The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1905-01-25
A WESTERN Letter,
The Wheat Lands of Idaho and
North Dakota.
ARE LANDS OF BIG FARMS.
lrrigrated Fruit Lands Worth $500
Per Acre in Idaho. Interesting Let
ter From G. X. Schafer.
FARGO. N. D. Jan, l6, 1905
THE DENISON REVIEW

- Re
FARGO. N. D. Jan, l6, 1905.
THE DEN1soN REVIEW
1t is some time since I contributed |
ANYTHING to your valuable paper, main
ly because 1 never made the start.
Was stationed in Idaho then, but have
since come to Fargo. Perhaps short
letter about things agricultural would
be as acceptable as anything could
write.
That portion of Idaho where was,
(Lewiston) and Washington adjacent is
engaged principally in wheat or at
least small grain raising. The Palouse
and Camas Prairie country have more
than a local reputation for raising great
crops of grain. In travelling along
the Clearwater River up to the borders
of the latter country one sees only
steep hills and forbidding cliffs and
nothing at all to indicate farmers
Paradise. However. when once the
summit of these bluffs is reached the
eye is rewarded by beholding rolling
plateau of waving grain intermingled
with patches of timber. Talking with
different pers ons one may hear of IA
nous record breaking crops, but when
acquainted with all the conditions such
stories lose much of their effectiveness.
For instance, they tell me the land
should be summer fallowed every other
wear and If consecutive crops are taken
off for three or four years the wild oats
will almost destroy the yield. I.saw q
number of practical demonstrations of
this, too. From twenty to thirty bush
els of wheat per acre is conservative
estimate of the average yield. Though
the harvest was just commencing there
when I lleft in the middle of August.
indications pointed to a good crop,
Wish to call attention to few things
connected with this industry that made
an impression on me, and may interest
some of your readers.
As previously mentioned the banks
of some of the streams are so steep as
to make ascent or descent with load
exceedingly roundabout and difficult.
So an endless chain tramway is often
constructed from the hilltop to the
valley. This has suspended small plat
forms at intervals, on which are placed
the bags of grain which travel long
| distance sometimes several hundred
feet in the air and finally are landed
and piled up in wearhouse. do moi
recall now that / saw any elevators
there, they were all called warehouses
! and handled grain only in sacks. The
wagons used were heavier than ours in
Iowa and having wide tires. Some
: times two wagons are fastened togeth
: err and pulled by four or six horse
: team.
4 Just across from Lewiston is the 10
8 cality known as Vineland, which has
of late years, acquired quite an envi
: able reputation as fruit grower
j Paradise. This district was created
by the help of irrigation from wha
q formerly was only sandy barrier
s waste so now some tracts cannot bt
3 purchased for less than $4,000 an acre
2 The citizens talk, too, about what will
) happen when some more land is mad,
s tillable by piping water from lake
q some distance away but nothing defin
81 ire has bean started vet
In spite of fruit growing SO we'll her,
it nevertheless brings good prices, S,
9 the consumer is no more favored thai
if he lived in Omaha.
3 Lewiston is hot place to live il
) during summer weather, but is said t,
9 have mild climate in winter as it i
j surrounded by high hills.
Upon my arrival at Fargo I found tn
j eastern part of North Dakota to be sui
2 fering from an overaLundance of mois
ture, i.e.. it was TOO wet for small graf
j at its stage of growth, the pasturag
!; fine. There was already talk of rus
9 and q few days after my arrival hat
) opportunity to see something of tn
!; J; condition of the wheat growing In thi
9 section. The straw was heavy ant
J; J; tall, but the heads looked ''sick," i
j one may use such an expression will
: grains. This state of affairs seemed t,
be found only locally, though did no
get to place where there was goot
yield. The better yields were reported
from the north and north west of her,
while south ard west of this place
there we're many fields that were no
worth cutting and some indeed were
not cut. l never saw such poor wheat
as some of this years crop made. II