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


just what impresses the average man
who looks over the situation. With
half an eye he can see that within the
next five or ten years the stock and
dairy industry will be developed to
such an extent that it will remove the
necessity of relying upon the wheat
crop alone as the staple of the country.
When all these conditions are con-
sidered. it is not to be wondered at
that thousands of farmers from the
Southwestern and Middle Eastern
states have disposed of their high
priced lands in a country where the
soil, already partially worked out-so
much so that it does not produce any
thing like the revenue to be derived
from the lands in the Red River Valley,
and move to that favored land where
farm home can be had for half the
price of the lands farther south. Nor
is it to be wondered at that the tide of
immigration toward Red River Valley
should be growing stronger each year.
There are still thousands of desirable
farms left in the district, and the man
from "the country of high-priced
lands" would do well to dispose Of his
lands there and move to the district
where returns for farm labor are sure
and prolific, and where the value of
lands to be had now at low prices is
constantly increasing-the Red River
Valley.
We reproduce herewith extracts from
an article on THE American Nile and
It's District the Red River Valley, by
Prof. T. A. HoVerstad, an agricultural
expert:
The Red River Valley. occupies the
Northwestern part of Minnesota. This
country is noted for it's uniform and fer
tile soil and for it's production of grain.
The one thing that is Strikingly prom1-
nent is its level surface. One can travel
hundreds of miles and see little variation
from the level prairie. Along the streams
and along the eastern border trees are
growing.
The country, as a whole, has a slight
fall to the north and west. The land on
the Minnesota side of the Red River is
divided into three drainage areas. The
along the eastern boundary of the Valley
is we'll drained. The strip lying between
these two sections is more fiat and was
poorly drained until the state and the
counties opened up the old watercOurSeS
and kept the water in distinct channels
in flowing across this section. This has
reclaimed vast areas that otherwise would
have been worthless. 1t has made swamp
lands into some of the most fertile and
valuable land in the Northwest. Fortu-
nately the land can all be drained and
the work is well under way now. Drain
ing the Red River Valley is no longer an
experiment. Most of the land is well
a short time when all the land will have
channels to carry away all surplus water
rapidly.
The Soil.
The surface soil is an alluYiurn deposit.
The subsol is clay. In some places some
sand is found in the surface soil. While
the soil, as a whole, is very uniform,
there is enough difference in the COM
position to make quite a variation. The
surface soil is very fertile and is capable
of producing. large number of crops
without being fortified, if properly cul-
tivated It's ability to hold moisture is
also very great. By SO Cultivating the
soil that a dust mulch is left on the sur
face, good crops are produced even in
from stones, the land can be worked very
economically. On account of this uni
formity of soils, larger fields can be laid
out than where land IS broken up by hills
and valleys, and the same rotation of
crops can be practiced on ali fields.
The Climate.
The character of the climate of North
ern Minnesota is well known. The rain
fall is sufficient to produce good crops
every year. During the time the writer
has been residing in the Red River Valley
the rainfall has been excessive rather than
scant. The early season of 1900 was
somewhat dry, but from July l on the
rainfall was abundant. Even during the
short, period of drought, all cultivated
been more frequent than in any other
part of the state. The sky is most of
the time verv clear and this doubtless
partly accounts for its being so healthful
During the summer months the days are
very long, the high latitude making a
great difference in the amount of sun
shine received each day. Though the
growing season is somewhat shorter than
in countries farther south. this is more
than made up by the longer days. The
very rapid growth of vegetation during
summer is doubtless partly due to this
cause. The summer is long enough for
maturing all field and garden crops every
year.
Grain has been the leading crop in the
Red River Valley. The country is pc
culiarly adapted to the production of this
crop. The record this Red River Valley
has made in grain production is very
fatterfng. Grain is not the only crop
that can be grown here. Grasses grow
very well Bromus inermis is proving to
be a yielder of very excellent hay and to
be we'll adapted to paSturage. Many ma
tive grasses give promise of great value.
Clover has not always proved safe crop
TO sow. Some years it produces good
yield but during others It fails. The
results so far received in trials have
been encouraging and there are good rea-
sons to hope that clover will soon be as
safe a crop in Northern Minnesota as it
is in the southern part Of the state.
J The farmer seems to be more inter-
ested in the corn crop than any other.
1t is only recently that people began to
think that corn could be raised in North
Dakota and Northern Minnesota. At al
most every institute in the valley this
present year. excellent reports are re-
ceived from successful corn growers. FOd-
y der is raised very extensively and is used
as food for horses and cattle on a large
scale. Corn has matured in so many places
in recent years, and when we consider
that corn so readily adjusts itself to en-
V1rOnmentS, we have reason to believe
that corn will soon be a very safe crop
to raise every year. Even if we could
not raise corn, grain corn fodder, hay,
roots. etc, viii grow and finish cattle just
as well as corn can.
On almost every farm some vegetables
are grown. BY the aid of the hotbed
all kinds of garden crops can be grown
very successfully. Celery is a crop that
the Red River Valley The soil and eli
mate seems to be especially adapted for
the most perfect development of this
vegetable.
Trees and Shrubs.
Experiments have shown that tree
planting can be done very easily in the
Red River Valley. The plan advocated
now is mixed planting composed Of the
more hardy trees. These are planted in
larger bodies and the trees are masSed
together rather closely. Plum trees are
lanted among them, so crop of fruit
can be hoped for every year in addition to
ash, white elm blackberry. box elder will
low, etc, all grow very well. Among
the more hardy ornamental shrubs. the
buffalo berry, buckthorn. corogana, -ilacS,
spirea. etc, may be mentioned. These
can be grown in low hedges, or planted
on the lawn or in groups
The Stock.
Live stock viii be a necessity on our
farms in the future. A rotation OF
crops will necessarily be introduced. Into
this rotation grasses and forage crops viii