The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-25
PINE COUNTY, EASTWARD
FROM BRUNO
BY Prof. Thos. Shaw.

| ing. From the higher land it slopes
| toward lower ground, which in turn
gently slopes toward the streams
These lower slopes comprise meadow
land. In some instances there are large
areas of this land : Much of it was
| formerly covered with tamarack. and
it is all underlaid with a clay subsoil.
J This same is true of the higher land.
I The country east of Sand creek, where
! we lunched, and onward toward the
| Wisconsin border and up and down
| the Wisconsin border for many miles
| has much green hardwood timber on II,
which if cut into cordwood and mar
! keted should more than pay for the
| land, and when cleared will make the
/ best of farming land. Some stones are
! scattered over the higher ground, but
! very seldom in quantities to seriously
! impair cultivation, while whole quarter
sections can be obtained in many places
/ without any stones on them whatever.
! The higher ground has singular adap-
tation for growing any kind of clover
and the lower land for growing timo-
! thy hay. Hence the settler in this en-
! tire country all of which is arabic,
need not fear that he may locate upon
! farm which he cannot till.
: We know perfectly we'll that ma
; jority of those who are seeking land,
especially if they come from prairie
country, will not purchase such land.
/ We shall no try to persuade them to
! do so, as we are in no way interested
personally in the section to which we
refer. We are satisfied, however, that
/ if a settler goes into this country and
! purchases a quarter section that in
! one way or another he will be able
! to get revenue from the very first with
out any further labor than that Of
I aTaff L, IA ~
! the land, or of fencing it in and graz
! ing it with live stock, in case that there
is not much timber upon 1t. There Is
! no difficulty in sustaining the correct
ness Of this proposition. Suppose a
/ man buys 100 acres of land. On much
/ of that land he will get say ten cords of
wood per acre, and on some much
more. One man can cut and draw in
! the winter season a good many cords
of wood. Suppose there was not much
/ timber on the land. If he were only
able to fence it. this would not cost
! him very much If he did the work him.
self as the tamarack posts are there.
If he had the means he could bring in
cattle from the stockyards in the spring
and sell them in the fall. Suppose the
! farm had not enough Of timber on it
! to make it worth while cutting the
| cord wood, it would then have a large
J amount of pasture. such as blue joint,
+ clover and redtop growing up among
| the bushes. There would certainly be
/ enough of this to Craze one animal on
4 three acres during the summer. The
! pasturing would tend to thin the brush.
! The owner could further hasten the
| process by the use of the axe. The
160 acres fenced should pasture fifty
head the first year, seventy head the
second year and eighty head the third
year without the necessity of turning
! single furrow with the plow The
! net profit from one animal thus graZed
! and sold in the fall should not be less
I than SO per animal. OF course, a little
! clover seed should be sprinkled here
and there where the bushes had been
! cut away. In this way revenue could
be obtained from the very first and in
| a few years the hard wood stumps
would be sufficiently decayed to admit
| of plowing the land. Moreover on many
! of the farms there is considera BILE
meadow land. By letting the fire run
J over this in the early spring this land
can be brought in condition to be NOW
ed at a cost of not more than So per
acre, even though the work were all
done by hired labor Such a meadow
composed of blue joint, which grows
in all low lands in this country with
great luXuriance, would yield not less
| than two tons per acre. There Is a
ready market for this hay, and this is
likely to continue, since it is so near
Duluth. In this way revenue could be
, obtained at once from the timber the
| pasture, or the hay, and in some in
stances it could be obtained from all
! three sources on the same farm.
Unquestionably the destiny Of this
: country points in the direction of stock
keeping. Before very long it will fur
) nlsh one of the finest dairy sections in
Minnesota. The luXuriance with which
| clover grows even amid the bushes and
brush is simply marvellous, and the
! continuity of it's growth Is even more
marvellous. Mr. Murphy informed us
that in section twelve G2), township
forty-four (40, range nineteen Q9).
Mr. Peter Foss had removed brush
! from twenty acres of land some nine
years ago, and sowed red clover and
| timothy on the same. This had been
moved every year, and last year the
I timothy and clover on it was of great
| luXurlance. In fact the clover taken
| from it was in the grass exhibit which
took the prize last year at the state
fair. Equally valuable, however. and
| even more so are the natural meadows
where the blue joint grows 1t makes
most excellent hay and is singularly
productive. OF course, as the meadows
are drained, it will come into redtop.
anu Win proper care we expect that
these meadows can be changed into
timothy and aIsike clover meadows.
| and so may be made to continue to
grow the best of hay at the rate of be-
| tween two and three tons per acre
from year to year for an indefinite
period. Why should any person de-
| string to live by farming have any
| fears about the future of such a conn
| try?
But the question may be asked. what
| about the roads? Our answer is that
oefore many years there will not be
petter roads in the state of Minnesota
! III the farmers take the trouble to ditch
the roads when located and to place
me SOIL taken from the bitches on to
the road properly rounded In the soil
lhere is considerable sprinkling of
sand, Notwithstanding that the sur
race soil is essentially clay loan. We
ieel quite certain that when the road
IS thus constructed it will soon become
nrm and hard and will be in a mark
ed degree free from dust. We have
no Tear but that this country will also
| produce oats, rye, speltz and tho
| coarser forms of wheat in good form
and that it will make a fine country
Tor growing Canada field peas. field
roots ana potatoes. Moreover, it is near
a railway which runs between great
! cities The pine stumps scattered on
some of the higher land are of course
an objection, but as nearly as we could
ascertain from 15 to 25 cents in dyna-
mite placed under the largest of them
VIII so shatter them that the fire will