Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-12-31

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to st. Paul. Its roads cover third
OF Minnesota and the choicest parts
OF Dakota. Every car load of produce
loaded on any of its lines is started for
st. Paul. Nerly every carload of mer-
chandise it carries into the northwest
country is drawn from ST. Paul. 1t will
be the fault, then, of st. Paul merchants
and manufacturers if this railway ever
fails to be the most important of aids to
the growth of the commerce of st. Paul.
st. Paul d Manitoba Lands.
In President Stephens last annual re-
port it is stated: "The land grant of the
company, all of which has now been
earned by the completion Of the line to
st. Vincent in accordance with the pro-
visions of the Act of Congress, amounts
TO about 3,S4s, 900 acres, of which there
have been sold to date 1,Os7974 67-1OO
acres" The $500, 900 acres of land this
company has now for sale lies mostly in
the central and western parts of
Minnesota and includes large
portion of the prairie lands of the east
side of the Red River valley. The extra
ordinary fertility of these lands and their
special adaptation to grasses and small
grains are facts now widely known. The
average yield and quality of the wheat of
this region first attracted attention to the
great wheat belt of the New Northwest
| and set in motion the tide of immigration
which is now flowing into the west side
of the valley and all over northwestern
Dakota. The average price of the COM
pany's lands, which include valuable
! tracts in the old settled counties, is about
| 81 so, but the lands north of the North
ern Pacific in Polk, Marshall and Kittson
counties are held at lower range of
prices and offered on exceptionally
| favorable terms All of the company's
| lands are offered to actual settlers on easy
time payments; but to settlers on the
northern Red River lands premiums for
early bringing their lands under cultiva-
ton are offered, which reduce the first
cost of the lands to the settler to NOM
inal sum. On account of these premiums
or deductions for land brought under
cultivation in the first three years, set
tiers were credited on their land pur-
chases up to July LIST last, to the amount
of $500, 706. Most of the government
land in immediate vicinity of the rail-
road has been taken up, but the govern
ment is still a large owner in that region
and a movement is on foot for extinguish-
ing the Indian title to a great body of
pine and hard wood timber lands about
Red Lake and north of it. The State
is also large owner of lands in these
northwest counties, having, besides the
school lands, considerable body of
swamp lands. These are being reclaimed
or made easy to reclaim by the railroad
company having opened channel for
the stream which made the swamp and
so gave the state its title to the lands.
The Red River country is usually de-
scribed as appearing perfectly level. In
fact it uniformly slopes towards the river,
the fall where it most appears level being
from two to five feet per mile This was
established in making surveys for the
railway drainage and providing agains,
overf1Ows from lakes and streams. The
railroad bitches, on either side of the
track, are made by locomotive
power. AS stated about year ago, in
the GLOBE, General Manager Hill ordered
two large plows made for ditching. These
are set one at each side, on a framework
resting on wheels on the track They
were not ready for use until late in the
fall, but then worked to the full satisfac-
ton of all concerned. Two locomotives
were used for motive power, and, NOV
ing at an average speed of about five
miles an hour, the two great plows each
opened and cleared ditch two and hall
feet wide by two feet deep. Early the
coming season the work will be renewed
with these plows, and before the summer
rains, the whole line from Glyndon to
st. Vincent will be thoroughly ditched
and drained. Of course these plows could
not be thus operated in gravel, stony
lands or hard clay; but in the friable
soil of the Red River country locomotive
ditch digging is quite the thing. In
furtherance of it's track drainage the
company has opened some eight or nine
water courses leading from the railway
to ravines or streams running into Red
River. These are at the only places in
the valley where any trouble from stand
ing water or overflow has been feared and
have led farmers to adopt the same means
for draining their lands and increasing
the meadow and tillable area. With such
drainage there will be no waste or useless
land whatsoever left in the whole valley.
Emigration to the western and central
parts of the State since the through rail
way was opened, less than three years
ago, has been very large. A score Of
new villages are fourishing and many
hundreds of farms are cultivated where
few years ago there were no settlements
A new territory of near two hundred by
fifty miles has been occupied, is fast fill
ing up with enterprising cultivators Of
the soil and is contributing to the food OF
the world the best grain ever grown. The
railroad company, the general govern
ment and the State each desire to dispose
of the lands and each offer them on such