The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1901-08-23
Norm Dakota Crop Prospects.
Conservative Summing VI Of hle ktheal 81 ual1ou 4
Over The STATE
over The Shah.

judging from present prospects. IN
I, the real estate offices in Afinot are not
the only places where fine samples Of
wheat, flax and potatoes and corn are
to be seen. The real estate men are
not slow to show the good things that
country is this year producing, but as
matter Of fact some Of the best crops
IN the state are UP in that section. All
along the line up to the International
boundry the crops are very good. bet
ter, In fact, than at any points in the
southern portions of the state which
were visited. One field of wheat which
we drove through was declared on good
authority to be the thirteenth success
sive crop on that ground, and 1t was
unqualifdely one of the finest pieces
we have seen anywhere this year.
This field is just over the Canada line
north of Portal. Our informant, whose
word we had no reason to question, but
have every reason to deem reliable;
said that that same field had yielded an
average Of twenty-one bushels per acre
Tor the twelve crops which have been
taken off from it in twelve successive
years. The land showed careful and
dllgeEt farming, asd we have no rea-
son to think that the statement is at
all overdrawn. There was not a weed
to be seen in the whole immense field.
The land here is just about the same as
the land south about Portal IN. d.,
F'laxton and Bowbells
Westward from Minot, along the line
of the Great Northern road, similar
favorable conditions prevail. The coun-
try has settled up with magical rapid
lty during the past two years and this
bids fair to be a very successful one
for the new settlers. Des Laos, Lone
Tree and Berthold, which, two years
ago, We're but names on the map-sec-
ton houses, with vast stretches of prai-
RE surrounding for miles in every d.
rection are now thriving towns sur
rounded by settled communities.
Returning over the 500 road to the
Northern Pacific at Valley City, the
country westward to the state boun-
dairy at Sentinel, Butte was traversed
over the main line of the Northern Pa
cific. In the main the same disap-
pointing aspect of the crops which has
been noted in the counties farther south
are repeated here. There are some
good crops about Valley City and
, Jamestown, but on the whole there
will, we predict, be good deal Of dis
) appointment when the tally is made
from the threshing. On the Missouri
i slope" again the crops were unusually
good, as judged from hasty survey
of the fields. The late heavy rains
seem to have been IN time to bring on
the wheat and flax bids fair to be a
! good thing if not set back by frost or
other hindrasce. West of Bismarck, on
the Missouri, there is little farming.
! i,
mighty good business it is, too. Dick
| inson, the county seat of Stark coun-
ty, away out is the far western part
of the state, is one. Of the most pre-
possessing appearing towns in the
Whole state. Located in the midst Of
a region devoted to stock ranching.
where general farming is an art al
most unknown, it is a thrifty and pros
porous town. Houses we'll painted,
door yards aud lawns we'll kept, flower
gardens nicely trimmed and in full
bloom, one almost forgets that he is
in the Far West, asd falls to thinking
that he is in some snug New York or
Massachusetts town which has been
struck with a sudden impulse to wake
up and do business-for Dickinson is
live town and business appears to be
moving
| The famous bad Lands" are just
! west of Dickinson. The traveller who
can ride through this picturesque re-
gion and not be interested must be in
deed stupid to the beauties of the Gre
ator's handiwork. But not altogether
bad" are these lands if one rely upon
the testimony of the ranchman who
have dwelt in this land for twenty
years-and there are none whose word
we would trust farther-for here are
said to be the finest grazing lands in
the whole Northwest. The grass is
| abundant in the coolies and it is said
to be of very nutritious quality, far
more so than that which grows upon
the prairies. But except for the hay
crop there is mo crop report" for this
region. Hay is cut in the broad valley
bottoms and on the table lands, but for
the most part animals live by their
own labors, eating first hand the year
around from the mother earth
On the whole. the crop outlook for
the State of North Dakota for 1901 Is
not as bright as it was generally hoped
it would be few weeks ago. It is the
writer's prediction that there will be
\ genera! disappointment over the state
as a whole when the threshing has be-
come under way enough to allow Of
definite estimate of results. The re-
ports which have already been heard
from some localities where threskfngs
have been made, that where thirty
bushels per acre had been expected
from the great growth of straw. only
about twelve to fourteen bushels per-
acre had actually been realized, may
not be a fair criterion for estimating,
but we anticipate from observations
made directly in the field that there
will be a great deal of disappointment.
Vines the leaves are seen to be brown
and dead on wheat before the heads
are fully formed, no matter how large
the growth Of straw may be. there
must be bound to be shriveled and
shrunken wheat in the heads when
threshed. because the leaves are the
stomachs and lungs Of the plant, asd
when these are dead and useless the
plant has no way to form and prepare
the materials which go to make up the
valuable parts Of the berry. except
what can be accomplished by the green.
part of the stem or stalk, and this cam
but poorly make up for the loss Of the
leaves, and, at best, can make but 81