Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-08-25

e. 4,
Canton ID. T. Correspondence.
EDIToRs REPoRTER:--By perusing
your paper perceived letter from
jamestown, Dakota, in which the
writer has made an attempt to give
Dakota Territory brilliant "setting
out" At the outset he assumes that
he is competent to advise all the PEG
pie of the 'East" because he has been
a resident Of jim. river valley or some
other terrible, awful place in this great
"treeless. tracklcss, desert, Gas he
describes it). Well he has had his
say, now | do not wish to attempt as
big a job as advising all the people of
the Badger State" what's best for
them, simply ask to state through
the columns of your paper my opinion
of the same great Territory. I wish
to follow his Cor herd story through
and just state wherein We may differ
in opinion, and as | have also been here
for nearly two years my opinion may
perchance be at par with his Cor her)
which ever the case may be- They
divulge the secrets Of the west by
starting with the grasshoppers assert
ing that just about / 600, 900 OF these
unwelcome visitors called on them the
day previous to said letter being writ
ten, and were destroying thn"e""as
of acres, and there it stopped without
telling US what became of the
sinners In my opinion they were
large hoppers if that number could
destroy so much in so short space Of
time And as for farmers being COM
PEELED to draw water for miles as he
says, | state for the benefit OF your
readers as we'll as the people of Dako-
ia, that that is not practiced in Lin
coin county. Its fact however, that
in some localities water is not
such as sparkles and bubbles in the
little brooks in Wisconsin (my native
state) or Minnesota. Yet | could
not feel justified in advising people to
stay there for the sake as such as
these, for we get plenty Of rain here
and that is just as soft and pure, as it
does back in the country he so prefers
to this, and again we find it stated
that the industrious Dakota farmer
can find nothing to do all winter.
Well as far as my observation has been
| think that is just what would please
many of our western "would be"
farmers and not only rest all winter
but during the whole year Drive
the country in any direction will,
and the lack of enterprise greets you
from every side. As rule they I'M
dertake more than they can perform,
SOW more seed than they can take care
of properly. You can readily sec 100
acres here only half planted or in
other words a half sowed and half
harvested hundred acres in D. T.
would not produce more than 10 or so
acres as is cultivated in the Eastern
States hence we must expect less
yield per acre. And yet there are
farmers here who this year can beat
the boasted man of the East in yield
per acre. Grain is nearly all in the
shock here, mach in the stack, and
not grasshopper yet. The terrible
hopper rade of 5 and 6 years ago
seemed to take every bit of energy out
of the farmers who lived here then
and now that prosperity smiles once
more upon the Dakotian, new enter
prises are being developed. All the
old time tried farmers that survived
the scourge and the new ones that
We since came, with the still more
energetic that are soon to follow, will
in very few years make this the most
prosperous and productive part of the
Union. The party that speaks so
lightly Of tree culture and seems in the
letter to class it as failure, has only
to look around in Lincoln County a
little where can be seen any amount