Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1904-05-12
An Illinois Farmer in Western oaa'

A recent issue of the Shelbyville, lin
nois, Democrat contains q long and In
teresting letter from MI. Elias Kost
formerly a prosperous farmer Of that
State. who recently emigrated to West
ern Canada, taking up q claim for him.
self and for each of his three sons
From Mr.. Kost's letter, which waa
written Feb. 8. 1904, we publish the
following, believing it will prove Of
great interest to those who have 0 n
templated settling in the CANADIAN
Northwest:
II had in August, 1902, secured .
claim for myself. and hled on three
quarter sections for my sons. MY claim
is one-half mile south Of the Emon.
ton and Lake st. Anne trail.
Coming so late in the season. We
had little opportunity to break and to
prepare ground for a first years crop.
still we raised over 100 bushels Of very
fine potatoes. md sowed a few acres
OF barley. but the season was Q Tar
advanced for the barley. However, Ne
secured good feed from 1t. and on rent
ed ground 1S miles east Of US, raised .
| fine crop Of oats. so that we Will have
plenty of feed for horses. We cut
! about go ions Of hay and thus Will
have an abundance. We have. all told.
about 24O acres OF hay meadow. which
| would yield the past year over three
tons to the acre, and In an ordinary
season the meadow would furnish 600
tons OF hay. The grass Is very uutrt-
tious, md cattle on the ranges become
very fat without being fed a pound cf
grain.
ION the upland the grass grows from
eight to ten inches tall. This 10 called
range grass. and is suitable for stock
Mt any time, even in the winter when
the ground is not covered too deep with
snow. Horses subsist on 1t alone. at
all times. provided they are native
stock. The grass I'm the hay meadows
here IL called red-top, and grows from
five to six feet in length. and when cut
at the proper time yields an abundant
crop of nutritious hay.
Our cattle have not cost US a cent
since we came on our homestead, only
the small outlay for salt and labor 10
putting up hay and shelter. All cattle
have been doing we'll this winter, and
feeding up to the first of January WAS
unnecessary, as there was good range
up to that time.
".All the snow up to that date were
followed 10y winds from the Northwest
that melt 1t very rapidly; these winds
are called Chinook winds, and are al
ways warm. In one night a Chinook
wind may take away three or four
inches of snow.
I'VE have built on our claim q rom
Portable house of hewn logs, 20x2d
feet, one and one-half stories In height,
with a good cellar. During the latter
part of June we RATED logs down the
Sturgeon to a sawmill. about eight
miles away, and thus secured 5000 feet
of good lumber which was needed fol
the house. Later in the sea SOU u shin
gle mill located six miles away. II
this we hauled logs and had shingles
cut for the roof.
we had nm abundance Of wild fruit
the past season. consisting of gooseber
rics. Strawberries, r~aspberries. eyeber.
ries. blueberries, cherries aud saUkA.
tOons. The latter are II fine looking
berry, red, and quite pleasant to thu
taste, but not much to be desired IN
cookery. The Strawberries are thu
same as those that grow wild in I'LL
nois. Raspberries are red In color
large and equal to any Of the tame
varieties. and so are the ~gooseberrtes
The cranberries consist of the high and
trailing varieties. The latter are MOI
sought and contiguous to the swamps
The ground is literally covered Will
them as with a red carpet, but the hes
and most sought Is the BURBERRY, q
called by the Indians. This IL th,
famous 'huckleberry' (whortleberry) .
the Blue Ridge Mountains in PennsyI
vania. and cannot be excelled for ex
cellence by any fruit cultivated. It I
found here both on the prairie and II
the timber in immense quantities.
Game is very plentiful % far O
prairie chickens, pheasants, ducks o
all kinds and geese are concerned. W,
have taken nearly 500 chickens an,
p%heasants, also a great many ducks.
An occasional deer is seen, but ar
not plentiful. only one having be-,
taken during the season in this settle
ment.
Fish are very plentiful at all sea
ons Of the year. Fish wagons a,
sleds are passing almost daily alonI
the trail with heavy loads Of fsh, des
} tined for st. Albert and Edmonton
} From the latter point they are chr
ped south on the Calgary and Edruer
ton Railroad to points along the linz
and also to A%ssiniboia, on the Canada
Pacific Railroad"
For further information apply to IN,
authorized Canadian Governmep
Agent whose address appears ielsl
/. where.
Good az . Trademark.
New York Weekly: Young Lady, ca
y always tell your work the instant 1 sec I
> Magazine Artist (delighted)-Can yot
really?