The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1883-01-24
MILES OF WHEAT.
rae lsansense Farm In Dakota which Com.
prlsss seventy.Five Thousand Acres.

prlsss sseventy. Five Thousand Acres.
This farm is situated west of Fargo, In
the hsart of what was formerly called The
Great American Desert, since more favora-
bly, known as the great Dakota wheat belt.
Il extends along the Northern Pacific Rail-
comprised in it were purchased from the
railroad company at about forty cents M
acre, and the first purchases have been grad
uaily added to, at prices ranging from that
figure up to five dollars per acre, until now
there are more than 5000 acres. or nearly
12o square miles, all under the one manage
ment. Mr.. Dalrymple, after whom the farm
was named was resident of Pennsylva-
mia.
The soil on this farm is a rich black muck
or loan, from three to six feet deep, with
clay subsoil, containing inexhaustible GUAM
titles of lime and other wheat nutr:tives
The surface of the ground is broad prairie
devoid of stone and timber and presenting
no obstacles to the free use of machinery
The first blowing of the raw prairie, called
breaking" is done with sulky plows dur
ing May and June. This pillow has share
about fourt sen inches wide, and the depth OF
the furrow, usually three to four inches, is
regulated from his seat by the driver by
means of a lever. An average days "break.
ing" is about eighteen miles. Mr.. Dalrym-
pie has his working force SO arranged that
he breaks up five Thousand acres year. By
the first of July the first " breaking" has be-
come rotten, and the workmen go back to ii
and go over the whole FIVE thousand acres
again in rotation with a second blowing,
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 bushei and twenty quarts
of seed per acre over ten acres day. A
second narrowing completes the labor of
putting in the crop.
The wheat sown is of the variety called
Scotch fife, which comes to perfection in
this latitude, making a hard round berry,
which grades in the market as mo. hard"
and always commands a higher price than
other Western wheat For many reasons
The crop natures rapidly; one of the prin-
cipal ones is, doubtless, that from the loose
ness of the soil the winter frosts go very
deep. The spring sowing is done as soon
as the suit face is sufficiently thawed, so that
for many weeks aftcrward the moisture
lower down is coming to the surface, lader
with lime and other wheat pourishment, 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 facilitating heats SO de-
pressing to all forms of animal aud vegeta-
Die life, while the nights are cool While
the inhabitants of less favored sections are
sweltering in heat that murders sleep, the
"bonanza farmer" complacently piles op
more wooden blankets and sleeps the sleep
OF the just. MIR. Dalrympi= has out tilis
year $4,000 acres of wheat, and as he adds
5000 acres a year, the whole $4,000 acres
will soon be under cultivation
or course such an enterprise requires Q
multitude of men, horses, mules and ma
chinery. Something over 700 mules and
horses are kept on the farm, and during har-
vest and threshing as many as 900 men find
employment there. Without the most COM
plete system and order all would be " confu-
sion worse confounded.' The land is cut
up into divisions of 5000 acres, with gen.
eral superintendent over each, who has I'M
der him division foreman and gang fore
nha oil f,,rl
vided as convenience requires Each diyis-
ion has its boarding houses, barns tool
rooms, ETC., but the supplies are all kept in
one store, from which they are drawn upon
by requsiton, AS in the army. The fnan-
ces are conducted upon system of vouchers
and the men are paid whenever they demand
it. In every department the most COM
plete system prevails. There can be no
Sinking or crookedness without instant de-
lection. Every man in the establishment
has his place and must fill it faithfully or
leave.
The harvest begins this year about Au-
gust 10, and just now the wheat is taking on
that yellow golden tint so pleasing to the
husbandmap. / wish the surprising beauty
of the scene at Dalrymple farm now could
be adequately described. Overhead a bright
sum- your face famed by cool breeze, while
in every direction as far as the eye can trav-
Ell you see nothing but miles ard miles OF
yellow wheat, gently swayed by the light
winds and giving forth their peculiar sooth-
ing sounds. which l am inclined TO name
Dakota's native poetry.
The harvest season is always the period
of greatest activity on Dalrymple farm and
it usually lasts some fifteen days. Near two
hundred automatic self-binders are used and
every two machines are followed by an ex-
pert on horseback, who repairs breaks and
keeps them in running order. The bundles
of grain are collected into piles of about a
hundred bushels each, but are neither stack
ed or shocked, as threshing Immediately fol.
lows the harvest. Over thirty straw burning
Iteam-thrashers are put at work as soon as
the cutting IL completed. They each have a
capacity of l 900 bushels per day, and the
grain is taken direct from them to the rail
road and loaded in cars for the Eastern
market. Everywhere steam and horse pow
Ci arc utih1Su " tuc uiliont, duu every part
of this vast enterprise is so nicely adjusted
that the whole system goes on like clock
work The estimated crop this year exceeds
10000 bushels. bushel of wheat can he
produced on this farm ror 30 cents, includ
ing in that estimate taxes, labor. seed and
interest on Investment, and that bushel OF
wheat can be laid down in Philadelphia, at a
slight profit, for 81 Cents. Comparing those
figures with the current market prices will
at once demonstrate that Mr.. Dalrymple is
not losing any money on his annual crop of
1000 bushels. On this farm the average
annual yield has been twenty-five bushels
per acre, without fertilizers or other artif.
cial aids, and it has been demonstrated that
the wheat-producing qualities of the soil are
practically inexhaustible. Tie net profits OF
this farm last year were GO per cent. on the
whole Investment Plalaielphia Times.