Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-11-29
THE BLACK HILLS
WONDERFUL. REGION
DAKOTA.
The Development OF Marvellous
agricultural, as Well ats !, Miu-
cral Kingdom In Oncof
the New States.

| miles, and lie in the extreme southwest
ern part OF South Dakota. They towe.
| above the vast prairies of Dakota and
Wyoming rs the Western Islands tower
above the broad bosom OF the Atlantic.
Scanned with wild gorgcs, sprinklcd with
fertile valleys, clothed in forests Of dark
pines, and capped with turreted crags,
they may well excite awe and admiration.
But they are far more valuable than
beautiful. They are ribbed with lodes
of gold, silver, tin aud copper. The
golden sands of the gulchcs are still be-
ing washed. The Homestake and other
mines are still pouring out their millions
every year. There are 100,0 900 tons of
tin ore on dumps awaiting concentration.
Lead, iron, copper and other minerals are
found, and coal has been discovered Mt
the foot of the Hills. Just now the tin
prospcctors are the most active They
are selling their lodcs as fast as they find
them, and they are finding them every
week. The pine forests are another
source Of wealth. The music of the cir
cular saw is heard in many gulch, and
little settlements are springng up like
magic.
But this is not ALL The Black Hills
give birth to a score or more of streams
that give life 10 an agricultural kingdom
below them. They water wide valleys Of
extraordinary fertility No irrigation is
needed. Like Pixies Peak, Harney's
Peak is n storm centre, but, unlike Pixies
Peak, it generously scattcrs its showers
over the wide valleys and broad plateaus
that stretch to the horizon. The effect
is marvellous. Dakota to-day is the
greatest wheat producing country i'll the
Union. Indeed, it is said TO be raising
nearly Il thirtieth of the wheat crop of
the world.
The Black Hills oasis, however, is
only just beginning to do its share of the
work. It's fertility almost SURPRISES be-
lief. The best wheat and oats are I'M
doubtcdly grown upon its farms. There
are surprising statements concerning its
crops. Wheat yields from twenty to forty
bushels per acre, but samples ofa yield Of
cighty-four bushels to the acre are
shown. john Schalnel, who lives two
miles west Of Rapid City, recently raised
400 bushels of wheat from ten acres of
ground, and sold it out of the wagon for
ninety cents per busllel. The grains Of
the Black Hill wheat are large and
plump. They seldom fall under seventy
pounds to the bushel. The soil, bear in
mind, is not stimulated. Scratch the
rich earth, and you get your reward with
out fertilizers.
Oats III the Hills, sown upon the same
soil, become top heavy. A field in Hill
City was seen which yielded nearly sixty
bushels to the acre. The oats weighed
fully forty-six pounds 10 the bushcl
The golden shcavcs were II sight to be
hold. The heads were apparently solid
mass of oats, and the overburtlened
sprays hung down below the girdlc of
each shcaf. This, however, is by no
means marvellous yield for the Hills
The statement that Sam Scott, who owns
asmall place adjoining Rapid City, raised
$50 bushels Of oats from three acres seems
incredible. There is no doubt, however,
that DIR. Doty CLEANED $50 bushels from
ten acres. His ranch is on Box Elder
Creek, only Il few miles from the CITY,
The Hill farms are sheltered from the
wind. and we'll watcrcd and timbcrcd
No richer garden spots can be found
Vegetables attain an unusual size without
losing their flavor. 4 potato weighing
over ten pounds, grown i'll u gulch, has
been exhibited. When baked it proved
mealy from skin to heart, and satisfied
the appetites of four men.
A luxuriant growth of grass extends
over the whole region. The wild grass
turns ont tremendous crops of hay. limo
thy, clover, blue grass, orchard grass,
millet, red top, and alfalfa equal wheat
in growth. Beside this, nature las sup
piled six varieties of wild grass. Rye,
barley, corn, huckwheat, and sorghum
thrive wonderfully. a farmer may raise
grain i'll the valleys, and his cattle and
sheep find ample subsistence the year
round on the wild grass of the low hills
and mountain slopes. The valleys are
lovely. Peaks clothed to the very top
with dark pines surround them. Crystal
springs purl through them. They head
in springs of the purest water, and they
are fed by the SHOWS and lainfalls Of the
mountains. Many of the valleys are under
cultivation Others await the appreca-
tive husbandman.
Ten years from now, when the tin
mines are fully developed, these valleys
will undoubtedly prove far more valuable
than the gold p!acers in the gulches
Pennington County, of which Rapid City
is the shire town, includes the heart of
the Hills. 1t has about 5000 farms
under various stages OF cultivation
There are very few barns and very
few ideal farm houses. Settlers who
have just taken up choice loca-
tons frequently live in wall tents. Upon
the cultivated farms you find the latest
improved agricultural implements. A
farmer was seen using Il moving machine,
while his wife followed with horse
rake. They are gathering in the second
crop of hay for the season. Most of the
farms in the valleys are taken up. There
are choice table lands in the country
around the Hills, some Of which are still
open to settlement. They are subject TO
nninfalls, and, with few exceptions, are
said TO be fully as fertile as the lands in
the valleys.