, 1880-03-11
Farming IN Southwestern Min

One hundred and sixty miles south of
St Paul. In the mills. o' % capital gam.
country. IS Heron Lake Junst'on.vhgn'.
the H.lrs Hills branch %, the - fau.
and Sioux Gty railway is carried ''
miles 10 Norl.;a,k, AMI is ta'nsa 20
raSs through tlc Indian Ipestonc t'uh-
trr. where easily ,1, aUd readily polished
ferrugiro.s and cal-1rcous clay beds oc
cur. visited oaea wear by the lnalans,
VII, believe the soil 70 be cCIOrcd hv the
blood Of their iorciatherS, and vino rev
creutlv carry of supplies Of the pipe
stone 70 be- carved into various orna
mentS Down this line viii by and hy
be brought portion Of the varied min
cral wealth Of the Black Hills and the
cattle reared in increasing numbers on
the bluffs and valleys Of the Dakota
river. Five miles west Of Heron Lake
junction, where the sportsman will ind
a capital hotel, the town Of Dundee Is
rising: and three miles south, on the
Southera Minnesota railway, is AirIee,
where Lord Airlee, lam informed, has pro
pertv and has contributed handsomely to.
wards town improvements Through
ont these Western States lands are fire
quently pointed out belonging to Eng
lishmen, who, to counterbalance the de-
preciation unfortunately going on In
land property in England, are investing
in desirable estates in America, which
are destined to advance in value as rail
ways and immigration spread westward.
A quarter of century ago settlers from
the older States and from Europe were
buying farms in Illinois and Ohio at
from IS to $40 an acre. Although con-
temptuously said to be "played out "
and not always producing as much
wheat as they did when first brought
under cultivation, these lands neverthe
less are selling at from $25 to $50 an
acre, and some of the sellers are'rein-
vesting in Minnesota, Dakota, Iowa,
Missouri or Kansas, confidently antici-
pating good interest on their Investment
and labor, and similar steady increase
ment in the value Of their property. OF
such promising investments there is an
abundance throughout these Western
States. In the State of Minnesota
alone, on the first day of January,
1879, the official records report up
wards Of ten million acres unsurveyed
and unoccupied belonging to the United
States. Three million acres of surveyed
land belong to the States, and about the
same quantity is owned by the State of
Minnesota For these the appraised
price is 50 80 per acre, for lands situat-
ed within railway limits and 81 % for
those situated without the twenty mile
limits. A considerable portion Of the
most desirable of these State lands has
already been taken up under pre-emp-
ton, homestead or timber acts Nearly
seven million acres are still in the hands
of the five competing railway companies
who have conveniently "gridironed "
the State Of Minnesota with roads. For
ten and occasionally twenty miles on
each side of their lines they have re-
ceived each alternate section Of square
mile, and these sections they are dispos-
ing of at prices varying according to
eligibility, from so to $40. Credit may
be taken for payment, which may usu-
ally be made at the rate of 81 or so per
annum, seven per cent. being charged
on the deferred payments Corr. Lon
don Times.