The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-15

lamb. In the earlier years thousands Of
these lambs. from points farther west,
came thru Collins en- route sto9 GhACago
and St. Louis. AS one consignment was
going thru, there was a breakdown Of the
train and a severe spell OF cold weather.
The lambs were unloaded. and finally 1T
was decided that they should be fed in
Collins thru the winter. They brought
prices in Chicago tho next spring that
were almost one-half greater than that
lambs, and the people Of Collins straight
way went into the lamb business. They
ship lambs in from wide territory to
the west in the fall, feed them QUITO
doors during the winter, and then send
them to market.
Cooperation Everywhere.
One OF the most interesting features Of
the irrigation business is the close CO.
operation. There is much community Of
interest. Every man is his brothers
keeper. There Is none of the jealousy and
isolation too often characteristic of farm
life elsewhere. The story Of the founding
of Greeley is to the point The land was
bought In common, each prospective pur-
chaser advancing $175 cash. After all had
paid, the land was divided into DISTRICTS
those in the city being smallest, those
fartherest from it being largest. The
same price was charged for each, it being
prospect town would be worth just as
much as eighty acres In the country on
the limits of the settlement, or as much
as forty or twenty acres, as the case might
be, half way between. Then numbers
Identifying the land were put into a hat,
and the man drawing first got the flrst
choice Of land, the second got second
choice. and 80 on, until everybody had
been provided for. This community Of
interest as to land shaped the entire
course of the settlement and brought close
cooperation In ali subsequent matters.
It meant community of interest In the
reservoirs and bitches, and finally deter
much water as was necessary for his
crops, and no more. for fear that his
neighbor might not have enough.
The small farm Is the rule here, and
that means heavy rural population, with
farm houses close together. 1t Is but a
step from one home to the next Tele-
phones are universal The country Is a
garden. There isn't farmer In Colorado
who would own big farm If he could.
They have grown up under the smell farm
system. and like to have their neighbors
close at hand.
High Type Of Citizenship.
Another fact that makes a deep i'm
preston upon the stranger here is the
high type Of citizenship, not only In the
city, but in the rural districts also. SEN
ator Teller, in his speech before the news
paper men at the Denver banquet, said
that he believed there was a larger per-
centage OF college bred men and women
In that city than in any other city in the
country, or in the world. Professor Car
penter, state engineer, and president OF
the state experiment station said to me
on the train that the same thing was true
Of all the irrigated portions Of the state,
town and country. In his own town,
Loveland, fifteen miles from Greeley, q
place Of perhaps 1900 population, he per-
sonally knew between 300 and 400 col
lege men and women. And they are
nearly all young people. It has been the
practice Of the state for years to import
Its young woman teachers from the east,
girls who have finished an academic
course at some good institution. They
teach in Colorado for a few years, and
then, as a rule, marry the young eastern
business men who few years previously
had come out here single. There is q
steady influx of these young women due
to the large number married to Colorado
citizens every year.
there is an object lesson for every state
having arid or semi -arid land in the vic
tories won by Colorado thru irrigation,
The problem in the Dakotas is hardly as
difficult as 1t has been here SO say the
experts, and Colorado successes can be
duplicated there whenever the people are
ready to make the effort.
w. w. Jermane