The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-01-20
OFFICIAL REPORTS.
Summaries Of Several of the
Documents Submitted to
the Governor.
What Has Been Done by Pub
lie NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
atiOnS Asked.
COMMISSIONER OF LABOR AND
STATISTICS.


The report of Commissioner Smith
as to the labor statistics which he
has been able to collect, is valuable
indeed. 1t shows that in general the
farmers of South Dakota own the
land which they till, and that there
is very little tenant farming. The
report as to the value Of these lands
furnished by the farmers themselves
shows that they are held at from SIC
to $50 per acre, and the commissioner
says that the estimates received
indicate feeling of great confidence
in the agricultural resource of the
state.
In relation to farm mortgages he
reports that the average mortgage
amounts to only about one fifth the
average farm value. About 25 per
cent. Of the mortgages reported to
the commissioner shows that the
money was borrowed for making
improvements on the farms, and %
per cent was borrowed in order to
buy more land.
The report shows that of the
surplus products of South Dakota
there were in 1891 shipped out of the
state 6O1,77S carloads, of which 3d.
ll3 were wheat, 1854 corn, 2,22S oats,
1916 flax, 1,734 -four, ! 1,53l hay. 81 Of
butter and eggs, 3,075 of stone almost
entirely from Minnehaha county, 1859
cement from Yankton county. 1872
of cattle, 4,065 of hogs, 2l5 of horses
and mules, 337 of sheep, and 175 Of
mixed stock. The valuation of some
of these shipments is as follows:
Cattle. S4,4O5, POO; hogs, s3,252, 900;
horses and mules, $780, 900: sheep,
Slol,0 200; wheat, S10,84O.6SO; corn,
ss303, $50: oats, s5o1, 300; flax, s2,6ss, 900;
flour. s2l3,S0O: hay, s6l ,24O.
STATE ENGINEER OF IRRIG ALTON.
In his report pertaining to
irrigation, State Engineer Baldwin
has amassed quantity of infor-
nation and suggestion which would
be Of great benefit if generally
distributed throughout the arteslan
section. Under the artesian we'll law,
passed by the last legislature, he has
surveyed or located 113 wells.
scattered through the state east of
the Missouri river in the counties of
Hand, Beadle, Kingsbury, Sphinx
Brown. Edmunds, Jerauld, Aurora
Brule and Charles Mix. 1t is the
Judgment of the engineer that the
basin extends to only a limited
distance east of the James river. He
does not have any fear that the
supply Of water in this basin will
ever fail, and the sinking of new
wells in close proximity to old ones
does not interfere at all with the
pressure of the latter. There are
about 80 artesian wells in the state.
OF which 80 are deep wells and the
balance only intended to supply
water for stock and domestic purposes.
During 1892 some of the largest and
strongest wells in the state have been
put down, extended descriptions Of
which are furnished in the report.
The average flow of the arteSian wells
in the state. large and small, is
about 700 gallons per minute. The
uses of artesian water is quite fully
set forth.
He does not regard irrigation as
the most important use, and scouts
the idea that it is essential to the
successful growth of crops, although
he is of the opinion that such use
may be very profitable to those who
can secureit The engineer enumer-
ates large number of instances in
which ai5esian wells are source of
paNej FOR manufacturing purposes.
the details of which are very interest
ing. In some places after the water
has done its work in turning turbine
water wheel it is conducted away
thr )ugh pipes or bitches for irrigation
purposes, thus getting a double
benefit from the we'll. He specifies
also several cases in which artesian
wells are used for city waterwork and
for fire protection, and the enterprise
!. of the city of Aberdeen in using the
well for power in pumping sewage is
very fully described-a use which the
United States senate committee on
irrigation pronounced to be the most
wonderful adaptation of the powers
Of nature that had ever come under
their observation.
RAILROAD COMMISSIONER.
The report of the Railroad Com
rDissioners is yoluminous document
THE total railway mileage in tht
state is 2,7Os miles, of which the
Chicago. Milwaukee and St. Paul ha.
1896 the Chicago and Northwestern
744, the Fremont, Elkhorn anC
Missouri Valley, lS5, and the Bur
}inuton and Missouri River l69 will