Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-06-02

A Dakota Farmers Success.


A Dakota farmer wrote the following
letter to a friend in his native state,
Vermont, telling how he succeeded in
the territory:
Ny experience in New England is
confined 20 Vermont and New Uamp-
shire, but as | consider those two states
much better for farming than the other
four, twill cast no discredit to New
England.
l was born ffty-seven years ago in
Newbury, Vt, one Of the pioneer towns
of the state; commenced farming by
making stone piles in the hay field, the
meanest work q boy was ever set to
doing. | reached manhood with a
rigorous constitution, iron clad Tor stone
clad it matters not which, brought up
under Christian influence, l imbibed
none of the influences which too often
influence future prosperity. With great
ambition and love Of live | commenced
the journey with determination to win
d fortune out of the soil. For thirty
years | toiled rs few men toll, meeting
with no reverses or m~isfortunes; having
no sickness in my family, toiled early
and late, wet and dry, cold and warm
upon the hillsides, among the rocks and
roots and upon the beautiful meadows
of the Connecticut river, raising pota-
toes and corn, butter and beef, wool and
eggs, pork and beans. apples and plums,
filling in the winters with chopping
wood and sawlogs, finishing up the year
by the hardest of all work, making
maple sugar. But fortune didn't ome
For thirty years ! made a living that is
| lived, fed and clothed my family, but
laid nothing by for old age. This is my
experience of farming in New England.
My opinion is that farming has about
played out there. Had | been placed
upon a farm, free of debt at twenty-one,
! would probably have kept it and nm
donbtedly would have remained igno-
rant Of the vast fertile p~rairies Of the
Northwest. | would no doubt have
believed the big stories of the boomers
tales, told to begile the innocent Green
Mountain boys from their beautiful
homes would have supposed cyclones
swept over the whole country monthly ::
that the hail storms annually did most
1bf the harvesting, and that there were
nine months of wlnter, with the mercury
% degrees below zero most Of the time,
instead Of nine months of good working
weather.
Now, after six years I VIII tell YOU
how The old q got along making MS
fortune. The first year it was q hard
pull (ih q small shautv. SEl0,) | had 10
batch It Tor the first six months, and
had to work ont fol nv daily support.
Now, aftec onlv six years, | own oveI
500 acles Of lald every acre Of which is
bette than the best acre Of the Con-
necticut ive'meadow. From 700 acres
lest year ] sold S'0,619 worth Of wheat !;
raised 500 bushels OF oats worth $500:
eco bushels OF potatoes worth $50: 800
bushels o. roots worth 500; 100 IONS Of
hay worth 500. besides nearly al kinds
of small fruits, including apples. | have
about Twelve aces Of trees growing
which viii furnish me with fuel in about
three y fou" years. Our buildings are
goOd-betie r than most Nermonters
have. l keen the best OF borses and
oxen for teams. ride in good carriages,
dress well, live well. and am growing
fat, and, ! guess. lazy. There are liter
ally no Iailurcs Of cronS-occasiona'!y a
local hail storm wipes out q few "arms,
but % cents an acre insures he crop
against hail. Whe3t is now the Leading
crop, but it is q mistake that we can
raise nothing else at . profit. Many
farmers made more 'cst wear raising
barley. Potatoes can be raised cheaper
than anywhere else OH eartb. The soil
is natural for ,nem. and ,here are no
Colorado beetles. / am shipping pota-
toes this spring % Chicago. Bul here
is another branch OF farming ia which
Dakota. in the near future, viii surpass
all other states s she does now in wheat,
and that is dali wing.