Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-09-06
MILES OF WHEAT.
Farming ON II Big Scale.

Farming ON "a big Scale.
( "The land of the Dakotas', has
/ nothing more marvellous to show the
stranger than the great wheat firnis
which thickly stud the Red River
Valley. The system on which all
these farms are conducted is much the
same varying only in minor details, so
that an account of one will give q gen
eral idea of them all The most
famous of them all is the Dalrymple
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 "The Great American Desert, !"
since more favorable known a. the
great Dakota wheat belt. 1t extends
along the Northern Pacific Railroad for
many miles. The lands at 6rst com-
prised in it were purchased from the
railroad company at 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 l20
square miles, all under the one man-
agement. Mr.. Dairy ymple, after whom
the farm was named, was a resident Of
Pennsylvania and was supposed to be
"deep in wheat" there and in Minnesc-
ia before coming here. He was Sc
lected on account OF such experience
by the then owners of the farm to
come out and make the experiment in
Dakota of raising wheat on q large
scale, under an arrangement with
them that when the net profits of the
enterprise had reimbursed the cost o"
the land and all moneys paid out in its
development he should become half
owner OF this and 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 profitable each year.
FARMING ON BIG SCALE.
The reader if he would understand
the wheat question here, must dis
card all previous notions of farming in
the east, for not only the natural con-
ditions, such as soil, climate and the
seasons, but all the methods of cult
vation pursued, are radically different.
The area of cultivation, implements
used and the results obtained-ev
thing which enters into the problem
are on a scale so vast that no previous
experience will aid them in the least
The sole result sought for is TO pro-
duce bushel of wheat at the least pos
sible cost, and in doing this expert
ence has shown that the amount OF
manual labor must be reduced to the
minimum, and thefore all the old time |
methods of plowing, sowing, reaping
and threshing have been superseded !
by the introduction in all those de- |
partments of the latest Improvements
in la5or-saving machinery Bearing
these things in mind, wheat growing
in Dakota is OF the simplest possible
description.
The soil on this farm is a rich
black muck. or loan, from three to six
feet deep with a clay subsoil, contain
ing inexhaustable quantities OF lime and
other wheat nutritives. The surface
of the ground is broad prairie, devoid
of stone and timber and presenting no
obstacle TO the free use of machinery.
The first plowing Of the ra " prairie
called breaking" is done with sulky
plows during May and June. This
plow has a share about fourteen
inches wide, and the depth of the fur
row, usually three or four inches, is
regulated from bis seat by the driver
by means of lever. A average dav's
breaking" Is about eighteen miles
Mr.. Dalrymple has bis working force
so arranged that he breaks up five
thousand miles year BY the first Of
July the breaking" becomes rotten,
and the workmen go back to il and 20
over the whole Eve thousand acres
again in rotation with second plow-
ing, called "back-set;ing. This
ground then lies fallow until the sue
ceeding May, when the back-set fur
rows are narrowed down and the
"seedcr" put to work. This is sim
ply an ingenious machine for broadcast
sowing, which distributes a bushel
and twenty quarts of seed per acre
day. A second narrowing completes
the labor of putting in the crop.
SOWING THE WHEAT.
The wheat sown is of the variety
called Scotch fife, which comes to per-
fection in this latitude, making hard,
round berry, which grades in the
market as mo. | hard" aad always
commands higher price than other
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 spring sow
ing is done as soon as the surface is
sufficiently thawed, SO tLat for many
weeks afterward the moisture lower
down is coming to the surface, laden
with lime and other wheat nourish-
ment, and keeps the roots of the young
and tender wheat damp and cool, and
it shoots up with surprising rapidity
The climate has also much to do with
it, The days are long and exempt
frow those deliberating heats so de-
pressing to all forms of animal and
vegetable life, while the nights are
cool. While the inhabitants of less
favored sections are sweltcring in
heat that murders sleep, the "bonan-
"a farmer complacently piles on
more wooden 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 year, the
whole 5000 acres will soon he under
cultivation.
OF course such an enterprise requires
a multitude of men, horses, mules and
machinery. Something over 700
mules and horses are kept on the farm,
and during harvpSt and threS hinu "a