Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1880-08-11

ADoUT UNION CoUNTY.
E11S6evatlons ~ Promanent
DcanA1nav1an.
he hllowing letter written ~ n,
~ AfSdsrickson, formerly editor Of !
~1dinesian papsr at Sioux Falls,
I'm nov correspondent - apapsE
r Chicago, win b found Interest,"
grsading: /
ut EIsx PoINr, Union Co., Dak,
August lot. 1880.
= from ons Of tho small
1SWae On these western prairies from
|Wfs1e q present the economy Of the
|WuEld6 being revolutionised BY the
production Of wheat, pork and beef.
Everything looks here - favorable
~ p6osible. Most Of the grain lie
|cok md ID : better crop than ever
AOWn here before. Of wheat there
Hlbe shipped from this place ct
- 100000 bushels.
Nheat Is paying, az everywhere
~ the west where the farmer ID do
HI his own work and not running
10 much in debt for costly machin-
m, or paying too much for high
pe1ced labor. But the very best
bu9ineos here Is corn and cattle.
Hsea y 10 Illinois, . boy with 9
toe9a - make one hundred tons Of
eoqg y one hundred days; but there
! gdl4esnc that the land, even
EnMl Il ~ drgt settled corner Of tho
A. d. not cost moro than
0SD9 10 - 80; most q y On -
eot ~ tQ -. This year the crop Of
maize will be double that Of any
previous year, partly because It will
average more Per acre, partly be-
cause the number OF acres under
cultivation has been largely in
creased. With corn, hogs is . good
paying business. The first thing OF
AL Is, however, in these parts cattle.
To get an example, l asked Mi.
Geo. Stickney, the county treasurer
of Union county, about his stock
raising. Mr.. Stickney bought last
spring two years ago fifteen year
ling steers at ~ per head, $l1O; two
years later they had advanced 70
928 per head, or $41O; it was 800
for the keeping. At the same time
they have pretty nearly entirely tax
en- care of themselves; the grass
they have eaten has not cost any
thing at all,-they have not been fed
any corn, and the hay they have
eaten from stacks in the filds in
winter-time, has, at the highest.
cost 75cts per ton to cut and to
stack and not amounted to II tons
per head. MI. Stickney calculates
that to keep q head of cattle kept in
this manner will increase in value
from IS to 81 per annum, at q cost
not exceeding 81. This fall it seems
likely that young steers will be sold
for $35 to $45 or will net for the
summer over SIS. At present all
farmers intend to keep and fatten
their steers; they expect to get for
them next spring from $50 to $50.
While this place is some distance
from Chicago the great cattle mar
ket of the northwest, the freight
of g from here to Chicago is much
more than repaid by the difference
in price of hay and corn. Loss by
accident is by MI. Stickney calcu-
lated to be, in this good climate, not
above 3 per cent. Down here the
cattle is given shelter in the few cold
days in winter. Further up at the
Missouri River the great cattle-men
let them go out the whole winter
and do not even furnish them any
hay; the only expenses are there
is the watching and supervision cal
culated. to be between 81 and 81 per
head a year. In the cattle business
nearly everything is profit out here.
The thing is that the pasture has
not yet any value. Thousands Of
tons of splendid hay are, even in
this county, left uncut on the ground
to be burned by the prairie-fres in
fall and winter. There is no end Of
Al --s -s.u- A.