Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1896-02-01

this one year had taken from then
in wheat, more than the cost o.
the whole farm. From $500 te
$500 will buy a good farm of un
broken land in North Dakota
Many men start with little or nc
capital except plow or team
1t does not cost much to get 16(
acre farm started, but energy anC
hard work will be needed to ge'
along with out money to begir
with.
The eastern farmer on small
patch of land may ask how is il
possible for one man to raise sucl
crops. Out side Of the wonder.
full soil, the ease of cultivation is {
great reason. \ North Dakots
newspaper tells it all for the whole
state.
Except for little assistance in
haying time very many of ou1
quarter section farmers with four
good horses plow all the ground
SOW the seed and cut the grain
without help. One young man
Harry Carr of Crystal raised 5000
bushels Of grain on 100 acres with
out. assistance except for ''shock-
ing" and threshing, and ''bached'
it at that. Mr.. John Halcrow of
Bowesmont. with the assistance of
a grown son. another son of four
teen years of age and one hired
man raised nearly 10000 bushels
Of grain. without other help until
! after the grain was cut. Many
other examples might be given.
"These might seem to be fairy
tales to the eastern farmer on
small patches, but there are sew
eral reasons why one man may cul-
tivate so much soil here One rea-
son is that blowing is done in long
furrows. half mile or more being
common. This saves time in turn
ing. The resistance Of the plow
is equal and steady, and not severe,
the team thus taking steady and
rapid gait. There are no stones,
stumps, hills, and but few knolls to
interrupt the plow. The days are
long; daylight lasts from two or
three in the morning until nine or
ten at night: the mornings and
evenings are cool and horses work
comfortably. Another reason is,
that a large portion Of the labor is
done by the best machinery, which
four horses can make cover a large
amount Of grain in day.
FARMERS WHO BOUGHT BUTTER.
One of the strange features Of an
agricultural country is that for
some years, and it is true to GER
tain extent yet, butter, eggs, cheese,
poultry and hams have been ship
ped into the state. Big farmers,
raising tens of thousands Of bushels
Of wheat. bought all the butter,
and eggs used. Pork was not
raised at all. Poultry was ignored.
The whole attention Of the pro-
prietors was to grow wheat and let
the by-products Of the farm alone.
Everything was bought at stores.
This great mistake has cost the
bonanza farmers dear and the ex-
penses Of farming on such plan
have been SO great that many of
the best known of the big exclu-
sive wheat farms are being sold in
100 acre tracts, on long time, to
farmers from the east who are
making the smaller products Of
farm the chief source of living.
Even as it is we have a population
of 100000 souls in the state who
consume 100000 pounds Of but
ter and 100000 pounds of cheese
annually, not half of which is man.
ufactured at home. The COW
population could be increased
$4,000 head, and there will be a
market at home for the entire pro-
duct. The dairy interest of the
state is soon to be one of the chief
sources of money making and it
will not be long before the pur-
chase elsewhere of the common
articles of food and profit that
should be raised at home will have
ceased entirely, and these products
will be shipped out to other locali-
ties instead. To the small pro-
ducts of the farm, and to the veget-
able garden have been added the
necessary stock that is always
found on eastern farms. The
small farmer who now has COWS,
pigs, chickens is also raising his
own colts instead of buying them.
Everywhere is seen the depend
ence on the farm itself for living
instead Of on the bank account. to