The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-09-26
A Remunerative Business.

several hundred head, and require no
care. ..-.-~, .,-.-..,.. -~.~.,.~ -
A Remunerative Business. p
At the present price for beef this is a
remunerative business, when capital can
be had to buy up yearlings and keep
them two or three years-as the young
can be bought for $40 and the best fat
tened steers sell now for 500.
Horses too are raised there to advan-
tage., Dairying is not much practiced,
and there are no creameries i'll the park,
but it pays well to make butter in sum
mer for tourists demands, and a good
article brings a high price. Cheese, too,
is made, but only for home consumption
| as yet.
No grain and but few vegetables will
rlpen in the part of the park l visited
is enhanced by the necessity of buying
canned goods, and the big heaps Of emp
ty cans around all the ranch houses tes-
tify to the extent of this practice.
Game and fish abound and materially
help to supply the table. The streams
formerly furnished an unlimited number
of mountain trout, but are getting fished
| out, and there is a demand Oh the gov
| eminent hatcheries to replenish them
nia, yet my host is such a skillful angler
! that we had plenty of the speckled beau
| ties for our table. Suckers, though soft
| and fiat tasting when fresh, become pal
atable when lightly sailed and smoked |:
| they furnish considerable source Of win
ter food. Grouse, sage hens and ducks
are shot i'll great numbers, and in that
! dry climate they keep for months simply
hanging in the open air. Deer are less
right about there, but hunters go some
distance in the fall for their winter sup
ply of meat, for jerked venison is count
| ed on as staple form of meat through
the year. This is prepared as follows:
Thin strips Of the meat are soaked some
time in sweet pickle, and then dried in
the air. 1t becomes very hard and seems
very unattractive, but shaved off and
| eaten with bread and butter it consti-
and is found to be extremely nutritious.
Poultry do not thrive-it is too cold and
dry-but with careful housing they can
be made to add something to the table,
and one or two pigs can be- fattened on
the surplus milk and table waste.
Simple Fare Conduciveto Health.
| This simple rough fare is conducive to
health and strength and the bracing air
doubtless helps. People there have good
color and are strong and vigorous. A
family, who had lived in my friends
neighborhood for eighteen years and
have six children, testify to the health
of the altitude on visitors. there are
varying statements, but generally no in
convenience is experienced by those not
advanced III years-but persons with
| weak hearts must not attempt visit
there, and old people generally find it
trying.-,but by keeping quiet for a W EEK
or SO the system accustomes itself to the
rarified air and I found myself unusually
vigorous the last two weeks Of my visit.
The attractive spot to tourists in Mid
die Park is Grand lake, where a small
| but deep mountain lake lies embraced
among steep hills which descend with
heavily wooded sides steeply into the
| water.
The Continental Divide.
charming view of snow s1reaked noun
tains and the Continental Divide-some
! twenty cottages and tents on the gravely
! mOraine banks of two sides of the lake
are occupied during the summer months
by city jewellers, who here find all the
attractions of such an onring in perfec'
ton; boating, fishing. riding and tramp
ing, and, later in the season, there is
good shooting.
A more attractive summer resort I
have never visited. Its only drawback is
it's inaccessibility, but that adds to it's
charm by making it agreeably secluded.
Persons interested in botany find in this
wild country plenty of occupation. Wild
flowers abound and Of species generally
different from those found with us, in
Guiding many Alpine varieties, I gathered
| md named over fifty Towering plants
and left nearly as many untouched. The
guide for flower naming of this region is
Coulter's manual Of Rocky Mountain
Botany" 1t is old. but I am informed
by the botanists of the agricultural de-
partment at Washington that there is
nothing more recent. except as scattered
through the botanical journals, or the
publications Of the department.
TO those that may be tempted to visit
this attractive region will impart my
experience as to the cost of getting there.
Taking advantage of the summer excur-
sion rates from Chicago to Denver and
return, $25. find the total cost of travel,
including all minor expenditures, amount
ed to SIS. Board at the hotel at Grand
lake costs $40 week. Good accommo-
dation can be had at some of the ranches
for 81 less, with unstinted use of horses
at $3.50 week.
Thick clothes and warm underwear are
essentials, as the nights are always cool,
often disagreeably so, and frosts are not
uncommon, even in July. I heartily COM
mend this little frecuented region, there
| fore, to all seeking new place for sum
mer outing.-Davenport Fisher in the
Evening Wisconsin.
GILDED GAMBLING PALACE.
Formalities Attending Opening of Far
t.. relps Place in New York.