The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-19

very Pheasant TO me. IL was brought
from Minneapolis to st. Paul by rail,
and then hauled to the levee for trans
fer to the steamer The ground De-
tween the end of the railroad was so
wet that we tore up the floor OF the
freight house to skid the flour to the
boat. 1t was an important day for us.
We felt that we had sent out more
tonnage in those fifty barrels of flour
than we would by sending cranberries
for month. l remember how proud
L was sitting on the back end of
dray as the last barrel was moved
onto the steamboat and the line OF
wagons moved back to the town. About
the same time Gen. Sibley raised about
twenty-five gunny sacks of corn and
we sent one of the river packets up to
Mendoza to bring it down. The freight
rate at that time was thirty-five cents
a hundred, which ought to have been
considered profitable haul.
. Progress was sure, even If slow. I
Well remember the first threshing
machine which was operated In the
state. 1t came up by boat and was q
great curiosity. AT that time there
were more threshing machines sent up
to Winnipeg than there were in the
whole state of Minnesota The first
machine in ST. Paul was run by John
Cormack-many of you here will re-
member him. He used to be a river
in Pittsburg sent along lot Of
machines and they asked me if 1 could
set UP one. I told them that / could
tell better after seeing Cormack run
one, so / went out to FIT. Smelling,
where Cormack had one in operation
on Eden Prairie. 1 watched him for a
long time and studied the machine
carefully and then came back to town.
Soon man came along and wanted to
buy a threShing machine and / sold
him one. Then / tried to get 1t up. By
night, / had 1t altogether and told the
man to bring on his crew in the morn
ing and we would start the thing off.
The next day we started the thing off.
We fed 1t slowly and carefully and
it was voted very wonderful thing,
and came back to town highly elated.
Three days after, Farmer Burns came
along and said a farm hand had drop
ped monkey wrench into the feed
pipe and that the thing had busted.
That was the beginning of Burns re-
pair account. Naughter)
THE first wheat [ can remember be-
ing raised north of ST. Paul was at
ST. Cloud in 1864. 1t brought So cents
and was hauled to Minneapolis by boat
flCm ST. Cloud and from there to ST.
Paul by wagon. Few people in ST.
Cloud now realize that there was ever
a steamboat landing in the city
1--WE always look for material wealth
either in the field, the forest the mines,
or in the seas, four sources from which
we draw our possessions. We have
three of these sources in Minnesota,
in as good form and in as plentiful
quantities as in any state in the Union.
Our forests are being depleted, but II
we would establish some better system
OF tree planting, believe many thou
sand acres of waste lands could be
used to replenish our forests. The trees
in this state are practically counted
and measured and the time is not far
distant when we will be in the same
position with the older states, but let
us hope that we will be wiser than
they have been.
Our iron mines are the richest and
the most easily handled of any in the
world The soil of our fields is fruitful
and the climate is favorable. We nave
all that is requisite to success. There
is no other state in the Union that agr1-
cultural pursuits of all kinds can be
carried on to the same degree OF sue
cess that it can be here.
I'VE are not far from the northern
most line of the best wheat growing
Ia nd. It is the accepted theory that
the nearer the north we can carry
on agricultural pursuits, the better. The
best wheat in the world Is grown south
of the northern boundry Of the state,
W OU IIilISS SOuLA VI
the Canadian frontier. North of that
line, the wheat ripens before it natures,
before the kernel has had time to fill
out and complete it's growth. 1t used
to be claimed that wheat grown still
further north was the best, and L once
requested the Minneapolis mills to try
some wheat I brought down from Por-
tage la Prairie But the quality Of the
flour did not compare with the Mime
sofa wheat. A better quality Of hard
wheat cannot be raised south Of the
Minnesota The belt from the Twin
Cities North to within 80 or 40 miles or
the boundry, produces the wheat that
brings the best prices given anywhere.
Distressing somewhat, I might add
that there is not corner Of the country
where better beef, better mutton and
better pork can be produced than in
Minnesota For many years l fed
stock on my farm in this section and
exhibited my cattle at the prize shows
iii Chicago. I always took my share Of
the prizes and often took all of the top
prizes.
ct have today nearly two dozen gold
medals, which 1 took with my prize
fat cattle 1 know, from my own eX-
perience, that it is within the reach Of
any intelligent man to raise the best
cattle to be found in the Union. Do
your work intelligently. Last year l
had 500 or 600 sheep to feed and it cost
me about SIPS a day to do it. This
year 1 have 1900 sheep to feed and it
costs me no more, simply because of the
fact that have an intelligent man to
feed the cattle for me. 1 expect to
get 50 more for the sheep than 1 did
last year.
1.-THE time was when we thought that
agriculture was restricted to few por-
tions of the state. I remember when
Rochester was the greatest primary
wheat market in the country. Then
circumstances changed and Red Wing
was the great primary center. In one
year there were 10000 bushels landed
at Red Wing, and people thought that
was tremendous delivery. Now there
are twenty-five places in the state
where they exceed that delivery many
times over. AS wheat market, Red
Wing is now almost forgotten, and the
farmers there are doing other things
than playing on one string.
II say honestly and frankly, that. un
less the raising Of wheat can be made
profitable to the farmer it cannot be
profitable for the railroad to carry it.
Every one recognizes the fact that, I'M
less the farmers are prosperous. that
the bankers, the manufacturers, the
railroads, the professional men and the
wholesalers will be poor. BY prosper
Gus we mean that the farmer must
have the money to educate his children
and to lay aside something in the bank
in addition to merely feeding and cloth
ing his family. 1 know sometimes if
is the custom and is considered fash
ionable to rake us over and tell us
how to run our railroads. We are quite
willing to have them. We want them
to have an interest in the railroads. I
90 soil iH,4n ll.z