The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1906-04-13

state. Forty-tWo million bushels woro
grown last year, worth almost ten mil.
lion dollars. The expansion of this
industry is noteworthy. Five wears
ago the entire crop was but 1900 Ooo
bushels. Then it was grown simn,v
for home consumption, for horse feed
on the farms. There was no assur.
ance OF a market for it. When a farm
er took a load of oats to town no had
assurance that he could convert it
into cash. About four years o the
graln'elevators established a regular
market for oats and the crop has al
ready more than doubled.
Barley, too, is of growing imnor.
lance. Ordinarily the dry weather of
the Dakota harvest season brings ont
a bright, high-grade barley CROP, eager
~ sought.after by the brewers. The
SOIL and climate is splendidly adapted
10 the production Of this cereal and
the yield is frequently prodigious. The
writer has frequently seer more than
nifty bushels per acre harvested that
SO q at the elevator directly from the
%threshlng machine at fifty cents per
ousnei. Five years ago the total crop
was put seven millions. Last year it
reached to more than twenty million
bushels.
Rye does well and is a reliable clop,
put 1t has for some reason been un-
popular with South Dakota farmers.
very little is grown, although it has
almost invariably given a large WELD
OF excellent quality.
Speltz, a new coarse grain introduc.
ed from Russia, is becoming very pop
ular. 1t is proving to be one of the
most reliable grains grown. It re.
semtles wheat, enclosed in a close
husk like barley. 1t is a heavier feed
than oats and is equally nutritious,
Horses, cattle and hogs thrive uponi it,
The production of it already reaches
more than four million bushels annu.
ally. 1t is especially popular in the
northern and western counties, though
it is produced to a greater or less ex.
tent in every section.
Flaxseed has been largely produced
for many years. The area yearly is
generally contingent upon the amount
Of new breaking. 1t makes a fine cror
for subduing wild land and is a reli.
able sod crop. The market is always
reliable and the price for several years
has ruled high, from a dollar to a dol
lar and fifty cents per bushel. From
eight to fourteen bushels is a fair av
erage crop on sod, though yields Of
twenty bushels are not rare. The an
nual production ranges from a million
and a half to four million bushels, &C
cording to acreage.
Hay is m of the great, reliable an(
little varying crops Of South Dakota
We suffer in the reports of the depart
ment Of agriculture upon this product
because they do not regard wild hay
which is our principal resource. N
other hay compares to it for nutriti
GUS qualities. Stock thrives upon it
Horses fed upon the wild hay of Soutl
Dakota have an endurance and wine
that the tame hay fed horses cannO
hope to attain. The annual value o
the hay crop is about fourteen million
dollars. A good deal Of clover. time
thy, alfalfa and millet hay is grown
but combined they do not cut mucI
figure compared with the wild ha
product. Nevertheless the tame hay
do well and should a necessity TO
their cultivation arise it has alread
: been determined that we can entirel
: rely upon them.
Irish potatoes are a fruit wonder
, fully adapted to u soil. The crop
, always reliable and the yield and qua
ity unsurpassed. Only occasionally
however, has the price been sutficien
) to warrant large shipments to outsid
. markets. With the building of tn
!, railroads across the state this year
is hoped to find an extensive marke
for productions Of this class in tn
, western mining regions. The lrregl
!, larity of the market has discourage
potato growing in a large way, yet o.
casionally some venturesome farme
puts in a large acreage, strikes a goo
market and harvests a fortune in
: single season.
But little buckwheat is grown, an
the region does not appear to be vel
we'll adapted to its culture.
OF Interest to Farmers