The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1886-04-15
CORRESPONDENCE.
From Dakota.

EDiToRs OF THE COMET; Dear Sirs
i have thought for some time of
writing letter for your paper, but
have neglected to do so. If you wish,
you can publish it, if not, you have a
large waste basket. | will first give
my personal experience as a farmer
| arrived in Blunt, Oak. March 81, '85.
/ soon found all the Government land
was settled, and there was none in this
part of the Territory that could be had,
only by buying REIMBURSEMENT from
some one that had taken Government
land, and this is like all other places,
some one always wanting to sell out.
l bought two claims, 100 acres each,
for $3.50, twenty miles from the N. w.
r. r., in Sully county, and think is
very good land, the soil is deep and
rich black loan. Think will produce
anything the climate is adapted to. l
bought my claim April 4th, '85. One
l filed on preemtion and the.other as
tree claim. There was 16 acres brok-
en- up, l sowed wheat on them the Goth
of April, and raised 209 bushels. l
sowed s acres in oats and raised 1877
bushels and cut them the LIST day Of
October, planted 10 acres of corn
the Sth day OF June, and owing to the
early frost did not get much good
corn, though it made some very fine
fodder. | raised fine crop of Irish
potatoes, turnips, &c. This is the
finest country for vegetables / ever
saw. Melons OF all kinds do we'll here,
in fact all kinds of vines grow here
we raise wheat, corn, oats, flax, barley,
millet and timothy and clover do well.
The prairie grass is good and makes
hay that stock will eat better than
timothy and seem to do better on it.
/ have Sowed ssme wheat this spring.
Farming will be done more extensive
ly this year than last, and there are
a great many settlers coming here all
the time. We have a good class ol
settlers, the most Of them very hard
working men, honest and upright
we have no tramps and very little
stealing or crime OF any kind / think
we have bright future for an excel
lent country for farming, stock anG
health doctors are very scarce, unless
they come here for their health; We
have nearly all kinds churches, ant
plenty of schools; we have just com
pleted school house within one milC
of me, and school will begin mex
week. There is very little whisky
drank here; Sully county is about Al
miles square and there is not singl,
saloon in the county You will thinl
that strange for new country, bu
nevertheless It's true, but where hon
esty dwells, whisky goes begging, Th'
climate of this country is different t,
what | expected to find it, it is true
gets very warm in summer and yer,
cold in winter, and the wind blow
a great deal, and quite hard at times
but we get used to that we had som
some very hard storms last summer
and one hail storm that damaged tn
early crops very much, and hard ho
wind one night, the thermometer a
midnight stood at 104, but it did nc
injure the crops, though if it had bee
in the day time it would have injure
them greatly, that is one drawback
this country, the hail and hot winds
though they do not occur every yea
and do not always damage the crop
Before came here / thought that
person could not get out to work muc
in the winter, but it is a mistaken idei
: there has not been day this wintt
but what you could see some one O
the road. We had q snow storm TIL
9th Of last November, the snow Wa
about foot deep, but it melted off i
week and the farmers plowed fl
wheat until about the 4th of Dec, the
it froze up for the winter, and we ha
nice weather, but cool, until the CT
of January, when the Dakota blizzai
came that reached the everglades
Florida; we were ten miles fro
home and did not get there for sever
days. The thermometer went as 10
as 36 below zero, but it did not see
so cold, as the air was SO dry here,
guess is the reason. The day l can
home with my family it was % belo
but we did not suffer with cold. v
did not have any more very co
weather until in February, we had Oh
cold spell that the thermometer we
down to Is below, that was not as co
as it was in Tenn. During March
did not got down to zero. | dol
think l ever spent a more pleasa
winter in my life as far as the cold
concerned, but OF course we are pl
pared for the cold weather; we ha
stoves that burn hard coal that s,
dom go out from fall to spring and '
hnild our houses in rnfernnrn To co