Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1879-12-04

BY three bushels an aore but Mr.. Dalrympl
considers that he is too far north to sutfe
much from the 'hoppers, and believes that the,
can not do much damage on cultivated land
although why such marauders should spar
the cultivated crops isnot very evident. Har
vest begins about August l, usually amid fine
settled Californian weather. About 300 extra
men are engaged. One hundred and tfteer
automatic self f-binding harvesters are busily a
work; 100 Of these are Walter Woods the re-.
mainder McCormiok's. Both are reported te
do their work admirably no objection is found
to the wire binding. Tho grain is shocked
and cutting is completed in twelve days. Nc
time or outlay is expended in stacking. The
twenty-one steam thrashing machines made
by the Buffalo Company, and costing $780,
with thrasher, winnower and straw elevator in
one, are placed at convenient points through
out the fields. Ten wagons, each with pair
of horses or mules, bring up the shocks and
carry off the thrashed grain in three-bushel
bags en- average distance of two miles to the
railway cars. A gang of twenty-five men
keep wagons and thrashing machines steadily
going. and deliver at the station 1000 bush
els of wheat daily. Each day the thrasher
and engine, which is partially self -propelling
and costs $500, Is moved, so as to shorten
haulage Of sheaves. Every busy day, fifty
railway cars, each containing 400 bushels, are
loaded, and stand ready for dispatch. usually
to Duluth, 254 miles distant, on the western
corner Of Lake Superior. The crop of the
present year Mr.. Dalrymple states to be much
the same as that of former seasons. It aver
ages 20 bushels an acre of so pounds to the
bushel. As usual the produce of the newly
brokeu-up land is best. The quality is fully
as good as that of 1873. When run .oace
through The: winnower at Duluth, it will he
graded No. hard. Mr.. Dalrymple usually
sells as fast as he can deliver, but this year,
holding for the rise, he has still the chief por-
tion of his crop warehoused at Duluth. The
oats are reported to yield so bushels to the
ac'e and 3S lb. to the bushel last year so
bushels were produced. The barley has not
done particularly we'll this year, but generally
runs 40 bushels. On each farm few pota-
toes, cabbages, turnips, and other vegetables
are grown for home use and for the COWS
which are kept to supply dairy produce; but
>Eheat-growiug is the great business of this
great farm. Now comes the important ques-
ton fthe cost of production. Mr.. Dalrym-
pie furnishes the following figures Land
valued at S12 per acre, interest thereupon at
six per cent, 72c; taxes and rates, 1Oc; build
'ings, machinery, and teams valued at $40, in
terest at 10 per cent, 1oc plowing, So seed
81 SO; harvesting and thrashing. So total,
$S AZ. Mr.. Dalrymple thus produces an acre
of wheat for less than So so (34s) per acre
indeed, he asserts that hitherto the actual cost
has not reached $s, excepting in the case Of
the first years crop, which the extra expense
of breaking up and two plowiugs advanced to
$l1. For four years his acreable yield has
averaged 20 bushels, each of which, on the
basis Of the above calculation, would cost
42c, or 1s Cd. On his own and other suita-
bic wheat-growiug farms, in favorable seasons,
Mr.. Dalrymple declares that the crop does not
cost moro than 35c per bushel. Sold, as ii
readily can be at the railway station at Cas-
SETON, at 75c to SOC, . very handsome profit
is obtainable. 1t approaches the Dutchman's
per cent, which, on investigation, proved u
be 8 cent. per cent. return. But now, import
ant alike to producer and consumer, comes the
question, "Will these crops and profits be per.
manent?" No symptoms of deterioration are
yet apparent. The land is clean; neithe,
twitch, thistles, nor docks appear. The chic
weeds are wild cotton, barn grass, sorrel with
q yellow flower, and the Michaelmas daisies
The manure made from the stables lies about
in heaps, which it is not yet thought worth
while to apply. BUeepting the small quantity
of straw used for littering the animals, the
whole produce of the 10000 acres is burnt
The spots on which these heaps burn show nc
obvious difference from the rest of the field
indicating that the unassisted soil still con.
tains phosphates and potash sufficient to grow
growing can be continued is somewhat diff.
cult to foretell. On similarly good land in
various parts of the country, fields are pointed
out from which, without any restorative treat
ment, twenty consecutive crops of wheat have
been reaped. and neither quantity nor quail
ity as yet undergoes obvious diminution. Mr.
Dalrymple is, however, too prudent farmer
to draw to- long or deeply on the resources Of
his land. By plowing yea, by year an inch
deeper, he brings up fresh plant food by
growing at intervals probably of four years
as he purposes doing, crop of clover, rolling
it down and plowing it in, he intends cbeaply
10 To-; ;e1aaintain fertility. By these means, and
by selection and change Of seed, as we'll as by
an occasional crop of oats or barley, Mr.. DaI'
rymple's superior management will doubtless
secure . continuance of good crops for many
years..