Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-01-31
MINNESOTA.
Eli Perkins Tells What He Knows Ahout
the North Sfa,. S+,.o
"a. Charles Letter 10 In.cr.Ocrnn 1on

the North Star State.
I. eharieS Letter TO ln-cr-Ocean, Jan %
Minnesota farmers are the richest
and most prosperous farmers in The
united States, said an old man. as no
stood on load of wheat and pitched
bag after bag into the St. Charles ele-
yatOr.
| "Why?' | asked.
Because" said the old farmer eve
raised about twenty-eight bushels to the
acre all over the state sold it for 90 cts.
per bushel, and put $50 in our pockets
tor every acre Cf land we own. WHY.
I've been pocketing S25 an acre on eight
dollar land myself"
But how about the Illinois farmers -
| asked. -''' IL Gle
ven, those corn fellows down in H.
llnolS nave been raising sixty bushels of
corn, worth twenty-five cents per bushel
to an acre-that is, they've made aboui
S13 an acre to our S25
find that MINES jta has produced
40,OOO,OOO bushels of wheat, worth $50
100000 in gold, and this with popula-
ton OF 100000 souls. That is, one
elghty-hfth (1-S5) of the population of
/ our country has dug out of the ground
$50 100000. Why, if all the rest of the
states had made money like the Mime
sotians this year the nation would have
made S3,O60,OOO,O 00-three thousand
and sixty million dollars-almost twice
the amount required TO pay off the ma
tional debt
OF the 100000 bushels of wheat.
about eighteen-fortieths (1S-40), OF u lit
tie less than one-half, has been shipped.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and
the Northwestern railroads have been
taking out Of Minnesota about 500 car
loads of wheat daily for some time.
The roads are now bad again, and no
more wheat will come out till they have
sleighing.
y great many emigrants have gone
out on the Northwestern railroad toward
the Dakota boundary, where good wheat
lands can be bought for from 81 to $40
per acre. There is quite a mania over
there for buying wheat land.
AS the country is prosperous, of course
amusements flourish. Last night, at
my lecture in ST. Charles. the receipts
were $500 at the door, which would have
been first rate if hadn't had to divide
with the lecture committee, who are
getting fund ready to send for scien-
tific lecturer and sink it. | can see an
Improvement in audiences this winter
all over the west. Last year lecture
committees often lost money, but this
year good houses greet lecturers, and
everybody seems to make money
The ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN HORSE
1t is mistake to suppose that the
horse was introduced on to this CONT
nent from Europe The Oldest repre-
sentative of this animal, according to
Prof. Marsh, is the diminutive Eohpp,s,
found in the Rocky Mountain eocene
rocks. Several species have been dis
covered, all about the size of fox. The
early types had fOrty-f0ur teeth, the mo-
lars with short crowns, and there were
four well-developed toes and rudiment
of another on the fore feet and three
toes behind. As we ascend in the geo
logical position of the rocks the horse
grows larger and begins to approach
nearer to the living species. The meso-
hippus is about as large as a sheep; the
miohippus still larger. The last one
found is the pliohippus, which has lost
the small hoof1ets, and in other respects
is very equine. Only in the upper plio-
Gene does the true horse appear, and
complete the genealogy. After this the
horse may have become extinct, but
that is question for naturalists to de-
termine.
WE saw fellow with two heads on
his shoulders the other day. but didn't
consider it much Of a curiosity. One be-
onged to his girl.