Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1884-07-24

MIR EDITOR, Dear Sir; r;-AD mt 81
mon II aga Ardy Paisley and rccriv-
ed u diving visit trIn onA of your es-
teeDed town,mcn, john Holden. Had
he taken up land ~ this neighborh0od
We intended To pen YOU few lines re-
garding Dakota. but whsn lie hedrd
about the billiards. and cold winds in
this region in winter, he concluded To
take up his cattle ranch further south
and will be in Nebraska or Kansas by
this time. | shall endpavOr to give
the "ljrockwayites" true and impair
tial account of this country us far as
lies in my power. Andy and ! have
each got 100 acres, adjoining in the
Spring Lake valley, 35 miles east OF
the Missouri river and - miles west
of Ipswich II booming town i'll this
county. The valley extends from east
To we, t aHd Is from To 10 miles wide
with undulating hills, well adapted for
stock raising, on each side. The soil
IS rich black loan from = To 3 feet
deep, with or3 feet COED sub-sOil rest
ing Oh either gravel or clay. The
water III most parts of this territory is
what they term Alkali water, and is
ofteE very difficult to obtain. In
Aberdeen go miles east OF Ipswich
and Ipswich they have 10 bore down
from so to 100 feet and then it is net
drinkable. ! SAW one pailful emptied
into another pail and il frothed like
soap suds. Horses do not relish it
so you may be sure it is not good for
man. In Spring Lake valley the water
is excellent ana you can obtain all YOU
want by digging from q To 20 feet.
We have had weekly rains from the
beginning of May and hear that the
wheat prospects are something extra
all through the Territory. We have
no Canada thistles yet, but | suppose
that is only question Of time. |
went to Ipswich OH the 4th and they
had great celebration. Farmers in
that locality paid this spring as high
as 81. 80 per bushel Tor white Russian
seed oats and every field where they
are sown is full of that noXious weed
wild mustard. Where fields were sown
late this spring, | notice that pig weed
predomlnates. The climate of this
country is healthful and invigOrating
and men who have lived in the Ter
ritory to years. say they never
heard of ague or malarial fever. do
not know how the weather is III Mich
at present July 1jth) but ] wore my
ulster Yesterday and when | go up to
post this epistle shall put it on again
We had "a cold lain on Sunday the 18th
inst it has been very cold ever since.
To look at the wild prairie hay which
grows in the sleughs You would think
that horses aud cattle would not eat 1t,
but they prefer it to timothy and it is
more nutritious. Horses have been
cured of the heaves through its agency.
yoke of oxen are generally used with
sixteen inch plow for breaking. but
you sometimes see a 25e0 ID team walk
along with II inch plow, and do it
IN good shape. They cut furr0w
from ~ to 1G inches wide, 3 inch deep
and turn 1t flat down, SO the ground is
in the same shape as it was, only top
side down. Some of your old country
plowmen in BrOckway would think 1t
was very poor plowlng. The sod is
very tough and it requires to be cut
thin TO rot properly. The wild flowers
on the prairie never seem to give out,
when one kind dies there are always
lots Of other kinds to take its place,
and YOU can GO out and in 10 minutes
can pick as nice boquet as you wish
and which would sell in any city for
quarter. a few antelopes and buffalo
have been seen on this side of the river
this spring, but they are few and far
between. Some of my neighbors were
''holding down" their claims last wint-
er and they say that it was no colder
than Michigan but that blizzard is to
he dreaded. They say the prairies is
then raging sea of snow and if you
are caught out and your horses fail to
take you home you are done for.
should advise any one who has so
acres in Michigan to stick to it, for
even if his farm has "run out" he can
run it in again" by raising stock.
The way they are farming here by
taking all from the sand and giving
nothing in return will see some farms
in this Territory run out ere long and
then, what will they do? You have
your apples and peaches and in fact all
kinds of fruit in Mich and in this place
only very hardy trees will flourish. 1
have not seen one for three months
and if l am spared to see another
think I'll doff my hat.
With best wishes, remain Yours
Trrey, VIVA. M. GILCHRIsT.
Kings Ranch, Roscoe, Dakota T.