The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-10-16
THE BLACK HILLS.
AWONDERFUL REGION IN SOUTH
DAKOTA.
The Development of a Marvellous
Agricultural, as Well as a MIN
eral Kingdom in Oneof
the New States.

: The Black Hills cover 5000 square
miles. and lie in the extreme southwest
ern part of South Dakota. They tower
above the vast prairies of Dakota ana
Wyoming as the Western Islands tower
above the broad bosom of the Atlantic.
Scanned with wild gorges, sprinkled with
fertile valleys, clothed in forests OF dark
pines, and capped with turreted crags'
they may we'll excite awe and admiration.
But thev are far more valuable than
beautiful. They are ribbed with lodes
of gold, silver, tin and copper. The
Golden sands of the gulches are still be-
ing washed. The Homestake and other
mines are still pouring out their millions
every wear. There are 100, 900 tons of
tin ore on dumps awaiting concentration.
Lead, iron, copper and other minerals are
found, and coal has been discovered at
the foot of the Hills. Just now the tin
prospectors are the most active. They
are selling their lodes 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 springing up like
magic.
But this is not all. The Black Hills
give birth to score or more OF streams
that give life to an agricultural kingdom
below them. They water wide valleys OF
extraordinary fertility. No irrigation is
needed. Like Pixies Peak, Harney's
Peak is storm centre, but, unlike Pixies
Peak, it generously scatters 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 IN the
Union. Indeed, it is said to be raising
nearly a thirtieth of the wheat crop OF
the world.
The Black Hills oasis, however, is
only Just beginning to do its share OF the
work. Its fertility almost surpasses be-
lief. The best wheat and oats are un-
doubtedly grown upon its farms. There
are surprising statements concerning Its
crops. Wheat yields from twenty to forty
bushels per acre, but samples of yield OF
ieichty-four bushels to the acre are
shown. John Schamel, 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 bushel. 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 in the Hills, sown upon the same
soil, become top heavy. A field dn Hill
City was seen which yielded nearly sixty
bushels to the acre. The oats weighed
fully forty-six pounds to the bushel.
The golden sheaves were sight to be-
hold. The heads were apparently solid
mass of oats, and the overburdened
sprays hung down below the girdle Of
each sheaf. 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 DR.. Doty cleaned $50 bushels from
ten acres. His ranch is on Box Elder
Creek, only few miles from the city.
The Hill farms are sheltered from the
wind, and we'll watered and timbered.
No richer garden spots can be found.
Vegetables attain an unusual size without
losing their flavor. A potato weighing
over ten pounds, grown in a 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 out tremendous crops of hay. Timo-
thy, clover, blue grass, orchard grass,
miIet, red top, and alfalfa equal wheat
in growth. Beside this, nature has sup
piled six varieties of wild grass. Rye,
barley, corn, buckwheat, and sorg hum
thrive wonderfully. A farmer may raise
grain in 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 rainfalls of the
mountains. Many of the valleys are under
cultivation. Others await the apprecia
tive husbandman.
Ten years from now, when the tin
mines are fully developed, these valleys
will undoubtedly prove far more valuable
than the gold placers in the gulches.
Pennington County, of which Rapid City
is the shire town, includes the heart of
the Hills. It 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-
tions frequently live in wall tents. Upon
the cultivated farms you find the latest
improved agricultural implements. A
farmer was seen using 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
rainfalls, and, with few exceptions, are
said to be fully as fertile as the lands in
the valleys.
Aside from agriculture, the drainage Of