The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-03-21
RY HERBERT VANDERHOOF.

BY HERBERT VANDERHooF. i
One of the best indications of the ire
mendous influx Of new settlers to North
Dakota is seen in the movement Of farm
ers from the states Of the middle West.
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin and Ne
braska particularly are sending throng
of sturdy and experienced farmers to the
| Northwest men who had apparently
taken fixed root in their respective locali-
tiles: But the attraction of the cheap and
fertile lands Of North Dakota has sproved
| Irresistible. Many of these men are TAX
| ing up homestead lands and then buying
a few sections additional to round out
! their possessions. Others are buying the
cheap school lands of the state or are
buying direct from some of the large land
/ interests. H..
1t does not require any argument to
prove that an Illinois farmer is not going
to abandon the land on which he has lived
| for years unless he is going to vastly bet
| ter himself. And yet in one day this
month thirty -one cars containing Illinois
! families and their household goods pulled
out from Logan county alone for North
Dakota. One Of the farmers in. this crowd
had nine children. He had investigated
North Dakota and found that he could
buy better land there than he was tilling
in Illinois for anywhere from SO an acre
up. AS the land that he owned in Illinois
was worth from 500 to 1925 an acre. he
found that he could sell out and buy from
seven to eight times as much land in
North Dakota.
This is a simple business proposition.
1t is something more, however, to- the
farmer with large family. 1t enables
him to assure the future welfare Of each
member of his family. 1t also enables
him to largely increase. his income dur
ing the years hist children are growing
to manhood and womanhood to crafty
himself and them with many Injuries
and necessities that have heretofore been
out of his reach, and, above all, to give
them the best of educations. These are
considerations that are every day taking
from the middle West some Of it's best
citizens and that are peopling the great
stretches of North Dakota prairie and
causing towns to spring up all over the
vast expanse of that state. And yet. so
tremendous in extent is the state and so
sparse is the population in comparison
to it's acreage it will be many years be-
fore it will have a density of population
anywhere equal to the middle Western
states. O.
Leads In Wheat Growing.
North Dakota today ranks first among
all the states in the production of wheat.
and it's production each year is showing
a steady gain. According to the reports
of the United States Department of Agri-
1905 amounted to f75,623,044 bushels, and
was valued at S52179,9O0. The fax pro-
duction of the state, nearly 1s,OOO:ooO
h bushels. was worth $13 224,275, and
| q M MT 81 TO Of tha fi1o
production of the United States The
! wheat, nax. barley. oats and corn raised
in the statea in 1905 were valued at $82,
4 1903 1866. Estimating the popula ton of the
4 this vast sum would give an average fol
every man, woman and child in the state
4 Of about $165. The value of live stock
dairy products and other crops would
\ erably over $500.
J The great railway development that has
] been going on in the state for the past
: few yeaSs has brought many additional
] the railways, and consequently into d
4 position where they can be cultivated
4 and their crops marketed at a mintmun
of expense. The great systems of roads
y that traverse the state are pushing thei1
4 feeder lines in all directions, and wher
4 their comprehensive plans have been com
/ pleted there will be few sections of the
state that are not within a few miles
B railways has been any obstacle to the
I farmer. The soil is SO rich and the yields
Of wheat have been so abundant tina
many Of them have found it exceedingl,
l profitable to haul their grain fifty ant
\ even sixty miles to the nearest shipping
\ point. -
The state of North Dakota owns vas
amount of land that has been set asid
4 as an endowment for the public school
= Of the State, and these lands are bein'
- gradually disposed Of at public sales. B.
the terms Of the law governing the sal
OF these lands they cannot be sold out
right, but must be sold on the installmen
plan. This wise provision gives the ma
with but little money as good a chanc
to acquire a farm as the man with plent
Of ready cash at his disposal y
Thirty Bushels to the Acre.
One of these sales takes place thi
month at Towner, and for some day
the trains running to this country hav
been crowded with the land buyers boun
to look over the lands and pick out thei
I1ocations. The lands to be disposed Q
for richness only frank second to tn
famous lands of the Red River valley
They will yield on an average from TWEEN
ty -eight to thirty bushels of wheat pc
acre without fertilization for the mex
twenty years.
An appraised value is put upon thes
lands prior to their sale. in this particula
sale the appraisal being from $40 up to Sill
The lands are offered in quarter sections
and one-ffth of the price is payable 6
the time of sale. the balance in equal in
" stallments every five years. The none
derived from the land is invested for tn
benefit. of, the states permanent scho'
fund. The interest that is payable =
the deferred installments goes into til
current school fund of the state. .-.
: Land that can be bought for SO a
acre and that will grow thirty bushels
wheat per year does not beg for pull
chasers The men who are focking
North Dakota now are men who hay
fully investigated theiA possibilities (
j. the country, aand who can see II
b, surety of fortune that awaits them /
getting in early. Every man who hs
settled in the sta te during the past fe
years has become an. ACTIVE agent in or
of the greatest propagandas that he
ever taken place in this country. TT
stories OF, success that they have&w write
to their old homes, or the visible ev
dences of it that they have exhibited {
their occasional visits. have stirred I
the ambitions of their old friends ar
: caused a. feeling of discomfort with the
circumscribed lots. IT. @5 t.2 e
! ~ Their Lot Prosperous One.
Z There is nothing circumscribed in Il
| life of the farmer in North Dakot
When the price Of land can be- clear'
with the sale of it's first seasons Gro
it follows that they are generally prospe
- Gus. They are. - The North Dakota farI
or lives one of the most comforts al bile AZ