The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1904-03-18
MORE LAND.
Great Movement of Population to
the Northwest.

The astonishing demand for land
in the northwest will be more keen
this season than ever. The fund
amental basis for this demand Is not
generally recognized.
The average citizen In the west and
northwest thinks the movement of
population into his district is d
boom" that he should make the
most of. He has faith in his country,
but fails to grasp the whole situation
Orange Judge Farmer points out
that the truth about the matter may
be thus briefly summarized:
/. The choice agricultural lands
of the central Mississippi valley have
reached extraordinarily high prices.
some Illinois farmers have sold at
$500 per acre land that they them
selves took. up" as a free gift
under the homestead act-farmIng
land only, in central Illinois. which
has reached this figure because
farming pays good interest on that
valuation, not because of proximity
to cities In Iowa, indeed all through
the central valleys, land values have
also'risen enormously.
2. Farming in the central west is
so profitable, so safe, and still fur
Their advances in land values are SC
constantly expected, that men of
large means are buying these central
lands and operating them on large
scale. Farming is becoming as fash
ionable as it is profitable, but in the
central west agriculture requires
more and more capital.
3. Many thousands of farmers in
moderate circumstances. hired men
or others who would like to go to
farming but who cannot afford to
pay from $50 to 5000 per acre for
land, are casting about for good
lands that can be bought at model
ate prices. The great majority of
these people want such lands located
IN the western and northwestern
states or the Canadian northwest,
because they prefer the inspiring
climate and the socialconditions of
that favored region.
But little privation is now required
from settlers who move onto these
newer lands in northern Michigan,
Wisconsin. Minnesota or the north
west of the states or Canada. Almost
every part of these regions is within
convenient reach of railroad trans
portation. If in any section the
mails, schools, churches, etc., are at
all deficient, they are rapidly brought
80 perfection as population increases.
In other words, Orange Judd Farmer,
would emphasize that it is easy to de-
velop homes and farms on the cheaper
lands Of the west and northwest, COM
pared to the privations suffered by the
early settlers in the central west.
5. The man who can sell out in the
central west at from $50 to 5000 per
acre, and buy lands in The newer Sec
tions at from So TO S25 per acre, is very
much disposed to do So. He has had
one taste of the enormous profit accru-
ing from the natural increase in the
value of land. He is hungry for an
other dose of such profits. He is still
hungrier for more acres for himself
and his children: If he can sell out
at a price that will enable him to pay
for l60 acres or more for each member
Of his family, and also have a snug
capital left, he is very much disposed
to do so.
6. Each of the foregoing reasons is
enough to warrant the present &C
tivity in uthe real estate market
throughout the west. Together they
form reasons that are .incontroverti-
BILE, but over and above all these con-
ditions, Orange Judd Farmer calls
attention to the uncomfortable inn
pulse for more land that has got con-
troll of many peoples minds. They
are ready to Swarm" onto the newer
and cheaper lands. This movement
of population promises to be even
larger this season than ever before
The fever to migrate and open up new
land has occurred about once in every
decade, but has been most powerful
at periods of about 20 to 80 years
apart. 1t is to be greater during 1904
relatively speaking, than was the
great overflow of population into the
central Mississippi valley twenty years
ago.
The conclusions above are based on
an intimate personal knowledge of
every section of the country. Even
in this immediate vicinity settlers are
building farms with success.