New-York tribune., 1871-09-26
NOTES ON MINNESOTA
lkpfroRiAL ooasssPoxpsxnr a, ru,-

k0cHESrER, Einn Sept. l7.-Mnnesota /. -
WIN gravity beyond her years. She has thjs "a.
harvested perhaps for tho hrst tino, f-c,ss J.
her great staple, Wheat, and she coptnmn,s,.s J.
ruefully. An early, severe, protrseted drouta -
erating upon her miseRably shaIlow plovipv h,
duced her average Yield Of this favorits brad
from twenty to Les than ten busheis por aers A..
~ the price 10 made for them by distant m.rtss-
her farmers lack tho usual consolsion Of thai, es
that halfcrop sells for nsarly or quite N mu.s
whole one. Though the yield ia % nnesr.v "a.
price ranges from 81 to el 10 ON tho Mssisapni 40
from 10 IS cents lower you roceds 60 the f.,,,
ers arc short Of cash. and their need ntsess I'll -
classes. Shylock would find customers hero st r,t..
which even he would deem Eberal-to tho lsnds,
The legal rate of interest is 1s per cent? you sx..s
more, the law viii mako the borrower pay tho pr,.
oipal and legal interest: all above that you mn.s
collect without its aid II at all Practically eysry
lender takes tho most that the borrowers nscetis.
will constrain him to promise and two per cent DER
month is more common than proper
For Indian Corn, the season has been good, ret
shallow plowing late planting. and general neglect
have combined TO reduce the yield Of many fsus
below ton bushels per acre. But there Is much that
Is very good, with some that Is excellent. ssv a
Fsribault the best field have found this yess-H
bushels to the acre at least tho owner estimates
at much more But that field was well fertilissd
and plowsd to depth Of eighteen inches 10 IL
credit mainly nures to the grower. not much ofitts
the State or the field. saw at the MinneapolisPa
o corn stalk from Q point further north that WA
nine feet long below the ear : how long above tho
ear cannot say perhaps the tape-line gave out st
that point. never saw at any place. except In Cal.
ifornia such mammoth Potatoes, Beets Turnipa
SQuashes, Cabbages, &c. &C.. were exhibited al
this Fair, held beside the Falls of st. Anthony.
where the mercury falls to 40 degrees below zero.
and the growing season from frost to FROST averages
about one hundred days. Apples of the hardiu
varieties were abundant and very fair. thouh
the early attempts to grow them here were
mainly failures; Grapes also are abundant. and In
clude Deawares, Concords, Ionas, Cintons. Adiroa.
dacks, &c. / was assured that the Cstawbssar
also ripe, though am not sure that saw any. All
these must be covered with straw earth in Winter
thus protected, they survive and bear bounteously
I find myself reported as having predicted that
Peaches would yet be grown here: mistake that
Time may convert into. q sagacious prophecy. II
does not need this to demonstrate that Minnesota
has achieved triumphs in fruit growing that could
not have been reasonably anticipated even sK yam
ago. In the production of Roots and yegetables in
her best efforts, whether in quantity or quality.
And yet Minnesota is sober, because her WhesA
crop for 1871 falls far below her and bss
needs, and its failure is beyond compensation
Though her every other product be oil that she
csuld fairly anticipate, half crop of Wheat makes
her feel poor enough.
Tho first settlsrs in a prairie State wast grov
Wheat IL they oan. They are poor; they need quick
returns for their labor and Wheat Is their best
source. But after his fifth sixth year. each should
be able to do better than grow Wheat after Wheat
Glover Timothy and Blue Grass should have followed
his Wheat; good Stock Barn should be well filed
with Cattle and Sheep: he should have Bnlloch.
Pigs, Lambs and Wool TO turn off each season, thus
utilizing his yet unbroken prairie and ceasing 70
exhaust his soil Then he might be;joly at the close
Of such year % this.
Many of the pioneers Of Minnesota brought in
large fiocks Of Sheep. Arriving in the Fall they
gave them poor shelter or nOne and fed them on
coarse prairie Hay, to which they were unsccus-
toned, and which had often been cut weeks too
late, when nearly all it's virtue had departed Sheep
80 kept had right to get home-sick and die: Of
course they did. General carelessness and lackd
attention aggravated the calamity. Hence, ha
great and rapidly growing State with thrice the
population and ten times the wealth she had in 1850
has hardly more Sheep than then; and now
she feels the need of them. With prairie
Hay costing but % to % per tun in the
stack and pasturage nothing at all, she
ought to have sheared twenty times the Wool
she actually did last June. and to have kept ova
most of the Lambs. She ought to have growninb
such flocks very gradually; rushing into them sno
nearly 90 WELL Had every farmer bought tWos
ty sheep in 1855, and suffered them to ,uerss
by this time to one hundred the product for M
would have been equal in value to all the Wheskss
can spare. And the cost of those modest hocks would
have been that Of the original investment: vel
cared for, the Sheep would have paid their wv
throughout the last six years. think have sVl
dencs that these truths are making their due impr
sion on many minds
Minnesota has stern but healthful climate, rA
SOIL about the right proportion of timber to prairA
most intelligent and energetic people, and an In
mense faith in her own resources and her future n
is no credit to be Industrious and efficient in thA
bracing invigorating atmosphere. Inject maDyWno
came hither given over by their doctors as victims
to lung disease, but who now as hale and hearty
as need be- OF course, many come 20 tar gonsi IN
consumption or bronchitis that they soon Ue; pus
he who would live elsewhere will very rarely als
here. ,v....
wish this State had more Manufactures Wsta
power abounds; Coal in vast quantities Is alresa'
known to exist in Iowa just south of her, and 10
ported to underlie the soil at Fort Rdgeey In 'n'
western part Of Minnesota hsraef; Iron ore piea-
tful in her north eastern Qdarer. and viii sooo 70
made accessible by RailrosdAvd trust furnaces a0
soon to be erected near Duluth and in other iocAf
ties and that hundred WoOlen factories VIII soon
dot the settled portions of the State but as yet MN
neapolis Is the only nucleus OF @rer'r
fed manufacturing industry. That - puS
hive of effective workers, about the Isize Oh NSSu
N. H., or Holyoks, Mass, but rapidly growing LII n
Minnesota dozen like it, her soil wouid oo 80 nu
twice its present value, and her crops wUu,a 90 v
fifty Der cent. higher than they do IL nas Wv