Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1879-11-06
MANITOBA VS.. MINNESOTA.
Lord BeGcOsastaeld CO'atrGdicted-The A
Vantages of MtnnesOtG.


Lord BeGcOmstield COntrGdicted-The Id
VantGges of Minnesota.
A lengthy letter from Winnipeg to the
New York Times gives an account of Mani
toba farming the reverse of racy. We make
the following extracts:
All this may be very interesting reading in
Europe, hut here in Winnipeg, the capital of
this great Northwestern region described in
the land pamphlets, there is little evidence of
this boosted fertility of the soil. The pros
pect all around is drearV one. l will not
undertake to say what may be the quality of
the land in those regions described as lying
from 800 to 700 miles further beyond
the pale of civilization, where, as an
inducement to settlers, some of the prin-
cipal towns are represented as shaving
a fortnightly express, carrying her
Majesty's mail and passengers to Winnipeg"
But must say that it seems strange that
within sight of this town. from which so
much information has been forwarded free
of expense to all the European States, there
is hardly the slightest trace of cultivation to
be seen. You can walk out of the main
street upon as bleak and unacceptable a
prairie as you can find in the whole North
West I believe I am correct in stating that
there is not an ear Of wheat, or grain of any
kind-not even a vegetable grown within q
distance of many miles of the town. And
surely, if the Dominion lands of Canada are
as fertile as they are represented, they ought
to be able to produce food for the support OF
the inhabitants of the principal city within a
reasonable distance of its site. One thing,
at least. as certain, that unless the citizen
here can make better showing in tbs way
of agricultural products in the immediate
vicinity of the town, they had better abandon
the business of Diminishing land pamphlets to
the distressed agriculturists of European
States, and recommend their agricultural
authors to teach them how to cultivate a
patch of garden, instead of wasting SO much
rhetoric upon foreigners.
AS to the attempt to prove that all the
valuable lands of the United States have
been sold, and that only few worthless
patches remain, l have only to say that the
citizens of Winnipeg stand more in need of
being convinced upon this subject than Eng
lish agriculturists. Mr.. Trail, who is an
old resident of this town, recently purchased
ten sections or about 1000 acres of wheat
land from the st. Paul, Minneapolis & Man
Litoba railroad company, in Kittson county
Minnesota, almost on the borders of Cada.
da. He also owns large tract of land or
the other side of the Red river, in Dakota
territory, while he has made very little in
vestments in Manitoba. Mr.. Trail was fol
several years connected with the Hudson
Bay company, and had ample opportunities
of judging of the quality of the land here
as we'll as of the facilities for disposing OF
its products, and he certainly can,
ot have any prejudice against the old Do
inion. Upon some of this land he hes
had an average yield of 20 bushels of wheat
to the acre this year. Still lower down il
the Red River valley, Mr.. March, of Mime
apolis, and Mr.. Spalding. of New York, farm
5000 or 5000 acres at Warren, and in some
places had yield of 3715 bushels to tbs
acre this season on a first crop. Their aver
age yield was about 81 bushels to the acre
The large farms of Messrs. Cheny, Cass anG
Dalrymple, in Dakota Territory, where, Mr.
William C..Dalrymple informed me, they
had Is, 900 acres of wheat crop this year
from which there was yield of over 100000
bushels-these extensive farms are all within
the limits of this valley. There is also the
Grandan farm, of some 10000 acres, moi
far distant upon which there were
over 1000 acres under cultivation this sea
son. This valley is regarded as one of the
finest wheat fields in the world, and yet there
are some 200 miles of it in length by nearly
100 in width still unoccupied, except il
patches here and there. Within the pas
twelve months the st. Paul, Minneapolis &
Manitoba railroad has been completed to St
Vincent, and for 200 miles you drive through
this immense plain without meeting with
more than a few settlements. Since the
completion of the railroad, however, farmers
have been hocking in from all parts of the
country, and it is safe to estimate that with
in the next few years there will be more
wheat raised in this valley alone than il
many years to come in the whole proper