The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-09-29

2 North Dakota is not a state of single
crop or industry. It is not going to mar
ket with it's eggs all In, .one basket. It
is a premier cattle country The value OF
it's stock aggregates $5O.J0G,0 to-day and
the business is hardly more than in its in
fancy. Cereals do not tell the whole
story. a,.~-E@ <. la &-i
Two Stock Districts.
The state has two distinct cattle coun-
tries One in the eastern and northeast
ern part of the state where the cattle are
raised in conjunction with general farm
ing. or as mere incident thereto. AS you
go west this shades into the genuine
cattle ranch, where what agriculture
there may be is incidental to cattle rails
ing. The whole western half or two,
thirds of the state had until recent years
been more of a cattle country than any
thing else. But the solid ranks of the
advancing farmers now extend up to and
beyond the 101st meridian, SO that now the
great bulk of the cattle country lies west
of that meridian, q both north and
south of the Missouri river. Dickinson.
the county seat of Stark county, is the
seat Of the cattle raising business in
southwestern North Dakota. Another
cattle center is Medora, the county seat
of Billings. 49,, ,<-
+& Ideal Stock Lands So r
This southwestern partsof the state in
cludes the 5000 or 5000 square miles that
make up the bad lands. Nevertheless,
these counties of Stalk. Billings and HIT
finger; contain some of the finest grass
lands in the world. That the bad lands
are not so very bad may be gathered from
the. fact that over 100, goo head Of cattle
feed within this very region. While In
Minneapolis last winter Ernest Seton
THOMPSON the traveller, naturalist and
author lecturer stated that in his opinion
the soil is in places very rich and pro-
ductive, so that considerable areas may
be profitably cultivated. But for stock
raising nature in no other part of the
world has designed such ideal condl-
tionsf He is confident that the bad lands
will take a leading part in making North
Dakota one of the greatest live stock sec
lions in the world. Already from 5000
to 90, 600 head of beef cattle are yearly
shipped from the badalands' herds. :. -
This region has always been the refuge
and feeding ground of thousands of ami
mails. Until the ruthless determination Of
the buffalo they were as numerous among
it's hills as the domestic cattle Of to-day.
Even now, the trails madesby the animals,
with occasional piles of bleaching bones.
mark what was once their favorite ranges.
Deer are yet pler1 the outlying
prairies are feeding grounds for thousands
of antelope. p. .saye K. d T.. r. ~
Coal IN ADunQanCe.@
Not the least remarkable feature of the
had lands, is the. inexilaustible supply. OF
coal. At the base of the cliffs it crops
out in veins from t5ss.ssos 20 feet in thick,
ness. The entire country Is underlaidS with
Ignite. There is sufficient coal in the bad
lands alone to supply the state OF North
Dakota with fuel for. 100 years to come
Far down at the feet of the cliffs are
water courses trickling toward the Little
l. ~ a1a1S 81 OF
level bottom lands where nutritious
grasses thrive. Timber Of fair size and
quality fringes these streams. 1t is along
these creeks that ranches have been con-
structed. The cattle are turned loose
upon the grasses which do not lose thelr
nutritive value in any season OF the year.
Protecting cliffs and hills furnish a refuge
for the stock during any storm. -
Natural Stock Food. =
The kind of natural stock food that is
to be found in Stark, Billings and Lit
finger counties may be inferred from What
Professor Waldron of the state agr1cul-
tural college says about the grasses OF
North Dakota:
North Dakota has a grass area of 40
600 900 Of acres, capable of producing
each year as much beef as is represented
by half a million 3year- old steers, allow
ing twenty five acres to, each animal.
These yoked together would make an OK
team 500 miles long, thus giving an idea or
the immense productiveness of our pas
lures. Over this whole region the average
rainfall is seventeen inches, and in no
place does it fall below, thirteen inches,
in this respect being superior to most OF
the other grazing lands of the United
States. .-.---~.,-~- ... ....-.
| 1T is probably well known to most OF
you that plant does none of its work IN
the dark; that all it's active processes IN
| taking the simple elements in nature and
| reducing them to the form of plant tissues
and food is carried on only in the direct