The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-04-30

| than do those in Iowa and Illinois. The
thermometer occasionally registers low
er temperature, but at 80 degrees be-
low zero-an exceptionally cold day
even for that latitude--it does not have
one-half the terror for the North Da-
kotan that a zero temperature has for
! the resident of the Middle Western
states. A more delightful season than
autumn in North Dakota it would be
! difficult to imagine, and it quite fire.
! quently lasts until after the holidays.
! Flowing has been successfully done as
| late as Thanksgiving day. Winter dis
! appears suddenly, but with none of the
attendant horrors of a spring break
| UP" further south. The trend Of the
! isothermal line northward, following
| the course of the Missouri river, marks
its meeting with the warm Japan cur
| rents known as Chinook Winds which
flow from the tropical waters of the In
dian ocean, sensibly tempering the eli
mate of North Dakota. Indeed, what
! is known as a "snoW winter is a rare
| exception, the complaint being that
enough of the poor mans fertilizer fails
| annually to fall. The summers are sim
ply delightful in spite of a similar
claim put forth by every region on
earth, the nights are cool even after
! the Warmest days, and the long hours
! of sunshine shorten the growing sea-
| son considerably over that of states
| farther south.
Someone has declared that if the soil
of North Dakota could be transplanted
| to the tropics fruits now Unknown
1 would hapO11oa n
! food. While this extravagant state
ment may be questioned it is a fact a
richer soil does not exist. Briefly it
may be described as heavy black
loan, varying from one to three feet in
depth, undertake with clay subsoil-not
| grayelly clay, but pure yellow clay. The
top soil is rich in decayed vegetable
| matter, and when turned by the pillow
begins at once to produce golden dol
lars in the form of bountiful CROPS.
Lands that have been farmed for over
twenty years yield today without fer
tilizing the same substantial and profit
| able crops with no apparent decrease
of native virtues. AS indicating the
variety of products yielded by this soil
it may be stated that wheat, fax, oats,
barley, rye, speltz, corn and all kinds
Of small fruits give splendid returns.
and every variety of hardy trees. many
varieties of forage plants, including the
Austrian bronze grass, flourish as
though indigenous.
The one product of North Dakota
that ranks first and above all else is
its grass crop. An unbroken carpet of
sod that yields the richest, most nu-
fYiti
nature, is one of the gifts that goes
with the title of every quarter section
of central North Dakota land. These
grasses consist of buffalo, bunch and
prairie grass, through which are
sprinkled bluejoint and redtop. The
buffalo and bunch grasses cure on their
roots and stand as hay in the winter.
Where fires are kept out they grow
luXurlantly, and even on the rolling up
land one and one-haIf tons, sometimes
more, of hay can be cut to the acre
During ordinary winters cattle and
horses will live and keep fat on the
grasses that they pick from the prairie.
and hundreds of farmers seldom, if
ever, furnish any other food,
The frugal farmer and ranchman
will. however, provide for possible
emergencies of prolonged storms. deem
SHOWS, etc. by putting up a sufficient
quantity of hay to carry his stock until
1t can again feed on the prairies. This
hay may be procured in the fine mea-
dows that are to be found on nearly
every quarter section, and which will
cut in the dryest season from two to
three tons of hay per acre. No grain
of any kind is required owing to the
peculiar fattening quality of the
rich grasses. There are thrifty herds
of cattle in North Dakota that have
never tasted pound of any food ex-
cept the natural grasses which they
nave foraged from the prairies, and