Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1903-08-14
OFFICIAL PAPER OF THE COUNTY AND
THE CITY OF DEVILS LAKE.
FRIDAY, AUGUST IA, 1908.

FRIDAY, AUGUST IA, 1908.
The value Of farm lands in Ram
sey county, and other parts of North
Dakota, for that matter, will continue
to advance in price n%otwlthstan 1irg
the pessimistic views to the contrary
sometimes expressed by those who
never see any good thing at home.
s'The prophet is not without honor
save in his own country" says the
bible, and that utterance applies to
more things than religion. It is a
fact we'll known to the writer, who
has seen the conditions, that in the
east and south the farmers are not only
the labvring class, but they are the
material part of the community. In
4 town the size of Devils Lake, in
those sections Of the country, one
merchant who would attempt to cater
to the farmer trade of the territory
dependent upon the town, would not
be able to make a living out of al.
investment in stock Of eight or ten
thousand dollars. The reason is
simple. The farmer in those parts
must own from six to eight hundred
acres of land in order t, make a fair
living. Possibly seventy-fve acres
Of this will be valley land, and on
this he must raise hay enough for his
stock, including:th kept for profit.
and grain enough for the same pur-
pose. Phosphate must be used on all
these lands, to the extent of ten to
twelve dollars worth per acre eachyear.
IL the season is wet he gets a fair yield,
but if the rainfall is not exactly cor
rect at the proper time, the crop sim
ply burns out, and is a total loss, this
phosphate being a chemical substance
which must be brought in
contract with moisture to produce
growth. AS a result, crop failures
occur every other year at least. When
these things happen, the stock must
be sold at any price, as there is no
food to winter it without shipping it
t from the western states. The result
! is that the farmers are poor. Men
who inherited real estate worth from
five to ten thousand dollars are mere,
1y able to make a living. Such
things as farmers attending a Chau-
tauqua are never dreamed of. They
cant do it. When they come tc
town they bring a lunch and horse
feed with them, feed their horses in
the wager bed. and eat their lunch
in the open air. Nor is this the cor1
bread %aristocracy of the south, who are
too proud to work. 1t is those wht
toil from sun rise to sun set MIN
months in the year. The man WIN
buys a farm and gives a mortgage OF
it expects to possibly pay the inter
est on the mortgage nothing more, AM
there are plenty of those that hay
beer handed from IL generation t.
another for half a century The PEG
.ple who are employed in the publ
works.in the towns fare somewha
Better and have more money. AM
Ahey arc the bone and sinew OF tn
section. 1t would seem strange tina
the farmers would remain in sue
conditions while T. e->Gt northwes
les open. And they w2:2d not
shey knew the conditions here. "h
great trouble is the reported col
weather. But they are gradual
being educated. and as fast as the
are they are coming to the newt
states, This will make a larger nun
Der of land buyers, and following tt
great trade low of supply and demand
she quantity Of the article bell
limited, the price must NECESSARY
advance This is reasonable, too,
view of the fact tn at a few thousa1
dollars invested in land here will gil
the investor a home that will enab
him to live in comparative cas-
This country can not lie idle, al
will not do so, when its advantages
grain growing and dairy farmi'
country become known. Then t
urice Of land will advance, al
these having it will reap the a
vantage. The price may be near
as high as the present population Ct
make it but it is not as high as
larger population will make it.