The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-08-08
LOOKING FOR ITS
BIGGEST HARVEST
GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT FELT
IN NORTH DAKOTA.
Wheat Plant Seems to Have Out
stripped the Black Rust and Other
Diseases-Crops in the Northern Part
of the State Were Never So Uni
formly Good.

Special to The Journal.
Grand Forks, N. D., Aug. 8.-The in
dications are that in the race for ma
turity and the struggle for possession
of the fields, the wheat plant of North
Dakota is outstripplng the black rust
In the southern part of the state wheat
cutting has already begun. In the
north few fields of barley are cut,
and by the latter part Of the week
barley harvest will be well under way.
Wheat all over the state is approaching
maturity, and even in the far north
there are early fields that show signs
of turning. It will probably be from
ten days to two weeks before wheat
harvest is general, but within that time
many thousand acres of this grain will
be cut from the fields Of early sown
grain.
AS a rule the stand of grain is fine
There is enough straw, and yet not too
much to Interfere with proper ripening.
The straw is of good length, and carries
good heads. In many fields rust has
Killed most Of the leaves, but in few
places are there evidences that the
stalk has been materially affected.
There are many who believe that the
last has had something to do with the
apparent check in the progress Of the
rust Students of the fungus say that
heavy rains have a tendency to wash
the plants clear Of spores which have
not yet become firmly attached, and
that rain was heavy enough to wash
almost anything off.
The week has been excellent for ali
kinds of crops, with the possible ex-
ception of hay that the farmers were
trying to cure, and potatoes. Much
hay has been damaged by the rains,
and it is likely that there will be some
trouble with rot j. among the potatoes
this fall, as there is such a heavy top
growth that the ground is shaded and
( the water does not evaporate as rapidly
. as it should.
: Wick's Good Reports.
. One of the men who brings in en-
t couraging reports from the northern
= part Of the state is Oscar Wick, who,
with his son, has just returned from a
trip thru most of the northern counties
in the interest Of his nursery. Mr..
Wick says that in no previous year has
he seen the crop so uniformly good. At
Cando he was told by j. McCanna, the
bonanza farmer of that place, that the
stand of grain was never 9e YER better there;
half of which he operates himself, and
his grain will make an immense yield
A large portion of his wheat is mac
aroni, and it is ripening now. Contrary
to the general belief earlier in the sea-
son, harvest will be little earlier in
that section than last year. Cutting
will be general by the middle of the
month The flax crop in that section is
a marvel, the plants on many fields
being nearly breast high, and many Of
the farmers confidently expect yielC
Of thirty bushels an acre. ~.
The Grand Forks section has escaped
heavy rain, but the section Just NORTH
was well watered again late in thu
week. Unless something untoward hap
pens within two weeks North Dakot;
will reap a CROP which, while perhap
q not as great an Aacre, as in some year
when the acreagei was smaller, will b.
I in the aggregate the greatest ever har
\ vested in the state. 800.