The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1907-10-09
GREATER Than IRON MINES.
julius Discovers a Mine of Wealth n
Northern Minnesota Soil.

from the date of this letter the rich
agricultural lands of Minnesota will
be located in the northern portion
Of the state. Where today is grow
ing the poplar. the spruce and the
tamarack, or where the land is pro-
ducing wild clover and other grass
es. there is the land that in the
course Of years will produce the
finest grain and the finest stock that
will be grown in Minnesota.
The millennium may arrive before
that time. am taking the widest
latitude. There are those who say
that it will come within eight years,
others.fve, more.conservative at ten
and fifteen, but it will come, and
when it,does come there will be a
stampede that will excel anything
that has ever before been exper-
fenced in Minnesota.
In an earlier letter l gave your
readers some idea of the rich valley
of the Roseau river, and what will
happen when the state completes
the work of deepening and widen
ing that. channel and the draining
of the thousands of acres Of land
which the state:will soon throw open
to settlement. / spoke of the soil.
That soils there still.
But.a soil that even puts that to
blush is that found in the celebrated
so-called swamp lands of st. Louis,
Itasca, Koochiching and surrounding
counties. In Roseau you find from
threesto six feet Of rich, black loan.
In the swamp lands of the counties
referred to later there is from six
to twenty feet of a similar loan.
It was one evening during the
last week in September that the
state drainage commission, of which
the secretary.of state is a member,
left St. Paul for Duluth, and on the
following morning became the guests
of Hon. G. G. Hartley of this city,
and left in his private car attached
to a Great Northern train, for
Island, the westernmost station in
St. Louis, where the commission had
on its hands the inspection of state
ditch. All the way after we left
the state line between Wisconsin
and Minnesota, we ran thru timber
land, with here and there an open
ing. All the way clover was grow
ing in its wild and uncultivated
state. And such clover. Stand it
up and it would measure five and
six feet in length, and it was every
where that it found an opportunity
to spread and grow. Spruce, tam
arack, poplar and pine made up the
timber, and on our journey up to
the first ditch we passed train load
after train load of the different
varieties of wood going down to the
pulp mills to be made into paper,
or up to the box factories to be
made into crates.
Island is the station for the farm
of Mr.. Hartley, an 5000 acre tract
located in the so-called swamps,
and containing farm buildings that
excel those of any other farm in
the state. Every branch of farming
is represented by the buildings.
Every building is constructed upon
the latest suggested scientific farm
ing plan, and the $50 members of
the fine Shorthorn herd are given
quarters that ought to make them
laugh. The horses are similarly
taken care of, ditto the hogs, the
poultry, the employees and the like.
Mr.. Hartley is a resident of Duluth
The Island farm is his contribution
to the public as demonstration
that the swamp lands of Minnesota
can produce more wealth than any
other lands in the state and he i.
proving it every day.
j 1t may be we'll to state here tina
couple of years ago the stat.
ordered ditch six miles long, will
one lateral three miles long to b
constructed east Of the Hartle.
farm, draining a large tract of stat
, land, land giving all other owner
the right to tap the main ditch wit
laterals. 1t was understood tina
the state was not to expend owe
$1,000 in the enterprise, and an