The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-09-01
miscellaneous.
GREEN AND GOLD.

MOrld-F FOry'nVe mheb bOhS anu V"V A'''
wide.
Fargo, D, T.. August 19.-Csn you i'm.
aRine a wheat field of 10000 acresP
Thirty thousand acres Of slender golden
stems, each bearing cluster Of yellow
beads, bowing and nodding, as II in &C.
knowle ]gment Of admiring glanCes. II
You can not fancy such picture, perhaps
you will admit that it must be one Of the
most sublime and fascinating scenes the
human eye can witness. "..H
stood this morning at the center Of
the largest farm in the world; the largest
piece of territory ever cultivated under
Che direction OF one man. AS far as the
Uye can reach, north, south, east or west,
there was nothing visible but the bluest
Of blue sky, the reddest Of red barns, the
great, awkward looking threshers, with
their smoke tegrimed engines beside
them, the Whirring harvesters, and miles
after miles of wheat. II this farm were
stretched out like ribbon half q mile
wide it would reach as far as from Chi
cago to Milwaukee. II it were in a sin
gle rectangular piece mile in width, it
would be forty FIVE miles from end to end
and there is not fence, not tree, not
bush; only an occasional strip OF green
across the golden that marks the exist
BnCe of road or section line.
Near US was a little white house where
the 'storekeeper" lived-the Commissary
Ofa great army, for an army it Island
we inquired Of the gentlemanly Mr,Man-
dell how we could get across to the Office
ORMr. Dalrymple. He impressed mule
that happened to drive up for supplies,
and sent us to headquarters.
There was cluster of great red barns,
an acre or two of cabbages, beets, onions,
and waving corn; lazy looking windmill
that swung around as inditterently as If
regiment Of thirsty men were not work.
Ing in the field; and Cozy cottage, plain
but comfortable. We raped at the door
and were shown into the parlor. The
room was handsomely furnished, with
some evidences Of luxury but no more
than are found in the houses Of fore.
handed" farmers all over the West.
We asked for Mr.. Dalrymple, and he
came down from some room above;
slender, quiet.looking man, with q pen
behind his ear, whom you would judge
TO be a schoolmaster or clergyman at
sight. His hands were soft and white
more accustomed to the book or pen than
the plow--and his face, where it was not
covered with beard, was not burned 30
much as mine. He met us cordially, in
vited us to spend the day and dine, and
suggested that he would have team
hitChed up to drive US over "the place"
noticed he always called it "the place"
In the meantime l asked him few
questions. The first one was as to the
yield this year,
ut was a late SPRING" said Mr.. Dali
Fymple. "At the time when we are Usu.
ally putting in crop, the place for miles
around US here was covered with water
from the melted snow and you could |
have sailed boat over field where now
there is wheat that will yield thirty bush. |
els to the acre, / feared at one time the |
crop would be failure, but am very pos |
tive now that the average per acre will |
not be below twenty bushels"
Have you sold your wheatP"
"0ur plan is different from the ordi- |
nary metod. We are sending about three |
train loads day to Duluth"
"How many bushels is that"
about 300 900 bushels. We load yes
sci at Duluth every two days and send it
to Buffalo, where it is sold on arrival at
the market price,"
"What is thatP"
"The price to-day" said Mr.. Dalrvm.
pie, consulting telegram; "is 81, q ~
Buffalo, Freights are about q cents, go
it nets us about 81 a bushel."
"What viii your crop amount tor
II am expecting about 600 600 bushels.
Besides this we have 10000 bushels of
oats, which we keep for our stock"
"Do you keep stock enough to eat up
10000 bushels of oatsp"
Mr.. Dalrymple smiled pleasantly, and
remarked that 800 horses and mules ate
up a good many oa's.
"How much does your crop cost your"
sit costs us about Sc an acre to produce
q crop when we use our own stock and
pay our men by the month, but when
we hire men and teams by the day it
costs US about So an acre."
what do you pay your men?"
I'VE pay $50 q month for regular hands
and $2a day for extra hands during har'
vest
"What amount Of machinery have you
going to-day2"
1.-TWO hui dred self.binding harvesters
and thirty steam threshers. These 200
harvesters cut an average Of 2.800 acres a
day! and the threshers turn out about
10000 bushels day. AS fast as it is
thTeshed we bag the wheat, cart it over
to the cars, empty the sacks, and send
away, Il rec train loads daily"
"Where do you keep your menP"
"If you had been here at o'clock this
morning, you would have seen 800 nOn
at breakfast. We keep quite hotel,
with forty cooks" |,
Mr.. Dalrymple explained at length
how this enormous business is conduct.
ed. The 80 900 acres under cultivation
are divided into five divisions Of 5000
acres each, under superintendeDts, who
are responsible directly to Mr.. Dal
rymple, the commander in chief. Each
Of these regiments is again divided
into battalions, with foreman or major,
who has charge Of 8 600 acres. Under
him are three companies each having
captain, and Cultivating a section of $40
acres ofland. Each superintendenpputs
in his crop and harvests it, reporting
from time to time to Mr.. DalrympIe, who
directs and oversees the whole; but who |
spends most of his time at the office, cal.
culating and planning for the best results
from the smallest outlay. The superin.
tendents are responsible for the good Or
der Of their man, stock and machinery,
and there ia q, decided rivalry between
them as to which can produce the largest
UDIn.. khn ~lav,g... 80. a.. L