St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-26

which have found by practical kuowl-
edge the most profitable, let me name
them in the order of gain as shown by
my books: First, sheep; second, hogs;
third, cattle and dairy products; fourth,
horses; and lastly. 4 sharp contest be-
tween wheat and barley for preference.
The stock above mentioned includes the
raising of other products, such as corn,
clover, oats, ETC., on which the animals
are fed.
Corn a Coming King.
Born and raised in the valley of the
Great Miami, in Southern Ohio, a
famous corn-producing region, have
always felt that no place or soil. how
ever beautiful or rich, could ever be a
second home where dent corn would
not habitually grow and ripen. South
ern Minnesota is successful corn
growing country. l have seen, With n
sightof where l now live, twenty-eight
successive crops of corn on the same
farm, and but three times in all those
years was the crop damaged by frost,
and once only so as to practically
destroy the crop. Compare this
with any other. even the most favora-
BILE corn-beltS in the United States.
For seventeen years, including the years
when grasShOpperS ravaged the locality,
corn with us averaged thirty-two BUSH
els per acre. The state has averaged as
high as thirty-Seven bushels, and this
year it will probably reach that or q
higher percentage. This will be appre-
Grated when it is observed that the aver
age in the United States for the past ten
years was but 24l bushels. Improve
ments in Minnesota in corn-culture are
most significant. 1t is in part the result
of better culture and suitable seed,
which has now become thoroughly &C
climated. Good corn means hog cult
ture. The hog crop follows the corn
zone. Our growth of corn shows Won
derful and steady increase. From about
100000 bushels in 1860 we reached
%, 10000 bushels in 1890. The present
year will probably break all records.
Take an average year like 1899: Ohio's
average was 20 bushels; Iowa, 26; Ne
braska, 20; Minnesota, 32.10. These are
the figures of the government statisti-
clan. The same authority gives the
cash valuation of our corn crop, in 1890,
at IS, 940.000. Our wheat growers must
look to their laurels, or corn will be the
looming king" in Minnesota. | can
already name six counties, each of
which raises largely over million bush
els yearly, viz: Blue Earth, Fillmore,
GOodhue, Houston, Martin and Winona.
The Area for Varied Production
Moving North.
There is such thing as civiIizing the
soil. will not now state the reasons,
but it is true. Our older belt of counties
are raising crops not thought of thirty
years ago. well remember when Unly
''squaw" corn was raised in Blue Earth
county. But "dent" corn came in with
continued cultivation. The tillage of
large areas through a series of years
seems to warm up the soil. So the crop
conditions are changed, and the iso-
thermal line for crops slowly but surely
advances north by continued and gen.
eral culture of the soil. We are carry
ing this wave northward so surely that
1t may vet benefit even Manitoba, so
that frosted wheat may cease to annoy
them. Good dent corn is raised in
counties north of the Minnesota river,
even to the Sank valley. So also with
clover. The first efforts to raise clover
in Southern Minnesota were failures.
Now it has become staple crop. These
facts show that the area of varied pro-
duction is steadily moving northward
Though no pursuit on the Minnesota
farm is more profitable than sheep cul-
ture. the progress yet made is by no
meansi in proportion to their productive
value. We have in the state only about
300,O sheep. No agricultural industry
is more inviting to the intelligent and