The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-11-20
HUMPHREY IN IDAHO.
Former Lake Crystal Resident Writes
an Interesting Letter.

Editor of Union and other old friends
Lake Crystal, MINI: Don't think I have
forgotten you because 1 have not written
for so long time. 1t is just about a
year since I made you a visit and had
intended to see you again by this time,
but may not be able to do so this fall.
| "We have rented our place in the city
and will stay on the farm, as we all
like it. 1t is but few minutes drive
to town and some of us go in nearly
every day.
| "We have a fine brick school house
just completed at cost of $4,000; close
by also church and railroad station,
called Perkins. A great deal of fruit
and hay is shipped from Perkins.
"Winter apples are now being picked
and shipped, all are packed in bushel
boxes. l have just put twenty-five BUSH
els of the best of mine in cellar for the
winter. This is certainly a wonderful
fruit country, but the market is poor for
| all, but the best winter apples, which
sell from IS cents to SIPS per box. We
have about two and half acres of bear
ing, orchard, consisting of peaches, pears,
prunes, plums, apples, apricots, ounces,
cherries, etc. We have set out 1000
strawberries, $50 blackberries and rasp
berries and some currants and gooseber-
ries, which will bear next year. The
market for all these fruits and berries
will be better we hope next year. A
large canning and packing house has been
put up, but was not completed in time
to handle this seasons crop. There are
several fruit evaporators in and around
Boise, but only stockholders can use
them. One little packing house shipped
over sixty cars of fresh fruit, mostly
prunes. They went to London, Paris,
and in fact all over the world and sold
for the highest prices. Idaho fruit took
first premium at the international ex-
hibit at Ogden, Utah. Idaho can beat
the world in fruit and it will soon be a
profitable business. All we lack is the
means of properly handling it. have
about sixty Italian prune trees on which
ripened four or five tons of fine fruit
but we picked only little over two tons
which we sold for $l4 per ton. The rest
were fed to the hoges or rotted on the
ground. Peaches do well here but are
frequently injured by late frosts in the
spring. Ours are protected on the north
and west by large shade trees and we
had an abundance of very fine ones from
the middle of September until the pres
ent time and in fact have some left yet.
This is a wonderfully productive soil if
you have the water with it. We put up
thirty-6ve tons of timothy and clover
hay from seven acres and now that
meadow is fine pasture and will be long
time. The yield of alfalfa is much more
and is cut three times while the other is
but twice. Who says this is not pota-
to country? rented my neighbor three
fourths of an acre and have got one hum
dred bushels for my share (one-halfl.
Hay is the most profitable crop to raise
here if you take the work into consid
Grafton and that is an important item.
"Any able bodied man who is willing
to work can get big pay, farm hands get
$50 per month and board or by the day
$3.50. It is fine climate for out door
work and very little time need be lost
on account of stormy or cold weather.
During the summer the sun is pretty hot
in the middle of the day but the nights
are always cool. We have some dis
agreeable sloppy weather through the
winter, but have only six or eight weeks
of real winter and some times not so
much. We may have little snow at
night and all gone by noon. Most houses
in the country are not plastered. Some
fine city residences are the same but
most of the good city buildings now are
finished the same as in eastern cities.
like this climate and irrigating farm
ing. If you own the land and water you
can handle it as you wish. You can
have water when needed and don't have
to have it when you don't need it. To be
sure we do have little rain when not
wanted, but that is unusual. We never
have wind to do any damage. While I
like Minnesota and consider it one of the
best states for general purposes, that I
have ever lived in, still the climate of
Idaho is very much pleasanter. AS to
the people of Minnesota, | will say they
are the best people on earth and shall
always remember them as SUCH
owe have the best of neighbors ad-
joining us on the north and east, they
are genuine Welsh, which remind me of
Lake Crystal and vicinity. A young
Welshman has just bought 20 acres join
ing us for which he paid $l75 per acre.
'Will and his wife have just returned
from town and met Clark X. Rowland
on the street, just in from Thunder
l will go and see him to-
morrow. The miners, cattle and sheep
men are getting into the city to spend |
the winter and Boise will. be lively. |
Buildings are being built in great num-
bers but rents are high and the demand
exceeds the supply. Boise has made
wonderful improvements in the past /
Sarar..l as x,rixoixaal ctroatc