The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1870-01-21
THE PRINCE OF FARMERS.
An Evening with Dalrymple, tn e
Great Wheat-Farmer of the West.
Correspondence OF Hearth and Home.

An Evening with DalrympIe, tn .
Great wheat-Farmer of the West.
Correspondence OF Hearth and Home.
Being in the Northern region of Min
nesota, we thought to visit Mr.. Dalrym-
pie and his wheat-farn. We wished to
see the man who had turned our twen-
ty hundred acres of prairie sod, and
brought foi til forty-fve thousand hush
els OF Minnesota wheat. We took the
afternoon train from the little inland
village of Pennington to Hastings,
twenty miles below ST. Paul, on the
west ank OF the Mississippi, A ten
cent ferry-ride took lis over the great
river; theEce we cross the narrow tim
ber- bottom; thence up a winding ra-
vine, and we emerge upon the broad
prairie that forms the high delta be-
twecr the st. CrOix and the VI ississip-
| pi. Half n mile onward and we bring
| up before neat story -and-a-half cot
tage, with wings and porticoes extend
| ing from the side and end. A few a.
cres of smooth and prairie. lawn, set
out with trees, are enelosed with the
| house, and forty acres with the stable to
| the right. On all sides beyond are seen
wide pillows of dark, fresll-turned soil. 4.
| This, we thought, must be the great
Dalrymple farm; but first we must see
The Colossus himself. A knock at lit
tie side-door was answered by tall,
slight, youngish looking man in Sip
| pers.
''ls Mr.. Dalrymple ut home ?''
| "That ia my name, sir. I"
"Mr. OAuer DalrJ nple?" 3aoi
"Exactly so. go
Our COLOSSUS was diminished. Our
imaginary stiff-backsd. strong-arined
giant was reduced to a courteous Young
gentleman, "gentie as woman.n
| We we're made at h0mc In moment,
| and before the cold had passed from
our fingers. we were well undsr way
with the story of his farm-work and
wheat-raising. lie had finished his
fall-ploughing, he said. of two thousand
acres the day before (November 12th),
and his work for the year was over
HIS thirty lat horses could now have q
rest until spring, and he himself would
soon be OH oils yearly round among his
friends and the cultivated cities OF the
East. .4As
- MR.. DALRYNPLE.
Mr.. Dalrymple is yet bachelor of
thirty EIGHT summers, of frank, intelli-
gent face and Southern type of man
neis He belongs TO that rare and for
tunate class in whom the idea! and the
practical blend; who readily adapt
means to ends; who easily, accomplish
great results; who seem, in = remarka-
Bile degree, to be possessed OF the genius
OF success. lie is a trapscendentallst
by nature, living his own life. and car
rying out his own ideas. He affects no
style; sets up no pretensions, Is the
least assuming OF all about his farm.-
His cottage is plain without, but richly
ordered within. Books, papers, pic
lures, comfortable lounges, and easy
chairs meet tile eye IN every Corner
Two ebony children from the South
have charge of his housekee ping
"Aunt Minnie,n a most wise, obliging.
and cheerful young Alabama girl or fiji
ty, looks AFTER the Kitchen, while the
comely Amanda greets al1 friends and
visitors with face bubbling over with
kindness and pleasantrg. 4-ls3 .5r.8
EARLY HISTORY. asiFgs
Mr.. Dairy mple talks freely of his
farming achievements, but rarely al
lndes to his personal history. lie is OF
Scotch parents; born and raised a far1,
boy till seventeen, in Warren county.
Pa. He was three years at Yale TAX
ing practical course studies, and at
tending law and scientific lectures
Finishing his stndies near at home i'm
1856, he decided to try his fortunes be- |
yond the Mississippi. whittier the great |
current OF fresh American life was then |
flowing. He reached the border settle |
ments of Minnesota in early spring. =
He didn't wait tor clien.s on business
to find him, but a. once threw himself |
into tho spirit Of Western life, and |
sought him out farm.
FIRST WORK IN MINNESOTA.
His first work, after weeks travel
about, was planting corn for neighbor
to get money tob buy beetle and wedg-
rs; thence he set to splitting rails, and
putting up a log shanty on his re-emp-
tion clam eight miles from the infant
village of Rochester. lie got forty a
cres ploughed; hiring tho money at
three per &c at, month. In the tall he
made for Chattield, the hub of Mime
sofa land excitement, and opened a law
and land office with ten cents capital. |
,C,ther capital soon came to him for in
nett. and he loaned money and To-
1es.', '-w--rrants at five per cent.
cls.. s.rii'o o''0" o'ei F" "u'i-
lred dollars week. mo., at ST
In 1850, he opened his o.-'ce ~ Il.
Paul. In five years he held casn o''-
lnce of 100000. lie had had enough, he
said, of pettifogging and claim collec-
lions, and he now resolved to crafty
mis- taste and inclinations out of doors.
lie wished, also, to demonstrate two
things: .Tf1
1st. That capital and labor could be
spp!ied successfully to wheat raising on
l large scale. rlI
2nd. That man could be . farmer
and not be n slave.
With these Two distinct ideas before
him, he set about to work them out,
mindless of old rules and preeedents.-
year he hought two thousand
acres of the best wheat-land, opposite
aud near Point Douglas, pay
ing from $3.50 to $l5 an acre. 1t was
smooth, high, undulating prairie, with
Dut bush or tree, that had borne only |
wild grass and flowers, and ted deer
and partridges for Thousands of success
sive years. The surface soil is dark,
warm, vegetable lean, two feet deep, |
and mixed with clay, lime. vnd sand.-
1t has deep clay snbsoil, resting on |
lime rock strata. The location is sight,