The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-03-15
NORTH DAKOTA SECTION HAS
NEVER KNOWN CROP FAILURE.
Blessed with Soil Of Unsurpassed Fer
tility, Suited to Diversified Farming,
It Appeals to New Settlers F1oclking
to the State. III .5
HY HERBERT vANDERHooF.

its lands. Every train that gees into the
state now carries a goodly proportion o.
richness Of the land and acauiring a por
ton Of It for themselves. Great as has
been the rush to North Dakota during |
the past five years, during which tins
over 100000 souls have found homes
there. it is now apparent that the move
Of the others the s. T IN Voiume Land agent5
all over the state report a tremendous in
crease In inquiries for land, and an I'M
usually large proportion OF these INQUIRIES
Especially is this true in Ransom coun-
ty, which is profting largely by the
awakened interest in the state. Fol
many reasons Ransom county appeal
| coming in to swell the population. On
is its location, way down in the south
eastern part Of the state, which gives II |
soafR Dakota ana
! as well as direct contact with the mar
kets of it's own state. Another is the |
rifhnHs and fertility inG Of a Its
fed farming. The fact that the count |
k ysgg a WRlch faurs
settled, and the extraordinary yields 0
crops with which it has been uniforml!
blessed, furnish good basis for tn.
claim Of it's citizens that it is the Ban !
ner county Of the state.
| farmers EOatn 10 Seli'
One Of the best indications Of a coun-
tvs merit is the tenacity with which the
resident farmers hold on to their Lands
1t is almost an impossibility to buy a,
acre Of land in Ransom county from
tempting proht, as nearly all Of them
do, they prefer to hold on to what the:
have, and acquire additional land as op-
portunity offers and their means allow
The great majority of them are men from
other states, and many Of them have sold
farms where they came from at $500 and
Ypward an to invest their an 9nf frf i
times the merit, but at one-quarter or
one fifth the price. Naturally these mer
are satisfied with what they have, espe-
cially as they see the value Of their lands
steadily increasing year after year.
For the day Of the sod house has long
since passed in Ransom county: and it is
. now thickly dotted with well-tilled farms
and commodious residences, In which the
comforts and luxuries Of modern life are
generally found. A county which Is an
nually shipping over $4,000, 900 of produce
from it's farms to outside markets is
What Ransom is. doing, and has been do
ing for some years. That explains why
it's farmers can afford to buy automo-.
biles, why they have been enabled to pay
off their mortgages, and why the banks
of the county have deposits of over mil
lion dollars and plethora Of cash cash to to
t conta for the fact that the building that
is now going on and that is projected for
this year will exceed that ofs the five
, years preceding. 81. .
Appeals to the Women. i
81 Aside from; the cheaPness and richnsss
of its lands, however, there is another
=. | feature about Ransom county that ap-
peals strongly to the landseekers from the
other states, and that is the comp rattve
density of the population. Especially does
this appeal to thenWomen OF family, VINO
ant a.
illness that are feature Of the pioneer
l life. Ransom county with it's nearly IT,
900 inhabitants assures them plenty OF
! neighbors. 1t also assures them OF good
| schools for the education of their children
: Sheldon and others, provide them a place
? for shopping, amusement, and the mar
keting of produce.
/ It was a superstition for many years in
: this country that corn could not be sue
' cessfully grown In North Dakota. 1t was
generally accepted that it was all right
: for wheat flax and a few other crops
3 but not for corn. J. In a. measure this OPP
. Grated somewhat to the detr1ment OF the
4 state, as many men who would have gone
: into it for hog and cattle raising cast
: their lot in other places. i. 49,. q, T.:
: In remained for Ransom county to ex'
: p1ode this superstition, and it has proves
9 that as good corn can be grown In Nortf
. Dakota as in any other state of the union
!, Other counties have profted by its exam
q pie until now the state is becoming E
r great corn grower Having found thai
t could grow corn Ransen county x b sp;n
s ments of these in nine months of 100!
q amounted to 210 cars. This industry il
!. bound to expand greatly in the coming
: years, as the county, from it's geographl
!, cal position and its railway facilities, il
enabled to effect a heavy saving OF
g west with their long haul. ~"
{, Growth Of the Towns.
L AS the farming population Of the count!
. has increased SO has that Of its towns
p and the principal ones that have men
It toned above have practically doubled
their population during the past hy
" years. And these towns are not the crud
i. aggregations Of houses that are general,
A. the rule in a new community. On tn
beauty Of their residences. churches an
l.. - business houses, and are wide awake an
ID busting with the trade that is conducte
10 in them Having rich population t
N cater to- their merchants carry large an
is modern stocks of goods, and the magnl
nj tude of the trade they transact IS
n. eye-opener to the man who has neve
before seen a real i've western commu
nifty.
I was talking with a farmer whom
met at Enderln, and who had arrived
that stage of worldly prosperity Whel
n The had no necessity for working har
~ himself but could afford to let other
- bear the burden Of labor .
eff my foresight had been as good a
my hindsight," he remarked in whimsi
ad cal manner II might have been mil
To lionaire now
IS, ,.Mow Is that?" / inquired, seeming
US US ..You see this here town. he sal,
~ waving his arm around comprehensive
ne s'It is only a few years ago that u cou
al have bought this whole townsite for fly
us or six dollars an. acre. I didn't though
lb as saw other land that I considers
ch much better farming proposition,
&c / put my money In It. Today you can
az touch anything In this town for less tina
al 500 or $3.50 a lot and you come here ne:
-. ~ year and it's going to be $3.50 and so
~ a lot. You can't tell anything about VIII;
=, land is going. to sell here for in fe
ne a millionaire. But, shucks. I reckon
ch lion. I bought land for So an acre al
I'M have refused $40 for it since. / don't ov
IT, a dollar in the world, make more evel
os year than can spend, and have money
: :, the bank. What do I want with mi
ng lion?''
81, IL. Proud Of Their County.
les My philosophic farmer friend is a got
,iS tyne Of the men who people Ranso
- county They have come here and ha
- - carved their fortunes out Of the swe
u, Of their brow, as rule. They have SEE
lei their land steadily rising in value al
ed from the abundant crops it has produce
es, they have reached the plane Of financi
Is. tied and ready contributors with the
3a- means to everything that rebounds to L
30 welfare Of their community. They a
e. confident that the state Of North Dako
- is destined 10 he nra of the brighte