The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-11-28
A BIG FIRM.
EIGHTY SQUARE MILES UNDER ONE MAN
AGEMENT,

EIGHTY SQUARE MILES UNDER ONE MAN
AGEMENT.
Your correspondent has just returned
from visit to the largest farm in the world,
the famous Dalrymple grange OF Dakota.
In company with one of the officers of the
St. Paul Road, and banker well known in
New York, we left St. Paul for Fargo, the
young metropolis of Dakota now only eight
years old, but numbering over 5000 inhabi-
taEts. This flourishing little town already
contains two newspapers, three good hotels
and two prosperous banks, besides twenty
five or thirty stores. The society here is
| very good, and the educational advantages
offered by the graded school system are as
excellent as those furnished by many old
| New England towns. Here we were met
| by Henry Dalrymple, and driven some fif-
teen miles, when we came to the bounda-
ries of the monster farm.
Let your readers imagine If they can, one
undivided estate of
| FIFTY THOUSAND ACRES,
Extending twelve miles along the fertile
bottom lands Of most beautiful river, and
then back into the interior eleven miles
more. the whole covering an area OF nearly
eighty square miles, and they will acquire
some idea of the broad acres ruled by the
farmer prince. OF this, 10000 acres were
| this year sown in wheat, which yielded
$50, 600 bushels as reward for the husband
| mans toll. for this is wheat that was sown
in good ground and yielded all of it hun
bred fold. The soil Of this Red River farm
is peculiarly rich, and adapted to the pro-
duction OF Just the cereal cultivated. The
upper surface is an alluvial deposit Of great
fertility, under which is deposit of mari,
containing in large quantities just the phos-
pilates and slicaJes needed in the formation
of the berry and the stalk OF wheat. In
fact it seems as though the Creator had es-
pecially designed this section of the coun-
try as the wheat garden Of the world, which
like the coal fields, has been undergoing a
process of change for ages that it might
finally afford sustenance to so many
MILLIONS OF HIS CHILDREN.
crate such farm from one headquarters, so
the land is apportioned into subdivisions of
1000 acres each, every one of whichis presided
over by superintendent, who is under the
direction and orders of Mr.. Dalrymple. He
hires what men lie requires and discharges
| them for cause. Each overseer has very
nice house, in most cases handsomely fitted
up, and furnished in several instances in ex-
cellent taste. Near the Superintendent
house is the hands boarding house, where
all of the harvesters board. Back OF these
buildings are located the granaries and sta
bles, and little further removed, the
MACHINE SHOPS, ENGINE ROOMS AND
| wIND-MILLs.
All the buildings follow plain but quite
attractive style of architecture, and answer
| every purpose intended. Each subdivision
has the same set of buildings and is oper-
ated in quite the same way.
| To run the farm it requires the services oil
| over 450 men and three hundred horses anG
mules to keep the accounts three book
keepers are kept constantly busy, and two
cashiers have little time to loaf around dur
ing business hours. Water is pumped by
wind-mills several miles back into the inte-
rior from the river. Seventy-fve reapers
and binders are used in the harvest, anG
pile up the yellow sheaves at the rate Of
| 1000 acres per day. During the entire har-
vest season this year they were retarded on.
ly one-half day by inclement weather. The
grain is separated from the straw by eigh-
teen steam threshers, which put it in the
bins at the rate of 10000 bushels per day
Correspondent of the Troy Times.