.d - ben
To show that the results above mentioned
are not intended to be confined to farms long
or highly cultivated, or that the cost Of culti-
vation is lost sight Of, I need only quote one
sentence more, which our State pampheteer
copies and endorses, from correspondent of
a leading paper: ut is our duty to let the
| people read and learn Of Minnesota, where a
man can buy land, break and fence it. and
pay for the land, breaking, fencing, and all
expenses, out Of The first cropw The italics
are not mine. s-s4't s6l sa-4o.iia s1l
| Wheat is the great and at present only ex-
| portable farming product of this State. IT
has thus far proved the most reliable and
profitable crop, and the foregoing statement
of products is unquestionaby INTENDED to APP
ply to wheat growing and to nothing else.
! WHEAT YIELD PER ACRE. sul-.as
/ The pamphlet before me, compares Inc az
erdge yield per acre in bushels OF minnesota,
With the largest known yield OF other States,
and gives the following as the result of this
comparison: Minnesota, ,22 bushels; Ohio,
1908: Michigan, 10; Massachusetts, 16 BUSH
els.
Selecting a very nnfavolable wheat year,
1859, he makes the Average per acre Of differ
en-. States for that one year as follows Min
nesota, 10 bushels; Illinois-with its rich
prairies-S; Iowa, Al The average for series
of years, per acre, OF Iowa, rs put down al IL
bushels; of Ohio and Pennsylvania not over