Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1886-05-20
STOCK RAISING IN THE NORTHWEST.

How Farmers May Coin Money Montana
Stockmen in Session with Minnesota Farmers
| Ways and Means Deyised-A Speech to the
Point by Hon. j. j. Hill.
That northwestern farmers must turn
their energies in some other channel than
wheat raising is certain. Doubt has ex-
listed that stock raising could be made to
pay IN the northwest. But the Hon. j. J.
! HILL president of the Manitoba railway
! system, has demonstrated that stock rails
ing in the northwest can be made to paw
| better than further south. This is because
the soil is more productive and the food
necessarily raised and fed possesses more
fattening qualities. Mr.. Hill contended
for some years that this was the case. but
was disputed by doubling Thomases."
Having the courage of his convictions
Mr.. Hill determined to demonstrate his
assertion. He accordingly invested in a
stock farm some miles north from ST.
Paul and has been experimenting for four
or five years. The results of his expert
|
Mr.. Hill, and some other gentlemen in
connection with the ST. Paul chamber of
commerce, seized upon the late meeting
of the Montana ranchmen to push their
project.
They brought committee appointed
by the Ranchman's meeting to ST. Paul
to investigate the question of fattening
the cattle of the ranges in Minnesota.
The committee was large one, made up
of the most influential stock growers of
Montana, and was cordially received by
the st. Paul chamber of commerce, ban
quet was rendered them at the Ryan and
views were generally compared. At this
banquet Mr.. Hill was called upon for his
views and spoke as follows:
NIB. HILLS REMARKS.
Mr. Stickney spoke about the corn crop
of Minnesota in 1879. If he had taken the
| figures for 1885 he would have found that
! Iowa-and Iowa I consider in the front
rank of agricultural states-in 1885 raised
So bushels of corn to the acre, while Mimi
bushels. Applause We have county
Kandiyohi-where it was said no one
could raise corn. But that county raised
10000 bushels last year on poor land too,
and didn't ship bushel, and fed it to
cattle. I had 139 acres of corn and raised
So and one-half bushels to the acre. It
was not touched with frost and harvested
it. A few years ago it was said a man was
pretty far from home when he was where
they could raise no corn. Now a man
goes a good ways from home and finds he
can raise corn. It's hard to say what you
can or cannot raise. There is one thing
the people lose sight Of when they under
take to feed cattle-that they can do it
without corn. The highest price paid for
cattle on the hOOf is in a country where
they never raise an ear of corn and don't
feed it. That is the northeast of Scot
land in the county Of Aberdeen. They
send their animals to market in better
condition and get one cent Or three-quar
tiers of a cent a pound at least more for
them than any other cattle in the market
and they can't raise corn. Now I can't
afford to be wasteful in my farming
Laughter and so l imported a man
from that county just to feed my stock.
We have an agricultural university in
Minnesota with a large endowment, but
no place where man can learn to feed
cattle. Now pay my farmer $4,000 a
year A voice-"Don't he strike?n and he
don't strike. Now the difference between
intelligent farming and farming as carried
on in our state is the difference between
poverty and wealth. Nowhere where there
is civilized state of things is the soil
cultivated with as little intelligence as in
AT Il II
to do it our farmers will find it out, and
continue in it. A man will get farm and
he wants a big one-5O0 or 1000 acres.
He will cultivate 300 acres and put mort
gage on it all, and expect to work four
months In the year. Now there is no
place outside the tropics where a man can
live by working four months in the year.
Now it seems that they don't catch on;
they don't find the way to do better. I
thought the trouble was with the rail
roads. I heard so much about it, and
so | examined our own conscience.
Great Laughter. After considerable
raking I found one. Renewed Laughter.
All well regulated railroads have one
laughter and remark by Gen. Becker.
He must have used microscopic"
wanted to see if it was our fault. In the
competition for settlers we find that they
60 to Kansas and Nebraska, where land is
S15 or $40 an acre. They can't live here.
They want to raise corn. They want to
feed stock instead of going broke on
wheat. I don't mean the men who get
rich raising the wheat in Chicago. Laugh
ter.
NO MORE HIGH-PRICED WHEAT.
The day for ighpriced wheat is gone
forever from this country, and will never
return as long as wheat is raised for ex-
port. Some governments want cheap
wheat and are willing to put up money to
get it. Great Britain paid three hundred
millions sterling to open the wheat fields
of India. The rent paid is $3.50 per acre,
and the price of transportation from the
interior to the seaport at Calcutta is more
than from Devils Lake to Liverpool, and
yet they sell it in Liverpool for Is cents
per bushel. We have been exporting TO-
| 100000 or 6O,OOO,OOO bushels per year.
| Not over 10 900, 900 bushels will be sent how
ever, OF the present crop. The average crop
! in this country is 400,000,000. of this we
| co, TIL.