The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1903-03-18

NOrIn DdkOLd. ludL SldIC AouAu ~
self most happily situated when peo-
pie everywhere began to realize that
land was scarce and good thing to
get while still cheap. The hard times
of the early '90s caught North Dakota
before it was found to have millions OF
acres of good government or cheap
privately owned land waiting as it had
through all the centuries for men to
come and take it.
The homeseekers soon realized this
fact. There ensueda great rush to
get free or cheap land-50, 900 people
in two years. Practically all the good
arabic, easily accessible government
land was soon taken, but large
amounts of virgin prairie still re-
NAMED in the hands of companies and
individuals that had for the most part
secured it from the original land
grants of the Northern Pacific railway.
Land values were so ridiculously low
in North Dakota few years ago that
even though there have in some parts
of the state been increases of 100 per
cent within a few years, intrinsic
values have not yet been exceeded
anywhere.
An Impartial Authority.
Every state is so much interested in
putting itself forward as "a region of
surprising fertility that it is we'll to
seek for the verdict of an unprecedented
authority The United States census
reports ought to be such authority.
In the bulletin on agriculture in North
Dakota the bureau says that except
for some of the southwestern counties,
especially adapted to grazing, "the soil
throughout the state is unusually fer
tile, being nearly everywhere a rich,
black loan, varying in depth from
few inches on the highest hills to from
five to eighteen feet in valleys. 1t
is easily titled, and as it's composition
favors the absorption and retention of
moisture, it is especially adapted to
the production of wheat and barley.
The subsoil is strongly impregnated
with lime and alkaline elements which
serve as perpetual fertilizers"
North Dakota is essentially prairie
state, yet with great variety and di-
yersity of surface. 1t has the fiat
plains of the Red river valley in the
east, the hills in the Choteau regions
west of the first bench of land above
the valley, the higher prairies that de-
scend to the Missouri river on the west
and south, the rolling country west of
the Missouri, with the rough Bad
Lands still further west, and the bold,
state abounds in lakes and rivers,
many of which are bordered with TIM
Der, and in the Turtle mountains on
the north boasts Of some considerable
attitudes.
Much Ignite.
I. Many counties of the state, includ-
ting Ward, Mclean, Burleigh, Oliver,
Morton, Billings and Dunn, are for
ltunate in the possession of inexhaust-
ibie strata of Ignite coal underlying
the surface at such shallow depth
that it is easily mined. This coal at
fords a very cheap fuel, and many
farmers are their own coal miners At
Washburn and other places it is being
mined on very extensive scale.
| North Dakota has total land area
Of about 10000 square miles. 1t has
| 1920 miles of railway, 200 newspapers,
spends $1.5OO,0OO a year on it's public
schools, of which it has over 5000,
with more than a 900 teachers. Its
school property is worth $3,00O,OOO.
The state is assessed at about $780,
100000 and the school land endow-
ment is worth S50,OO0,000.
Profits From the Soil.
On 100000 acres of land the state
raised 60,OO0,O00 bushels of wheat in
1899; on 100000 acres of land it raised
over 100000 bushels of oats, and on
less than 100000 acres of land it
raised nearly 100000 bushels Of bar
ley. Those were the principal cereal
crops. The total value of the crops Of
the state for 1899, the year in which
agricultural statistics were gathered
for the 1900 census, was $54,04O,S17.
The principal crops were valued as fol-
lows: Wheat, s31, 1913, 1853; faxseed,
s7,735, $40; oats, s5,s52,615; hay and
! forage, $5,1S2,917; barley, $1,99G,OS2.
Another Immense Crop.
The state had an immense crop
again last year, and the average in
come Of s1.19O from each farm in the
state in 1899 was greatly exceeded.
! That S1,190, by the way, is about 5000
Emore than the average income per
farm for the great and rich State of
Minnesota.
| Live stock raising is an important
feature of farming in North Dakota
| The number of head of live stock in
the state increased AZ per cent during
1 the last decade 1t includes 125,000
head of dairy COWS, $4,000 other meat
cattle, 100000 horses, 541 600 sheep,
1922 900 swine The total value OF this
live stock is over S42,000,000. The
farmers of North Dakota derived in
1899 an income of $10,211 $40 from
animal products. OF this amount 53.6
per cent represents the value OF ami.
mails sold and slaughtered on the