The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1891-06-04
pose of bcttering their condition BY

daily labor.
/: The Pacific coast farmer has many
advantages over bis eastern brother,
the principal one being s65 days In
which to do = years work. Seeding be-
gins any time after November. and
continues to the 6rst Of June. Our
good natured moss back" bringing
up the rear in every sense Of the word.
The rainy season begins about the mid
die of October in the shape Of occa-
sional light showers, tncreasing in fro
quency until January and continuing
until about the first of March, when
it begins to decrease rs it began. stop
ping altogether about the middle Of
June, and sometimes much sooner,
but this is an exception. A drouth &C.
ours when the rains cease altogether,
by the first of April. This was the case
last year, which Eas considered one Of
the poorest years known, but with the
amount produced last year. IL is . mat
ter Of speculation what WIN ~ pro-
duced the present year, as 1t promises
to be one OF the test. It Is claimed that
the rainy season is what prevents this
country from producing its own corn.
as the rains begin before the corn is
dry enough to gather But number
have Informed me that corn raising is
on the increase. and that the day 10
near at hand when an abundance will
be produced for home consumption II
not for export, for people are beginning
to understand the general requirements
of that particular industry. Some very
fine fields of from 10 to 20 acres are to
be seen, which promise as we'll as any
ordinary corn country generally does,
and have been shown some very good
specimens of white aud yellow dent
corn of last years. growth.
Some prodtgious stories are told
about the size and yield of vegetables
here; claiming as high as 800 bushels of
potatoes to the acre aud from 400 to
800 as being quite common and pro-
portionate rate of all other kinds of the
vegetable kingdom.
The valley throughout is we'll water
cd with pure, clear, soft water in wells,
springs, creeks and rivers. No pains
are taken to catch rain water, as we'll
or spring water is soft enough for all
purposes.
The climate is fine and the atmos-
phere clear. pure ard healthy, As q
general thing. but on account of tie
great difference in altitude, the new
conner from higher attitudes, like Min
nesota esps cially. in the vicinity Of
Worthington, finds that he has at llrst
to put forth a little effort in getting u
full. deep breath, otherwise he will on
ly breathe ''hslf way down" leaving
the extremities Of the lungs idle,
which In time originates consumption.
Not that this is country in which
that disease originates. On the con-
rrary l think it good for consumptives
and have not met or heard of a con.
sumptive since my arrival here some
two months ago, but the idea is that
consumption is more frequent and
much more apt to originate in lower
attitudes from the fact that more offort
is required to completely fill the lungs
than in the more rariied air of the
higher attitudes. It is said that only
one in thirty breathes properly, the ma
jority merely letting the breath come
and go half way. And hero perhaps is
the true secret Of the origin Of ma
jority Of lung troubles. But as the
motives of this letter are not Of a san-
itary character I will go back to my
text" of this valley and its produc-
tions.
And now I come to the great crop OF
the valley the crop before which the
world is said to stand aghast and in.
credulous; accusing the inhabitants of
sort of legerdemain of the tongue,
viz: the fruit crop, but which I must
leave for my next letter, as this one has
already meandered beyond lawful
limits. D.