St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-06-17

plants grow and attain maturity. There is
seldom any frost before the Goth day of Sep
tember, and frequently not before the 1st of
October, so ample time is afforded for corn
to ripen.
The great wheat fields of the Red river and
of Manitoba do not possess this immunity
from early frosts, and when the center of
wheat culture, following its swift and newt
able westward course, leaves them behind,
they will not have this great staple, corn, to
substitute, and the superiority of southwest
ern Minnesota as farming country will be
clearly seen and acknowledged.
FLAX.
The cultivation of flax is increasing rapid
ly, mainly for the manufacture of linseed oil
and oil cake. 1t is largely sown on new
breaking the first year, as it aids in rotting
the sod, thus enabling the farmer of small
means to secure certain and profitable re-
turn, averaging about ten bushels per acre,
from his earliest labor, and leaving his land
in cleaner and in better condition than if
unused or planted to sod corn. The seed is
shipped to oil mills, where it is made into
oil and oil cake. The oil is almost entirely
sent to other states, while the oil cake is
mostly shipped to England where it
commands a high price, its useful quail
ties as a feed for horses and cattle
being fully appreciated there. The home
demand, however, is increasing. and the
time will doubtless come when this product
of our mills will be entirely consumed here.
Chemists estimate that one pound of oil
cake is equal to two and eight tenths pounds
of corn meal, or nine pounds of bran as a
feed for stock. But a small portion of the
straw is used; thousands of tons are burned
every year because there is not yet any mill
to manufacture it into cloth.
The extensive linseed oil works of Man
kato, on the line of the St. Paul & Sioux City
railroad, and at Minneapolis, and others now
in completion at Sioux Falls, furnish the
farmers with seed and afford steady mar
ket for the crop.
OTHER GRAINS.
Oats grow to the greatest perfection; they
attain an unusual degree of solidity, and are
a very profitable crop to raise. The soil and
climate appear to be peculiarly adapted for
them, and, besides being of superior quail
ity, they weigh from three to eight pounds
more per bushel than those produced in any
other part of the country. The yield in 1876
from 464, 167 acres was 10,S19,63S bushels,
and has been vastly increased yearly.
Rye, barley, and buckwheat all do exceed
ingly well here. The climatic influences
which tend to produce such superior grains
of all kinds are especially marked in the bar
ley, and its excellent reputation causes a
very considerable demand for it from the
breweries of the middle states. In 1876,
1000, ,335 bushels were produced; in 1877
the acreage was one-third greater, and in
1879 more than doubled.
The yield Of rye in this state since 1867
fol LoIo q
els, the general average has been about 16
bushels. In Ohio during the same interval
the lowest average was 9A bushels and the
highest 11& bushels, the mean average be-
ing about 1913 bushels. During the same
interval barley has ranged in Minnesota from
an average of 1879 to 30I bushels, with a
mean average of 26 bushels, and the
quality very superior. The barley of
this state is renowned in the markets
for its weight, freedom from rust, and
mature development. In Ohio in the same
time the range was for barley from 1915 to
262 bushels, the mean average being 203s
bushels. Take buckwheat in the same peri
cd, and we have as the extremes in Mime
sofa Z a and 15Y bushels, and mean aver
age of 161 bushels, and in Ohio ~ and 12
bushels are the extremes Of annual averages
and 10 4 bushels the mean. Thus it seems
that in all these products Minnesota is ahead
of Ohio, notwithstanding the less systematic
and careful cultivation arising from her new
ness.
One of the most valuable products of the
soil is grass. Nearly 100000 acres of wild
grass are cut each year, in addition to which
about 1000 acres are devoted to tame hay.
The grass, however, is but little inferior to
clover or timothy, and by some is con sidered
of about equal value. The blue joint grass
grows rankly on the lowlands in vast abun-
dance, and is of most excellent quality, and
is particularly esteemed by many farmers as
feed for horses. Wild grass can
be cut at any time from the first of June to
the middle OF September. Four tons to the
acre is no unusual crop, and the average
yield is over two tons. 1t can be put in the
stack at a cost of 81 per ton. Hundreds OF
thousands of acres of this valuable product
are wasted every year for want of settlers to
cut it and stock to which to feed it. The hay
crop is a crop that never fails, and the new
settler is safe in buying as many cattle as he
can pay for.
STOCK RAISING.
With plenty of good grass, corn and water,
the experienced farmer will at once see thai
this must be the country for stock raising
The fact has been thoroughly established
that farming cannot be carried on success
| fully for any series of years where the Btten.
| ton is devoted to grain raising exclusively
| The variations in seasons and in prices, the
liability to an overstocked market, the acca
sionaI damage from drouth, floods and well
known vicissitudes of farmers, keep the farm
er who depends on grain alone in chronic
state of uncertainty, and at times entails tht
loss of whole seasons labor.
-Ni1ed farming must be the goal for all wht
wish for regular and increasing incomes
with an assured future. Grain should always
go hand in hand with stock raising, and th,
country which affords the best facilities TO
the production of both grain and live stool
offers the best inducement to settlement.
Governor Pillsbury, in letter to an Eng
lish inquirer, said of this region: "This sec
ton of country is traversed by various
streams and dotted by small lakes of pure
clear water, and the alienation of upland
and natural meadows peculiarly fit it TO
grazing and the various branches of bot
| stock and grain growing"
That the facts regarding the abundance
and richness of the grass, the dryness ant
| pureness of the atmosphere, the excellen
quality of the water, the evenness of tn
temperature, and the superior market ad
vantages afforded by competing railroad
are appreciated, and many fine herds o
blooded stock owned and raised here full.
testify.
| CATTLE.
Young cattle need only grass and hay TO
feed, summer and winter, and comparativel
little grain has to be fed to cattle that ar
fattening for market, or to mich cows. Th
dryness of the atmosphere is conducive t.
the health of animals, and does away wit
any need for shelter in winter more than i
common in northern countries generally