Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1907-03-14
COMMUNICATION.
% Editor COURIER DEMOCRAT:

Complying with your request for
letter descriptive of tins section of
country will start by saying that ar
rived here right side up with care.
And after leaving snowbound North Da-
kota was highly pleased to find Chey-
enc Wells, Colo, warm and balmy with
plenty of sunshine most of the time. [
have been here now almost seven weeks
and have found it warm enough to 90
around in my shirt sleeve most of the
time. | think that the climate is fine.
And as talk with the farmers. especial
y the people who came here from North
Dakota and have raised crops and seen
them growing, have become convinced
that the soil is o. k. 1t also impresses
me with the idea that this section of
country is destined become developed
quite rapidly into a prosperous mixed
farming region. The people who are
tiocking in here have means and are
able to go ahead and as soon as those
who are waiting find out what we have
and what it is possible to raise the land
will be all gobbled up The soil is a
volcanic ash loan, of sort of reddish
color and very rich and fertile. In fact
it looks much as our North Dakota
prairie did some fifteen or twenty years
ago barren for the want of lumber and
the steady hand of the carpenter with
! saw and hammer to put a small house
on each quarter section of land or So
The surface varies from level to a
slightly undulating plain, traversed
from northwest to southeast by four
streams, the Big Sandy, Wild Horse and
White Woman creeks and the Smokey
river. There is one thing that we are
up against and that is the railroad.
Another Jim Hill railroad,-t Union
Pacific. with no competition at all this
result that freight rates are very high.
| visited the experimental farm. half
mile FROM this place, where saw very
nice orchard, with thrifty growing fruit
! trees of number of different kinds,
such as cherry. mulberry peach. pear.
apple, plum, apricot and several varie
ties of smaller fruits The grain raised
here is principally corn. wheat, oats.
barley and broom corn, the cane of the
latter being fed here to stock quite
generally. Hay is very high and is
nearly all shipped in here from the out
side and sells at from $l5 to $40 per ton.
The experimental farm last year raised
some wheat that yielded 43 bushels to
the acre and they do not irrigate around
here, but growing crops are matured
and ripened by the natural rainfall The
buffalo grass on the prairie is very nu-
tritious and the ranchers tell NE that it
is sufficient to keep the stock fat the
year round without other feed as it
here from Milton told me that his stock
would leave oats to go and eat it. An
other excellent feature here is that the
stock are able to run outside the year
round. Water here is very good. 98 per
cent pure. but they have to go down I'M
usually deep for it in most cases. AS
much as l20 to $50 feet when a man
starts to bore for water he figures il
may cost him $500. Some it costs that
amount and then again it may not cost
over Sl25 so you see how it goes But
it is good water when you get it. My
daughter. Stella will go onto her home
stead the first of May and expects te
make proof in about eight months. ior
may tell our friends that we are pleased
with the country and climate and ex
pect to find things here all right as VIZ
become better acquainted with ou,
New surroundings.
f. A. PENNoCK.
Cheyenne Wells, Colo March 4. 1907.
GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE.