The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-26


nations have and are still being made
or the soils of various sections of the
state, and in a recent bulletin this
statement is made:
The soil of North Dakota is a drift
aIuy1al loan, ranging from six inches
to three feet deep, and in color from
black to grayish brown. The soils for
different parts of the state differ con-
S1derably both in physical and chemi-
cal properties, but successful agricul-
ture is more influenced by meteorolog-
zeal or climatic conditions than any in
huence in the chemical properties of
the SOIL
THE subsoil is of clay, which has the
property of holding moisture to Won
derIul degree and giving it out as
x needed Tor growing crops. 1t contains
practically. inexhaustbIe supply of
the soil ingredients most valuable for
agriculture, namely: Soluble silica,
lime, potash, soda, phosphoric acid
nitrogen and vegetable hunus. There
is no better soil in the world for gen
erar farming purposes, and none so
well adapted for the raising of wheat
and other small grains. 1t is easily
pulverized, and after the prairie sod is
once broken, cultivation is done with
comparative little labor.
Tine effect of deep winter freezing
and the rising of the moisture to the
surface in the spring thaw, is to min
gle the rich natural fertilizers of the
subsoil with the top soil, so that the
natural process of fertilization is con-
stantly going on
In comparing the lands of North Da-
kota with those Of the older parts of
the Eastern states, President J. J. Hill,
OF the Great Northern, in a speech at
Fargo said:
Lands in North Dakota are worth
QRf mol Izy
lands of the Eastern states, when con-
sidered from the standpoint of pro-
duct1VeneSS and the certain profits re-
allied from cultivation. Lands that are
no better are selling at $50 and 500
per acre at Elgin, ILL.,, due mostly to
profits in dairying with high-grade
stock"
This is a subject of Importance to
those who seek homes in the North
west. The healthfulness of the eli
mate Of North Dakota is known to
those who live in the state. Situate
midway between the miasma breeding
swamps of the lower ATTITUDES and
the extreme rarity of the mountain re-
gions, so painful to. weak lungs, the
state has become a nurse room for the
nation, and innumerable instances
could be cited of those who, coming
to the country with clogged lungs and
shattered system, have now the rosy
cheek and sparkling eye that betozen
rugged health.
The climate of the state is more oft
en- misjudged and misrepresented by
those who have never lived in the state
than any other feature. The fact that
it is farther north than the Eastern
Or Central states is taken as evidence
of arctic cold in winter. This how
ever, is absolutely disproven, not only
by experience of those who have pass
ed the winters in North Dakota, but
also by the fact that cattle and horses
live out of doors all winter long, often
without other feed than the wild hay
Which they browse in the valleys.
Malarial diseases are unknown. Con-
sumption and other pulmonary COM
plants rarely originate in this re-
gien. Settlers who have contracted
diseases of this nature elsewhere are
greatly benefited and usually expert
ence an entire cure by a residence in
this climate. The health statistics of
the state show mortality in North
Dakota of less than 515 to 1000 in
habitants, or 1 in every 1913 of the pop
ulatiOn.. This is an extraordinary low
annual death rate as compared with
the annual death rate of other sections
of the United States, and is much be-
low the average rate Of mortality of
the entire country, which official statis-
ties place at a fraction more than 15
to 1000 inhabitants, or l in every Sc
of the population.
Winter in North Dakota is less rig
Orous than in Iowa or Illinois. The at
mOsphere is dry and bracing, ans
though the thermometer sometimes
falls considerably, the air is more COM
Portable than in the southern or humid
with the thermometer many
degrees higher.
Everything the North Dakota farmer
raises finds a ready and satisfactory
market. Like most new prairie states
the raising of small grains has pre-
dominated. This is gradually giving
way to general farming, including
dairying, sheep raising and in the Co.
teau, fattening cattle on the ranges.
The wheat of North Dakota-the ia
nous No. 1 hard-is recognized as the
finest milling wheat in the world, and
is the standard by which the milling
of the world grade all other
wheats. Elevators are found at all the
railway stations, and in the Red river
valley they stand along the tracks in