The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-06-06
Dakota.
DAYTON, Marshall Co. ID. T, !
Nav %. 1885.

DAYTON, Marshall Co ID. T,
May %, 1885.
| When last ! wrote, Dakota, like maiden
fair lay sleeping;
Her winter robe Of fcecy white had fallen to
her feet
And tickle Spring beside her coucheu, was
DER her softly weeping.
| But soon his sadness changed to smiles, MS
| tears to kisses sweet
She felt the warm touch Of his breath upon
| her bosom beating,
And conscious of his presence, soon n magic
change is seen,
For seeing Spring had taken the place OF
Winter, fast retreating,
She spread about her naked form robe Oh
brightest green.
1t Is clearly evident from the above that
Spring did Its duty in good shape, and now
the absorbing question OF interest is-wha'
will the harvest beY Some say 20 bushels
of No. |, hard, and the more enthusiastic
say 40 bushels to the acre; but the whole
matter depends upon how the work is done
ANY one who thinks all he has to do is to
scratch the ground and SOW his wheat, and
after harvest thrash from 30 to 40 bushels
per acre, will, il he runs in debt according.
| iv, find himself financially" strapped" and
if he manages 10 GET back to the state he
disgraced so far as he could by being Its
representative here, he will entertain his
old neighbors with glowing accounts OF
what good place Dakota Is to starve to
death in.
On the other hand, If the ground is thor.
oughly worked (and the more IT is worked
the better the seed sOwn and well covered,
and the man purchases only such imple-
ments AS are necessary to do the work
well, and is careful in his household eX
penses, he will derive all the advantages OF
settling on government land, which advan-
tages are too we'll known to need repetition
here.
There are many things that work against
the interests of the farmer which are borne
patiently AT present. For instance, he goes
50 the warehouse TO buy seed wheat and
PAYS Sl25 per bushel for No. /, hard"
then when he harvests his crop and takes
it to the same warehouse man, he Will
grade it one or two grades lower and dock
him from three to five pounds per bushel
for dirt and pay him fifty cents for the
wheat
The striped gopher is very destructive
to the crops. In some places this spring
whole fields have had TO be replanted, hay
ing been destroyed by these pests. They
cut the heads off of small grain sometimes
for space of several yards around their
burrows.
And yet notwithstanding these annoyan'
ces and the high rate of interest charged
for money, together with other things in
cident to the settlement of new country,
many persons are steadily accommodating
wealth, besides making Improvements
which add to the value OF their farms
We plant corn on breaking, as 1t needs
no cultivation, the weeds not appearing till
the second year. The grain is put in either
with hand planter, a spade or an AK.
Last year was good one for all kinds
OF crops and the season 20 far this year
has been all that could be desired.
The county of Day was divided on the
2d of the present month and this (the
north half is now Marshall county. The
Governor has ordered an election to be
held in July, so we are on the eve of an
exciting free Tor all race for the county Of
fees. L. Is. NJ.