The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-09-28
MILES OF WHEAT.
An Immense Farm In Dakota which Com.
priscs 10000 Acres.
FARGO. August I,

ihoio maj ScioRS 10 SHOW inc stranger
than the great wheat farms which thickly
| stud the Red River valley. The system
upon which all these farms is conducted
is much the same, varying only in minor
details, 80 that an account Of one will
give general idea of them all. The
most famous Of them all is the Dalrym.
pie farm. 1t is, perhaps, the most per.
feet example in the Northwest Of farming
reduced to an exact science This farm
Is situated west Of Fargo. in the heart of
what was formerly called "Thc Great
American Desert" since more favorably
known as the great Dakota wheat belt.
1t extends along the Northern Pacific
ltailroad for many miles. The lands at
first comprised i'll it were purchased from
the railroad company Mt about forty cents
an acre, and the first purchases have been
gradually added to, at prices ranging
from that figure up TO five dollars per
acre, until now there are more than 75,-
900 acres, or nearly l2O square miles all
under the one management. Mr.. Dal.
rymple, after whom the farm was named,
was resident of Pennsylvania and was
supposed to be deep i'll wheat" there and
IN minnesota before coming here. lie
was selected on account of such expe.
rience by the then owners of the farm to
come out and make tho experiment in
Dakota Of raising wheat on a large scale,
under an arrangement with them that
when the net profits Of the enterprise had
reimbursed the cost Of the land and all
moneys paid out in its DEVELOPMENT he
should become half owner Of this and
their other large farms, a result long
since attained. Ground was broken in
1874, and, against many predictions of
failure, the farm was an assured success
from the first and is growing more profit.
able esc!: yss7.
FARMING ON 4 BIG SCALE.
The reader, if lie would understand the
wheat question here, must discard nil
previous notions of farming in the Eust
for not only the natural conditions. sucl,
rs soil, climate and the seasons, but all
the methods Of cultivation pursued, are
radically different The area Of cultiya.
tion, the implements used and the results
obtained-evcrything which enters into
the problem-are on scale 80 vast that
no previous experience will aid them in
the least The sole result sought for is TO
produce buslel Of wheat at the lowest
possible cost, and in doing this expe.
rience has shown that the amount of
manual labor must be reduced To the
minimum, and, therefore, all the old time
methods of ploughing, sowing, reaping
and threshing have been superseded by
the introduction in nll those departments
Of the latest improvements in labor.sav-
ing machinery. Bearing these things in
mind, wheat growing in Dakota il Of the
simplest possible description.
The soil on this farm is rich black
muck, or loan, from three to six feet
deep, with clay subsoil, containing in
exhaustible quantities Of lime and other
wheat nu.ritives. The surface of the
ground is broad prairie, devoid of stone
end timber, and presenting DO obstacles
to the free use of machinery. The first
ploughing Of the raw prairie, called
"breaking," is done with sulky ploughs
during May and June. This plough has
a share about fourteen inches wide, and
the depth of the iurrow, usually three 70
four inches, is regulated from his seat by
the driver by means of lever. An av-
erage days breaking" il about eighteen
miles. Mr.. Dalrymple has his working
force 30 arranged that he breaks up five
thousand acres n year. by the first of
July the breaking" has become rotten,
and the workmen go back to it and 20
over the whole five thousand acres again
in rotation with second ploughing,
called "backsetting." This ground then
lies fallow until the succeeding May,
when the backset burrows are narrowed
down and the ''seeder" put TO work.
This is simply an ingenious machine for
broadcast sowing, which distributes a
bushel and twenty quarts Of seed per aero
over ten acres a day. A second harrow.
ing completes the labor of putting in the
crop.
SOWING THE WHEAT.
The wheat sown is of the variety called
Scotch fife, which comes 10 perfection in
this latitude, making hard, round ber-
~, which grades in the market as mo.
l hard" and always commands q higher
price than Western wheat. For many
reasons the crop natures rapidly; one of
the principal ones Is, doubtless, that from
the looseness of the soil the winter frosts
go very deep. The spribg sowing is done
as soon as the surface is sufficiently
thawed &c .hs: :or many weeks afHteInari
the moisture lower down is coming to the
surface, laden with lime and other wheat
nourishment, and keeps the roots of the
young and tender wheat damp and cool,
and it shoots up with surprising rapidity.
The climate also has much to do with It.
The days are long and exempt from those
deDilitating heats 30 depressing to ell
forms of animal and vegetable life, while
the nights are cool. While the inhabit-
ants of less favored sections are swelter-
ing in q heat that murders sleep, the "bo.
nanzo farmer" complacently piles on
more woolen blankets and sleeps the
sleep Of the just. Mr.. Dalrymple has
out this year $4,000 acres of wheat, and
as he adds 5000 acres a year, the whole
10000 'cres will soon be under cultiva.
ton.
or I. urse such an enterprise requires
multitude Of men, horses, mules and
machinery. Something over 700 horses
and mules are kept on the farm, and du.
ring harvest and threshing rs many rs
900 men find employment there. With
out the most complete system and order
all would be Confusion worse confound.
ed" The land is cut up into divisions
of 5000 acres, with general superin-
tendent over eace, who has under him q
division foreman and gang foreman.
The divisions are also further subdiyided
as convenience requires. Each division
has its boarding houses, barns, tool
rooms. &C., but the supplies are ali kept
in one store, from which they are drawn
upon by requisition. as ia the army.
The finances are conducted upon a sys.
tenn Of vouchers, and the men are paid
whenever they demand it. In every de-
partment the most complete system pre-.
walls. There can be no Sinking or
crookedness without instant detection.
Every man in the establishment has his