St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-24
A Scheme for Artesian Wells to Secure
Rain at the Right
Time.


have seen a great many pieces of
wheat and oats in this valley. and some
in the Cheyenne valley. which no
1t is very easy to advise farmers to go
into stock raising, but the farmers
dO not find it so easy to follow.
1t requires money to buy stock, and
until farmer can save up little by
raising grain it will not be possible for
him to get it. Cattle are not found to
be particularly profitable, although our
pasturage is fine, when it is difficult to
sell butter at 6 cents a pound. Sheep
are undoubtedly the best
STOCK FOR THE DAKOTA FARMER,
as the returns for them are very quick,
and the profit is much greater for the
capital invested. If Uncle Sam were as
much interested in sheep-growing, as
the politicians try to make us believe,
he should invest something in sheep
and loan them to the Western farmer
to give him start in the stock busi-
ness and try to make him believe he is
of some use in the world besides the
vote he has to use on election day.
Whenevera cutthroatIndiand desires togo
into farming our beneficial government
gives him all the land he wants without
a cent of expense to him, does not re-
Quire him to live on it, buys all of the
latest improved machinery. gives him
his seed and delivers it free on the farm,
and furnishes him bloOded stock to run
it. If white man wants farm, and 1t
happens to be within forty miles of a
land grant railroad, this same beneficial
government requires him to pay $1.25
for it to secure title, and, in addition,
pay another S1.25 ali acre for the land
our congress donated to the railroads,
thus requiring the settlers to make the
donation of every odd numbered sec
tion to the great corporations; and, if a
pre-emptor should happen to stay away
from his claim some night, the govern
ment requires him to swear to his rea-
sons for doing so before it will give him
the privilege of having his quarter Sec
tion of land, and donating the adjoining
quarter section to the railroad. So.
while we are laboring under the mis-
fortune of having too little rain. we are
also unfortunate in being born white
men instead of Indians. have been in
Dakota eight seasons, and, while we
have
NEVER HAD A FAILURE
of crops during that time; local failures
for the want of rain have occurred every
year, and the drouth has also lowered
the average per cent OF yield OF small
grains over the whole territory during
those years nearly if not quite 40 per
cent, and some place it as high as go
per cent. These are facts which will
not be disputed by any except land
boomers, and are almost as we'll known
outside of the territory as in it. We
have as fine soil for the production of
grain as the world contains our climate
on an average is unsurpassed, and for
healthfulness is hardly equalled OH the
continent. In fact, our county is as
nearly perfect as anything in nature
can be, but we do lack moisture, Give
us this in sufficient quantity and we
will ask no odds of the government
pets, or the Indians of India, in the
growing of grain. 1t is believed
by many learned scientists of our
country that the rainfall of Da-
kota can be regulated to suit the
demands of the people, and at no very
great expense. It's fact apparent to
all that we cannot have rain unless we
have clouds, and clouds are not plenti-
full without evaporation of water; and
to make local clouds there must be local
evaporation and local water to evapO-
rate. 1t is the knowledge of every old
resident of Dakota who has been close
observer of our rains, and reasons, that
our storms in the summer
ARE USUALLY LOCAL.
Sometimes they may extend over only
a single township, and at other times
they may extend over several counties.
For this reason it often occurs that the
crop is good on the farm of John C0e,
while on the adjoining farm of Richard
Roe it is total failure. This peculiar
ity of our rain storms shows that the
great mass of them do not sweep over
from the great lakes or from the Miss
issippi valley, but are formed from the
moisture that arises from our own cOun-
try. 1t is true that early in the spring,
or late in the fall, get rains which are
formed in the lake region, but these
are times when we need them the least.
Since one cannot get rains without
clouds, and cannot get clouds unless we
furnish the water for making them, it
becomes very important question with
us whether we had better furnish the
and trust to chance. In 1882 our SlOughs
and LAKES were full of water, all our
creek beds were Overf1owing, and dur
ing that season we had abundance of
rain, and magnificent crop of grain
and grass. Last winter we had no snow
fall, and this spring our low lands and
creek beds were perfectly void of water,
and we get no rains. The same causes
have produced the same results in other
years. This, with many other observa-
tions which have made, cOnvinces me
that if we fill our dry lake beds and
SlOughS with water, and set our creeks
and dry runs to flowing all over the ter
ritOry, the moisture will soon fill the
air and the rains will fall and cause our
land to bloom and blossom as the rose.
Any one familiar with the artesian we'll
system of Dakota will see how easily
we can fill all our lake beds, and
MAKE RIVERS
wherever there is natural creek bed.
Let the territory; or, rather, let the new
states provide for putting down an
artesian we'll in every township within
their boundaries containing twenty or
more inhabitants, and bonding the
townships for it, making the bonds
payable in ten or fifteen years. The
cost for putting down each we'll where
so many were put down would not ex-
ceed 81 200. or would only be tax of
cents per acre, but would add millions
of dollars to the productive value of the
land. This is not a chimerical scheme,
but is well worth the serious considera-
tion of the wisest men in our land;
neither would it be an experiment, for,
believe, it has been tried in the East
ern world and proven success far be.
yond the expectations of the people.
The papers of the territory should write
this matter up and discuss it fully and
freely. SO that the people may under
stand it thoroughly and actintelligently
upon it.
THEY WANT $2s0 0na