The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1890-08-08

o may Set IL down as 8 TACT that after
you cross the Mississippi going west, you
can find no country in which the raising
Of agricultural products is productive Of
uniform results. BY this We mean as
compared with New York. Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
The reason Of this lies in the fact that
all VI the Western and Northwestern
states are subject to long periods Of
drought, which even the wonderful rich
ness of the soil is powerless to overcome.
In ordinary seasons, however, with any
thing like a fair amount of rainfall, the
Western and Northwestern farmer is
more than able to hold his own with his
brother Of the Middle states in the addi-
tional number Of acres at his command
and in the lsssened expense of producing
his crop, through the comparatively small
amount Of money invested In his land.
For the same reason the Western farmer
can bring a colt or steer to maturity for
%one-fourth the cost that 1t requires in the
Middle states. 1t should be borne in
mind always that the profit or losses in
farming can only be reckoned when the
capital employed is computed. On the
famed Western Reserve of Ohio. in por-
tons of Southern Michigan, Western New
York, between Elgin, Ill, and Chicago,
farm lands are held at 800 to $3.50 per
acre. Gen. Garfield paid the latter price
for his farm four miles out of Paines-
vile, o., not IN acre Of which can COM
pare In fertility with the poorest land in
Brule county. "But they get the rain
and we don't" Aye, that's true. But
with all their rain they use from two to
three dollars worth Of fertilizer ON each
acre of land, every foot ofground not fer
tilted is MANFRED, every piece of corn
stalk is saved and fed, and when the in
terest on the money invested in the land
is computed, taxes paid, interest on the
mortgage-as frequent there as in the
West-hgured the OHIO farmer finds HIM
self about as deep in the hole as the
Western farmer. There are exceptions,
OF course, no line Of reasoning holds good
in all cases, but those exceptions are gen.
orally found where the farmer is well-to-
do, has money in the bank, or has a farm
we'll covered with fruit bearing trees and
vines, If we wanted to farm it and had
lots of money we would go into Southern
Michigan or Northern Ohio and buy a
fruit farm, II we hadn't plenty of money
We wouldn't do anything of the kind for
reasons that are obvious. The only OPP
%portunity offered for farming to men OF
limited means is in the great and grow
Ing West, and 1t seems to us that q mar
might as we'll sit down and cuss his luck
for not being born with a silver spoon in
his mouth as to damn the country which
was here before he was. Where can a
farmer with only $500 or a $1,000 at his
command go and do better? That's the
question. There are a great many changes
for the better that time will bring abou,
> in this country in the very nature Of
things, as was the history Of the prairie
' states Of Iowa and Illinois. A system Of
artesian wells-bOund to have them-will
Ak the balance. Better stick it..ont Il
1. y0H aaff.@ Cultivate less land and do il
: better. Raise more poultry, cattle ant
, sheep and less grain and in a genera.
way brood as little as possible upon ;
: providence which selected you as one o
:, those who should spend a portion Of theii
best days developing a new country
" Taking it all mall. the Dakotans seem t,
= get more fun out of life than any otlle,
people. There is within the borders o
= the state the very personitication of Amer
lean push and enterprise. Think yol
. that with all this nerve, grit and per
severance and the immense amount o
capital invested this country is going t
~ be %abandOned?: Not 50. We are havin,
y a streak or hard luck Of late, but thing
= will change by and by and you bette
y not be absent when the plum puddin
goes around.