The Richmond palladium., 1870-03-22
From the Hearth and Home.
An Evening with Mr.. Dalrymple, tho
Great Wheat Farmer Of the West.

ty hundred acres Of prairie cod, and |
brought forth forty five thousands bush |
els Minnesota wheat We took the af-
ternoon train from the little inland vii
lage of Pennington to Hastings twenty
miles below st. Paul, on the west bauk
of the Mississippi. A ten-cent ferry
ride took US over the great river !:
thence we cross the narrow timber bot
tom thence up winding raw inc, and
we emerge upon the broad praries that
form the high delta between the St. CrOix
and the Mississippi. Half . mile on
ward and we bring up before . neat sto
ry-and-a-half cottage, with wings and
porticoes extending from the side and
set out with trees. are enclosed with the
house, and forty acres with the stable to
the right. Ga all sides beyond are seen
wide pillows Of dark, fresh turned soil.
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 a tall,
slight, youngish looking man in slip
pers.
rs this Mr. Dalrymple ?
That is my name, sir,
sMr. Oliver Dalrymple ?
Exactly So
Our Colossus was diminish ed. Our
imaginary stiff backed, strong armed
giant was reduced to courteous young
gentleman, gentle as woman
We were made at home in q moment,
ard before the cold had passed from our
fingers, we we're well under way with
the story of his farm work and wheat
raising. He had finished his fall plow-
ing, he said Of two thousand acres the
day before November l2th,) and his
work for the year was over. His thirty
fat horses could now have q rest until
spring and he himself would soon be on
his yearly round among his friends and
the cultivated cities of the East.
MIR. DALRYMPLE.
Mr.. Dalrymple is yet q bachelor of
thirty-eight summers, of frank, intelli
gent face and Southern type OF man
ners. He belongs to that rare and fort
unate class in whom the ideal and the
parctical blend who readily adapt
means to ends; who easily, accomplish
great results who seem in q remarka-
bic degree, to be possessed of the genius
of success. He is a transcendentalist
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, pictures.
comfortable lounges, and easy chairs
met the eye in every corner. Two ebony
children from the South have charge of
his housekeeping. Aunt Minnie,'
most wise, obliging, and cheerful young
Alabama girl of fifty, looks after the
kitchen, while the comely Amanda
greets all friends and visitors with a
face bubling over with kindness and
pleasantly.
EARLY HISTORY.
Mr.. Dalrymple talks freely of his farm
ing achievements. but rarely alludes to
his personal history. He is of Scotch
parents; born and raised a farm boy till
seventeen, in Warren county, Pa. He
was three years at Yale, taking a pract-
ical course of studies, and attending law
and scientific lectures. Finishing his
studies near at home in 1856, he decided
to try his fortunes beyond the Mississip-
pi whittier the great current of fresh
American life was then flowing. He
reached the border settlements Of Min
nesota in early spring. He didn't wait
for clients or business to find him, but
at once threw himself into the spirit of
Western life, and sought him out q
farm.
FIRST WORK IN MINNESOTA.
His first ork after weeks travel
about, was planting corn for neigh Dor
to get money to buy beetle and wedg-
es; thence he set to splitting rails and
putting up log shanty on his pre-em-
ton claim, eight miles from the infant
village of Rochester. He got forty
acres plowed, hiring the money at three
per cent. a month. In the fall he made
for Chatfield the hub of Minnesota land
excitement, and opened a law and office
with ten cents capital. Other capital
soon came to him for investment, and
he loaned money and located land
rants at five per cent. commission, clear
ing often over hundred dollars q
week.
In 1859 he opened his office at St.
Paul. In five years he held q cash bal
ance Of 100000. He had enough, he