Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1883-11-08

of the Red River Valley wheat, had desg-
mated the highest quality produced In the
country The valley wheat. however. was
so much superior to the No. of those days
that the necessity tor a name was pressed |
upon the Duluth Board of Trade by which |
the highest grade OF wheat ever produced
should be designated, md No. l hard'' was
the result. This was the first practical re-
cognition of the superiority Of Northwest
ern wheat over all other grades known. 1t
was two years before the Minneapolis mil
lers recognized the new grade, and about
three years before the grade known as No.
hard waa established. These grades. as
their names indicate, found their origin in
the superior compactness and t1inty charac-
ter of the berry produced in the Red River
Valley. Comparatively little or no wheat
was raised in those days in the Cheyenne
and Dakota river valleys, so that the estab-
! lishnent OF these two grades that are now
attracting so much attention in tionr circles,
both in this country and in Europe, is prop
"rly and justly 'attributed 10 the Valley of
the Red River, hsa it is ple;,>lug to observe
that the develob lent of wheat culture as
far west as the Missouri Shows 40 falling
off in quality. Beyond the Missouri and
south OF the 46th parallel we have nc salts
factory evidence upon which TO conclude
that this wheat gan be pro'iured On the
contrary it is safEr to assert that these re-
gions will net cpa'. &c the boundaries that
that now descri'e the No. hard wheat
producing region of America. if not OF the
world, viz: From the Red River valley 10
the Missouri river ard from the 46th paral-
lei as far north as the seasons will mature
the grain, and at@a low estimate this belt is
200 miles wide bN 400 miles long. contain
ing at least 10000 600 acres capable, when
all under cultiva'fnn, OF producing 450.OOO,-
600 bushels OF Nbsl hard wheat. These
figures are. Of course, tough estimates and
in getting at them ample allowance has
been made for large area that will never be
productive, and the estimate per acre has
been placed at fifteen bushels, which i'm
proved cultivation ought to realize. AS
producer of breadstuffs. therefore, the capa-
city of this belt is destined to have it's e.
| feet on the markets Of the world, provided
the grade is kept up to its present standwd.
Already there is a growing demand for the
bright No. l hard on the part of English
millers. and the advsabilitv of building
elevators in the New Northwest devoted es-
gecially to the purchase of this wheat for
English millers has been discussed by jour
nails devoted to the milling interests in the
old country. The influence of this grade is
also observable nerer heme in the case Of
Minneapolis. Her millers last year claimed
they could not afford to pay the prices for
No. hard and they turned their attention
to southern wheat as means of cutting of
the demand for No. hard and thus lower
its price to suit their ideas. but the wheat
quietly found its way east via Dulut and
established its merits there. and to-day the
millers find themselves confronted by prob
lem that their mistaken policy OF year ago
and the breakage of their ''transit'' monop-
oily has placed forever beyond their power
of satisfactory solution. No monopoly can
ever break this industry, and it is probable
that one monopoly in attempting it has
dealt itself an irreparable injury. Their war
en No. l hard has proven to be veritable
boomerang.
But with all this apparent greatness in
store for this country, there is possibility
OF the creeping in of conditions that will
reduce the potency of our pedigree. For
instance, an English miller buys a cargo OF
: North Dakota wheat on its reputation and
finds upon using it that he has been made
the victim of misplaced confidence, he will
, not afterwards entertain very strong conf
dence in pedigrees; but if, on the contrary,
. he finds the -four from his new wheat sells
more rapidly and at better prices than he
had ever before experienced, he is very
: likely to buy more and not quibble about
) the price As with the English miller SO
will it be wherever wheat -four is made the
D world over. The Importance, therefore, o
t keeping up the grade of our wheat is greater
in N aterial point OF viev than any ques
1 ton of any nature before our people to-day